In November 2023, UMR/Mercury began pressing Metallica’s first five studio albums on special limited edition coloured vinyl, with a new title dropping each month through March 2024. Now that March is upon us, UMR/Mercury have announced they will begin pressing phase two of the studio album back catalogue. Like the first drop, the collection will be available everywhere ex-North America, as they were previously released in the U.S. as part of a 2021 Walmart exclusive series.
Phase two will begin with Garage Inc., available April 5th on ‘Fade To Blue’ colored vinyl. First released in 1998, Garage Inc. is a compilation album of cover songs featuring “Turn the Page,” “Whiskey in the Jar,” and “Die, Die My Darling.”
Next will be 2003’s St. Anger in May, printed on ‘Some Kind Of Orange’ colored vinyl. The group’s only official album as a trio features the title track, “Frantic,” and “Some Kind of Monster,” which lends its name to the vinyl’s colour.
June will bring 2008’s Death Magnetic on ‘Magnetic Silver’ colored vinyl. Produced by Rick Rubin, Death Magnetic was nominated for six Grammy awards and won three. The album featured “My Apocalypse,” which won Best Metal Performance, “Cyanide,” and “The Judas Kiss.”
Finally, July will see the release of the group’s tenth studio album Hardwired…To Self-Destruct on ‘Flame Orange’ coloured vinyl. Originally released in 2016, Hardwired marked the group’s longest break between albums. The record was their sixth consecutive studio album to debut at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200. “Hardwired,” “Moth Into Flame” and “Atlas, Rise!” can all be heard on what Lars Ulrich has cited as the group’s best album. Hardwired, he explained in 2020, “is the one I have the fewest issues with, and the one that still sounds the most representative of my current head space.”
Pre-order the limited edition colored vinyl pressings of the Metallica albums.