Arguably one of the greatest metal bands of all time, Metallica are still as relevant now as they were during the golden era of heavy metal in the 1980’s. When grunge set out to kill off the genre, the Bay Area quartet adapted their sound further. And after a tumultuous time in the early 2000’s, Metallica battled personal issues and band friction, only to come out stronger the other side.
In 2016 they released their tenth album, Hardwired… To Self Destruct, receiving positive reviews and selling out huge arena’s around the world. While many of their peers have waned over the years, Metallica are one of – if not the most – enduring bands in history.
We recently picked up some excellent Metallica items during a trip to Japan. This included one of the most desirable promotional 7″‘s in the bands back catalogue, the French only issue of Master of Puppets. As well as the title track from their iconic 1986 album, it includes Welcome Home (Sanitarium) as the B-Side, and was released on the French label, New Electric Way. We hardly ever see this item here, especially in such excellent condition.
Another piece of Metallica history was unearthed during the trip when we found a promotional copy of the towering 1988 single, One. It has a unique blue tinted picture sleeve, with a sticker on the front to show the release date. As well as the album version, it also includes a radio edit, and is in stunning condition. Being the first one we have seen in nearly 30 years, there’s a strong chance we will never see it again once it’s gone.
It wasn’t just vinyl that we found on our trip overseas. We picked up a copy of the 7-track pressing of the Mandatory Metallica promotional only CD, which is a known rarity within the collecting community. It is, as the title suggests, a collection of the most mandatory Metallica tracks such as For Whom The Bell Tolls, Creeping Death, Fade to Black and more. It does omit One, which appears on other pressings of this CD, but that glaring omission is what makes this so collectable.
These are just a few of the highlights amongst the Metallica collectables in our store, and there are plenty more to feast upon.
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