JAMES HETFIELD On METALLICA: Back To The Front – "This is Like A Metallica Family Yearbook" (Video)

Metallica: Back To The Front is headed your way in September and tells the definitive story of Master Of Puppets and the subsequent tour that followed its release. In the new clip below the band reveals how the book came about.

A recent update from Metallica follows: “We can’t believe it… the pre-order for the Deluxe Edition of Metallica: Back To The Front has already sold out on Metallica.com! If you missed out on your chance to pre-order a copy, check out MoonriseMedia.net, the only other place carrying the Deluxe Edition, to order yours today!”

A previous update states: “Two years in the making, we’re beyond excited to finally share it with you. To refresh your memories, we teamed up with acclaimed award winning author Matt Taylor (Jaws: Memories From Martha’s Vineyard) and you all jumped in to assist us in putting the pieces together by sending your photos, videos, stories and mementos. We hit the storage lockers, attics and basements to fill the book with hundreds of never-before-seen images pulled from our personal archives and have been involved every step of the way to bring you the complete story. The deluxe edition comes in a sleek case that includes a hardcover, clothbound, limited edition copy of the 276 page book and a portfolio containing a 1.25” x 1.25” piece of an original roadcase used to ship the band’s equipment to Denmark for the recording of the album and on the tour that followed its release.

“Matt sat with us for exclusive, intensive interviews and we dug deep in our memory banks for stories, anecdotes, tidbits and tales from the studio, the road and beyond. A huge thanks to the people who were a part of our history at that time who sat with Matt, including record producer Flemming Rasmussen and the man who mixed it, Michael Wagener. Matt also tracked down the entire MOP road crew including John Marshall and members of the bands who toured with us, Anthrax and Armored Saint. Our booking agent, tour promoters and managers, Cliff Burnstein and Peter Mensch, all were overly generous with their time and recollections. Faith No More guitarist Jim Martin and drummer Mike Bordin and Diamond Head’s Brian Tatler spoke with Matt about their memories of those crazy times. Of course you, the fans who were at those shows gave us an amazing view of your memories and experiences. Finally, we’re honored that Cliff Burton’s dad Ray sat down for an extensive interview.

“As we continue to celebrate 30 years of Master Of Puppets, in honor of the release of the book we’ve teamed up with ESP Guitars to give Fifth Members a chance to win a very limited edition Master Of Puppets guitar. Now you can customize Metallica.com with the new Master Of Puppets skin. If you’re in the mood to hear some live music all eleven shows from the 2006 summer tour (those of you counting note that was the 20th anniversary of the release of the album!) featuring live performances of the entire album are now available on CD in the Met Store. Keep watching here and on social media for sneak peaks of the book, videos with us chatting about the making of and other fun and games as we’ll be celebrating all throughout August.

“Oh, one more thing. We’re pretty sure that some of you will wonder about the re-mastered versions of Master Of Puppets we told you were in the works. They still are! As we keep digging in the vaults, we’re finding more and more music and video so that we can bring you an even bigger, more comprehensive, no stone-unturned version of the album. As always this is the place for more info as we have it!”

Pandora, the go-to music source for fans and artists, announced today it will livestream Metallica’s headlining performance at Minneapolis’ new U.S. Bank Stadium on Saturday, August 20th. The band’s performance is the first rock concert at the new home of the Minnesota Vikings and tickets sold out in less than 10 minutes. The livestream will begin at 10 PM, EST on Saturday, Augugst 20th. Pandora listeners can tune in the day of and catch it on replay at this location. Individual songs from the concert will also spin on Pandora.

Metallica, who has nearly 2 billion spins on Pandora, also curated an exclusive mixtape in celebration of the show and livestream. The mixtape features songs handpicked by all of the members of the band and features an eclectic mix of all-time favorites and recent discoveries from across the spectrum of music.

“We love being invited to the opening party of new buildings, so when the opportunity to break in the new U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis presented itself, we of course jumped at the chance,” said Metallica’s Lars Ulrich. “Thanks to our friends at Pandora, if you can’t make it to Minneapolis, you’ll still be able to partake in the festivities.”

“Metallica is one of the most successful and influential rock bands in the world. Partnering with them to expand the audience for their live show is a great honor,” said Tim Westergren, founder and CEO of Pandora.  “It’s also another illustration of the power of our platform to connect artists and fans. This is a seminal moment for live music and as a Minneapolis native myself, it’s exciting to be part of the opening of the city’s beautiful new stadium.”

This is Pandora’s third livestream of a major performance and advances Pandora’s mission to help artists grow their careers. Jack White’s sold out show at Madison Square Garden was live streamed to great success and the livestream of Mumford and Sons’ sold out concert at Merriweather Post Pavilion resulted in over a million station adds last year. For more about how Pandora is helping touring artists, visit this location.

Says Metallica: “We’re gearing up to step out of the studio and back onto the road next week and we can’t wait to be a part of opening weekend at the brand new U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. Thanks to you the show is sold out, but if you can’t be there in person we want to bring the music to you and we’ve teamed up with Pandora to do it! Next Saturday, August 20th our friends at Pandora will live stream the entire concert starting at approximately 9 PM local Central Time.

“To celebrate the first rock concert at the brand new home of the Minnesota Vikings and the live stream, we only thought it would be fitting to give you a taste of what we’ve been listening to lately and have curated an exclusive mixtape featuring songs handpicked by all the members of the band. Tune in to Pandora.com/MetallicaLive to listen to a mix of favorites and new discoveries covering a number of different musical genres.

“Log in to your Pandora account or create a new one for free if you live in the U.S., Australia or New Zealand. For those of you in the Metalli-family outside of those countries, we’ve tapped into the LiveMetallica.com team to bring you the live stream of the show. Come back here on August 20th and click here to listen.

“See you next week in Minnesota!”