Death Magnetic is the ninth studio album by American heavy metal band Metallica,

released on September 12, 2008, through Warner Bros. Records. The album was
produced by Rick Rubin, marking the band's first album since ...And Justice for
All (1988) not to be produced by longtime collaborator Bob Rock and co-produced by
Hetfield and Ulrich. It is also the first Metallica album with bassist Robert Trujillo, and
the second to share writing credit to all of the band's members.

Metallica began writing music for a new album in 2006, later recording the album at
different studios across Los Angeles County, California, from March 2007 to May
2008. Musically, Death Magnetic is a radical departure from Metallica's previous
album, St. Anger (2003), and is considered a return to the band's thrash metal roots,
[7]
with more complex compositions, standard guitar tuning on most songs and
long guitar solos from Kirk Hammett and James Hetfield. It also includes the band's
first instrumental piece, "Suicide & Redemption", since "To Live Is to Die" from ...And
Justice for All.

Death Magnetic made Metallica the first band to achieve five consecutive number-
one studio albums on the U.S. Billboard 200.[8][9][10] The album received positive
reviews from critics, who considered it a return to form for Metallica. However, the
album's production was criticized as overcompressed and cited as a product of
the loudness war. The album and its songs were nominated for six Grammy
Awards (five in 2009 and one in 2010) and won three, including Best Metal
Performance for "My Apocalypse". In support of the album, Metallica embarked on
the World Magnetic Tour from October 2008 to November 2010. Four unreleased
tracks from the album's recording sessions were later released as the Beyond
Magnetic EP in December 2011.

Production
[edit]
Writing
[edit]
If you're in the studio, everybody presumes you're recording or making a record. Last time there was
no real separation between the writing process and the recording process. With St. Anger nobody
brought in any pre-recorded stuff or ideas; it was just make it up on the spot, be in the moment. So
this time we are doing exactly what we did on all the other albums;— first we're writing, then we're
recording. The only difference is that we're writing where we record. So we're writing here at HQ
because this is our home, we're writing in the studio.
— Lars Ulrich, on the new album[11]

Early in 2004, lead singer James Hetfield revealed that Metallica had been playing
new material during studio sessions, but that there was no mention of plans for a
ninth studio album at that time.[12] Select music from the jam sessions may be used
on the album, as Lars Ulrich stated, "I definitely look forward to sifting through some
of that stuff when we get back to the studio in January."[13] On that note, by October
2004, the band had already compiled nearly 50 hours of pre-set jamming, with
hundreds of riffs, chord progressions and bass lines.[14] On September 30, 2004,
Launch Radio revealed from an interview with Hetfield that the band hoped to return
to the studio in spring of 2005 to begin recording their ninth studio album for Warner
Bros. Records.[15]
On March 10, 2006, it was reported that Metallica was planning to use the following
six months to write material for the album, in addition to the previous two months
they had already been spending writing music.[16] Ulrich also stated that the band was
getting along much better in the studio than they did during the recording of St.
Anger.[17] On April 6, he revealed that the band had composed "six to seven" songs
(except for vocals) from their findings off the riff tapes recording during pre-sets of
the Madly in Anger with the World Tour.[18] He also said that by this point, the band's
new material was reminiscent of "old school" Metallica works, and that it certainly did
not feel like a St. Anger "part two".

On May 20, 2006, Kirk Hammett revealed that the band had fifteen songs written and
were writing on average two to three songs per week. Hetfield also praised
producer Rick Rubin for his production style in giving the band their own freedom
and keeping the pressure at a minimum, despite the sessions becoming sometimes
briefly unfocused.[19] On May 27, Metallica updated their website with a video
featuring information regarding the album.[20]

Recording
[edit]
Three studios were used to produce the album, those being Sound City Studios in
Van Nuys, California, Shangri La Studios in Malibu, California, and HQ in San
Rafael, California. On January 1, 2007, Ulrich stated in an interview
with Revolver that the band would be conceiving the album much like they did their
albums prior to working with ex-producer Bob Rock; they would sit down, write a
select number of songs, then enter the studio to record them. He also quoted Rubin
by saying "Rubin didn't want them to start the recording process until every song that
they were going to record was as close to 100 percent as possible."[21]

On March 5, Ulrich revealed that the band had narrowed a potential 25 songs down
to 14, and that they would begin recording those fourteen on the following week. He
also expanded on Rubin's style of production, saying,[22]

Rick's big thing is to kind of have all these songs completely embedded in our bodies
and basically next Monday, on D-Day, just go in and execute them. So you leave the
creative element of the process out of the recording, so you go in and basically just
record a bunch of songs that you know inside out and upside down, and you don't
have to spend too much of your energy in the recording studio creating and thinking
and analyzing and doing all that stuff. His whole analogy is, the recording process
becomes more like a gig—just going in and playing and leaving all the thinking at the
door.
On March 14, the band's official website issued a statement: "Metallica left the
comfort of HQ this week to descend upon the greater Los Angeles area to begin
recording their ninth original album. This is the first time they've recorded outside of
the Bay Area since they spent time at One-on-One Studios recording their self-titled
album in 1990 and '91."[23] This was confirmed on July 24, 2008, on Mission:
Metallica, as a video surfaced showing the crew moving into Sound City Studios
of Nirvana fame.[24]
On June 4, Robert Trujillo revealed that only select portions of the two new songs
debuted in Berlin and Tokyo respectively would be featured on the album.[25] The
band hoped to have the album finished by October or November, when the album
would be mixed.[26] He predicted the album would be out in February 2008, and
revealed that the songs they were working with were quite long.

On February 2, 2008, Sterlingsound.com revealed that Ted Jensen from Sterling

Sound Studios would be mastering the new record. According to Blabbermouth.net
and other sources, Greg Fidelman, who had served as a sound engineer, had also
been tapped to mix the album.[27]

Ulrich confirmed on May 15, 2008, that Metallica recorded eleven songs for Death
Magnetic, although only ten would appear on the album due to the constraints of the
physical medium.[28] The eleventh song, titled "Shine" (which was later retitled "Just a
Bullet Away"), was a song Hetfield "based around a Layne Staley type, a rock & roll
martyr magnetized by death."[29]

Unreleased tracks
[edit]
See also: Beyond Magnetic
A number of unreleased songs from Death Magnetic, including the above-mentioned
"Just a Bullet Away", but also "Hell and Back", "Hate Train" and "Rebel of Babylon"
were left off the album, but were rumored to be released as B-sides or on the next
album. The titles were confirmed by Hammett and Ulrich on the MetOnTour video
from December 20, 2008.[30] On December 5, 7, 9 and 10, 2011, the band played four
new songs, "Hate Train", "Just a Bullet Away", "Hell and Back" and "Rebel of
Babylon", at the band's 30th Anniversary concerts. The day after each concert,
MetClub members were sent an e-mail with a code for a free download of a rough
mix of the song played at the show.[31][32][33] The songs were released officially on
the Beyond Magnetic EP, released on December 13, 2011.[34] Two other songs
recorded during Death Magnetic, based on "The New Song" (performed in 2006) and
"The Other New Song" (performed in 2006 and 2007), have not been released,
though parts of "The New Song" can be found in the recorded songs "The End of the
Line" and "All Nightmare Long".

Title
[edit]
Kirk Hammett played a role in inspiring the album title by bringing a photograph of
deceased Alice in Chains singer Layne Staley to the studio where Metallica was
recording. "That picture was there for a long time", said Hammett, "I think it pervaded
James' psyche."[29] Wondering why someone with Staley's talent would choose to use
drugs so heavily and die so young, Hetfield started writing a song based on his
questions (the song "Rebel of Babylon").[29]

On July 16, 2008, Hetfield commented on the album's title:

Death Magnetic, at least the title, to me started out as kind of a tribute to people that
have fallen in our business, like Layne Staley and a lot of the people that have died,
basically—rock and roll martyrs of sorts. And then it kind of grew from there, thinking
about death ... some people are drawn towards it, and just like a magnet, and other
people are afraid of it and push. Also the concept that we're all gonna die sometimes
is over-talked about and then a lot of times never talked about—no one wants to
bring it up; it's the big white elephant in the living room. But we all have to deal with it
at some point.[35]
The title is referenced in the track "My Apocalypse". According to Hammett, another
title considered for the album was Songs of Suicide and Forgiveness.[29] Death
Magnetic was eventually picked out of four working titles when Hetfield met with
creative agency Turner Duckworth, who were brought in to deal with the album's
visual identity, and as he discussed the songs "it was clear that they were all linked
to death, facing up to the nature of death, and the fear and attraction that surrounds
death."[36]

Release and promotion

[edit]

Hammett performing live in 2007

In January 2008, a statement was made by Stereo Warning that the album would be
delayed until September 2008,[37] The album, which was completed on August 10,
2008,[38] was released on September 12 in the United States and issued in a variety
of different packages.

On September 2, a French record store began selling copies of Death Magnetic,

nearly two weeks ahead of its scheduled worldwide release date,[39] which resulted in
the album being made prematurely available on peer-to-peer clients.[40] This
prompted the band's UK distributor, Vertigo Records, to officially release the album
two days ahead of schedule, on September 12.[8] Ulrich, who was questioned about
the leak on a San Francisco radio station, responded,[41]

We're ten days from release. I mean, from here, we're golden. If this thing leaks all
over the world today or tomorrow, happy days. Happy days. Trust me. Ten days out
and it hasn't fallen off the truck yet? Everybody's happy. It's 2008 and it's part of how
it is these days, so it's fine. We're happy.
He later told USA Today,[42]

By 2008 standards, that's a victory. If you'd told me six months ago that our record
wouldn't leak until 10 days out, I would have signed up for that. We made a great
record, and people seem to be getting off on it way more than anyone expected.
During their Escape from the Studio '06 tour, Metallica debuted two songs.[43] "The
New Song" debuted on the European leg in Berlin, Germany on June 6, 2006.[44] The
song, as performed, is approximately eight minutes long.[44] The title was rumored to
be "Death Is Not the End"[citation needed] as Hetfield repeatedly sings the line throughout the
song.[43] This song would appear again in multiple Fly on the Wall videos on
the Mission: Metallica website, showing the band partway through the song's
recording, as noted by the slower tempo and lack of lyrics.[citation needed] "The Other New
Song", (which was later named "Vulturous") debuted on August 12, 2006, in Tokyo,
and is much shorter, taking just below four minutes to perform.[45] To the surprise of
fans, Metallica played "The Other New Song" once again on June 29, 2007,
in Bilbao, Spain.[46] Although neither of the "New Songs" appear on the album
themselves, "The End of the Line" and "All Nightmare Long" both contain elements
of "The New Song".

On August 9, 2008, Metallica debuted the first album track, "Cyanide", at Ozzfest,
in Dallas, Texas and was performed again on August 20, 2008, in Dublin, Ireland.
[47]
On August 22, at the Leeds Festival, they debuted the first single, "The Day That
Never Comes".[48]

On July 31, 2009, it was announced on Metallica.com that the band felt that the song
"My Apocalypse" was in need of an introduction when played live to "set the mood".
The statement on Metallica.com reads, "We've been enjoying playing 'My
Apocalypse' out here on the road but felt like it could use something extra. We
decided that it needed a cool intro to set the mood so James wrote one. Check out
and enjoy this free download ... and make sure you learn it for singing along at a
future show!" The approximately minute-long introduction is available as a
free MP3 download. The song had originally been debuted live on March 25, 2009,
at the LG Arena in Birmingham, UK.[49]

On the day of the release FMQB radio broadcast The World Premiere of Death
Magnetic, which was heard on more than 175 stations across the US and Canada.
The live program from Metallica HQ featured all four members of Metallica talking
with Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl and drummer Taylor Hawkins. Originally
scheduled for a 90-minute broadcast, the show ended after two hours.[50]

Packaging and versions

[edit]
Ulrich brought the agency Turner Duckworth, co-owned by his personal friend David
Turner, as he wanted someone that "would bring fresh ideas", and commanded
respect in branding but were not jaded by the music business". While Turner and his
partner Bruce Duckworth played with the two elements from the title, they emerged
with the cover that combined a white coffin, a grave, and a magnetic field, depicted
by a model made and photographed by Andy Grimshaw. Turner added the image
was "simple and literal but at the same time open to all sorts of interpretations",
saying that Hetfield considered the coffin shaped as "a door, to another experience,
or consciousness". Duckworth stated that the cover fit their intention of something
that would also be recognizable in a digital format, "small icons that go on your
phone or iPod".[36][51][52]

Turner compared the Metallica project with a campaign they did for Coca-Cola, as
both approaches went down to "stripping things back down to what the brand was
originally and the other part was adding a fresh new approach." The original
Metallica logo was brought back to demonstrate how the band was trying to restore
their old identity, while the cover was primarily white to contrast how the color is
hardly used in the metal genre.[36][52] Given the band wanted the physical release to be
memorable to ensure it still had value in an age where audiences were purchasing
more digital music,[36] the original digipak featuring a layered die cut, where each
page of the booklet resembled a layer of dirt being thrown on the coffin.[53] Death
Magnetic was issued on vinyl in a special box set, and also had a deluxe edition
shaped like a coffin,[51] bundled along with an additional disc full of demos, a making-
of DVD, an exclusive T-shirt, guitar picks, a flag and a fold-out poster.[54]

Guitar Hero
[edit]
Alongside the release of the album, it was released as downloadable content (DLC)
for Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock.[55][56] This content would later be optimized for
external use in Guitar Hero World Tour, Guitar Hero: Metallica (although "All
Nightmare Long" was included on the in-game setlist), Guitar Hero 5, Band Hero,
and Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock.[55][56]

The Guitar Hero DLC had two versions of the instrumental track "Suicide &
Redemption". The versions differed by the guitar solo performed on the song: one
version had a solo performed by Hetfield, the other a solo by Hammett. The tracks
were titled according to the solo they contained, with the Hetfield version named
"Suicide & Redemption J.H." and the Hammett version named "Suicide &
Redemption K.H."[55][56]

Due to technical restrictions, the Wii version of Guitar Hero: World Tour only could
hold the three shortest songs of the eleven: "Broken, Beat & Scarred", "Cyanide" and
"My Apocalypse".[57] These songs also appear on the Wii and PS2 versions of Guitar
Hero: Metallica as bonus songs instead of DLC.[57] The eight remaining tracks
(including both versions of "Suicide & Redemption") were released on November 24,
2009, as DLC for Guitar Hero 5 and Band Hero for Wii.[58][59]

Tour
[edit]

Kirk Hammett and James Hetfield performing in London

in 2008
Main article: World Magnetic Tour
Metallica promoted Death Magnetic with the World Magnetic Tour, which started on
October 21, 2008, in Phoenix, Arizona.[60] The North American leg finished in
February 2009 and was followed by European concerts, interrupted only by a
surprise gig at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, to promote the video
game Guitar Hero: Metallica. A second North American leg, prioritizing markets
missed by the original concerts, began in September.[61][62] The tour returned to both
continents while also extending to Latin America, Israel, Japan and Oceania in 2010,
ending on November 21 in Melbourne, Australia.[63] The 2010 Sonisphere
Festival headlined by Metallica had them for the first time accompanied by the rest of
the "Big Four of thrash metal", Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax, and the concert where
all bands played together for one song was released theatrically and on home video
as The Big Four: Live from Sofia, Bulgaria.[64] Metallica also released in November
2009 two video albums out of World Magnetic Tour performances that year, Orgullo,
Pasión, y Gloria: Tres Noches en la Ciudad de México featuring three Mexico City
concerts in June, and Français Pour une Nuit with a concert in the French town
of Nîmes in July.[65]

Reception
[edit]

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores

Source Rating

Metacritic 78/100[66]

Review scores

Source Rating

[67]
AllMusic

[66]
Blender

[68]
Consequence

Entertainment Weekly B+[69]

[70]
The Guardian

[71]
Los Angeles Times

NME 8/10[72]

Pitchfork 4.9/10[73]

[74]
Rolling Stone

[75]
Uncut
But if you ignore the lyrics, Death Magnetic sounds more like it's about coming back to life. Everything
comes together on the fan-favorite-to-be "Broken, Beat and Scarred", which manages to channel the full
force of Metallica behind a positive message: "What don't kill ya make ya more strong", Hetfield sings,
with enough power to make the cliché feel fresh. The aphorism he paraphrases happens to come from
Nietzsche's Twilight of the Idols, which is subtitled How to Philosophize With a Hammer. Metallica's
philosophizing may get shaky — but long may that hammer strike.
— Review by Rolling Stone, 2008[74]

In a 2007 interview with Rolling Stone, ex-Guns N' Roses drummer Matt
Sorum described his impressions of the unfinished songs:[76]

Lars is a good friend of mine. He played me the demos from San Francisco, and I
turned and looked at him and I said, 'Master that shit and put it out.' It's ridiculous.
The demos were sick. Eight-minute songs, all these tempo changes, crazy fast. It's
like, 'Dude, don't get slower when you get older, but don't get faster!? How are you
gonna play this live?' And then me and Lars were out partying all night, and he had
to go in the studio the next day and do this stupid like nine- or ten-minute song, and I
was laughing at him—because he played me the demo of it, and it was [sings really
fast drum part], so fast. I called him, and said, 'Dude, how are you feeling?' He was
like, 'Dude, I'm hurting.' They're cutting everything to tape, no fuckin' Pro Tools—live,
no clicks.
The album's first single, "The Day That Never Comes", was described by BBC
Music as the closest thing to a ballad on the album.[77] Rock Sound has also
compared it to the likes of Thin Lizzy.[78] The band has abandoned the solo-free
approach that they followed on St. Anger, returning to complex, multi-layered
arrangements such as those typically found on the band's fourth album ...And
Justice for All.[79]

Death Magnetic has been praised by fans as well as critics as a comeback for
Metallica after the widely panned St. Anger. Thrash Hits was one of the first
websites, along with The Quietus, to comment on Death Magnetic, claiming "it is a
vast improvement on 2003 album St Anger". Metal Hammer noted Death Magnetic's
"sharp riffs" and "uncharacteristic bouncing grooves", and favorably compares the
band's sound on the album to bands like Slayer, Led Zeppelin and Rage Against the
Machine.[80] Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy has praised the album, saying
"Death Magnetic is hands down the best Metallica album in 20 years. This is the CD
I've been waiting for them to make since ...And Justice for All. And thumbs up to
them for doing the first real Metallica instrumental in 20 years since 'To Live Is to
Die'. Welcome back, boys."[81]

While Metallica was on the first leg of their 2008 tour in Europe, a third party at their
management Q Prime demanded that media impressions and blogs commenting on
the album be taken down from their website for reasons that were not explained to
the band. However, when the band learned of this, they were upset and Ulrich re-
posted many of the links along with other reactions to the new album, along with an
apology to those whose links had been removed from Metallica's website.[82]

Reviews for the album have been mostly positive. AllMusic's Stephen Thomas
Erlewine stated the album was like "hearing Metallica sound like Metallica again".
[67]
Other positive reviews come from publications like The Guardian, who say that the
album is "the strongest material the band have written in 20 years", and Uncut,
declaring that "like all the best heavy rock albums, it suspends your disbelief,
demands your attention and connects directly with your inner adolescent." BBC
Music's Chris Jones felt that Hetfield's lyrics had become "the channel of his post-
therapy angst".[77] The Observer stated "it's a joy to have these gnarled veterans back
to reinforce the sheer visceral thrill of timeless heavy metal".[83]

On September 15, 2008, after a reviewer for Swedish daily Sydsvenskan admitted
that he preferred a shortened mix of Death Magnetic to the official release,[84] a
scheduled interview was duly cancelled by Universal Music Sweden. Its president,
Per Sundin said:[85]

The reviewer is referring to a BitTorrent where someone has altered the original
songs. The reviewer explains exactly where one should go in order to download the
file that totally infringes on a copyright. It's not only an illegal file, but an altered file.
The reviewer also writes that this is how the album should have sounded. File-
sharing of music is illegal. Period. There's nothing to discuss. That fact—
that Sydsvenskan has a writer that has downloaded this music illegally and then
makes mention of an illegal site in his review—is totally unacceptable to us.
Compression
[edit]

As this waveform shows, the CD

version of Death Magnetic (top) is far more compressed (less dynamic) than the Guitar
Hero downloadable release (bottom).
The album has been criticized for having compromised sound quality, due to an
excessively compressed dynamic range, leading to audible distortion.[86] Sean
Michaels of The Guardian explains that this is "a result of the 'loudness war'—an
ongoing industry effort to make recordings as loud as possible".[87] A Rolling
Stone article states that Rubin was "overseeing mixes in Los Angeles while the band
is in Europe, headlining shows" and only communicated with him by conference
calls.[88]

Fans have noted that these sonic problems are not present in the Guitar
Hero version of the album, where the guitars, bass, drums, and vocals are presented
separately due to the mechanics of the game. The tracks were sent to the game
publishers prior to being compressed.[89][90] As a result, fans have shared "Guitar Hero"
versions of the album. MusicRadar and Rolling Stone attribute a quote to the album's
mastering engineer Ted Jensen in which he claims that "mixes were already brick-
walled before they arrived" for mastering[91][92] and cite a petition from fans to remix or
remaster the album.

Metallica and Rubin initially declined to comment, while the band's co-manager Cliff
Burnstein stated that complainers were in a minority and that response to the album
had otherwise been "overwhelmingly positive".[93] Ulrich later confirmed in an
interview with Blender, that some creative control regarding the album's production
had been transferred to Rubin but also stressed his satisfaction with the final
product.[94][95]
In 2015, the album was re-released on iTunes with a new "Mastered for iTunes"
mastering which features an improved dynamic range and lack of distortion. Digital
downloads from Metallica's official website all use the "Mastered for iTunes" version.
[96]

Accolades
[edit]
Death Magnetic and its songs were nominated for five Grammy Awards at the 51st
Grammy Awards on February 8, 2009, including Best Rock Album and Best Rock
Instrumental Performance for "Suicide & Redemption", winning Best Metal
Performance for "My Apocalypse". Rick Rubin also received the award for Producer
of the Year, Non-Classical, and art directors Bruce Duckworth, David Turner & Sarah
Moffat were awarded Best Recording Package.[97] "The Unforgiven III" was also
nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance at the 52nd Grammy Awards. Death
Magnetic was awarded Best Album in the 2009 Kerrang! Awards.

At the 2008 Metal Storm Awards, the album won Best Heavy Metal Album and
Biggest Surprise.[98] In January 2009, it won a Swedish Metal Award for Best
International Album.[99]

Accolades for Death Magnetic

Countr
Publication Accolade Year Rank
y

Q UK 50 Best Albums of the Year 2008 #25[100]

Uncut UK 50 Best Albums of 2008 2008 #44

Time U.S. Top 10 Albums of 2008 2008 #3[101]

Revolver U.S. The 20 Best Albums of 2008 2008 #1[102]

Rolling Stone U.S. Best Albums of 2008 2008 #9[103]

Metal Edge U.S. 50 Best Albums of 2008 2008 #2

Metal
UK Critics' 50 Top Albums of 2008 2008 #1
Hammer

Kerrang! UK Albums of the Year 2008 2008 #1

Metal Maniacs U.S. 20 Metal Albums of 2008 2008 #20

Commercial performance
[edit]
Death Magnetic debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200, selling 490,000 copies in just
three days of availability.[104] It is the band's fifth consecutive studio album to debut at
#1, making Metallica the first band to have five consecutive studio album releases to
do so. The album marked the highest first week sales for the group since
1996's Load.[10][105]

According to the September 27, 2008 issue of Billboard, Death Magnetic landed at
#1 on the following ten charts: Billboard 200, Billboard Comprehensive Albums, Top
Rock Albums, Top Hard Rock Albums, Top Modern Rock/Alternative Albums, Top
Digital Albums, Top Internet Albums, Top European Albums, Tastemakers. "The Day
That Never Comes" topped the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.[106] The album
stayed at #1 for three consecutive weeks on the Billboard 200, and spent 50
consecutive weeks on said chart.[107] Internationally, it peaked at #1 in 34 countries,
including Ireland, the UK, Canada and Australia.[108]

In addition, nearly 60,000 copies were sold digitally, making it debut at #1 on

the Digital Album chart.[109] The album debuted at #1 on the UK albums chart after
three days of availability, selling 75,164 copies. It remained at #1 for two weeks and
has sold over 150,000 copies to date.[110] In Canada, Death Magnetic debuted at #1
on the Canadian Albums Chart.[111] It sold 81,000 copies in its first week, making it the
second best-selling debut album of 2008 in Canada.[112] It remained the #1 album for
four consecutive weeks.[113] The album was certified 4× platinum in Canada in
October 2009.[114]

In Australia, Death Magnetic was the fastest selling album of 2008, selling 55,877
copies in its first full week of release.[115] Death Magnetic was Australia's highest-
selling record in one week since Australian Idol winner Damien Leith's The Winner's
Journey, in December 2006.[116] The same success was repeated in Germany,
where Death Magnetic has become the fastest selling album of 2008. Within the first
three days of the album's release, Death Magnetic sold over 100,000 copies and has
been certified platinum.[117] According to reports, Death Magnetic is outselling
competitors in Russia and Turkey, two countries which do not have an official album
chart.[118]

In Finland, during the second week of January 2009, Death Magnetic jumped
eighteen spots back up to #1 on that country's album charts within one week.[119]

Death Magnetic was certified 2× platinum (two million units sold) by the RIAA on
June 28, 2010.[120] As of March 2023, the album has sold 2,100,000 copies in the
United States.[121]

Track listing
[edit]
All lyrics are written by James Hetfield; all music is composed by Hetfield, Lars
Ulrich, Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo

Death Magnetic track listing

No. Title Length
1. "That Was Just Your Life" 7:10
 2. "The End of the Line" 7:50
3. "Broken, Beat & Scarred" 6:25
4. "The Day That Never Comes" 7:55
5. "All Nightmare Long" 8:01
6. "Cyanide" 6:41
7. "The Unforgiven III" 7:47
8. "The Judas Kiss" 8:02
9. "Suicide & Redemption" (instrumental) 9:57
10. "My Apocalypse" 5:01
Total length: 74:54

 In live performances My Apocalypse was given a new intro, written by

Hetfield, bringing the song to an extended range of 6 minutes and 10
seconds.[122]
Deluxe edition
[edit]
The deluxe edition of the album included a bonus CD titled Demo Magnetic, which
consisted of demo versions of the tracks on the album with working titles, and a
bonus DVD depicting the making of the album.

Demo Magnetic
No. Title Length
1. "Hi Guy" ("That Was Just Your Life") 7:11
2. "Neinteen" ("The End of the Line") 7:35
3. "Black Squirrel" ("Broken, Beat & Scarred") 6:13
4. "Casper" ("The Day That Never Comes") 8:15
5. "Flamingo" ("All Nightmare Long") 7:59
6. "German Soup" ("Cyanide") 6:31
7. "UN3" ("The Unforgiven III") 7:50
8. "Gymbag" ("The Judas Kiss") 7:55
9. "K2LU" ("Suicide & Redemption"; instrumental) 9:30
10. "Ten" ("My Apocalypse") 5:18
Total length: 74:17
Formats
[edit]

 Experience 2
A physical copy of the Death Magnetic CD.

Experience 4

A box set of Death Magnetic on five 180-gram vinyl LP records, with five
individual sleeves and a Mission: Metallica lithograph. This set was limited to
5,000 copies; 50 limited-edition copies in white vinyl were also later released.
[123]

 The Box Magnetic

A collector's edition white coffin-shaped box which includes the deluxe edition
of Death Magnetic,[124] along with additional "making of" footage not on the
bonus DVD, an exclusive T-shirt with the Death Magnetic logo, a flag, guitar
picks, a backstage pass, a fold-out coffin-shaped poster with the members of
Metallica[124] and a collector's credit card with a code for a free download of a
performance in Europe in September.[125][126] This set was limited to 2,000
copies.[123]
Personnel
[edit]
Metallica Production

 James Hetfield – vocals, rhythm guitar, guitar solo on  Rick Rubin

"Suicide & Redemption"  Greg Fidelm
 Kirk Hammett – lead guitar  Andrew Sch
 Robert Trujillo – bass  Mike Gillie
 Lars Ulrich – drums  Ted Jensen
Additional musicians  Dan Monti

 David Campbell – orchestration on "The Unforgiven III"

Charts
[edit]
Weekly charts Year-end charts
[edit] [edit]

Peak Ch
Chart (2008)
position

Australian Albums (A
Argentine Albums (CAPIF)[127] 1

Austrian Albums (Ö3

Australian Albums (ARIA) [128]
1

Belgian Albums (Ultra

Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [129]
1

Belgian Albums (Ultra

Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[130] 1

Canadian Albums (Bil

Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [131]
2

Croatian Combined A
Brazilian Albums (ABPD)[132] 4

Danish Albums (Hitlis

 Peak Ch
Chart (2008)
position

Canadian Albums (Billboard)[133] 1

Dutch Albums (Album

Croatian International Albums (HDU) [134]
1

European Albums (Bil

Czech Republic Albums (IFPI)[135] 1

French Albums (SNEP

Danish Albums (Hitlisten) [136]
1

German Albums (Offi

Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [137]
1

Greek Albums (IFPI)[1

Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) [138]
1

Greek Foreign Album

French Albums (SNEP) [139]
1

Hungarian Albums (M
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [140]
1

Italian Albums (FIMI)

Greek Albums (IFPI) [141]
1

Japanese Albums (Ori

Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ) [142]
2

Mexican Albums (Top

Irish Albums (IRMA) [143]
1

New Zealand Albums

Italian Albums (FIMI) [144]
1

Swedish Albums (Sve

Japanese Albums (Oricon) [145]
3

Swedish Albums & Co

Mexican Albums (Top 100 Mexico)[146] 1

Swiss Albums (Schwe

New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [147]
1
 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[148] 1 Ch

Polish Albums (ZPAV)[149] 1 UK Albums (OCC)[183]

Portuguese Albums (AFP)[150] 1 US Billboard 200[184]

Russian Albums (Tophit)[151] 14 US Top Rock Albums

Scottish Albums (OCC)[152] 2 Worldwide Albums (I

Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[153] 2 Chart

Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[154] 1 Belgian Albums (Ultra

Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[155] 1 Canadian Albums (Bil

Taiwanese Albums (Five Music)[156] 7 European Albums (Bil

UK Albums (OCC)[157] 1 US Billboard 200[190]

US Billboard 200[158] 1 US Top Rock Albums

US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[159] 1

US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[160] 1

US Top Hard Rock Albums (Billboard)[161] 1

Certifications and sales

[edit]
 Certified
Region Certification
units/sales

Argentina (CAPIF)[192] Platinum 40,000^

Australia (ARIA)[193] 2× Platinum 140,000^

Belgium (BEA)[194] Platinum 30,000*

Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[195] Gold 30,000*

Canada (Music Canada)[196] 4× Platinum 320,000^

Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[197] 2× Platinum 60,000^

Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[198] 2× Platinum 79,415[198]

France (SNEP)[199] Gold 75,000*

GCC (IFPI Middle East)[200] Platinum 6,000*

Germany (BVMI)[201] 5× Gold 500,000‡

Greece (IFPI Greece)[141] Platinum 15,000^

Hungary (MAHASZ)[202] Platinum 6,000^

Ireland (IRMA)[203] Platinum 15,000^

Italy — 60,000[204]
sales in 2008

Japan (RIAJ)[205] Gold 100,000^

 Certified
Region Certification
units/sales

Mexico (AMPROFON)[206] Gold 40,000^

New Zealand (RMNZ)[207] Platinum 15,000^

Norway — 64,000[208]

Poland (ZPAV)[209] Diamond 100,000‡

Portugal (AFP)[210] Platinum 20,000^

Russia (NFPF)[211] 3× Platinum 60,000*

Spain (PROMUSICAE)[212] Gold 40,000^

Sweden (GLF)[213] 2× Platinum 80,000^

Switzerland
Platinum 30,000^
(IFPI Switzerland)[214]

Turkey (Mü-Yap)[215] Gold 5,000*

United Kingdom (BPI)[217] Platinum 300,000 ‡ / 330,398[216]

2,000,000 ^ /
United States (RIAA)[218] 2× Platinum
2,100,000[121]

Summaries
 Certified
Region Certification
units/sales

Europe (IFPI)[219] Platinum 1,000,000*

Sales figures based on certification alone.

*

Shipments figures based on certification alone.

^

‡
Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.