Metallica are cracking open the vault again, this time dragging 1997’s ReLoad back into the spotlight with a massive deluxe reissue landing June 26th.
Nearly 30 years on, Metallica‘s most divisive era is getting the full archival treatment, and it’s not a half measure, this super deluxe ‘ReLoad’ box set comes loaded with 15 CDs and four DVDs, digging deep into demos, rough mixes, and live recordings from across the globe.
The original album is still front and centre, but this is clearly aimed at fans who’ve spent decades arguing about where ReLoad sits in the Metallica canon (per Rolling Stone).
Revisiting Metallica’s experimental era
If Load was the shock, ReLoad was the follow through, it saw Metallica leaning harder into hard rock, blues, and punk textures, stepping even further away from their thrash roots. Tracks like ‘Fuel’ still hit with that snarling, engine-rev energy, while ‘The Memory Remains’ brought in Marianne Faithfull for one of the band’s strangest and most haunting collaborations.
Then there’s ‘The Unforgiven II’, which dared to revisit one of the band’s most iconic tracks, and deeper cuts like ‘Carpe Diem Baby’ that hinted at the band’s more experimental instincts, love it or hate it, ReLoad has always been a snapshot of a band refusing to stay still.
What’s inside the box
The reissue isn’t just a nostalgia trip, it’s stacked with alternate takes, early riffs, and studio experiments, including a version of the ‘Carpe Diem Baby’ riff originally dubbed ‘Skimpy’, there’s also a Marianne Faithfull outtake titled ‘Memory’, alongside a spread of live recordings pulled from Reading, London, Brisbane, and New Jersey.
The DVDs lean heavily into late ‘90s Metallica, with TV appearances like MTV’s Reload, Rehearse, Request, plus live footage from Philadelphia, Asia, and California. On top of that, the physical set packs in a hardcover book, posters, guitar picks, and the kind of memorabilia that collectors will eat up.
Full track list/features can be found here.
Pre order bonus and fan challenge
Fans who jump in early will score four versions of ‘The Memory Remains’, including an instrumental and a live take recorded in Brisbane, there’s also a new fan initiative, #GetTheReLoadOut, inviting covers, reinterpretations, and even off the wall visual art inspired by the record:
“In addition to the more ‘Traditional’ musical covers, we’re inviting performance and visual artists to submit their content to be judged in the ‘Non-Traditional’ category,” Metallica said on its website. “We’re talking TikTok dances, paintings, miming, children’s toy instrument performances, or whatever else you can dream up!”
Pre order here.
Winners will walk away with a signed box set, which feels like a decent trade for throwing your own spin on one of Metallica’s most polarising records, this one sounds like a must have for any Metallica fan.
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