New Wax Wednesday

Fortune, fame, mirror vain. If you automatically know the next lines are “Gone insane / But the memory remains,” then the next upcoming mondo Metallica box set is clearly for you. (You may now give the proper “Dio fingers” salute before I continue with all the details.)

More specifically, Metallica have just announced the “definitive” re-release of their 4x platinum seventh studio album, November 1997’s ReLoad. It will be released in multiple configurations on June 26, 2026, via the band’s own Blackened Recordings label, including a truly comprehensive 5LP/15CD/4DVD limited edition deluxe box set and a 180g 2LP standalone edition.

Here are the important stats first. Remastered by Reuben Cohen at Lurssen Mastering with Greg Fidelman overseeing, the ReLoad Remastered deluxe box set sports an SRP of $274.99, and it can be preordered from Music Direct here, and/or via the MD link graphic below, just ahead of the tracklisting section.

ReLoad (Remastered) is also available in a number of other analog-centric formats, including the standard 180g 2LP edition ($36.99; preorder here), and even a cassette ($14.98; preorder here).

As an early taste of what’s to come, “The Memory Remains (Remastered),” is now officially on YouTube, and you can check it out for yourself below.

As someone who worked as a writer and associate producer on 2021’s fully authorized The Metallica Podcast: Volume 1 — which consisted of nine episodes marking the 30th anniversary of August 1991’s Metallica, a.k.a. The Black Album — I can attest firsthand how comprehensive the band and their team are when it comes to compiling box sets, not only in terms of how the ensuing sound quality has been better tailored for the vinyl listening experience, but also the amount of extras included that make their big box SRPs worth the heavier dollar freight.

Additional stats now, direct from the Metallica PR team — albeit with the usual MM-proffered commentary and notes. The ReLoad Remastered limited edition deluxe box set curates the 1997-98 era of Metallica, and it includes scores of previously unreleased demos, rough mixes, live performances, on-air and television appearances, and much more.

The numbered deluxe edition box’s pressing features the remastered ReLoad album on 180g double vinyl, “The Memory Remains” 7in single, and Live at Ministry of Sound ’97, a 140g triple album recorded live at that titular venue in London, England, on November 13, 1997. On the digital side of things, the box set’s 15CDs range from housing the remastered ReLoad album to never-before-released collections of riffs, demos, and rough mixes, along with B-sides, rarities, and a wealth of live material. The 4DVDs offer gobs of behind-the-scenes, in-studio, and live footage, as well as on-air and television appearances, the band’s pop-up performance at the CoreStates Complex Parking Lot in Philadelphia, visits to Seoul in South Korea, and more.

Rounding out the ReLoad box’s contents are a plethora of memorabilia, including a pack of 13 Rorschach Test cards, an 11x17in Gimme Fuel poster, a sticker, a Pushead print, a 10-pack of guitar/bass picks, lyric sheets, three laminated tour passes, and a deluxe 128-page book with never-before-seen photos and insider stories.

Originally released on Elektra on November 18, 1997, ReLoad was the third consecutive Metallica album to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, ultimately spending nearly 80 weeks on that chart, attaining No. 1 status in six countries, and hitting the Top 10 in nearly a dozen more. The 1995-97 sessions at The Plant in Sausalito, California, that yielded both ReLoad and June 1996’s Load found guitarist/vocalist James Hetfield, drummer Lars Ulrich, guitarist Kirk Hammett, and the band’s then-bassist Jason Newsted exploring (in their words now) “expanded creative terrain and pushing the boundaries of Metallica’s sonic identity.”

On ReLoad, this meant (in their words again) “bold decisions,” ranging from the inclusion of hurdy-gurdy and violin on the somber “Low Man’s Lyric” (LP2, Side 4, Track 1) to Marianne Faithfull’s haunting guest vocal on “The Memory Remains” (LP1, Side 1, Track 2). I absolutely loved Faithfull’s, shall we say, “lived-in” contributions to that song from the jump — something she and I briefly discussed during our sitdown in-person interview in New York back in 2010 that I still need to curate and post in full at some point.

Tracks from ReLoad like “Fuel” and “The Memory Remains” continue to be staples of the Bay Area band’s setlists on their ongoing M72 World Tour. While I, of course, cannot give a Sound rating for the analog portion of the box set until I get the LPs in hand and in ear, I can give the Music of ReLoad an 8 right out of the box — and that rating might tick up a bit, depending on the balance of the live material that I’ve only heard a bit of digitally at this point. Ooh, on I burn / Fuel is pumping engines / Burning hard, loose, and clean. . .

METALLICA
RELOAD LIMITED EDITION DELUXE BOX SET
180g/140g 5LP/15CD/4DVD (Blackened)
*Note: Only the vinyl tracklistings follow; go here
for a comprehensive breakdown of all the other included A/V material

LP1: ReLoad: Remastered

LP1, Side 1
1. Fuel
2. The Memory Remains
3. Devil’s Dance
4. The Unforgiven II

LP1, Side 2
1. Better Than You
2. Slither
3. Carpe Diem Baby

LP2: ReLoad: Remastered – ctd

LP2, Side 3
1. Bad Seed
2. Where the Wild Things Are
3. Prince Charming

LP2, Side 4
1. Low Man’s Lyric
2. Attitude
3. Fixxxer

LP3: Live at Ministry of Sound ’97 / London, England – November 13th, 1997

LP3, Side 1: Give Me Fuel
1. Intro Jam
2. Helpless
3. The Four Horsemen
4. Of Wolf and Man

LP3, Side 2: Give Me Fire
1. The Thing That Should Not Be
2. Fuel

LP4, Side 3: Give Me Vinyl
1. The Memory Remains
2. King Nothing

LP4, Side 4: Which I Desire, Oh!
1. Bleeding Me
2. No Remorse

LP5, Side 5: Made On The Metallipress
1. Am I Evil?
2. Stone Cold Crazy
3. Encore Jam
4. The Wait

LP5, Side 6: We Miss Andie Airfix
1. Master Of Puppets
2. Encore Jam #2
3. Damage, Inc.

The Memory Remains 7in single

Side 1
1. The Memory Remains (Remastered)

Side 2
1. For Whom The Bell Tolls (Haven’t Heard It Yet Mix)