Beyond Magnetic is the third extended play by American heavy metal band Metallica. It was released to coincide with the band's 30th anniversary shows, in which they released a new song for all four days of the shows. It was originally released as a digital download exclusively on iTunes on December 13, 2011.[1] All four songs featured on Beyond Magnetic were recorded for the group's Death Magnetic sessions but had not been released.[2][3]Beyond Magnetic was released on CD on January 30, 2012 internationally and on the following day in the United States. As of September 2016, it has sold over 210,000 copies in the U.S.[4]
During the Death Magnetic album sessions in 2007 and 2008, we originally recorded 14 songs. When it came time to pick the songs for the final album, we decided on 10 songs that you've all come to know over the last three years... Some of you may have heard bits and pieces of those other songs on 'Mission Metallica' (remember 'Mission Metallica'?!) or heard rumors about them during the recording process, and wondered, 'What ever happened to those other four songs???.' We kept them in the vault and decided to pull them just for this special celebration, so here are the four leftover tracks from the Death Magnetic sessions. They are ROUGH mixes, unfinished to their original degree of mixing from March '08. These four songs were released as a gift to our closest fans, the members of our Fan Club, to enjoy. Now they're being made available to you.
On January 3, 2012, Metallica announced that Beyond Magnetic was to be released as a CD on January 31 in the U.S. and January 30 internationally.[6] It was also announced that the EP would be released on vinyl, and would be made available on April 21 in celebration of Record Store Day.[7]
Reviews of Beyond Magnetic have been largely positive. AllMusic gave it a rating of four out of five stars, and reviewer Stephen Erlewine called the EP "as potent as its 2008 parent".[8]Consequence of Sound, however, found the album "pointless", because the band's best material had already been packaged together successfully for Death Magnetic, leaving "a half hour of rough cuts" behind "for good reason."[9]
During its first week of release, Beyond Magnetic sold 36,000 copies and peaked at number 29 on the Billboard 200.[12] The album has sold 210,000 copies in the United States as of September 2016.[13]
Track listing
All lyrics are written by James Hetfield; all music is composed by Metallica
No.
Title
Length
1.
"Hate Train"
6:59
2.
"Just a Bullet Away"
7:11
3.
"Hell and Back"
6:57
4.
"Rebel of Babylon"
8:01
Total length:
29:08
Credits
Writing, performance and production credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.[14]
Personnel
Metallica
James Hetfield – vocals, rhythm guitar, lead guitar on "Just a Bullet Away"
Kirk Hammett – lead guitar, rhythm guitar on "Just a Bullet Away"