Metallica

Metallica has seen an historic rise in sales in Finland, with 10 of their past albums all charting in the Top 40 in the country. This follows hot on the heels of the band announcing they will play a show in Finland in July at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium.

The news has been greeted with an unprecedented number of sales of earlier recordings; seeing albums such as Master Of Puppers, And Justice For All, Ride The Lightning and Metallica, all charting in the Top 10 of the Finnish album charts.

46,000 fans attended their last show at the venue in 2004, and that works out at about 1 per percent of the entire country in attendance.

Metallica have finally confirmed all 11 of their Sick Of The Studio 2007 European tour dates they will be playing this summer. After much speculation among excited fans, we can confirm the dates and venues are as follows:

June 28 - Lisbon, POR, Super Bock Super Rock Festival
June 29 - Bilbao, SPA, Bilbao BBK Live Festival
July 1 - Werchter, BEL, Rock Werchter Festival
July 3 - Athens, GRE, Rockwave Festival
July 5 - Vienna, AUT, Rotundenplatz
July 8 - London, UK, Wembley Staduim
July 10 - Oslo, NOR, Valle Hovin Stadion
July 12 - Stockholm, SWE, Stadion
July 13 - Aarhus, DEN, Vestereng
July 15 - Helsinki, FIN, Olympic Stadium
July 18 - Moscow, RUS, Luzhniki Stadium

Metallica may be great as a name for a heavy metal band, but a Swedish couple are locked in a struggle to convince authorities it’s also suitable for a baby girl.

Sweden’s tax agency rejected Michael and Karolina Tomaro’s application to name their 6-month-old daughter after the legendary rock band.

Although little Metallica has already been baptized, the Swedish National Tax Board refused to register the name, saying it was associated with both the rock group and the word “metal.”

In Sweden, parents must get the names of their children approved by the tax authority, which is in charge of the population registry and issues personal identification numbers, similar to Social Security numbers in the U.S.

The case is under appeal.

Metallica has issued the following update to fans about starting work on their next studio album:

“Greetings from not-so-sunny Northern California. We know that things have been pretty quiet here in web-land, so we thought we’d throw some shit your way… here goes…

“We are finishing up the last couple weeks of pre-production on the album and… really… seriously…(drum roll)… we’re going to start recording on March 12th. We’re pretty fuckin’ psyched about it and pretty fuckin’ psyched to be sharing this experience with Rick [Rubin, producer].

“But wait… there’s more. We kinda sorta figured that by the time June rolled around, we would be ready for a break from recording (escape??) and since we had so much fun in Europe last summer, we thought, ‘Why not go back for some more fun and games?’ We’re planning to share the summer love with our friends in some different countries we didn’t get to last year… Okay, fuck it, maybe one or two repeats. We haven’t quite worked out all the details yet, but we thought that for once we really would be the first site to break a piece of METALLICA news.

“So keep your eyes open for more details in the next few.. the plan right now is to head out in late June and hang out for a couple/three weeks. We might even do a certain festival that we’ve played 19 times in July that starts with a ‘W,’ maybe hit a certain band member’s home turf… blah, blah, blah.

“It’s a start . . . .”

Get Thrashed traces the rise, fall and impact of thrash metal; from its early years, through its influence on grunge, nu metal and today’s heavy metal scene. It is the story of the heaviest, hardest music of the 80s and early 90s as told by the bands who lived it, the fans and bands that grew up on it and by the artists that carry the “thrash metal” flag today. The documentary throws new light on an overlooked, yet incredible music scene and how it went from a simple rumbling in the underground to a loud, obnoxious and constant roar in the (almost) mainstream.

“Get Thrashed: The Story of Thrash Metal” had its world premiere at the 2006 Raindance Film Festival in London. The documentary screened on October 3 at the CineWorld, Trocadero Centre, Piccadilly, London. Director Rick Ernst, a longtime freelance producer for MTV, was on hand at the event.

“Get Thrashed” will include interviews with METALLICA, SLAYER, MEGADETH, ANTHRAX, EXODUS, GODSMACK, DISTURBED, SEVENDUST, TESTAMENT, OVERKILL, DEATH ANGEL, SHADOWS FALL, MESHUGGAH, HIRAX, IN FLAMES, STRAPPING YOUNG LAD, STONE SOUR, SUPERJOINT RITUAL and others.

Veteran producer Bob Rock (METALLICA, MÖTLEY CRÜE, THE CULT) will be inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame during the 2007 Canadian Juno Awards, which will be broadcast on Sunday, April 1 on CTV from the Credit Union Centre in Saskatoon, SK.

“It is an honor to join great producers like Bob Ezrin, Bruce Fairbairn, Daniel Lanois, Jack Richardson and David Foster in the Canadian Music Hall of Fame,” Rock said in a statement. “They are all giants of the industry, and to be recognized, means that I had to have worked with truly great artists. I thank them for their confidence and inspiration.”

With the recent DVD release of Metallica’s “The Videos - 1989 - 2004,” metal fans now have the ability to watch 15 years of James Hetfield’s mustache moods in about two hours.

From the familiar Franz Joseph of Metallica’s early years (worn by Hetfield in 1989’s “One” video), to the petite goatee and short bottle-brush mustache of the “Load” and “Reload” era (”The Memory Remains,” from 1997), to the robust chin beard of today (”Some Kind of Monster,” 2004), no whisker is left out.

As a backdrop to Hetfield’s evolutionary follies, “The Videos” chronicles Metallica’s history from the moment it transcended thrash metal into the present. The 21 videos’ changing fashions, hair, cinematic styles and beats per minute show the band’s struggle with fame, competition, ambition, ego, alcohol, maturity and hairstylists.

Most of the videos are strongly narrative, such as a depressed teen’s suicide attempt in “Hero of the Day,” from 1996, and a day in the life of a stripper in “Turn the Page,” from 1998. But the real story is always Metallica and how its members cope with the monstrous popularity and influence of their music.

“One” shows a young Metallica shell-shocked by its sudden fame even after nearly a decade of touring. A few years later, in “Sad but True,” the band appears uncomfortable with its superstar role. “Fuel” is a tribute to fast cars, the frivolous playthings of spoiled rock stars. “Frantic” is the band’s (especially Hetfield’s) statement of penance for a quarter of a century of substance abuse.

Through it all, Metallica has remained at the top of the hardcore scene, in spite of personal problems, lineup changes and its bizarre and fruitless crusade against electronic file sharing.

No other hard rock or metal act has been able to claim Metallica’s throne.

Four youths accused of manslaughter in the beating death of a bus passenger must stand trial even though the man started the fight.

But an earlier ban on them riding Edmonton Transit has ended.

Youth court Judge Jack Easton ruled today there’s enough evidence for a trial despite there being “absolutely no doubt” that victim Stefan Conley was the aggressor.

A judge has ordered four youths to stand trial for manslaughter in the beating death of Stefan Conley.

His death happened on a Route 74 bus near South Edmonton Common about 9 p.m. on March 2 last year.

Two passengers told police that Conley, 35, was swarmed by rowdy teenagers after he told them to stop. They said the teens continued to kick and stomp on him after he went down.

During the inquiry the passengers acknowledged they could not see what was happening.

Another passenger testified that one youth insulted Conley, who crossed the aisle and punched the him, with the result that all four youths punched back. A further passenger said the teens stopped punching as soon as Conley let go of the youth he was attacking.

Easton said the medical evidence was that Conley died from at least one blow to the head, from a rare, pin-hole-sized tear to an artery near the brain.

Easton described the hearing as a screening process, to see if there was enough evidence for a trial to consider, and to help the youths’ lawyers prepare a defence.

He ruled there is enough evidence.

“I am not entitled to weigh the evidence or consider the credibility of the witnesses,” he said. That that will be up to a judge or jury, he added.

One of the youths was 16 years old and three were 17 at the time of the death. Two have since turned 18 but none can be identified because they were minors when it happened.

They are to make their first appearance in Court of Queen’s Bench on March 16.

Easton agreed to defence lawyers’ request to let them ride Edmonton Transit once more, ending a ban that has been a condition of their bail. He also relaxed a curfew so that they now may be out until midnight, instead of the earlier cut-off of 9 p.m. And he eased their requirements for reporting to probation officers.

A ban prevents publication of the reasons.

Among conditions earlier conditions that remain in place, the youths may not associate with each other and they are banned from J. Percy Page High School, where they were students.

At least 17,000 people reportedly signed online and traditional petitions last spring to have the youths’ bail revoked. The Crown concluded it had no grounds to appeal the bail decision.

Source: Edmonton Journal

Connie Nielsen is probably best known as Lucilla, Russell Crowe’s unconsummated love in “Gladiator.” But the stunning, Danish-born actress has a wide-ranging resume that includes its share of big-budget films (”The Devil’s Advocate,” “Basic”), indies (”One Hour Photo,” “Brothers”) and TV (she subbed for “Law & Order: SVU’s” Mariska Hargitay during her recent maternity leave). That, and she’s the live-in girlfriend of Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich. Freelancer Lewis Beale caught up with the actress, whose latest film, the Iraq War drama “The Situation,” opened Friday, after her stint on a WNBC talk show.

You’re now living with Metallica’s Lars Ulrich. Were you together when the 2004 documentary “Metallica: Some Kind of Monster,” a film about the band’s personal and personnel problems, came out?

No. I think the third date he took me to see a private screening of it, and after seeing it, I was like ‘Are you crazy, showing me that movie? I don’t even know if I want to go out with you anymore.’ I was a little stunned. But to see that openness and honesty, that was kind of cool.

You have a 17-year-old son. Now you’re pregnant again. What’s it like to be with child after such a long time?

It was something to stand there with a huge stomach and at the same time filling out college applications. But I gotta tell you, I feel pretty much the same as when I was running around Rome, pregnant, 17 years ago with the first one. I feel really, really good.

“Let it Ride”, a full-length film about legendary snowboarder Craig Kelly narrated by METALLICA frontman James Hetfield, was honored with “Best Picture” and “Best Soundtrack” awards on the closing night of the 2007 X-Dance Film Festival in Park City, Utah (January 23, 2007). The X-Dance Festival runs concurrently with the Sundance Film Festival and is considered the most prestigious action-sport film festival in the world. “Let it Ride” also won the Whistler Film Festival (out of 44 entries) in December 2006.

“Let it Ride” is a riveting profile of Craig Kelly, the man who ultimately transformed and transcended the sport he helped create. Kelly came to symbolize the freedom, grace, and independent spirit that attract people to snowboarding in the first place. He died along with six others in an avalanche January 20, 2003.

“Let it Ride”, directed by veteran filmmaker Jacques Russo and produced by Locomotion Films, traces the life of the charismatic world champion and explores how he was a defining part of the snowboard culture as it matured from renegade outsider sport to mainstream acceptance. The film is narrated by Hetfield and the soundtrack includes PEARL JAM, METALLICA, THE DOORS, JOHNNY CASH and EDGAR WINTER, among others.

“I feel privileged to have been able to make this film,” said director Jacques Russo. “Craig’s message to us all was about how we live our lives.”

Champion Visions World, Inc. and Ally Distribution, LLC will be the exclusive distributor for the worldwide sports market. The highly anticipated documentary will initially be released in theatres, and is expected to be one of the best-selling and most important films in snowboarding history.

“We’re incredibly excited about this film and look forward to selling it all over the world,” says Kelly Dole, owner and co-founder of Champion Visions World and Ally Distribution. “It perfectly reveals the soul and artistry of snowboarding through Craig’s inspiring life story — it’s an amazing film for everyone, not just snowboarders.”

Source: Blabbermouth.net