Robert Trujillo is going on the record…
The 51-year-old bassist and his fellow Metallica band mates will serve as the official 2016 ambassadors for this year’s Record Store Day, which is set for April 16, the same day a multitude of vinyl exclusives are set to descend on independent record stores across America.
The metal legends broke the news in an eight-minute video featuring all four members recounting their lifelong vinyl love.
But that’s not all. Metallica will have a special record store day release. The same day, the band will release a new live album called Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité, Metallica! featuring nine tracks recorded at a 2003 gig at Paris’ Bataclan, the same venue victimized by the November 2015 Paris attacks. All proceeds from the LP will go towards the Fondation de France‘s Give For France charity.
Metallica has a long history of involvement with Record Store Day. In 2008, the band hung out with fans at Rasputin Records in Mountain View, Calif., to help promote the event’s inaugural year. And last year, the reissue of Metallica’s 1982 demo cassette, No Life Til Leather, was crowned Record Store Day’s top seller.
“Independent record stores are part of Metallica’s DNA,” drummer Lars Ulrich said in an official statement. “They have been pivotal in shaping each one of us into the music fanatics we’ve all become. We could not be any prouder to be Record Store Day Ambassadors for 2016 and are looking forward to screaming from every rooftop the next few months about everything independent record store and beyond.”
Last year’s ambassador was Foo Fighter‘s Dave Grohl, preceded by Chuck D. in 2014 and Jack White in 2013.
Earlier this month, Metallica detailed plans to reissue its first two albums, 1983’s Kill ‘Em All and 1984’s Ride the Lightning. Both of these vault-opening box sets were scheduled to be released April 15, which now, conveniently, arrives just a day ahead of Record Store Day.
All this comes while Metallica is working on its so-far-untitled 10th studio album.
Here’s the track listing for Metallica’s forthcoming live album, Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité, Metallica! – Live at Le Bataclan. Paris, France – June 11th, 2003.
- “The Four Horsemen”
- “Leper Messiah”
- “No Remorse”
- “Fade to Black”
- “Frantic”
- “Ride the Lightning”
- “Blackened”
- “Seek and Destroy”
- “Damage, Inc.”