Metallica in talks to debut new single as Rock Band DLC

by Ross Miller { Dec 3rd 2007 at 1:27PM }

Heavy metal rockers (or "rawkers," if you will) Metallica are in talks to premiere their upcoming single as a playable, downloadable song for Rock Band. Speaking to Rocky Mountain News (via Gigwise), MTV senior vice president of home entertainment Paul DeGooyer said, "There are a couple of things we've committed to, one of them with Metallica for example. They've reserved the right to give us their first single from their new album for the game."

No word on a release date, the name of the song, or if the price of the song to download will fall in line with Rock Band's current $1.99 price. The single would be a huge boon for the game as it competes against the established Guitar Hero franchise, and interesting to think that the first time we'll be hearing the new single will be when we're drumming along to it.

Of course, the real winners here are Harmonix, who get the hear the single before any of us (how else will they program the song parts?). Let's hope no one in the development studio accidentally leaks the song onto P2P servers - you know how much Metallica likes that.

[Via X3F]

Tags: dlc, ea, electronic-arts, electronicarts, harmonix, metallica, mtv, mtv-games, mtvgames, rock-band, rockband

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Marty @ Dec 3rd 2007 1:31PM

...so are they planning on suing everyone who downloads the songs, or what?

FrankTheCrank @ Dec 3rd 2007 1:50PM

Remember when Metallica was relevant? Those days are over.

Amazing, Rock Band is turning into an iTunes.

Nothing like paying for the same song, again, and again....and again...

There's got to be a way to backwards engineer this whole rock band/GH thing...all you have to do is have someone record the guitar rythm taps...then just share out the rythm taps free. Most people have the music already. Interface the guitar with a computer and presto. It's just a matter of building a front end. Any volunteers?

Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Dec 3rd 2007 2:11PM

Um, are you talking about something like fretsonfire?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frets_On_Fire

Or are you talking more about a way to extract the songs from the games so that they're, you know, useful beyond the game.

Because having the latter one would be ace. I know frets on fire can extract the songs from GH1 and GH2 discs. DLC is a whole 'nother ball game, though.

Chris @ Dec 3rd 2007 1:32PM

That's the only way they could ever get me to buy another Metallica song.

Well played Lars... Well played....

mr nimblewick (SegaDF - Jogurt Ring) @ Dec 3rd 2007 1:35PM

So what I just learned is that I really wouldn't like Rock Band. Good to know.

JarMustard @ Dec 3rd 2007 1:36PM

I want to know when "rock band" becomes an official record label to new (most likely boston-based) bands.

PhrawzT @ Dec 3rd 2007 1:53PM

Do people even listen to Metallica anymore? I decided that I've had enough of their music 10 years ago.

ShortFuse @ Dec 3rd 2007 1:54PM

"I Disappear" was pretty good and some of the S&M tracks were outstanding (even if they were remixes)

Ghen @ Dec 3rd 2007 4:53PM

Yeah, I Disappear was the last good song they made. Heck, even MegaDeth still rocks (in their own little way) so it can be done modern!

copa @ Dec 3rd 2007 1:38PM

Hey, if this is what's needed to get more good Metallica (pre-1989) available as DLC, I'm all for it. I certainly won't buy it, though.

But that Metallica Pack 1 was amazingly fun.

joseph skar @ Dec 3rd 2007 1:51PM

They need to learn to make good music again as opposed to making news by doing dumb gimmicks... Remember the Metallica movie? remember Load/Re-load?. It's all about the $$$money$$$ now. These guys forgot how to rock sometime after the black album.
Give it a rest guys, time for an bloated old dinosaur to retire...

NoHitHair @ Dec 3rd 2007 2:01PM

You're right - their last worthwhile album was the self-titled 'Black.'

However, for those who enjoy twangy country with a moderate allusion to rock, I'm sure Load and Reload are great albums.

Thatoneguy64 @ Dec 3rd 2007 4:00PM

Eww, the Black Album? You mean the one that marks the start of Metallica's downward spiral into mainstream shit?

Right, that was their last semi-good album, but the stuff before it was infinitely better.

Ghen @ Dec 3rd 2007 1:50PM

I'm a HUGE metallica fan. Every album has been a blast to listen to... Except St. Anger. As far as their new songs go, they'll have to win me back with a radio spot first before I buy again.

Still, I'd love to hear anything from S&M on guitar hero. I'm not sure why some people dislike that album, I thought it was great. Sometimes the songs didn't mesh, but thats what you get when you mix genres. Other times the symphony was a perfect fit and made me like the original that much more.

Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Dec 3rd 2007 2:13PM

Yeah, the hate for S&M puzzles me too. When I go back and listen to the originals of all those songs, they just seem so empty without the strings.

Synner @ Dec 3rd 2007 6:32PM

Uh, let's see:

Heavy Metal: Listened to by 12-34 year old males who like beer, mullets, and throwing up the horns.

Symphony: Listened to by 40-70 year olds who like Scotch, Combovers, and the new rascal scooter.

Add that to the fact that Metallica lost a lot of fans over that whole selling out and whoring to the commercial music interests.

primetime4 @ Dec 3rd 2007 1:52PM

This song is going to be 18 minutes long and have 3 save points.

ed @ Dec 3rd 2007 1:52PM

Can't wait for the new album...I guess the only bad thing about releasing new stuff this way is that it will get played out real quick...at least for me, I don't like hearing new stuff over, and over, and over again...radio is bad enough about that!

ShortFuse @ Dec 3rd 2007 1:53PM

Hopefully this means they'll go back to putting guitar solos. Seriously, what was up with that St. Anger mainstream attempt? It's a waste of Kirk Hammett's talents

RDX @ Dec 3rd 2007 3:15PM

If St. Anger was indeed a mainstream attempt, I don't know what the hell they were thinking. Over half the songs were junk and the ok ones still sounded like feces pressed onto a disc.

Now, while I don't think anything Metallica does anymore is going to win back the fans they've lost, this is still a pretty cool idea. Good for them.

PS- Master of Puppets is the greatest album of all time. Thank you.

Intentless @ Dec 3rd 2007 3:36PM

Honestly the only thing that sucked on St Anger was the snare beyond that it wasn't a horrible album. The remix was pretty good.

RDX @ Dec 3rd 2007 5:47PM

Remix was alright. But elongating the songs by playing the same riff over and over with no melody line or solo is not my idea of smart song writing. Sure, some songs were catchy but I'd take Load/Reload over St. Anger any day.

ed @ Dec 3rd 2007 1:58PM

is it still cool to say you don't like/bash metallica because of some stupid napster garbage? how lame, kiddos....metallica puts on a better show than anyone, and YES they will always be relevant! one of the greatest metal bands ever...yeah maybe st anger wasn't their best stuff but I'm a fan and i will always check them out when they come to town. seen em 8 times now...just keep listening to your emo and your fall out boy....

Synner @ Dec 3rd 2007 6:35PM

It wasn't just the Napster thing, it wa the whole selling out thing and changing their music to try to play whatever happened to be popular at the time. The Money is more important than fans attitude and the fact that Lars is a big bitch didn't help either.

arleigh.sandoc @ Dec 3rd 2007 2:03PM

People who bash Metallica I have learned never picked up an instrument in their life. While their past stuff after Black Album and even some in that one were not the same as pre-Black Album days they did show they could grow as a band and not get stuck doing the same thing over and over again.

Now if they can have the entire Ride the Lightning album for Rock band then I may just buy the game.

g.Park @ Dec 3rd 2007 2:18PM

Metallica basically taught me how to play guitar (wtf's an upstroke?). I worshipped them day and night. But now, I can't even laugh at them.

I'm all about a band being able to grow, but Metallica grew into a slow, bloated, complacent behemoth that gets put to shame by Metal acts like Dark Tranquillity, Opeth, and Neurosis. These are bands that prove that artistic growth doesn't necessarily come at the cost of abandoning everything that got you where you are.

dsub @ Dec 3rd 2007 2:35PM

9/10 metal bands wouldn't exist if it weren't for Metallica, because odds are their members grew up listening to them.

g.Park @ Dec 3rd 2007 2:50PM

"9/10 metal bands wouldn't exist if it weren't for Metallica..."

Trivium sure wouldn't.

Zoesch @ Dec 3rd 2007 4:17PM

Cookie points for mentioning Neurosis, but Neurosis is/was mainly a Hardcore band with minimal metal influences (Amebix being the main reference and Godflesh/Fall Of Because another) that grew into the metal mainstream.

dsub, sorry to break your bubble but the world owes a lot more to Black Sabbath or Iron Maiden than to Metallica. Metallica was probably the most often quoted as influence band of the late 90's/early '00's but not anymore.

Buckshot @ Dec 3rd 2007 2:03PM

More crap from has-beens. I sam them with Cliff back in 86, and they were good. But with that whole black album bullsh1t and James and Lars crying all the time, they are done. And justice for all was listenable, but they have done nothing really good since Master of puppets (which as we know Dave Mustane wrote most of). More lame downloads, where's my damn Who albums?

PhrawzT @ Dec 3rd 2007 2:17PM

Agreed. Metallica wouldn't even exist if it wasn't for Dave Mustane. He wrote almost all of their early stuff and then got kicked out of the band and they took his name off the writing credits. Some of Megadeth's albums use some of the same early Metallica riffs and he pulls them off far better that Kirk Hammett ever could.

For the record: The Black Album is whiney crap!

g.Park @ Dec 3rd 2007 2:23PM

Mechanix = Four Horsemen

and +1 to the S/T album being not-so-hot. Justice was the last Metal album they ever made.

Zoesch @ Dec 3rd 2007 2:28PM

The best part would be if at the end of the song it would display.

"Achievement Unlocked: Ultimate Selling Out"

Syed Ahmad @ Dec 3rd 2007 3:04PM

Its nice to make stuff up sometimes. Mustaine is credited for "The Four Horseman" (or "Mechanix", whichever you prefer), "Metal Militia", "Ride the Lightning", "Call of Ktulu", and "Jump in the Fire". I might be missing one or two, but he is credited for those songs (check your albums sleeves…if you haven’t downloaded the albums.) Of those songs listed, the only one that is truly his is "Mechanix", otherwise he contributed as much as Mr. Burton, Kirk, Jason, and now possibly Rob.

Say what you want about Lars and James, but its has been WELL documented that those two controlled the band (prior to Dave Mustaine and after they fired him). Did Dave have an influence, I’m sure he had some (he was a member for a brief period), but it wasn’t his baby.

Further, the only claims about MOP album is the main riff from "Leper Mesiah", where Dave Mustaine claims that Metallica uses his Spider-Riff, otherwise that album was pretty much written by the rest of the band (perhaps Cliff Burton’s swan song  ).

I’m sure some of you are reading this and saying "how do you know this? Are you personal buddies with Metallica and Megadeth?" And the answer is "I’m not, but I wish I was!" But if you bother reading about the two band’s histories (or listening to countless interviews) then you’d know more about these claims rather than embellishing them.

Kizzle @ Dec 3rd 2007 2:15PM

I am cautiously optimistic about this upcoming album. The last one was an assault on anyone with ears and even a smidgen of good taste, but if Rick Rubin can't save them, no one can.

Saying they haven't done anything good since the black album (or Justice, for that matter) is sadly fucking misguided, though. There haven't been really solid albums since then, but there have been many songs here and there that are strong. Heck, the Garage Inc. album was great, although I don't know what it says when your best album of the last 10 years is a cover album...

Rollins @ Dec 3rd 2007 3:14PM

I don't know about Rick Rubin being their last hope...the album he produced for Linkin Park (Minutes to Midnight) is worse than anything else the band has put out to date.

Maybe that's because it's Linkin Park, though.

Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Dec 3rd 2007 2:18PM

When the hell did metallica become countryica?

Because whoever decided that move needs to die.

And if you look up the term "Sellout" in the dictionary, you'll have a picture of the band "Metallica" next to it.

Zoesch @ Dec 3rd 2007 2:31PM

Metallica is where good bass players go to die :(

Andy @ Dec 3rd 2007 3:01PM

If you mean sellout by the fact that's what they do to every arena they play in, world wide, still, 24 years after the release of Kill 'Em All, then yes, they are sellouts. You've never played an instrument before have you.

g.Park @ Dec 3rd 2007 3:16PM

No, we mean "sellout" as in "changed their sound to make more money."

And perhaps the reason they still sell out arenas is because they hardly play any material that isn't from 1992 or prior.

Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Dec 3rd 2007 3:27PM

I'm a drummer. And metallica hasn't been relevant since the 90's, right before S&M concert.

The last metallica song I heard was on the radio about a year and a half ago, and it was unrecognizable as metallica, or as metal, for that matter.

There are better metal bands.

Zoesch @ Dec 3rd 2007 3:47PM

And as a drummer you wouldn't want Lars "I can't keep tempo" Ulrich as an influence. I'm a musician and engineer so that whole "You hate Metallica because you can't play" argument is pure bullshit, most people hate Metallica because they realize that they were just an OK band that got its break, good for them but that doesn't mean they were better than Exodus, Forbidden, Flotsam & Jetsam, Slayer, Suicidal Tendencies or Dark Angel just to name some contemporaries in the bay area.

Synner @ Dec 3rd 2007 6:45PM

@Andy:

Kiss sells out every arena they are at too, And they put on 10X the show Cashtallica does. Oh, and they have them beat by about 7 years too.

The Main difference is Kiss was ALWAYS more or less putting out dressed up pop tunes.

Charlie112 @ Dec 3rd 2007 2:36PM

Almost all comments on this are negative?? This is awesome news - even if it does suck like St Anger this is encouraging. The more they work with Rock Band the more likely we are to get more of their songs, whether they're from Kill Em All or ReLoad. All good apart form St Anger.

dsub @ Dec 3rd 2007 2:33PM

Sellout or not, Metallica is the shit. Even Load and Reload had a few worthy tracks on them.

Brian @ Dec 3rd 2007 9:14PM

Could you imagine Neurosis on Rock Band or even Guitar Hero. Man that would be awesome. Even ISIS or Tides or Buried At Sea would put a smile on my face.

i_hate_mtv @ Dec 3rd 2007 2:57PM

I tuned out to Metallica years ago (Load was the straw that broke the camels back for me). And as rock egoish as this sounds, they really did sell out. They're the dictionary definition of it as far as I'm concerned, and their late 90's Napster crusade proves it.

I'm still hopeful that their new album will be a return to form, but I highly doubt it.