In a stuff-up of potentially epic proportions, a French record store has sold copies of Metallica’s much anticipated forthcoming album
Death Magnetic almost two weeks ahead of it’s September 12 (September 15 in Australia) release date.
According to reports from the
NME and
Blabbermouth, the naughty French fans posted pictures of the album artwork online (no word of any tracks yet). It’s probably a good thing for all parties in involved. We all know how nasty things can get when you rub aging metal guys the wrong way. Lawsuit nasty.
Drummer Lars Ulrich put on a brave face during an interview with US radio station Live 105. "Listen, we're ten days from release," he said. "I mean, from here, we're golden.”
"If this thing leaks all over the world today or tomorrow, happy days. Happy days. Trust me. 10 days out and it hasn't quote-unquote fallen off the truck yet? Everybody's happy. It's 2008 and it's part of how it is these days, so it's fine. We're happy."
Convincing, no? Well, in another flourish of apparent goodwill, the band have made album track ‘Cyanide’ available for streaming on the
Metallica website. A little bit of therapy can go a long, long way.