Reload

Reload is the seventh studio album by Metallica, released in November 1997 on Elektra Records and produced by Bob Rock, a continuation of the Load sessions compiled from approximately 27 tracks that had been recorded in the same period but held back for a second release rather than issued as a double album. The decision to release the two albums separately was commercial as much as artistic; it allowed for two album promotion cycles, two tour legs, and two rounds of Grammy eligibility rather than one combined package. Hetfield and Ulrich co-wrote the majority of the material; Hammett and Newsted received credits on several tracks, making Reload one of the more democratically credited Metallica albums in terms of composition. 'Fuel,' 'The Memory Remains' (featuring a spoken vocal from Marianne Faithfull), and 'The Unforgiven II' were the principal singles; 'The Memory Remains' received substantial rock radio play and the Faithfull collaboration connected Metallica's audience to a different generation of rock history. Reload debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 but sold fewer copies than Load in the long run, and the two albums together are now generally regarded as a single artistic period rather than two distinct statements.