METALLICA's KIRK HAMMETT On British Fans, 'Death Magnetic'; Video Available

METALLICA lead guitarist Kirk Hammett talked to ITN Music earlier this week about British fans and why the band's new album, "Death Magnetic", is such a return to form for the metal legends. Watch the chat below.

According to Hammett, British audiences pay attention to detail. He said: "They're very observant as far as the finer details are concerned. There's not much gets past the British eye or ear for that matter. I hear comments like, 'You played that song differently,' or, 'Why didn't you play that song 'cos you played it the night before?' I get a lot of comments like that. But on a more general basis, British audiences are just so great to play for - they're very physical and have a unique way of showing their appreciation for sure."

METALLICA is issuing a digital "box set" called "The Complete Metallica" that will feature the band's entire 163-track recorded catalog. According to the band's publicist, the package will be available exclusively through iTunes beginning on March 31, before surfacing at all other digital outlets on April 28.

"The Complete Metallica" will include all nine of METALLICA's studio albums, including the current "Death Magnetic", the 1998 covers collection "Garage Inc.", 1999's concert set "S&M", the 2004 EP "Some Kind of Monster", the 2007 EP "Live From Live Earth", and "I Disappear" from the 2000 "Mission Impossible 2" soundtrack. Buyers will also receive eight bonus live tracks: "The Four Horseman", "Whiplash", "For Whom The Bell Tolls", "Creeping Death", "Battery", "The Thing That Should Not Be", "One", and "...And Justice For All".

The set is expected to retail for under $100.

Bassist Robert Trujillo told The Pulse of Radio that METALLICA's catalog is so extensive that the band doesn't necessarily remember how to play all of it. "OK, if you go album to album, like, we know everything on 'Master Of Puppets', you know," he said. "We know almost everything on 'Ride The Lightning'. So all the early stuff, for the most part, we've got covered. A lot of the 'Load' and 'Reload' stuff, we've only dabbled in, you know, a handful of songs. 'St. Anger', OK, we played the whole album at one point for the DVD, and 'Death Magnetic', I can play the whole album right now. I don't know about the other guys, but (laughs) I've done my homework on that one."

"The Complete Metallica" will arrive just two days after the March 29 release of Guitar Hero: Metallica, and four days before the band is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland on April 4.