Reload is the seventh studio album by American heavy metal band Metallica, released on November 18, 1997, through Elektra Records in the United States and Vertigo Records internationally. The follow-up to Load, the album was recorded during the same sessions as that album with producer Bob Rock. While a double album was considered, the band decided to split the material into two albums. Additional sessions for Reload took place in 1997 after Load's supporting tour. Reload was Metallica's first studio album to feature a guest singer and the last studio album to feature bassist Jason Newsted. Like its predecessor, Reload features a hard rock sound that strayed away from Metallica's thrash metal roots. The band members' influences at the time led to experimentations in styles such as blues, country, alternative rock, and grunge, and the use of instruments such as hurdy-gurdy and violin on "Low Man's Lyric". The album also features "The Unforgiven II", a sequel to 1991's "The Unforgiven". Lead singer James Hetfield's lyrics were inspired by his tormented childhood, with themes of anger and aggression present on multiple tracks. From Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reload_...) under Creative Commons Attribution CC-BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...)