Metallica to release discography as iTunes box set

How does a band go from Internet archfiend to Internet hero? The answer is pretty simple: you embrace online as part of your business model (though not suing the pants off people probably helps too.) Metallica's long-overdue kiss with the Web is about to get a little bit deeper: the band just announced that its entire discography will be given the box-set treatment on iTunes, starting March 29.

The Complete Metallica spans the nine-album career of the prodigious progenitors of Bay Area thrash metal. Also included is their bombastic double live album S&M (recorded with the San Francisco Symphony, no less), their double covers album Garage Inc., the EPs Some Kind of Monster and Live from Live Earth, and an assortment of live tracks.

The California metalmen seem to be doing pretty well for themselves lately. They just picked up two Grammy's for Best Metal Performance ("My Apocalypse") and Best Recording Package. Probably not coincidentally, March 29 will also see the release of Guitar Hero: Metallica, the long-awaited chance for you and yours to finally shred to "Battery" on a plastic guitar. And right after that, on April 4, the band will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum. 

And so, Metallica turns another page on their love/hate relationship with the internet. We're glad you came around, Mr. Ulrich.