Metallica’s ‘72 Seasons’ and 2 other new albums to put on the radar

Here are three upcoming releases worth checking out — highlighted, of course, by the new album from Metallica. All of them hit stores Friday.

“72 Seasons”

Mighty Metallica, the top-selling Bay Area act of all time, is back with its eagerly anticipated 11th studio album. The title of the album is a reference to the “first 18 years of our lives that form our true or false selves,” vocalist James Hetfield said on the band’s website. (We’ve done the math — and, yup, it checks out.) The 11-track outing follows the excellent 2016 double-album “Hardwired… to Self-Destruct.”