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METALLICA ALBUM SALES A 'BUMMER' - HETFIELD: LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - U.S. sales of Metallica's latest album, which fell off the pop charts earlier this month, are a "bummer," according to the veteran rock group's singer, James Hetfield. But the band is not giving up on its U.S. fans, and plans to launch a six-month tour of indoor arenas on March 2, it announced backstage at the American Music Awards on Sunday. Metallica performed at the event but lost the race for favorite alternative music act to Linkin Park. "St. Anger" has sold about 1.5 million copies in the United States since it debuted at No. 1 in June. "It's a bummer," Hetfield said. "In Europe it's doing really good, and some other places ... It is what it is. We can't change that. We do our best and that's all we can do." Drummer Lars Ulrich said "St. Anger" is Metallica's best seller in Europe since its 1991 self-titled release, the so-called "black album," and the band is preparing to launch its third "St. Anger" tour there in December. "It's a very challenging record," Ulrich said of "St. Anger," which was constructed by a computer program and features no guitar solos. He added that U.S. rock radio programmers seemed more interested in playing bands like Nickelback. On the other hand, Ulrich relished the prospect of Metallica becoming "outsiders" again, as they were in their early days 20 years ago when no one in the industry gave the long-haired rockers the time of day. Guitarist Kirk Hammett said he judged the album a success by virtue of the fact that the band was able to make it, since it followed several years of internal upheaval, including the resignation of bass player Jason Newsted and Hetfield's lengthy drug rehabilitation. Metallica recently scrapped its South American tour because of exhaustion, and Hetfield expressed mixed emotions about its busy tour itinerary. The band just returned from Japan and will also play New Zealand and Australia early next year. "We've been a live band, get out there and play, play, play. It's kinda tough, because nowadays that was the area we wanted to lay back on a little bit, and enjoy our families." Metallica's top U.S. sellers include "Metallica" with 13 million copies, "... And Justice For All" (1988) with 7 million, and "Master of Puppets" (1986) with 5 million, according to the Recording Industry Assn. of America. Dean Goodman courtesy of Reuters