After years of holding out, hard-rock icons Metallica [ tickets ] have finally made their entire arsenal of music available in digital form via Apple's iTunes Music Store.

"From the 'It's about f---ing time!' file, comes this," the band wrote in a message posted on its website. "At 12:01 a.m., on Tuesday July 25th, we will begin offering our music on the iTunes Music Store, a Cupertino, CA-based upstart outfit, who we feel may very well have a bright future."

The move means that, for the first time, fans can purchase individual tracks from the band's catalog. Still, the group is giving fans incentive to purchase full versions of its first four albums--"Kill 'em All," "Ride the Lightning," "Master of Puppets" and "... and Justice for All"--by offering each with each some previously unreleased live tracks recorded in Seattle in 1989. The bonus cuts are only available to fans who download the full albums.

While the news is good for users of iTunes' US and Canadian stores, those abroad will have to continue to wait for Metallica's music to turn up in the online store.

"... The iTunes Music Stores in the US and Canada are the only ones that will be offering Metallica," the band's message continued. "This is unfortunately due to the fact that our record company overseas doesn't seem to want to play ball with us on this at the moment. Hopefully this will get sorted out ASAFP, but we didn't want our fans in North America to have to wait any longer while our overseas record company tries to get their s--- together!"

Metallica's decision to sell individual songs via iTunes speaks to the growth of the digital marketplace during the years that have passed since the group--and particularly its outspoken drummer, Lars Ulrich--became the standard-bearer in the fight against online piracy via peer-to-peer file-sharing networks.

Launched in 2003, the iTunes Music Store currently accounts for 85 percent of the digital-music market, according to reports.