Metallica

My thread on The Black Album 5 years ago.

LOVE that disc.

My opinions in that thread still haven't changed.

ReLoad was generally a pointless album. There are maybe 3 or 4 actually decent to good songs, that probably could have replaced some songs from the Load. Death Magnetic was a step in the right direction, though I gotta say that I would like it more if they didn't compress the shit out of it.

The Black Album was their first foray into just straight heavy metal, it's just as heavy as their other albums, it just lacks the speed of them. Their music then morphed into the more hard rock sound for the Load albums. And you know, I like Load for what it is, but like I said ReLoad was mostly pointless.

The Black Album is what got me into Metallica to begin with. I love their early material, but I haven't come close to listening to any of their albums more than The Black Album. The direction they would take listening to that album is pretty much etched in stone, ironically, but I just didn't expect Load to come packaged without a set of balls. There's no teeth to the tunes, and the concisely-delivered electricity and adrenaline that was running through The Black Album is sorely missing. I don't hate Load, but damned if it wasn't one of my most disappointing music experiences ever. I even tried talking myself into liking the album over the next year, then I realized I was living a sad, sad lie.

Reload has a handful of good and pretty interesting songs on it, but christ are most of the straightforward rock tracks boring. Just song after song that plod along for like 6 minutes and sound like they were written in about half an hour. Load was only a few duff tracks away from being as good as Black (so long as you're okay with it not actually being a 'metal' album), but Reload probably should've been an EP at best.

St. Anger is pretty shit but I'll stand up for a lot of the riffs, and even the raw production. If they'd stripped it down into a tight, short garage metal album with less hideous vocals it might actually have been quite enjoyable.

All the reverb on the drums on the Black Album kills it for me. It sounds so dull and plodding. And slowing down the songs means James actually has to sing, which is such a terrible choice because both his voice and their lyrics are super shitty. Also, every single solo on that album sounds the exact same, chock full of really lame wah-pedal.

Blech.

...And Justice For All is probably my favorite Metallica album.


The drums on St. Anger sound excellent.

Thanks Patrick, you've just caused me my first stroke.

That's really the one album of theirs that I would love if they did a new mix of.

Yeah, St. Anger has some good riffs, but they go absolutely nowhere. If you want to hear an album with a raw/unmastered sound that doesn't sound like shit, then check out Maiden's A Matter of Life and Death.

For the record I'm talking about the song, not the whole album, but I like 'em a lot.

Also I have an IQ of like, 89, so don't take much I say to heart.

The first two albums are the purest, rawest Metallica and are the only two I'll ever need. The Black Album is what posers pull out to play at their wine & cheese tasting parties to prove how "metal" they still are.

You mean posers are the ones that say boneheaded shit like this during their wine & cheese tasting parties.

I couldn't make out what you just said. You got a little Lars stuck in your throat there.

That one clanging drum gets pretty painful, what with it being there through the whole infinitely long album and everything. But every now and then they'll hit on a fantastic riff and that chaotic drum sound and the filthy guitar tones gel into something that's not so far from being great. And on some level I have to respect that they put an album that, even with it's nu metal-era concessions, wasn't really commercial or accessible at all. But it still sucks.

By the way is Garage Inc. worth a listen? That's the only one of the main albums I haven't heard.

Yeah, Garage Inc. has some pretty great covers on there. Definitely check it out.

Dude, please don't take offense by this, but you are the reason music today sounds like shit.* I think by "lacks beef", you mean "contains dynamics". This attitude of "louder is better" by the general public is the reason why producers and bands are mastering their music louder and louder every year. Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets sound fucking fantastic. The quiet parts are quiet, the loud parts are loud, the bass guitar is clearly audible, and unlike their more recent albums, the vocals aren't pushed to the forefront and it sounds natural.

I don't know how someone could complain about the production of an album like Master of Puppets and then praise Death Magnetic. It really is one of the worst sounding albums I have ever heard. The Guitar Hero version is a big improvement.

As far as the actual songs go though, I thought Death Magnetic was pretty damn good.


* Seriously not trying to be a jerk or attack you, but that attitude by the listening public is basically the reason for absurdly loud and compressed albums.

My only problem with Justice is the lack of bass. I actually love how cold and sterile everything sounds, but lowering the bass that drastically is a real head scratcher.

Another shout-out for Garage Inc., which could be their most underrated release. It's a given that Disc Two is classic Metallica at their very, very finest (worth the purchase alone), but Disc One showcases a band that finally was hitting on all cylinders when it morphed into a full-fledged hard rock outfit. Who would've thought it would take a kickass setlist of cover tunes to get their blood boiling again? I view Load and ReLoad as stepping stones to these reinvigorated sessions.

Yeah, buy it now.

Actually this whole thread celebrating these sellouts is pretty damn sad in my book. Oh well, they'll keep making millions of dollars off of tools like you I'm sure.

Please fuck off with your "I'm more metal than you" schtick. No one cares.

Nothing else matters. \m/..\m/*





*Sarcasm.

Go back to jerking off in the wrestling thread already.

Fett is so Br00tal!!!! He only likes underground metal bands, like Iron Maiden.

What a surprise. A thread about Metallica filled with witless cunts blowing each other. How fitting.

Have fun!

We will. Keep fighting the good fight!

Amen. I couldn't believe that opening post.

My favorite Metallica remains Kill 'Em All.

<original press with inclusion of "Blitzkrieg" and "Am I Evil?">

I don't understand the need to listen to 90's/00's Metallica at all.

There could be a number of reason, one is they were still hazing Newstead by mixing him out of the record. But it seems that Newstead wasn't present with the rest of the band for the mix downs, on top Hetfield claiming that all Newstead did was double his guitar parts. Which I don't give a shit if he did, I want to hear the bass.

Well, it's nice that that's over with.

Yea, I was gonna mention the hazing as a possible reason. That seems waaay too childish and stupid to be true, but that's the only reason that really comes to mind. That's a pretty weird way to haze a guy though, "Hey, lets purposely make our record sound worse just to spite the new guy!"

Remember though they were still in their 20s and raging alcoholics. And even though two years had passed, there probably was still some anger in them regarding Cliff Burton's death. Either way it still was a shitty thing to do.

Yeah I was gonna say it was probably out of misguided "tribute" to Cliff Burton.

I'm curious: at the big metal jam (Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer) a couple of weeks ago, did Mustaine finally play with the band again?

Here are all four band performing "Am I Evil". The video is kinda shitty though.


Also, what the hell? Joey Belladonna is back in Anthrax. I thought John Bush had reunited with them last year.

Death Magnetic was a terrific return to form. St. Anger is still shit. I do like a few riffs on St. Anger (SKoM, Frantic), but the rest of that album gives me a headache. That damn snare and James yelling at the top of his lungs is not the best mix.

I also don't understand the hate the Loads get. Yeah, it's not And Justice For All or Master, but it's pretty good for a band trying something new. Hero of the Day is still that one Metallica song I love that most others hate.

We're gonna have to agree to disagree on this. I think RTL and MOP sound great. Regarding the bass though, I will agree that after watching Some Kind of Monster I would not put anything past them.

And like Bub said, I don't care if Newsted was just doubling the guitar parts, I want some damn bass! Poor Jason, he got so much shit from the rest of the band, and he always seemed liked such a nice guy.

Yeah, he got the shit end of the stick while in Metallica. I always did like when he would sing "Whiplash" live, that's something that was sorely missed once he left.

But hey, he got to join Voivod and put out three great albums with them.

Agree with both of you guys. Robert Trujillo is probably a more talented bassist than Jason, but his back up vocals kinda suck. Seems like a cool guy though.

And yea, James refusing to allow Jason to release his solo album and basically treating him like shit bothered me alot more than the Napster stuff. I know Lars gets shit on alot (rightfully so alot of the time), but to me James came looking the worst with the Jason exodus.

If you haven't already read it, there's a really interesting Playboy interview with all four members from 2001, after the Napster suit but before jason left the band. To their credit, Kirk and Lars both were fine with Newsted releasing his album. It was only James that objected.

If the bass wouldn't have been a nonentity on ...And Justice For All, the album could've been absolutely killer sonically. A total ear-bleeder. So frustrating knowing the potential for a superior aural experience.

One of the reasons The Black Album works for me is because of Newsted. He really got to show his stuff on that disc.

Yea, unfortunately I feel the same way. You may wanna check this out, I guess it's Jason's unaltered bass lines, just boosted in the mix from the Rock Band tracks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuuSd...eature=related

Holy shit. Amazing.

Thanks for posting that. Makes me want to revisit the album this morning just to analyze the production.

No problem. There's another guy who did the same thing with Blackened and Dyers Eve, if you wanted to check those out.

Newsted wrote pretty much all the first Flotsam and Jetsam album, and his bass is prominent in the mix. It ain't the "best" album, but it shows some rudimentary talent from a kid in his early 20s; he wrote about half the 2nd F&J album, which is MUCH better.

AND his work with VoiVod shows the guy had a lot to contribute; too bad Metallica didn't let him.


As for the band, they're the Star Wars of heavy metal - and the black album is their AotC.

Sorry but I just don't buy that analogy st sll Vhavez, the black album is well above average.

I've been listening to alot of Metallica lately, I'd always been a fan of the black album so I decided to delve into their catalogue more. Initially, I wasn't impressed with Kill 'Em All and Ride the Lightning but I've since come to appreciate them but only in a casual sense, I love Master of Puppets and And Justice for All, I can see where Tim is coming from in regards to the production of Metallica's earlier albums, I've got used to it but at first listen it felt kind of sub-[par, I think it might be the way Lars drumming is mixed, it just doesn't sound as heavy as it should be but that's just me.

Garage Inc. has some terrifc covers, all the talk of Newsted getting shafted on Metallica's recordsings reminds me of Metallica's cover of 'Yhe Wait', Newsted really does some solid work on that one and his bass is more firmly upfront. Holy shit do those remixed tracks Tim posted sound amazing, it's like an added weight to their songs.

As far as Load/Reload goes, Metallica had a choice, either be permanently stuck in the eighties or attempt to move forward, the black album is partly the result of this decision but they moved firther on to Load, there are some decent songs on both albums but they remain unremarkable then came the clusterfuck that was Sr, Anger, the album they had to make in order to make Death Magnetic which is a superiot return to form as far Hetfield and Hammett, Trujilo can barely be heard which is par for the course, I guess and Lars rekindles some of that old magicm. it's really Hetfield and Hammet's show though.

Anyone listen to Gsrsge Inc. revisited? It's got some interesting covers but also some covers better left slone, Bob Seger?

Lest anyone forget: Reload was all B-Sides from Load to begin with. Wasn't surprised in the least 90% of it turned out to be shit.

It does, however, have Memory Remains, Unforgiven II, and Low Man's Lyric on it. I have no regrets owning that album based solely on those three.

Is it blasphemy that I've come to see Load as better than The Black Album as time goes on? The songwriting is generally stronger and darker, the album proudly wears its blues influences on its sleeve, and the band remembers that once in a while its okay to let a song stretch and breathe.

And its a lesser factor, but yeah, the fact that its best tracks haven't been radio played into the goddamned ground helps.

I agree the old albums could use a remaster, but not necessarily for loudness so much as clarity. The pre-Black Album CDs have always sounded way too thin for their own good. Meanwhile, Reign In Blood came out around the exact same time, and even the older CD of that album still sounds like it could've been released yesterday.

Also, because nobody's mentioned it, I have to throw some love to S&M. Still the only live album I've ever felt the need to own.

I always thought they killed the bass on Justice out of some sort of deference to Cliff. That Shortest Straw video sure as hell makes me wish they would remaster the album though. I get, and even like, the subsumed bass (Justice is easily me favorite Metallica album), but I would also like to hear it with some whomp.

Death Magnetic is really good.

I'd also like to go on record with this: The early pressings on St. Anger had a DVD of the band performing the entire album, with Trujillo on bass, in the studio, no breaks. God help me, the album almost sounds good there. And if anything, you see the band with chemistry again, having fun with it.