Metallica Thread

[Zantera]

I think St. Anger could have been a great album to be honest. I've seen Some Kind of Monster a few times, and what saddens me is that some of the demos/teasers we get to hear, that doesn't end up on the album sounds kinda interesting. The final album as a whole has a few great tracks, but it feels like the producers and the guys around the band shaped the album a lot. When you watch the documentary it's like the producers are hammering in the motto "You guys gotta sound pissed" and the band just goes with it.

[Kotowboy]

St. Anger would have been so amazing if it ad the production of Garage Inc. Disc 1.

I'm pretty sure the band haven't made a good decision since about 2001.

It's like their ability to make a good decision left with Jason.

[Zantera]

I would probably go back further than that, but otherwise I agree.

[Kotowboy]

Ehh. I loved Load, Reload and S&M. I thought they were all great and at least the band sounded great on them thanks to Bob Rock.

[Zantera]

I said before that I have a soft spot for Load, and I would probably rank it as their 4th best album after the classic 3 (Lightning, Puppets and Justice). Justin brought up that most of the album is simpler songs with a more mellow sound, and I actually quite like that. I think those were the songs Bob Rock knew how to do the best, and most of my problems with the other albums Bob Rock "appeared" on was that his take on the heavy Metallica sound just sounded like a pretty dull and watered down version of how they sounded in the 80s. Black Album does have some good songs on it, but I think for me personally, that was the crucial breaking point. That was the moment for me when I felt the disappointment of them selling out, something that other fans felt happened on Load. And so I think that's why I might be easier on Load, because I had gotten over that disappointment by the time it came out.

S&M is pretty cool. I haven't listened to it in ages, but it's a neat little thing. No Leaf Clover is one of their most underrated songs.

[ariich]

Load and S&M are two of my favourite Metallica albums so I certainly don't think there was a dip in quality.

I thought St Anger was terrible though. It could been pretty good, of course, but what actually came out was quite awful.

[Kotowboy]

I've never understood the "Reload" is all the leftover shit mentality since there are good and bad songs on each album.

Furthermore - in my opinion - the weaker songs on Reload are still better than the weaker songs on Load.

For Example - I prefer " Slither " and " Better Than You " to " Poor Twisted Me " and " Cure " and " Ronnie ".

[Zantera]

I'll be honest and say that I don't really remember much from ReLoad, except for the "hits" (the first 4-5 tracks). I don't remember disliking it that much though. I think their 90's as a whole gets more shit than it deserves. While I'm not huge on Black Album, I still think Load and ReLoad are much better than St. Anger and Death Magnetic. To me they had a brilliant 80's, a good 90's, a very mediocre 00's and now we have to wait for new albums to see where they move on. If Lulu is any indication of where the band is quality-wise, I have a feeling the ship has sailed. But who knows?

[Bolsters]

If Lulu is any indication of where the band is quality-wise, I have a feeling the ship has sailed.

Sailed, hit the iceberg, sunken to the bottom of the ocean.

[Kotowboy]

Metallica can be ranked in decades for sure.


80s > 90s > 00s > 10s


The 00s were pretty terrible but at least they actually put out DM which is a halfway decent LP.

Since 2010 they've had nearly all their worst output and no studio album yet and were already

Half way through.

[Zantera]

They released an EP a while back right? B-Sides from Death Magnetic. Given my feelings towards that album, I never checked the EP out. I would probably check out a new album out of curiosity, but I don't expect much.

[Dark Castle]

Liked Death Magentic, it's not their best, but it's a nice little album.

EP was actually really good though.

[TAC]

Liked Death Magentic, it's not their best, but it's a nice little album.

Yes, so did I. At least it's them rocking out.

[ThatOneGuy2112]

Beyond Magnetic really surprised me. The first three tracks on it are great and make me wish they hadn't been left out of Death Magnetic, considering they're much better than some of the songs that ended up being on it.

It's important to note that they're rough mixes, so don't expect fantastic production on them, but they're definitely still worth checking out.

[ariich]

It's important to note that they're rough mixes, so don't expect fantastic production on them

How likely do you think it was that anyone was expecting good production after the monstrosity that was Death Magnetic?

[Kotowboy]

I hate how they've not put out anything that sounds listenable this millennium.

Ironically their best *sounding* albums this Century is also one of the weakest things they've put their name to aka Lulu.

Now - i don't think it's the worst album ever ( metal machine music is even worse ) - but the guitars and drums sounded great on it.

[TheOutlawXanadu]

I've actually been listening to Metallica quite a bit lately and was struck by the fact they've only release nine albums. To me, that indicates that somewhere along the line they lost passion for actually creating music, and it kind of shows considering their last two or three albums haven't been anything special (to me, anyhow). Are there any other bands who experienced a similar career arc? It's kind of crazy when you think about it.

First ten years (1981-1991): Five albums, all generally considered to be terrific and wildly influential
Next 24 years (1992-2015): Four albums, two or three of which are generally considered to suck

Now I'm not saying I agree with the "general" opinions on Metallica, but I can't think of another band who opened up their career so strongly and then entered a 20 year period of low productivity and bad reviews.

[TAC]

I've actually been listening to Metallica quite a bit lately and was struck by the fact they've only release nine albums. To me, that indicates that somewhere along the line they lost passion for actually creating music, and it kind of shows considering their last two or three albums haven't been anything special (to me, anyhow). Are there any other bands who experienced a similar career arc? It's kind of crazy when you think about it.

First ten years (1981-1991): Five albums, all generally considered to be terrific and wildly influential
Next 24 years (1992-2015): Four albums, two or three of which are generally considered to suck

Now I'm not saying I agree with the "general" opinions on Metallica, but I can't think of another band who opened up their career so strongly and then entered a 20 year period of low productivity and bad reviews.

I was thinking of this very point yesterday, generated by the Lars posts a few days ago. You are 100% correct. Metallica basically "losing it" is one of Metal's all time tragedies. Their 80's output is truly legendary. It's as if they fell off the face of the earth.

[Kotowboy]

Whilst not the caliber of their 80's material - I hold Metallica, Load & Reload in high regard also.  The 00's onwards is where they completely lost the plot.

Ss yeah 80s & 90s > > > 00s & 10s

80s - Kill Em All , Ride The Lightning, Master Of Puppets, And Justice For All. 

90s - Metallica, Load, Reload, Garage Inc, S&M 

00s - St Anger, Death Magnetic, Lulu, Beyond Magnetic, Through The Never,

[ThatOneGuy2112]

I know not many will agree, but I still think Beyond Magnetic was a really solid EP. It's weird how what are essentially the B-sides to Death Magnetic were far above most of what Death Magnetic itself was. By itself, it doesn't really salvage Metallica in the '00's, but it shows how they weren't totally irredeemable in that decade.

That being said, I still totally agree with that ranking of decades in their career.

[Kotowboy]

Beyond Magnetic was like an EP of demoes that sounded better than the album they were left off from.

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEdMq8tUjq8

That tempo change! 

[Xanthul]

I gave a listen to the Guitar Hero version of DM to see if it changed my mind about the album, but sadly I still can't stand it. There are some good riffs here and there but the overall quality and variety is pretty poor imho. Besides this, James sounds like a bad parody of himself and the soloing by Kirk is downright atrocious, and I really mean this. I hate it so much that I'm willing to learn some editing software just to take the solos out.

[Zantera]

That Was Just Your Life and The Day That Never Comes are probably the only two Death Magnetic songs I would give a pass to, and that I enjoy. Apart from them, the album gets stale really fast, and the production is mostly to be blamed. It just sounds so darn flat. They could have recorded the album in a parking garage and it wouldn't have sounded worse.

[ThatOneGuy2112]

All Nightmare Long is pretty great.

[Zantera]

Urgh I hate that song. If I had to pick out a top3 worst Metallica songs, it would be on that list without a doubt.

[ThatOneGuy2112]

 

I like the riffs, the grooves. Yeah, it drags on a bit, but it's one of the few redeemable songs on DM.

[ariich]

Urgh I hate that song. If I had to pick out a top3 worst Metallica songs, it would be on that list without a doubt.

Wut.

Really fun song, probably my favourite on the album.

[Zantera]

It has some decent riffs but I think my main problem in it is James, and some of the vocals and melodies are cringe-worthy. The chorus especially, but I also cringe when he does the "luck runs out" thing. 

[Kotowboy]

Urgh I hate that song. If I had to pick out a top3 worst Metallica songs, it would be on that list without a doubt.

Wut.

Really fun song, probably my favourite on the album.

It's fun to play on guitar !

[Fluffy Lothario]

This is where I stand with Metallica these days.

Never really cared for KEA. I generally don't like the whole Judas Priest-esque "motorcycles and headbanging and leather!" brand of metal, and KEA feels too close to that for me to be able to get into it.

Of the three other 80s albums, since I first heard them 15 odd years ago, I've always ranked them Justice/Puppets/Ride. I've been through a big dip in my interest in Metallica until lately, which means I've listened to them fuck all in a long time. Returning to them, although a lot of Justice has a special place for me still, I can't help but feel Ride is the better album. Their 80s albums undeniably became more clinical and calculated as they went, so Ride just seems the most natural and impassioned. Masters is now waaay down the bottom. Little of that album interests me much at all, and I really don't understand why.

Black Album, Load, Garage and S&M are mixed bags - some amazing stuff, some okay stuff, some shite. I have no interest in Reload beyond a few tracks.

I remain a staunch defender of St. Anger and Lulu. In fact, before the recent re-spiking in my Metallica listening, these were the only albums of theirs I was putting on. If you don't like them, cool, whatever, there are a few tracks on each that don't do it for me, but I love the majority of both albums.

Death Magnetic was weak pandering trash. I was appalled by it when it came out, and have never revisited it. For all the stuff of theirs I'm not a fan of, I really respect the fact that Metallica have always tried different stuff out and gone wherever they feel like going. DM felt like an almost complete violation of that spirit.

[ariich]

How do you know DM wasn't them going wherever they felt like going?

[Fluffy Lothario]

I don't, hence the "felt". But there is this:

At the start of the studio sessions, frontman James Hetfield said Rubin challenged them to think back to 1985, when they wrote and recorded 1986's Master Of Puppets. He wanted Metallica to return to that mind-set, to recall those elements, experiences and influences that drove them to what's widely acknowledged as their finest work.

So they were channelled in that direction, and the album that resulted, perhaps unsurprisingly, feels and sounds like a half-assed, trope-ified, sterile pastiche of 80s thrash elements.

[Kotowboy]

Probably why the playing is so half assed as well - especially from Hammett.

Whereas on St. Anger - they were celebrating still being a band and the playing on that album is brimming with energy and enthusiasm.

[Zantera]

St. Anger is not a great album by any means, but at least it feels like they tried. At least you can feel some passion, some enthusiasm and some drive behind that album. The band were pissed and the album sounds pissed off as a result. You can always refer to St. Anger as the angry album, whereas Death Magnetic is more like a blander C-version of Master of Puppets/And Justice For All.