d
METALLICA
RATING: 6
PLAY THESE: THE FOUR HORSEMEN, WHIPLASH, SEEK & DESTROY
SKIP THESE: none
Well, first off, Lars Ulrich will be happy to hear that I just finished downloading the entire Metallica discography, so I'm going to be reviewing these guys in the coming weeks. Anyway, here's my take on the debut record, Kill 'Em All, which wowed the metal world back in 1983. In a nutshell, good. Not great, mind you, but impressive enough. For me, there are two major problems: (1) James Hetfield's vocals are a bit suspect, and (2) EVERY TRACK SOUNDS THE SAME (sorry, I pressed the Caps Lock key and I'm too lazy to go back and change it). You see, at this point in his career James still sounds like a pimply faced teenager with a voice-cracking problem, and as such the "violent" and "scary" lyrics aren't quite as believable as they should be. Also, when Hetfield reaches for the high notes he uses a really annoying scrotum-pinching squeal that doesn't sound very convincing at all. For some reason it always makes me think of Rob Halford, and then I want to vomit, which isn't a good thing.
Oh yeah, the other major problem I wanted to talk about is the repetition factor. Yes, I do realize that this is a "thrash" album, but after 50-plus minutes the novelty begins to wear off, and one begins to long for some of those interesting musical sections that would adorn later albums like Ride The Lightning and Master of Puppets. As it is, all we get is nearly an hour of the same song, which isn't exactly the most tantalizing of propositions for a thirty year old geriatric like myself.
That being said, there are a lot of good things about this record. The band sounds POWERFUL, just a steady barrage of heavy guitar riffs played at an extremely fast tempo, with a surprisingly large number of hooks thrown in from time to time. The music also sounds original, and although it's debatable whether or not Metallica invented thrash metal (it's easy to discern New Wave of British Heavy Metal influences in their music), they certainly have their own sound and vibe going on. Guitarist Kirk Hammett is one of the most talented players of his generation, mixing incredibly fast lead playing with melodic sensibilities, making for some truly amazing solos. He isn't as noticeable on this album as he would later become (he just replaced original guitarist Dave Mustaine, who would go on to front Megadeth), but he's off to a great start, and would only get better. Bassist Cliff Burton is also an impressive instrumentalist, and if you need proof of this I would suggest you check out 'Anesthesia (Pulling Teeth),' which is probably just about the only example of a bass solo I can remember at the moment. Come to think of it, it's probably the only time I've ever heard a bass player using the tapping technique - pretty interesting, to say the least. As for drummer Lars Ulrich, it's no secret that he's not exactly the world's best drummer (he plays rhythms more like a guitarist than a drummer, if that makes any sense), but he makes up for his technical shortcomings with his energy and enthusiasm - plus he plays fast and loud, so he fits in well with the group. We already discussed James Hetfield's vocal problems earlier, but it should also be pointed out that we would get ALOT better, and that at this stage he is already a very good rhythm guitarist. Incredibly tight, incredibly aggressive - very (although not incredibly) talented (heheheh).
In terms of the best tracks on the album, a few do stand out of the largely repetitious pack. The band's first epic, 'The Four Horsemen,' sees Pastor James gather the metal faithful for 'round for his Biblical tale of apocalypse in very effective fashion. Along with several others, the track was co-written with Dave Mustaine, who left the group a few months earlier. The explosive 'Jump In The Fire' replicates the fiery imagery suggested by the title, while 'Whiplash' is probably the fastest song on the album, and a damn fine one at that. The faint of heart will wince at 'No Remorse,' which is relentless in its attack - very violent, very good. The best song on the album, however, is undoubtedly 'Seek & Destroy,' which is quite a bit slower than the other songs on the album, but still kicks significant arse. The track is a metal classic, and while I sometimes wonder which Black Sabbath song it is stolen from, it's certainly a catchy tune. Again, it reminds me a lot of Judas Priest (especially Hetfield's vocals), but it's the one moment that foretells just how good Metallica would become. All in all, this is a fine debut album, and while it's a bit short on good songs, and it all sounds the same, it's got a lot of energy, and a sound all its own.
RATING: 9
PLAY THESE: FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS, FADE TO BLACK, CREEPING DEATH
SKIP THESE: none
Now this is a great metal album. I'm not sure if it's actually Metallica's best album (it's equally plausible to argue that 1986's Master of Puppets improves upon the musical template established here), but there is no doubt that Ride The Lightning still holds up very well today. The record takes the manic, in-your-face speed metal aspects of Kill 'Em All and enhances them with all manner of musical innovation, from harmony guitar solos ('Ride The Lightning') to beautiful power balladry ('Fade To Black'); from extended epics ('Creeping Death') to short, unrelenting metal ass-kickers ('For Whom The Bell Tolls'); from complex, classical music-influenced epics ('The Call Of Ktulu') to thrash even more violent than anything found on the debut record ('Fight Fire With Fire'). Nevertheless, the main thing that makes this record great is all of the hooks, which are sprinkled liberally throughout the album. Ride The Lightning isn't just powerful because it's loud and aggressive (it is certainly each of those things though). It's great because it's loud, aggressive, and catchy - something that most thrash metal doesn't even aspire too, which is why most of its is feces-infested garbage.
It's difficult to pick the best tracks from the album, 'cause they're all good. If I had to choose, though, my pick would be the suicidal 'Fade To Black,' a power ballad which ruffled a few feathers amongst Metallica's hard-core fan base when it first came out. However, this is no ordinary, Warrant-style hair metal power ballad. This is real metal. It starts off with some beautiful-yet-subtle Kirk Hammett soloing over some classical-flavored acoustic guitar, and then kicks into gear when Hetfield's vocals enter into the fray. The melody he sings is haunting, and the crunch of the guitars during the "chorus" only adds to the power of the music. But in typical "epic" Metallica style, the song re-invents itself as a massive, heavy metal anthem about half way through the song. The results are brilliant, to say the least.
However, there are other moments on the album that come close to equaling 'fade To Black.' At the top of the list has to be 'Creeping Death,' a song about the ancient Jewish exodus from Egypt, in which James Hetfield puts his Sunday School education to good use. In some ways, the track is almost a sequel to 'The Four Horsemen,' especially in terms of its epic structure and Biblical lyrical content, but it far surpasses the older song in terms of its emotional impact. Instead of taking the obvious route and singing the song from the perspective of the fleeing Israelites, Hetfield takes on the role of the "creeping death" that kills all of the first born sons in the land of Egypt (e.g. "die by my hand/ I I creep across the land/ killing first born men"). Great stuff.
There are also a couple of excellent tracks that tell the tales of dying men ('Ride The Lightning' and 'Trapped Under Ice'), both of which have a similar kind of sound (Kirk Hammett absolutely shreds his guitar to pieces on both tracks), although the title track displays an element of social consciousness rarely displayed in heavy metal (it tells the story of an innocent man sentenced to death in the electric chair). Of course, I would be amiss if I failed to mention the archetypical Metallica rocker 'For Whom The Bell Tolls,' a very catchy (but heavy) song that is more commercially accessible than much of the material here. Also, the near pop-metal 'Escape' is so catchy that it sounds like it could've been played on MTV in 1984, with a huge chorus but even huger guitars that keep it from sounding trite.
In the end, this is one helluva album. If you consider yourself a metal fan (and even if you don't), this is an essential addition to your record collection.
RATING: 9
PLAY THESE: BATTERY, MASTER OF PUPPETS, WELCOME HOME (SANITARIUM)
SKIP THESE: ORION
You wanna know something funny about Master of Puppets? Well, if you do, then you're shit out of luck - 'cause this is one of the most miserable albums ever created. This album is one long tirade about everything in the universe. Basically, it's the ultimate "anti" CD. We get some Hetfield anti-religious sermonizing in 'Leper Messiah.' The band rails against war (and the old men who wage them) in the anti-militaristic, anti-authority 'Disposable Heroes.' James laments his crippling cocaine addiction in the anti-drug epic 'Master of Puppets.' The band even gets all "socially conscious" on us with the strange anti-loonie bin ballad 'Welcome Home (Sanitarium).' For the most part, this is one depressing album. Thankfully, it is also one of the best metal albums of all-time, and many Metallica fans regard this one as their finest achievements, if not their finest. To me, it's a toss-up between this one and Ride The Lightning, and for the life of me I can't figure out which one is better. Part of the problem lies in the fact that both albums are so similar. Indeed, Master of Puppets is a carbon copy of Ride The Lightning, as it replicates its predecessor's sound, overall theme, and attitude. Not only that, but both albums have a corresponding track list, where the first track on each album is a speedy, thrash metal rocker that begins with a classical opening section ('Fight Fire With Fire' vs. 'Battery'), and the second song is an epic title track with a complex arrangement ('Ride The Lightning' vs. 'Master of Puppets')...you get the idea...you can go down the list and compare the songs - these albums are very similar in every regard.
That being said, there are some significant differences. First, James Hetfield has finally lost that annoying teenage, cracked voice thing I was talking about earlier, becoming one of the most powerful metal vocalists around. Also, the band is way tighter, and the performances are even more malevolent than on Ride The Lightning. Sure, the record sounds more "produced" (which some close-minded metal fans may view as a negative), but the improved fidelity of Master Of Puppets in no way, shape, or form detracts from the aggressive nature of the music. If anything, it adds to it - nothing beats the rush you get when the thick, sustained guitars come in at the beginning of 'Battery,' or the relentless, suffocating sonic attack of 'Damage, Inc.,' which is probably the fastest song the band ever recorded. Overall, this is an incredible album, and most of the songs are just as good as anything found on Ride The Lightning. The only major exception would be the album's token epic, classically-influenced instrumental 'Orion,' which is nowhere as good as Ride The Lightning's 'The Call of Ktulu.' Still, this is pretty minor criticism. Everything else is high quality material, and if you love Ride The Lightning you'll almost certainly be banging your head (or, more likely, someone else's) to Master of Puppets.
The best moments? Well, apart from Kirk Hammett's amazing guitar work, which is found on every track, I would have to say that the title track is the most impressive. A truly gripping tale of the perils of addiction (e.g. "master of puppets is pulling your strings/ twisting your mind, smashing your dreams"), this heavy-but-catchy epic will be sure to imprint itself into your brain - and the "master, master, where's the dreams that I've been after" section is fantastic. But the "fun" doesn't end there. The token power ballad 'Welcome Home (Sanitarium)' tells the tale of institutionalization from the point of view from a mentally ill patient, and ends in a full-scale, double kick drum-propelled prisoner uprising that ends in - you got it - murder. Also great is 'The Thing That Should Not Be,' which could've been a hit single if the band would've made a video for it, and 'Leper Messiah' should be mandatory listening at all seminary schools. The anti-war 'Disposable Heroes' is a bit on the long side, but the "back to the front" shouting during the chorus makes amends for this small indiscretion.
All told, this is an album that any metal fan would be proud to blast their eardrums with. Never again would Metallica reach the creative heights that they achieved with these songs - it's a true metal masterpiece. Oh, and I still can't decide if it's better than Ride The Lightning.....
THE
$5.98 EP: GARAGE DAYS RE-REVISITED (1987)
RATING: 4
PLAY THESE: HELPLESS, LAST CARESS/ GREEN HELL
SKIP THESE: THE SMALL HOURS, THE WAIT, CRASH COURSE IN BRAIN SURGERY
The first Metallica
release after the tragic 1986 death of bassist Cliff Burton in a tour bus
accident, The $5.98 E.P.: Garage Days Re-Revisited sees the band
valiantly attempt to move forward. How did they plan on doing this, you
may ask? By hiring a new bassist and future Rock Star Supernova
reality TV star Jason Newsted to take Cliff's place, and and by releasing an
all-covers EP that contains some of the songs that inspired them to start up a
band in the first place. Luckily, newbie Newsted does a great job of
filling the void left by the talented Cliff Burton, but some of the material on
this EP is underwhelming, to say the least. I'm sure I've mentioned it
before, but I HATE it when my favorite bands release all-covers CDs - especially
when most of the songs they choose to record aren't all that great to begin
with. After careful consideration, and after consulting with famous web
reviewer (and master interviewer) Mark
Prindle, I have managed to reconstruct an edited, "Prindlesque" version of an interesting
conversation I had with an inebriated James Hetfield over a bottle of Jack
Daniels last weekend:
"So you don't like the EP? Are you out of your effing
mind? What about our aggressive, no-hold-barred take on Killing Joke's
'The Wait?,'" sneered a rather hostile James Hetfield, as he downed a double of
JD on the rocks, and chased it with a Miller Light without even grimacing.
"Pfft," I said, making the best fart sound I could manage
under the circumstances.
"Fair enough," he countered, "but what about our cover of
'Crash Course in Brain Surgery,' originally recorded by Budgie? Isn't that
a classic? Huh?"
"Pfft."
"This is insane," protested Hetfield, visibly shaken. "I hope
you don't think that Holocaust's 'The Small Hours' is the aural equivalent of a
Lars Ulrich underwear skid mark too..."
"Pfft," I interrupted.
"Damn," growled Hetfield, taking another hearty swig from his
quickly disappearing bottle of Jack. "I had no idea."
I began to smile, and tried my best to make him feel better
about himself. "Look, James. It's not as bad as all that. Your
version of Diamond Head's 'Helpless' kicks the original's whiney ass all over
the place. Plus, I really enjoy your take on The Misfits' 'Last Caress.'"
"Really?," asked James. "Is it actually, err, any
good?"
"It is. Not only that, but you truly sound scary - like
a man possessed. I though for a moment that you were really capable of
doing the creepy things you sing about in the song. Killing babies and all that
- that's some pretty wacky shit you're talking about there."
"Wow, thanks man," whispered Hetfield, his eyes brimming with
tears. We sat in silence for a moment, just staring at the now-empty
bottle on the table. Maybe it was the booze talking, but somehow I knew
what James would say next.
"You know what? Maybe I won't open up that other bottle
tonight," sighed Hetfield.
"Uh huh," I interjected.
"You know, it's just like what our therapist said in that
Some Kind Of Monster documentary...," burped James, trailing off.
"What's that?," I asked cautiously. I winced as James
drunkenly struggled to keep from passing out. I could also tell that he
had wet himself again, but said nothing.
"What was I saying?...um yeah, now I remember....he said I
drink because I need to feel validated by something, anything. Now I
realize that I don't need booze anymore. I'm proud of The $5.98 E.P.:
Garage Days Re-Revisited, damn it! It mostly sucks, but then again so
does Lars, and we still keep him in the band! He's a talented musician
stuck in a mediocre drummer's body, you know. And if Lars is good enough
for Metallica, then by golly, so am I! Even if I have a fake gruff Hell's
Angel voice, that ain't gonna stop me from selling millions of records and
shoving coke up my nose every single day!"
"That's the spirit! Thumbs up, James! Now you go
and show the critics that St Anger was no fluke!"
RATING: 7
PLAY THESE: BLACKENED, EYE OF THE BEHOLDER, ONE
SKIP THESE: TO LIVE IS TO DIE
The first full length release with Jason Newsted in the band, ...And Justice For All can almost be described as a "progressive metal" album. This is both good and bad. Seven of the nine tracks clock in at over six minutes in length ('To Live Is To Die' is a mere ten minutes long), and the entire album is about sixty-five minutes long in total. And while several of these tracks rank among the Metallica's best work, much of the record sounds bloated and fat, almost crying out for a liposuction procedure to suck away the self-indulgent musical cellulite. Truth be told, there isn't a single track on here that wouldn't benefit from losing at least two minutes in length, and that includes classics like 'One' and 'Blackened.' The funny thing is that the band used to excel at creating lengthy epics, but on this album these kind of elongated song structures seem a tad formulaic. For example, older Metallica albums usually contained lengthy instrumentals (think 'Call Of Ktulu'), which were still interesting in spite of their massive girth. But where 'Call Of Ktulu' was stuffed full of interesting, complex musical parts, circular, redundant new tracks like 'To Live Is To Die' just goes on forever without actually doing anything. Most of this track consists of pedestrian power chording, which makes it a complete waste of time and space.
The other big problem with this album is the lack of bass guitar. There are two popular explanations for this: (1) Newsted underwent a "hazing" ritual whereby his bass was placed so low in the overall mix so as to make it almost inaudible, an (2) Newsted merely doubles up the guitar riffs, so his playing is indistinguishable from Hetfield's guitar. Personally, I tend to believe the first theory, as the guitar tones on this album are so thin that Newsted's bass likely would've cut through the guitars. In fact, I can't recall hearing a thrash metal album with such wimpy sounding guitars - even Poison had harder sounding guitar tones. But regardless of the motivation behind Newsted's invisibility, the lack of bass is a stupid, almost Spinal Tap-like travesty that cannot be justified by any of these explanations.
There are, however, some moments of, if not greatness, then goodness. The album opener 'Blackened' is a fast, powerful tirade against environmental degradation. Also excellent is 'Eye of The Beholder,' a visceral, thumping metal classic that succeeds in spite of Hetfield's put-on, guttural Lemmy vocals. 'Harvester of Sorrow' and 'The Shortest Straw' are as catchy as head lice, and the shockingly angry 'Dyer's Eve' is a merciless attack on Hetfield's strict religious upbringing. As a parent of two small children, all I can say is that I hope my kids don't end up hating me as much as James clearly detests his parents. Best of all, though is the song that introduced Metallica to the MTV crowd: 'One.' The anti-war song starts off as a ballad, but builds up into a thrash-style chorus, leading to a double-kick drum driven coda. The lyrics are fiercely anti-war, a first person account of a soldier who lost his sight, hearing, speech, and feeling as the result of a landmine attack. It's very powerful, and very moving, and as such is probably the apex of Metallica's career. This song alone makes ..And Justice For All worth owning, although on the whole the album is a slight let down after the greatness that was Master Of Puppets.
RATING: 7
PLAY THESE: ENTER SANDMAN, SAD BUT TRUE, THE UNFORGIVEN
SKIP THESE: DON'T TREAD ON ME
It would be fair to say that no album divides the Metallica fanbase to the extent of Metallica (1990) (a.k.a. The Black Album). Some fans regard it as a sell-out, a commercial, watered-down version of the "real" 1980's version of Metallica, while others see it as the band's defining artistic achievement, a classic album where everything - including global superstardom - fell into place for the group. For me, neither of these viewpoints hold true. My childhood friend Brian Becker had introduced me to most of the group's albums prior to the release Metallica, but I wasn't terribly impressed. At twelve/thirteen years of age, the music was too heavy, the lyrics were too dark, and my gnat-like attention span was too short to sit through the group's seven minute-long tracks. I liked 'One,' 'Sanitarium,' 'For Whom The Bell Tolls,' and 'Master of Puppets,' but that was about it.
However, the moment I saw the video for 'Enter Sandman' as a fifteen year old, everything changed. Here was a Metallica song that was still "heavy" (not too heavy, mind you), but it was very catchy, and the song structure was conventional enough to appeal to even to the hair metal crowd. I bought the album, fell in love with it, bought a ticket to see the band play in Vancouver, and then proceeded to get into the band's older material in preparation for the concert. I was surprised to learn that I actually liked the old stuff even more than the new album. Within a couple of months I never even listened to The Black Album, casting it aside in favor of Ride The Lightning. So for me, The Black Album introduced me to the band, but it served as a gateway to Metallica's back catalog. Many hard core, long-time Metallica fans who were already into the band's heavy stuff (including Brian Becker) hated it, and jumped off the Metallica "bandwagon" (hehehe), and got into harder bands like Pantera instead. On the other hand, The Black Album gave Metallica a whole new generation of fans who made the band one of the most popular hard rock acts of the 1990's. Ironically, many of the new fans (like me) agreed with the older fans that Metallica were actually at their best in the mid-1980's, and that The Black Album was too tame. Go figure.
Produced by Canadian knob-twiddler (and knob-diddler) Bob Rock, The Black Album was easily the most commercial product the band had produced up until that point. Gone are the long, complicated song structures and fast staccato guitar riffs, and in their place are shorter, hookier songs, often with slower tempos. Sometimes the slower tempos make the tracks sound heavier ('Of Wolf And Man'), but more often than not they don't, as Lars Ulrich's severe limitations as a drummer are revealed. Ulrich appears to be incapable of playing anything that isn't a million beats per minute - he can't consistently hold a steady groove, and even when he does, he sounds like a machine. The guy seems to be genuinely incapable of playing with any emotion or feeling, and I don't think the album contains a single interesting drum fill. Nevertheless, the other members of Metallica pick up the slack for Lars. Guitarist Kirk Hammett is at his all-time best on this album, while James Hetfield's vocals are also improving, as he seems to have developed the ability to sing with dynamics (quiet and loud, and not just loud). Not only that, be we can actually hear Jason Newsted's bass this time around, which is always a good thing when you're trying to make a legitimate hard rock album.
So what's good? Well, we all know about 'Enter Sandman,' with its distinctive riff and big hook of a chorus, and it goes without saying that 'Sad But True' has some of the best guitar riffs the band ever came up with. Darn catchy, too. The menacing, scolding 'Holier Than Thou' is played at a faster tempo and as such is reminiscent of the band's early work, and 'Wherever I May Roam' is easily one of the best songs ever written about "life on the road." There are even a couple of good ballads, but please note that these aren't you're typical wussy-style late 80's hair metal power ballads we're talking about here. 'The Unforgiven' has an interesting arrangement and great Hetfield vocals, while the melancholy 'Nothing Else Matters' is the first Metallica love song in existence. I'm not a huge fan of the latter song, as it sounds a bit bland to my ears, but it's a fan favorite - and I must admit that Hetfield's guitar solo is great.
The remaining tracks are pretty non-descript, and basically all sound the same. Nothing is truly bad, but little stands out as good either. In short, this is an album that sounds great on first listen, but after a while it becomes clear that the music is more disposable than in the past. Sure, the lyrics are getting better, but musically it's just not as interesting. It's a slight improvement over the prog-like tendencies of 1988's …And Justice For All, but Metallica's re-invention on The Black Album still doesn't mask the fact that it is the portrait of a band in decline.
LIVE
SHIT: BINGE & PURGE (1993)
RATING: 6
PLAY THESE: lots of 'em
SKIP THESE: THE UNFORGIVEN
Recorded at various stops on the band's mammoth three year tour to promote The Black Album, 1993's Live Shit: Binge and Purge is actually a pretty entertaining live album. The performances are energetic, the band sounds like its having fun, and the playing is fantastic. It's a bit on the long side (it's a triple album), but don't let that scare you off, OK? That being said, there are some pretty persistent rumours out there that suggest that these recordings have been extensively overdubbed, as the band is believed to have gone back into the studio to correct mistakes and beef up the sound. Who knows?
Nevertheless, everything sounds very good (except for Hetfield's drunkenly brainless, f-bomb dominated stage banter), and the song selection is strong. The band performs its early material with guts and conviction ('Creeping Death' is a highlight, as is the …And Justice For All medley), and much of the Black Album material sounds better live than in the studio (except for 'The Unforgiven,' in which a drunken James Hetfield sounds like he just ingested an entire can of Lysol, while the hapless Lars demonstrates why he is in dire need of drumming lessons). We also get some outstanding drum, bass, and guitar solos from each of the band members, and the crowd noise only adds to the energy of these recordings.
For me, this album brings back memories of seeing Metallica live in Vancouver on 19 May 1992, which was one of the best concerts I have ever seen. My friends Kevin, Steve, and I made the journey from our hick town to the big city to see the show when we were sixteen years old, and it was a doozy. Still, my strongest memory of the trip is of the three of us underage youngsters ordering crates of beer at a restaurant near Metrotown in Burnaby just before the show, which is unbelievable considering I didn't look a day over eleven years of age at the time. We even taught an old Chinese waitress how to pour a beer properly, which was quite funny. My other big memory of the concert is the James Hetfield - Lars Ulrich drumming showdown, which the latter lost without much of a fight. All I can say is that Hetfield must be a real asshole to makes his drummer look like a complete idiot in front of twenty thousand people, but then again he was probably drunk, so all is forgiven. To get back on topic, this is a fine live album, and if you can put up with Hetfield's drinking and belching (yes, he burps a couple of times), you'll probably have a good time with this one. Eight out of ten
RATING: 5
PLAY THESE: AIN'T MY BITCH, UNTIL IT SLEEPS, THE OUTLAW TORN
SKIP THESE: all of it, truth be told.
Heralded as a radical change of course for the ageing metal band, Metallica's 1995 album Load is, to most fans, the "thing that should not be." Why, you may ask? Well, when you start seeing Lars Ulrich in an emerald green feather boa on your television trying to look all "tough but glam," and even a makeup-clad Kirk Hammett looks like he's pitching for the other team, then you know something went terribly wrong somewhere down the line. I might be wrong about this, but I'm guessing it was the moment Cliff Burton filed his leave of absence from Planet Earth. After all, history shows that Metallica slowly crapped out after the group's former bassist died, and the band's creativity expired along with him. And the musical biopsy ain't pretty, no matter what Lars thinks as he watches himself pout lustily in the mirror.
What went wrong? Well, the band seemed to lose focus after Cliff died, and the group's quick ascent to superstardom in the early 90's was only equaled by the shockingly rapid growth of Hetfield's and Ulrich's egos during the same time period. On Load, everything that used to make Metallica dangerous - the speed, the anger, and the interesting musical complexity - are all taken away. In their place is grinding, mid-tempo sonic sludge - and it is the most tedious, lifeless sound I've ever heard from a heavy metal band. Sure, the guitar tones are thick, and Hetfield's matured lyrics are an undeniable highlighter, but this album is easily the worst thing that Metallica had ever done until that point.
All of the songs are dutifully constructed from the uber-commercial 'Enter Sandman' template, as every track competes to be the next "big single" on MTV. The trouble is, few of these songs are anywhere as good as 'Enter Sandman' (or even 'Holier Than Thou,' for that matter). The added fact that many of these songs contain some bluesy riffs (previously unheard on a Metallica album), then it becomes very clear that Metallica have gone from being, say, the kings of thrash, to being something completely objectionable to good taste: Aerosmith. OK, they're not quite that lightweight, but I have rarely seen such blatant attempts to sell-out for bigger record sales. The Ulrich 2001 Napster debacle only confirmed what most people had previously suspected: Metallica were becoming just as manufactured as the hair metal bands they helped to destroy in 1991.
Still, not all of the album is actually bad. The opening track 'Ain't My Bitch,' packs a lot of punch (Hawaiian, that is), and the hit single 'Until It Sleeps' holds out promise that Metallica is still capable of kicking ass. However, I do not like the new timbre of Hetfield's voice on this song; during the quiet parts he sings like he's morphing into the "Andrew Lloyd Webber of rock," or at least a really annoying, melodramatic show-tune singer. The worst part is, Hetfield employs this fake-angry, Gilber & Sulllivan technique on quite a few of the tracks, which is definite minus. The hit single 'King Nothing' treads the same musical ground 'Of Wolf And man' did on The Black Album, but does so with a skip and a curtsy - not quite as convincing, I dare say. The country-tinged 'Mama Said,' gives a nod to Lenny Kravitz' 1990 hit of the same name, and the lengthy album closer 'The Outlaw Torn' is simply badass (and no, I'm not being sarcastic ((or am I?))). Still, when one of the album's better songs proclaims "I'm wasting my hate on you," then you gotta know that this isn't the nasty Master Of Puppets-era Metallica anymore. It's just dumb. And lame.
I don't know - none of the album is truly bad. However, Lars plays these metal/blues-tinged songs like a robot, destroying any notion of warmth and feeling in the music. I suspect that the rhythm tracks have been Pro-Tooled to death too. Did Pro-Tools exist in 1995? I don't know, but the drums sure sound sterile and computerized. This music is boring. Five out of ten.
P.S. The album photo is gay too. It was probably pumped from Lars' stomach.
RATING: 4
PLAY THESE: FUEL, THE MEMORY REMAINS, FIXXXER
SKIP THESE: THE UNFORGIVEN II, LOW MANY'S LYRICS, etc.....
How doth this album suck? Let me count the ways....oh well, on second thought, Reload is such an easy target for criticism that I almost feel guilty picking on it here, so I'll restrain myself. To make a long story short, this album is completely unnecessary. Apparently all of these songs were actually recorded during the sessions for Load. It isn't exactly clear if these songs were left off Load because they were deemed to be too crappy at the time, or whether the band had always intended to release another album sometime in the future. Regardless, Reload is a bad idea. Load itself is a very weak CD, and would have benefited from the inclusion of several of the stronger songs from Reload. When you think about it, if Load would have lost a couple of the lesser tracks and gained some of the better Reload material, it might have been almost as good as the Black Album. However, the band's egos apparently got in the way of logic, and instead Metallica fans were forced to grapple with the fact that their heroes had released not one but TWO very weak albums over the course of a year.
The album sounds exactly like the pedestrian, generic metal that dominates Load, so don't be expecting any surprises here (apart from just how unexpectedly retarded some of these songs are, of course). I mean, what kind of morons would think that writing a sequel to one of their own songs is a good idea? The answer, of course, is Metallica, who somehow managed to convince themselves that their fans were clamoring to hear an "updated" version of 'The Unforgiven.' Naturally, the re-made version of the song ('The Unforgiven II') is miles worse than the original - it actually sounds more like a recording made by a crappy Metallica tribute band than an actual Metallica song. Wankers. That being said, they needed to pad the album with excrement like this to fill up the CD. It is obvious they didn't have enough quality material left in the vaults to warrant releasing another album. If you still don't believe me, then go ahead and give the vaguely traditional English-folk tune 'Low Man's Lyric' a listen. It's so bad that it's almost unbelievable. Hetfield can't sing folk worth a poop, the guitar arrangements are criminally generic, and the song just plain sucks. It's also almost eight minutes long, which only adds to the frustration.
There are a few highlights though. The vicious-sounding 'Fuel' would be a near-classic on any Metallica album (including the band's 80's masterpieces). The haunting minor hit single 'The Memory Remains' is a pretty interesting track as well, featuring a creaky, nasally Marianne Faithful on guest vocals. Her voice adds an eerie quality to the track, and somehow the collaboration works well. The menacing 'Devil's Dance' also rocks hard, and the album-closing 'Fixxer' knocks you right in the teeth, which is what all good Metallica tracks should do. I love the guitars on that track - great work, Mr. Hammett. Unfortunately, the rest of the album features little (if any) if this kind of inspired fretwork, which used to be such a huge part of the Metallica sound. Approach this album with EXTREME caution.
RATING: 4
PLAY THESE: none
SKIP THESE: all
A live album based on a concept so cheesy, commercial, and obvious that KISS later based it Alive IV album (i.e. merging generic Michael Kamen symphonic arrangements with hard rock), Metallica's S & M is probably the most embarrassing album to bear the band's name. At least KISS had the smarts to wear clown makeup to this cartoonish spectacle - Metallica are far too earnest and pompous on their approach here. On Ride The Lightning songs like 'The Call of Ktulu' displayed a brute force that made you sit up and take notice, but on S & M it sounds like a corny, low budget horror flick soundtrack. Rather than enhance the classical elements in some of Metallica's early songs, adding a symphony to the mix only serves to make the band sound like something new age, world music-loving hippies like Yanni would approve of.
I don't like any of this album. The guitars wound wussy. You can barely hear the bass. A confused, half-asleep Hetfield sounds like he doesn't know whether to spill his beer over his t-shirt or sing these songs. The symphony is too loud in the mix. Tempo-challenged drummer Lars needs to have a click track permanently implanted in his ear to keep him playing in time. Yes, the album has a lot of good Metallica songs on it, and yes, it is not completely unlistenable, but S & M is clearly the sound of a band in decline. Maybe with some better orchestral arrangements and more favorable guitars-to-violins ratio this concept would have worked. But I'm skeptical. I'm sure there are some Metallica fans out there who think this is brilliant, but then again these are probably the same people who think that Reload is awesome, and that Lars Ulrich is a good drummer. I'm not buying it, and neither should you. Metallica should be ashamed of themselves.
RATING: 3
PLAY THESE: none
SKIP THESE: INVISIBLE KID et al......
Ah, the infamous St. Anger. Could it really be as terrible as many claim it is? In a word, yes. This album is basically the sound of Metallica flushing what's left of their career down the toilet. It is so bad that you can literally see their ugly faces hopelessly swirling 'round the poop-encrusted bowl as the music is playing. In case you missed it, the recording of this album took much longer than was originally anticipated. First, disgruntled bassist Jason Newsted quit just before the band went into the studio, and then James Hetfield unexpectedly went into rehab for about a year during the sessions. When he returned, intra-band tensions were so high that the group actually hired a therapist to help them get in touch with each other's feelings. Very rock 'n roll, isn't it? Wankers.
So what does the music sound like? Crap, if I may be brutally honest. Metallica was apparently attempting to reconnect with its metal roots by creating an aggressive album of fast thrash (a la Kill e'm All), with no ballads and a pissed off attitude to boot. Unfortunately, Metallica come off as sounding more like cranky old men falling asleep on the couch than they do rock stars on an ass-kicking comeback. Lars unwisely substitutes his usual snare drum for a steel pipe, and his playing is Pro-tooled to within an inch of its life. Former guitar god Kirk Hammett wastes his axe-slinging talents by contributing a grand total of - now, get this - ZERO guitar solos to the album. Meanwhile, years of alcohol and tobacco abuse have destroyed Hetfield's once powerful growl, and producer Bob Rock's weak 80's soft rock bass playing definitely isn't up to Metallica's usual standards. This is sound of a band on its musical death bed, and St. Anger (and its fascinating accompanying documentary Some Kind Of Monster) is a musical testament to this fact.
When I was trying to come up with the highlight tracks from this album I completely drew a blank. Nothing that stands out on St. Anger. OK, some moments do stand out, but for all the wrong reasons. These deplorable moments are too numerous to list. The lengthy title track almost does the trick but somewhere around the three minute mark it gradually begins to sound like diarrhea poop, and its all downhill from there. Oh, and that pathetic "I'm madly in anger with you" line is just plain pathetic, James. 'Frantic' almost sounds like 80's Metallica for a few seconds, but the mediocrity of the playing makes it sound pathetic and submissive when played next to great Metallica albums like Ride The Lightning. Much of the rest of the album is just plain brutal - most of it sounds embarrassingly amateur and spineless. The band basically sounds like a group of washed up forty year old metalheads playing badly in some douchebag's basement. Which, in a sense, they kind of are.
"Lifestyle determines my death style," indeed. How true. How true.