The Metallica Thread v. Reloaded

[BlobVanDam]

I don't get the hate Death Magnetic gets. It's fuckin awesome. This is what people have wanted for so long, a return to classic thrash by the band.

So my question is, what do you all want to hear on the next Metallica record? What particular traits would make their next album pleasing to you? Only serious answers please.

Stronger songwriting, not trying to play beyond their current abilities, and not weak rehash of what they've already done. I'm not won over by thrashing an E string at 200bpm.
And listenable production would be a nice bonus. The sound on the released CD is a travesty.

DM was a decent album, but it's nowhere near the quality of their earlier albums.

[Kotowboy]

I don't get the hate Death Magnetic gets. It's fuckin awesome. This is what people have wanted for so long, a return to classic thrash by the band.

So my question is, what do you all want to hear on the next Metallica record? What particular traits would make their next album pleasing to you? Only serious answers please.

I want 12 great songs. Style is irrelevant.  They should just write and pick the best songs. Not try and make everything as fast as possible or as long as possible. The songs should come first. Even if they write another Reload. If it's 12 great songs then so be it...

Also - pristine audio production. Their first studio album of original material with great production since 1997. . .

[Onno]

I agree with what you guys are saying about the new album. I'd really like some good mixing and production, plus songwriting that doesn't focus on emulating their old style. I'd really like to hear what they come up with if they only place the restriction 'Metallica' on their songwriting. I still believe they can write and perform great songs. The latter, for me at least, is proven by the fact that most of their covers are ridiculously good.

[BlobVanDam]

I agree with what you guys are saying about the new album. I'd really like some good mixing and production, plus songwriting that doesn't focus on emulating their old style. I'd really like to hear what they come up with if they only place the restriction 'Metallica' on their songwriting. I still believe they can write and perform great songs. The latter, for me at least, is proven by the fact that most of their covers are ridiculously good.

There's no doubt they're in great form performance wise, the best they've been in a long time. Completely agreed on the rest too, and with Kotowboy.
I don't want them to write to emulate an old album, I want them to define what Metallica sounds like in 2014 (or whenever they release it), not what they sounded like in 1986.

Even though their recent albums aren't great, I at least like that they progressed, and wrote to the style that they were feeling at that particular time. That's an element I want to hear again. I want to hear Metallica cover a bit of new ground, instead of pander to what anybody else wants them to do, and end up sounding forced.

[Kotowboy]

It's just crazy that they put out DM - which was a big hit - had a massive tour off the back of it and sold over 5 million copies -

- and then...


... Just..didn't capitalise on that new interest in the band.


They should have finished the tour in 2010 - taken a year off - taken 2 years to make a new album and put it out last September.

That would have been 5 years but that's standard these days and we wouldn't have gotten any extra curricular stuff that nobody cared about like the Lou

Reed album and the Concert movie.

And the album would be out now - instead of late 2015 which is looking the most likely scenario.

[BlobVanDam]

The thing is, a lot of bands these days, especially older ones, basically only release albums as an excuse to tour, and to give people a new reason to see them live. Touring is where bands make most of their money these days, not albums. From their perspective, touring is capitalizing on the new album.
Look at TBA. Their biggest album ever, and they toured the crap out of that album before getting around to recording another album. Seems to have worked for them so far.

Not that I'm arguing that this is my preferred route, as I'm just as interested in a new album.

[Kotowboy]

They toured DM for 2 years but then they didn't really tour to promote that album after that.

Most of their summer jaunts are Metallica plays the hits.

This tour there's an added incentive whereby you pick the setlist - but everyone is just picking the staples anyway.

It's looking increasingly likely that they will play Frayed Ends in Helsinki this month.

Someone on the Metallica forum got it right : " You all want them to play Frayed Ends - but you're only going to rip them to shreds afterwards anyway ".


It could either be awesome - like when they debuted Struggle or really bad.

[BlobVanDam]

AJFA is one of my favourite Metallica albums, but I don't see the appeal of hearing that song aside from rarity. I'm sure they'll do a decent enough job of it, but that's not even one of the better songs on the album.
I will be interested to see the clips of it if they do though.

[Kotowboy]

Someone suggested that they should play it this once and then never play it again ( provided they do a good job ).

Making that one time extra special.

[rickhawk80]

It's not like they've never played "Frayed" before .... it's just been awhile.

[425]

Umm... They've never played it. They jammed parts of it on the AJFA tour and played part in the Justice Medley but they've never played the whole song start to finish.

[rickhawk80]

My bad.  I thought they played it in full on some of the '89 dates....

[Zook]

I wouldn't want them to play it live. Lars would skip playing the best part of the song at 4 minutes.

[Onno]

I wouldn't want them to play it live. Lars would skip playing the best part of the song at 4 minutes.

Agreed with the latter part, though I'd still like to hear what it sounds like.

[cyberdrummer]

Confirmed as Glastonbury headliners. Get in.

[Kotowboy]

Also - " Through The Never " is on Netflix US. Just watched it.

Not bad. Nice visually.

[Kotowboy]

https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/kirk-hammett-says-metallica-will-buckle-down-in-september-and-work-on-new-album/


.

[ZKX-2099]

Can't wait for 2016. 

[mikeyd23]

 

I can't wait for September to roll around so they can find another excuse to not be in the studio....

[Kotowboy]

I can't wait for September to roll around so they can find another excuse to not be in the studio....

I actually laughed out loud when I read the article. So predictable.

If you don't want to make a new album. Don't make one and stop wasting everyone's time.

Things that will happen before Metallica or Tool release a new album :

• Chino will decide Avatar sucks.
• El Barto will post about Star Trek and it will all be positive.
• BlobVanDam will post about how much he loves Star Trek Into Darkness
• Avenged Sevenfold will release a groundbreaking and completely original metal album which sells more than Michael Jackson's Thriller.

 

[Zantera]

Touring with the old hit songs from the 80s and making fat money VS another watered down and boring studio album that nobody except for the extreme hardcore fans (who will like anything) will like

hmmm.... 

[mikeyd23]

Touring with the old hit songs from the 80s and making fat money VS another watered down and boring studio album that nobody except for the extreme hardcore fans (who will like anything) will like

hmmm.... 

Haha well yeah, when you lay it out like that it makes sense that they keep pushing the album back to tour, and for the record, I totally agree with you! But if that really is the case, they should probably stop stringing those hardcore fans along who are waiting for a new album by constantly saying "in a few months, we are going to buckle down in the studio".  My issue isn't with them not making a new album, that's totally their call, no one else's.  My issue is that they keep saying they are going to really concentrate on it and then don't, they need to just be honest and if it isn't a priority for them, they need to just say that.

[Anguyen92]

I can't believe Metallica is so unproductive in this sense.  I mean Slash, who is only a few years younger than them, is going to release his 3rd album in four years and he has been a touring machine and he doesn't waste too much time recording.  Metallica cannot really play the age card or too much touring as excuses of not recording and getting an album done.  If they really don't want to make this album, I just think that they should just announce that they are not going to.

[Kotowboy]

It seems like Metallica keep playing the "family" card as if everyone will go " oh of course..of course."

But then - the members of DT are as old and in some cases - older than the guys in Metallica and they all have families too and still put out an album every other

year.

and INB4 anyone says - DT need to put out albums to survive financially - Metallica don't.

I agree - and as mikeyd23 pointed out - if they don't want to put out another album - they should just say that instead of the almost constant bullshit.

[BlobVanDam]

Things that will happen before Metallica or Tool release a new album :

• Chino will decide Avatar sucks.
• BlobVanDam will post about how much he loves Star Trek Into Darkness

Oh come on, don't lose all hope. I'm sure Metallica will release a new album some time!

[black_biff_stadler]

I hope the new album's called Threeload.

[BlobVanDam]

I hope the new album's called St Angrier.

[cramx3]

They should just do another black album, but in this case, the cover is completely black.  That would confuse people, but also be another statement as a band to the change in musical direction.  For the original black album, they cut their hair, for the real black album, they could shave their heads.  This will give Lars the excuse to do what's right. 

[black_biff_stadler]

Their haircuts were well after TBA's release. I think Jason was first (around '94) since the other three had long hair when they played Woodstock '94. James ended up with something close to a mohullet following an ATV accident which resulted in a lot of stitches in his head.

[Kotowboy]

If it is true that they're honestly scouts honour going to really seriously start writing in september promise !!!!

Then the resulting album will be worse than Death Magnetic because they're so obviously not into it.

I just feel a bit shit for Trujillo. In 2003 - he had the chance to join the biggest hard rock band on the planet and in that time he's

recorded 1 studio album which was plagued with problems and far from their best and recorded a collaboration album with Lou Reed which everyone hated -

- had to pay up for a music festival which nobody went to - had to cough up for a 3D concert movie which nobody wanted or went to...

And it's been six years and counting since he last put out an album of original material with the band.

[Zantera]

Yeah, I'm sure Trujillo has a lot of sleepless nights in his 50 million dollar mansion with swimming pool, basket court and 4 cars. I bet he really regrets moving out of his apartment above a bowling alley to join Metallica. 

[Kotowboy]

That's right. He's loaded. That more than makes up for being creative once every 11 years. . .

[Kotowboy]

I seriously doubt he was living in a shitty apartment before Metallica having been the bass player for Ozzy Osborne.

[Zantera]

I find it hard to feel sorry for someone who is in the band by his choice. If he felt an urge to write more, he would probably do so.

[Kotowboy]

We all know how Papa Het feels about side projects.