The Metallica Thread v. Reloaded

[Kotowboy]

Ah, I didn't really get a chance to tune in until One, so that might explain the difference in opinion.

James was blatantly shattered and looked weary and his voice suffered. At some points he looked like he'd rather be in bed

Lars was solid. He's much better these days save for playing too fast here and there but much improved on the whole.

As is Kirk generally. His playing the last couple of gigs has been MUCH better. On tempo and pitch.

Rob is Rob.

I'm pretty much over the album already, it doesn't have much new to offer over the older albums, and I actually think DM was the much stronger album despite my strong criticisms of it. I wish I enjoyed this album more, because they've gone the direction I'd hoped they'd go after DM, but the songwriting quality just isn't there for me.

Pretty much the exact opposite for me

Except for this...

We agree on that at least.

[dparrott]

So Metallica consider Hardwired To Self Destruct their 11th album which means they probably count Garage Inc Disc 1 as a studio album...

Not Lulu since it was a collab.

Wikipedia says HW is their 10th...

[Kotowboy]

On the official metallica site it says their 11th album.

[dparrott]

Yellow text says what?   

Funny how this is split over two CD's, Load/Reload were around the same length and one CD.

[Kotowboy]

Yellow text says what?   

I was agreeing that this was the direction I was hoping for after Death Magnetic.

Sorry if that's a face palm moment for you.

[dparrott]

Haha, sorry I meant it's hard to read.  Or is it just me?

[Kotowboy]

I'm using a blue background. So It looks fine to me.

[Zook]

Album's OK. Some good songs, some not so good songs. Best song is definitely Spit out the Bone. Lars doesn't like fills much, but he LOVES that snare.

Confusion has a similar intro to Am I Evil. I thought Am I Savage would have that. I don't get the praise for Dream No More.

Overall, It's better than Death Magnetic, so that's a plus. They are getting better, but much like new Maiden, there isn't much replay value. In Maiden's case, there isn't any replay value. Anything after Brave New World is BLEH.

Good job, Metallica, you made some songs I like.

Ride the Lightning is still the best them.

[Kotowboy]

Ride the Lightning is still the best them.

^_^

Gonna go right ahead and assume you meant to type Master Of Puppets but were thinking of Ride The Lightning at the time...

[MirrorMask]

Well, while you'll never see me disagree with anyone praising Master, my personal preference is slightly inclined towards Ride. Kinda like with DT, I will never badmouth Images and Words but I find myself enjoying a little bit more Awake (just to make a comparison).

[Zook]

Ride the Lightning is still the best them.

^_^

Gonna go right ahead and assume you meant to type Master Of Puppets but were thinking of Ride The Lightning at the time...

No.

[Kotowboy]

Ride the Lightning is still the best them.

^_^

Gonna go right ahead and assume you meant to type Master Of Puppets but were thinking of Ride The Lightning at the time...

No.

^_^

Gonna go right ahead and assume you meant to type Yes but were thinking of No at the time...

[Progmetty]

So Metallica consider Hardwired To Self Destruct their 11th album which means they probably count Garage Inc Disc 1 as a studio album...

Not Lulu since it was a collab.

Wikipedia says HW is their 10th...

Yeah I noticed this in August when Lars premiered Hardwired during a radio interview and said "11th studio album", I checked Wikipedia and it said 10th. I think he's counting Beyond Magnetic because it was a release of entirely original material.

[Mladen]

What's different about Spit out the bone compared to their more generic speed metal tunes is the very refined vocal melody throughout. The fact that the vocal harmonies drive the fast, frenetic verses is very special, and some of the echoing, answering backing vocals later in the song are a nice, melodic touch. It's also fairly unpredictable, the one-line pre-chorus is a fine example, as well as the slow breakdown in the middle. Kirk delivers some of the catchier phrases as well. It's a very solid track.

[dparrott]

Ride the Lightning is still the best them.

^_^

Gonna go right ahead and assume you meant to type Master Of Puppets but were thinking of Ride The Lightning at the time...

No.

^_^

Gonna go right ahead and assume you meant to type Yes but were thinking of No at the time...

   I actually like Ride a little better than Master.  The dark sound appeals to me more.  And that cover art!

[Kotowboy]

So Metallica consider Hardwired To Self Destruct their 11th album which means they probably count Garage Inc Disc 1 as a studio album...

Not Lulu since it was a collab.

Wikipedia says HW is their 10th...

Yeah I noticed this in August when Lars premiered Hardwired during a radio interview and said "11th studio album", I checked Wikipedia and it said 10th. I think he's counting Beyond Magnetic because it was a release of entirely original material.

That's an EP and Garage Inc Disc 1 - whilst not NEW songs was still a new studio recording.

[fadetoblackdude7]

What's different about Spit out the bone compared to their more generic speed metal tunes is the very refined vocal melody throughout. The fact that the vocal harmonies drive the fast, frenetic verses is very special, and some of the echoing, answering backing vocals later in the song are a nice, melodic touch. It's also fairly unpredictable, the one-line pre-chorus is a fine example, as well as the slow breakdown in the middle. Kirk delivers some of the catchier phrases as well. It's a very solid track.

Nailed it!

[Progmetty]

So Metallica consider Hardwired To Self Destruct their 11th album which means they probably count Garage Inc Disc 1 as a studio album...

Not Lulu since it was a collab.

Wikipedia says HW is their 10th...

Yeah I noticed this in August when Lars premiered Hardwired during a radio interview and said "11th studio album", I checked Wikipedia and it said 10th. I think he's counting Beyond Magnetic because it was a release of entirely original material.

That's an EP and Garage Inc Disc 1 - whilst not NEW songs was still a new studio recording.

No I don't think they count cover albums as studio albums. They're either counting Beyond Magnetic or Lulu IMO.

[Kotowboy]

Lulu is a Lou Reed album and Beyond Magnetic is an EP. In their discography on https://metallica.com/releases/albums they've got Garage Inc but no BM or Lulu so...

[Progmetty]

They also got S&M and Through The Never there so...
Well either way they're counting wrong and Wikipedia is counting right IMO, this is their 10th studio album.

[Adami]

Did a 2nd listen through.

Mostly really good songs. I think it was Confusion that I didn't care for. Kirk, however, continues to disappoint. He is playing very tightly with surprisingly little wah pedal. However his solos are almost all exactly the same thing and are mostly boring as all hell. A real shame.

[NunoTenniscourt]

Not to be a party pooper, but after seeing the reaction to Spit out the Bone on the 'net and then checking it out myself, I am convinced that Metallica fans are so excited to get anything new that they'll be happy with just about anything as long as it is played fast. It's not a bad song, but it sounds like your run of the mill speed metal tune that we've heard them do a million times already.  It ended and I already cannot remember anything about it.

I agree. 8 years is a pretty long starvation period, and I'm fairly certain it had a lot to do with all the hype about this song and the album in general.
I gave the album a shot, and it's not horrible, but certainly nothing special, either. Overall, it seemed like they were just reliving all the phases of their career.

I'm beginning to think I've just simply outgrown them and their style.

[Phoenix87x]

I definitely really like the album, but I would have liked to see Kirk collaborate on some of the songs, besides just solos.



Completely Lars and James writing everything except Rob contributing on one track. Just kind of shocked me since after all that "therapy" I thought they were going to go forward "as a band unit" from now on and stuff. But whatever I guess. I still like the album a lot.

[Scorpion]

Apparently, he lost his iPhone, which contained 250-ish riffs and ideas and didn't have a backup, which is why he didn't have anything to contribute. Doesn't sound that plausible to me (I mean, you'd guess he'd at least remember a couple of his ideas, or come up with some new stuff after losing it), but who knows.

[Kotowboy]

I bet that's a cover story and there's something else going on.

Nothing untoward like Lars not wanting Kirk to write or anything... But maybe was away a lot.

[?]

Tbh I think the fact that James and Lars handled pretty much all of the songwriting is probably one of the main reasons this album sounds so focused compared to DM or St. Anger.

[Progmetty]

It does sound like a cover story but I don't think it is cause we've known about Kirk losing his iPhone with the riffs long before they entered the studio to record Hardwired, I remember him talking about it in Through The Never period video interviews and on Kerrang magazine.

I definitely really like the album, but I would have liked to see Kirk collaborate on some of the songs, besides just solos.

That caught my eyes on the CD booklet, the song credits part. If you wrote a guitar solo for a song, that doesn't qualify you to be added to the writing credit? It's an original piece of music that you contributed!

Tbh I think the fact that James and Lars handled pretty much all of the songwriting is probably one of the main reasons this album sounds so focused compared to DM or St. Anger.

I agree on the benefit of having just Lars and James write the music but I wouldn't say it's about focus, to me it's more about song structures and arrangement. I found DM very focused and clear on what it wants to accomplish. 

[Kotowboy]

Song writing credits only count if you contribute to the actual arrangement or body of the song.

Putting bass on a track which merely mirrors the riff written by someone else isn't writing a song apparently.

Nor is playing a guitar solo on a song which someone else wrote. You didn't "write the song" technically. **

But whatever. Not all bands follow this rule. U2 have split everything 25% since day one.

I'd have preferred to see Hetfield/Ulrich/Hammett/Trujillo on everything

Kirk didn't even get a writing credit on Lords of Summer.



** - p.s. that Disposable Heroes-esque guitar climb in the chorus of Moth Into Flame was written by James. So Kirk really did just come in and do solos by the looks of it.


-----------------

Also it's funny seeing people call this album "ThreeLoad" and say stuff like " I didn't wait 8 years for another LOAD. Guess i'll have to wait another 8 years for a heavy album.."

This album is heavy as shit. If you just want every song to be fast thrash - Slayer are available.

[Kotowboy]

p.s. I like how in Spit Out The Bone - the guitar solo sounds like someone going " nom nom nom nom "

[axeman90210]

Early reaction is I'm really liking this album. Most of it sits somewhere in between the Black Album and Load, only heavier. In discussing their last couple albums with a friend I said that St Anger was I think a necessary exercise from them (and it does have some really great riffs/ideas, just poor execution), Death Magnetic was them trying to write an 80s Metallica album (and they produced a half decent facsimile of one), and this album just feels like them rocking the fuck out and doing what they want and I love it. Spit Out The Bone is also easily the best thrashy song they've written since Justice for me. I wanted them to put this album out just so they'd start touring again, but I'm very pleasantly surprised by the end result. I hope they play more than the three songs they have been from it when they start seriously touring.

[Kotowboy]

James has trouble singing Atlas so they'll probably change it on the proper tour.

The good thing about this albums tempo is that it will be a lot easier to play live.

[NotePad]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but hasn't it always been James and Lars writing all the music?  I know they all contribute riff tapes but thats it for Kirk and Jason and Robert.

[Kotowboy]

Kirk has 4 writing credits on METALLICA and like 13 Across Load & Reload

[TheCountOfNYC]

Kirk has 4 writing credits on METALLICA and like 13 Across Load & Reload

Kirk doesn't even have a writing credit on One and that has one of the most iconic solos of all time.

[Adami]

Kirk has 4 writing credits on METALLICA and like 13 Across Load & Reload

Kirk doesn't even have a writing credit on One and that has one of the most iconic solos of all time.

I'm not sure which solo you're referring to, but Kirk has said that the first two solos were based around what James was jamming on at times.