#23
Metallica - Hardwired...To Self-Destruct
I have considered Metallica my favourite band for most of my life. They were the first band I was obsessed with and they really got me into metal. I was never that interested in music growing up (which is pretty surprising if I think about how obsessive I am about it now) and preferred to play computer games and football. My older brother was always into music though and I was exposed to Metallica’s Black Album a lot when it was released in ’91, I was 8 and he was playing it ALL the time, even though I wasn’t consciously enjoying it, it was all seeping into my DNA.
Fast forward to about 2002 and I was 19, I was pretty into Hip-Hop at this point, Eminem, Dr Dre, NWA, stuff like that. I was at work one day and this guy I was working with stuck on The Black album. I probably hadn’t heard it in about 7 years and I was just like “Wow, I know this album inside out and I LOVE it.” This lead to a defining moment for me about a week later, I was in the local HMV and I vividly remember having Metallica’s Black Album in one hand and Stoned Raiders by Cypress Hill in the other. I couldn’t afford both so I was trying to decide which to buy. I see this as the moment I forsake Hip-Hop and started my love affair with metal. I never really looked back. I started a 6 month binge on Metallica’s back catalogue and got so immersed in everything that they are.
Anyway, enough about that, where does that all leave me now? I obviously broadened my horizons musically and although I don’t listen to Metallica that much nowadays I will still check out everything they release (saying that, I have never listened to Lulu). I’m in the camp that actually really liked Death Magnetic and I’ll say it now, I prefer DM over Hardwired, so shoot me. I am far from an audiophile so I was never really affected by the production on DM. I just prefer it and love most of the songs, a lot of that could be just down to the music I listen to now compared to what I was listening to back in 2008 but whatever.
When I heard the first single off this album I wasn’t that excited, it was pretty straight forward and nothing new. I suppose I feel I want something new to really excite me from Metallica. I’ll be honest, at this point I’m more excited about the prospect of James releasing a solo album than anything Metallica are likely to release. This album is just solid for me, nothing more, nothing less. There are some cool moments and plenty that sounds like ‘good ol’ Metallica’ but the albums above this in my list just excite me way more. I have given this album plenty of listens and I just don’t get the urge to listen to it very often. If it was any other band I probably wouldn’t even still really be listening but it’s Metallica so yeah.
A lot of people have said how much this album harks back to all eras of the bands career. I’m sorry, I just don’t feel this is similar to anything pre-Load. It all feels like post 1995 Metallica through and through to me (which I think may be mainly down to James vocal delivery). That’s not a bad thing but nothing can touch their first 5 albums in my eyes, but that is their golden era so I’m probably not alone there. To the songs, Hardwired, as I mentioned is a straight forward, fast paced Metallica ‘thrash’ song. It’s fine and I should probably play this whilst driving with my pedal to the metal, it’s probably best in this scenario. Atlas, Rise! is possibly in my top 2 songs on the album, it feels a little more adventurous than pretty much anything on here and I just enjoy the instrumentation towards the end, it’s a better sing along than most. I think that is ultimately what I look for in a good Metallica song nowadays, James will be at the center of what I like about a modern Metallica song. Moth into Flame has its moments and the video is ok I guess, there are all some groovy riffs going on. I think I might be outnumbered here but I think that Here Comes Revenge is another of the top tier songs on HtSD. I love the dark, brooding nature of it. It’s also a great example of the sort of Hetfield lyrics that work for me. Lastly we get to Spit Out the Bone, there was a lot of hype around this song when the album was released. It is a fast, thrashy end to the album but I don’t think it is as great as others have made out. Like, My Apocalypse was a similar end to Death Magnetic but I think that is a way better song personally. Metallica have ended a number of their albums with balls to the wall thrashers but this isn’t one of their best, it just happens to be better than most other songs on this album.
I don’t love or hate this album, it definitely could’ve been a worse album but it just feels like a standard Metallica album at this point in their career (I guess that is the best we could’ve hoped for anyway). We'll see how it stands the test of time.
Favourite songs:
Atlas, Rise!,
Here Comes Revenge,
Spit Out the Bone