Author Topic: Deadeye Deep Dives: Metallica (Chapter 13: 72 Seasons)  (Read 13464 times)

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Offline axeman90210

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Re: Deadeye Deep Dives: Metallica (Chapter Six: Load)
« Reply #140 on: January 21, 2023, 05:26:54 AM »
Great writeup Deadeye. I'm not quite as high on quite as many songs as you are, but Bleeding Me and The Outlaw Torn are both top tier and there are a few other strong tracks as well (Until It Sleeps -> King Nothing -> Hero of the Day is a great three song run). There are a few filler tracks for sure, I feel like there was one really great album's worth of material between this and Reload.
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Offline Duetsch Dream Dates

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Re: Deadeye Deep Dives: Metallica (Chapter Six: Load)
« Reply #141 on: January 21, 2023, 03:45:30 PM »
I really liked Load when it came out, and still have 7-8 songs in rotation from Load/Re-load, a few things bug me about the albums.  The amount of riff recycling is pretty high (such as main riff of Fuel is the pre-chorus of Ain't My Bitch; alot more examples on Reload).  I can never decide if that is genius or derivative.

Also the plodding, mid-tempo on some of the songs.  Some songs it works well on (King Nothing, Outlaw Torn), but for alot it doesnt.  When they play 'The Memory Remains' live these days, they up-tick a little bit, and it gives the song a bit more life and feel, especially the Iommi-esque guitar bridge.


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Re: Deadeye Deep Dives: Metallica (Chapter Six: Load)
« Reply #142 on: January 23, 2023, 09:17:27 AM »
Load was my first brand new Metallica album too.  I was 12 or 13 at the time.  I remember seeing the creepy video for Until It Sleeps and really loving the song.  I remember getting more and more into death metal along with other metalhead friends, and many of them starting to drop off the Metallica bandwagon, and slag the band.  I always defended them and stuck with them, as they were (and most days still are) my favorite band.  I read an issue of Guitar World when Reload came out that described the Loads as Metallica still crushing with their particular Hammer of the Gods sound, they had just changed the shape of the mallet a bit.  That fitting description always stuck with me. 

The production on the Loads is really good, and they used a lot more effects and sounds than before.  James sounds great in this era too.  Lars definitely simplifies things, but the drums sound great as well.  Now to the songs:

Ain't My B**ch - Solid opener, never really cared for the slide solo, but I like the song overall. 

2x4 - I have always really loved this song, with it's simple but crushing main riff and swagger.  The bluesy middle section is
         really cool too.  I wish they would play this one more, the last time was like 2000.

The House That Jack Built - Love this dark track.  The verses with that riff and James' vocals are unsettling.  The chorus is
                                         pretty neat too.  Wish they would play this one...

Until It Sleeps - Another dark, moody track that sounds kinda Alice In Chains-y.  I think this was a good choice for the first
                       single, since the video concept and song work so well together.  They could've just rolled out King Nothing first,
                       but they took a chance with something that would be more polarizing.

King Nothing - To me, a better version of Sandman.  Kirk's dissonant, repetitive lick boars in your head.  Always liked the video
                      for this one too.  It just grooves better overall than Sandman.

Hero of the Day - Unique song for Metallica, as the main part is in Ab major and has a uplifting, bouncy feel.  From there it
                          descends into a thrashy madness though.  Kirk has mentioned really liking his simple solo in some
                          interviews.  It works for the song, and I like this song overall.

Bleeding Me - One of the epic tracks, and it is so good!  Kirk's solo here is great, and the bridge section riff is my favorite riff
                     from the album.

Cure - One of the deep cuts that I really like as well.  The chorus riff is cool, and the vocals over it add to what makes it
          interesting.

Poor Twisted Me - This song sucks!  My least favorite Metallica song of all (I don't count Lulu as a Metallica album though).

Wasting My Hate - A short track that is probably the most aggressive thing here.  Really like the dissonant riff under the
                           verses.

Mama Said - It's okay.  I too envision it as a James solo record idea, as it doesn't really fit with the flow of the album.

Thorn Within - Another really sweet deep-cut.  The main riff starts like STP's Sex Type Thing.  The verses are really cool and
                      unique.  Love the James solo on this one.

Ronnie - I like the main riff, but the song goes nowhere for me...

The Outlaw Torn - What a way to close out the album!  The weird intro leads into an epic riff.  James' vocals here are so good. 
                           I love Kirk's solo as well.  Love the outro part, and it was cool when they would do part of it in the middle of 
                           King Nothing live.

Overall, there are a few clunkers, but I really like this album.  Once you get past the image change in the booklet and the short hair, you have a set of pretty solid hard rock/metal tracks.   

Offline Deadeye21

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Re: Deadeye Deep Dives: Metallica (Chapter Seven: ReLoad)
« Reply #143 on: January 26, 2023, 06:28:39 AM »
ReLoad - 1997
Tracklisting: 1. Fuel. 2. The Memory Remains. 3. Devil’s Dance. 4. The Unforgiven II. 5. Better Than You. 6. Slither. 7. Carpe Diem Baby. 8. Bad Seed. 9. Where The Wild Things Are. 10. Prince Charming. 11. Low Man’s Lyric. 12. Attitude. 13. Fixxxer.

https://open.spotify.com/album/0Ip2GlQPoAIgdkqCO2YkMa?si=h5d-OHmXQeaVkugnw7MwNA

Metallica hit the road with the Lollapalooza touring festival of 1996 between June 27th and August 4th before starting up the Poor Touring Me cycle for Load between September 6th and May 27th, 1997. Across 125 shows across Europe and North America, Metallica started to sprinkle in a taste of the next album. Devil’s Dance came back from the 95 tour, but making it’s introduction over a handful of dates was a work in progress of a song that would soon be known as Fuel.

It wouldn’t be long until Metallica found themselves back in the studio. Between July and October of 97, Metallica completed the other half of the songs that they had written between 93 and 96. The original plan for Load had been to make a double album, but the plan was ultimately scrapped. They had already started recording some of their more simple songs to get a feel for the studio before they decided to leave, which was what had become Load. ReLoad would be some of the more energetic songs that had been left over. 

Might as well get this bit out of the way. Infancy, Progression, Ascension, Domination, Supremacy, Dilution, Continuation.

Whereas Load started with a straightforward jam with Ain’t My Bitch, ReLoad opens with a short vocal phrase, vigorously spat out by James. Say it with him now, “gimme fuel, gimme fire, gimme that which I desire!”. Man, Fuel is a great song. Lyrically an anthem to fast cars and fast living, musically 50 bpm faster than the fastest track on Load. There’s a proper Metallica soul to this one that harkens back to the Black Album era, with a bit heavier of a guitar tone to boot. It’s a song that fires on all cylinders from the get-go. My favourite part of this song is easily the jam after the second chorus and on through the end. That jam section has a great build to it in my opinion. It’s a song I’ve heard a thousand times and I always enjoy coming back to.

The Memory Remains sees the album start to slow down a little, but keep a jamming vibe to it. Memory is almost like Metallica’s take on Sunset Boulevard, where the character is a celebrity that is fading into obscurity and it’s driving them mad. I sometimes wonder if Metallica felt that their back catalog was as risk of going this way, as the lyrics mention Fade to Black a few times. It’s pretty cool to hear the mention either way though. This song holds the distinction of being the first and so far only original song of Metallica’s with a guest vocalist. This one features Marianne Faithfull, who sings the “na na na na” bridge sections. Marianne was living in Ireland at the time and James, Lars and Bob flew to Dublin to record her while the band was on a summer tour in 97. It was actually Bob Rock who suggested that she would feature on the song, as James had that melody kicking around for a little while but was struggling to find lyrics. Their engineer suggested that it sounded great as just a little “la-la” melody and James started envisioning an older voice there. While I do enjoy Faithfull’s voice in the song, I much prefer this song live with the audience singing that section at the top of their lungs.

Devil’s Dance is our third track here. We’ve mentioned this one a few times now, so it’s great to finally talk about it. This is a real dark and heavy number, tuned down in D standard (where only The Thing That Should Not Be and Sad But True had ventured before). A lyrically simple track about temptation but I find it to be so hooky with it’s riff. I feel it’s actually almost a perfect way that that one worked out. I really want to point out the really cool pitch shifted chorus vocal underneath the second verse, just because I really like it. What I find a little weird though is that for such a heavy song, it feels like a lot of the time only James’ guitar seems to be going throughout much of the verse. Sadly, for a song with the history of being played for two years before the album came out, this one doesn’t really have a whole lot to be said about it. I definitely enjoy it in the moment, but other than the bass intro and the main riff, I feel this one doesn’t leave all that much of an impression ultimately.

Reload, the sequel album that contains a sequel. You know it, time to talk about The Unforgiven II. Opening with the same reversed horn sound as the original, The Unforgiven II takes a very different approach, almost reversed to what the original had done structure wise. II starts with a riff that reminds me of the opening lead to Iron Maiden’s Children of the Damned before it softens into a clean riff with almost a country twang to it. My interpretation of the lyrics is that the character from The Unforgiven finds another person much like himself and he’s trying to determine if he can be open about himself. I feel it ends very optimistically, especially given the slide from minor to major at the end. I think that the original might be a better song, but this is far more emotional. I really love the way that a few motifs from the original start to get introduced at the end of this one too. A great way to do a song sequel,  in my opinion.

Did you know that Metallica won a Grammy for best metal performance in 1998 with a song from ReLoad that isn’t Fuel? Yeah, one of the songs that I find really bland here, Better Than You, is a Grammy winner. Metallica has never played this one live either. I find it to be a bit of a wasted track though, as the riff isn’t terrible but it just never goes anywhere. Kirk’s several solos don’t really elevate it at all and then ending it three times was a bit lame. I’d still much rather listen to this one than Poor Twisted Me, for sure, I just find this to be a weak song.

Speaking of weaker songs, what the hell is Slither? According to many fan surveys, this song is often voted as the worst. However, I do kinda like a lot of elements here. I think that pre-chorus is actually a really cool lift and I like the chorus lyrics a lot. I think it’s a little too obviously trying to rip off Sandman in it’s main riff, although I kinda like the harmony they do based off of it that brings in the solo. Speaking of Sandman, much like King Nothing uses the “off to never never land” tagline in it’s fade-out, I can hear Kirk starting up something that sounds like one of the Ain’t My Bitch riffs in the fade-out here. This is definitely lesser than Netter Than You all up, but I prefer the verse riff from which the song takes it’s name.

Alright, back to the good stuff. Carpe Diem Baby! Might be easier to skip to the part where I say that the one thing I don’t really love about this song is the “I-I-I-I-I” trailing vocal thing during the pre-chorus. This song is an absolute banger with one of the best main riffs on the album, some of James’ best singing and one of the best breakdowns post-Justice in my opinion. Oh, and James has the solo which ends with that awesome little harmonised run. Lyrically, this one is about exactly what it says on the tin. Live your life to the full because you’re only gonna get one shot. I love this one a lot. Might be my second favourite on the album.

Bad Seed doesn’t suck either. This was the lowest tuned song thst Metallica had ever done until Invisible Kid happened, with this one being in Drop C#. To me, this one talks of greed and someone getting openly mocked for being honest. The cough at the start gives me major Sweet Leaf vibes, as does the overall heaviness of the main riff. It’s a shame they never actually played this song live actually, I feel like it would’ve gone down rather well in concert. Kirk’s bluesy solo really rips here and  I like the way that the lead carries on into the bridge.

Where The Wild Things Are is a mixed bag for a lot of people, one that I fall onto the positive side of. This is Jason’s third of three writing credits with Metallica and one of the most intriguing songs on ReLoad. That shimmering clean guitar tone leading into such a heavy riff is really cool. The vocals are quite catchy roo. My interpretation of this song is that it’s a bit of a cautionary tale about trying to hide the harsh realities of the world from children and the twisted perceptions they could get because of it. My favourite thing in this song is the bridge, it’s so unlike anything else Metallica has ever done and it works so well. Mind you, I could say that about the whole thing from my perspective. So different. So good.

Prince Charming is another cool little hidden gem. This one is one I’m not really sure what it’s trying to be about, but I get a real “everything bad in the world is my fault and I’m proud of it” kinda vibe. Bit of anarchy never went wrong on a Metallica album right? This is a 6 minute song and every bit of it ricks. I do think there’s a little bit of an …And Justice For All reference in here which is actually kinda subtle but also great to hear. I think the chorus is catchy as hell too. Kirk shreds it here and that main riff is really fun! Not a lot to say but check it out, this is another one of those Thorn Within tracks where it’s buried amongst the rest of ReLoad but it’s really damn good!

And then we have a song that definitely gets a bollocking that  I don’t feel like it deserves called Low Man’s Lyric. I think the only reason people are so down on this one is the inclusion of David Miles on the Hurdy Gurdy. And yeah, I guess it’s a little out there and definitely far from what you’d expect from Metallica. But, it gives this song a unique quality that I have come to love. And then, it’s really not about that to me. There’s so much beauty and sadness in James’ lyrics here that is so masterful. The song is about a homeless man who struggles with drug addiction and suffers through his life. In fact, this is somewhat of a suicide letter. The song is amazing in my opinion, offering up a surprisingly heavy bridge for being played almost entirely on clean guitars apart from the tiny little hint of overdrive that Kirk uses in his solos. This song really is amazing and deserves another spin. I’d love to see Metallica bring this one out next time they do an acoustic show.

Attitude is ok. The lyric is a bit of a companion to Carpe Diem Baby in a way. This is basically a “yeah, I’m a rebel and I’m gonna wreck your day just for a bit of fun in my own”. I just don’t feel there!s much to this one. I like some of the riffs here, but it does feel like maybe the lyrics could’ve been a little better. “Just let me kill you  for a while” has an edge to it, but it also just sounds a little cheesy to me. Mind you, the backing to the pre-chorus is kinda cool. Another pretty decent harmony section in this one, but the song itself has not been one that’s fully grabbed me over the years.

Not like the ending to this era has, anyway. We definitely seem to agree that The Outlaw Torn is the best song on Load, so would it be a stretch to say the same for Fixxxer here? Holy hell. This song has everything, the ambient intro, the killer hook of a main riff and all the emotion James could make me feel! This is a song about child abuse and trying to deal with the trauma years later. James uses the idea of the voodoo doll and the jabbing of the pins as a crux point to say “I’m not going to be my father, I’m going to be better and break this cycle”. The riffs are killer, the chorus is fairly damn close to perfect, I love the solo where I feel Kirk played his heart out with the slide. Everything on this song is damn near perfection. Easily my favourite song on the album, and judging from the crowd reaction back in 2021 when this song finally got played live, I’d say many people agree!

And that’s ReLoad. I feel like this is much more of a mixed bag than Load due to it being much less consistent. And yet, it’s got the energy. We’re back to Metallica with some edge that was lacking from Load. I’d give this a 7.25. It’s not quite on the same level as Kill ‘Em All for me, but only just behind it.

As for my single disc of Load, this is the tricky part. I think I’ll go with something like

Fuel
Ain’t My Bitch
The House Jack Built
The Unforgiven II
Carpe Diem Baby
Wasting My Hate
Bleeding Me
Prince Charming
Where the Wild Things Are
Thorn Within
The Outlaw Torn
Fixxxer

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1jne5hdJUXe4snFz0DnuJ1?si=fH8JTJYiRDmL7pTh8LU3wA

What about you guys, what is your ultimate Load edit? Be keen to hear your thoughts on that and ReLoad.
Next week, Cunning Stunts!
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Online Grappler

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Re: Deadeye Deep Dives: Metallica (Chapter Seven: ReLoad)
« Reply #144 on: January 26, 2023, 07:17:06 AM »
I've always felt like Load was the more cohesive album and Reload was the leftovers.  I just listened to the album this week in advance of your upcoming post and remembered that I enjoy more songs than I thought:

Fuel, Devil's Dance, Better Than You, Slither (yes, I like this song more than Carpe Diem Baby), Where the Wild Things Are, Prince Charming, Attitude, Fixxxer.  I'd take Mama Said over Low Man's Lyric any day though. 

This was also my first Metallica experience live - they played a big open field/fairground west of Rockford, IL in the summer of 1998.  Jerry Cantrell and Days of the New opened.  This was when Chris DeGarmo was in Cantrell's band - at the time, I didn't care for Queensryche, but I can say that I saw him play live.  I remember hearing some of the big AIC songs.  Metallica came out and I got to see my favorite band live after being a fan for 6-7 years.  They played a great set too. 

The album reminds me of being 17 years old, turning 18, graduating from high school and in the last summers before I left for college. 

Offline DragonAttack

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Re: Deadeye Deep Dives: Metallica (Chapter Seven: ReLoad)
« Reply #145 on: January 26, 2023, 07:34:19 AM »
You chimed in a few times in my Queen discography, so my apologies for not commenting here sooner.  I remember ordering  '….And Justice For All' and the self titled Kingdom Come album  via my then wife’s Columbia House membership.  I’d heard of Metallica because Jason Newsted was from (then) nearby Gull Lake.  Not the best introduction for me.  So ‘tinny’ and ‘metallic’😉   I did change gears with the video for ‘Enter Sandman’, bought The Black Album, and enjoyed the hell out of it. 

I remember buying 'Load' and giving it a few spins.  It was OK, but the band isn't quite in my 'comfort zone'.

Just thought I’d also ‘well done’ with your more than in depth breakdowns of each song.  :tup  And…..pardon my ‘ignorance’, but I knew absolutely nothing in regards to Cliff Burton until reading this thread. 
« Last Edit: January 26, 2023, 02:38:36 PM by DragonAttack »
...going along with Dragon Attack's Queen thread has been like taking a free class in Queen knowledge. Where else are you gonna find info like that?!

Online billboy73

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Re: Deadeye Deep Dives: Metallica (Chapter Seven: ReLoad)
« Reply #146 on: January 26, 2023, 11:56:29 AM »
Here we go with part II of the what was to be a double album, ReLoad.  I remember in interviews the band saying these songs aren't the leftovers, just the songs that weren't ready when Load was released.  I think many people felt like they were the leftovers, or a lot of it was.  As with Load, some of Metallica's best production.  Now, onto the songs:

Fuel - It's a really great opener, and probably the biggest live mainstay from the Load era.  It starts the album out on a high
         note. I actually like the demo version (Fuel for Fire) better than the Reload version.  Love the double bass groove and riff
         of the chorus.

The Memory Remains - I really like this song a lot as well.  Really cool main riff.  Love how it opens with just James and guitar
                                  and also, the ash to ash, dust to dust section before the main riff comes back in.  The Marianne Faithful
                                  vocals fit the lyrical vibe of the song, but I agree about that part sounding so much better with the
                                  crowd live.  This one had a cool video too.

Devil's Dance - Here comes the heavy track, and this is my favorite of their slower, heavy tracks (Sad But True, Thing, Dream
                       No More, Harvester).  Love the intro part, and the chorus is solid.  I like Kirk's whacky solo here too.

Unforgiven II - This is my favorite of the 3 Unforgivens, and it's really melodic.  The verses with James on the B-bender tele
                      sound great.  James' vocals here are so good, and the outro with the nods to the first part is excellent.

Better than You - This song is okay, not great, as the chorus gets annoying.  I can't believe they won a Grammy for this song.

Slither - I am strangely drawn to this interesting track, but it is quite uneven.  The Sandman riff part isn't great, but I like the
            verse riff with James' vocals.  The "see you crawling" part is cool, but I don't really like the "don't go lookin for snakes"
             bit. Still, overall, not great.

Carpe Diem Baby - Love how this song starts and the main riff is pretty interesting.  I like this one too.  The solo with the
                            harmony part at the end is really good.

Bad Seed - Big, fat groover with the main and verse riffs here.  It's okay, but doesn't move the needle much for me.

Where the Wild Things Are - This is such an interesting and underrated track in the Metallica catalog.  This is my favorite from
                                          the album.  The verses rule, and the bridge section is really cool.  Great leads from Kirk.  It would
                                          be interesting to hear live, but not sure how well they would pull it off...

Prince Charming - This is like a greasy rocker on steroids.  The chorus is solid, and the bridge part is nice too.  I'm kinda
                           surprised they never played this one live.  I know a lot of people would love to hear it.

Low Man's Lyric - I actually really like this one too.  Another unique song that I think works pretty well.  The lyrics fit the vibe
                          of the song really well.

Attitude - I've always had a soft spot for this song, and I love the looseness of how it starts.  It has some nice riffs and the
               "why cure the fever" turnaround is nice.  Overall a fun, uptempo song for me.

Fixxxer - Just as with Load, this song is an awesome closer to ReLoad.  The main riff is dark and so good.  Epic chorus, and the
              outro where the drums pickup the tempo to the end is awesome.  They finally played it live!

Overall, there is a lot to like here.  As the 2 albums are constructed in reality, if I could only pick one, I would take ReLoad.  I just like a little bit more here.  Both have their fair share of awesome songs and clunkers, only one has a Poor Twisted Me though.  ;)       
     

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Re: Deadeye Deep Dives: Metallica (Chapter Seven: ReLoad)
« Reply #147 on: January 26, 2023, 12:00:00 PM »
Also, which is the better closer?  The Outlaw Torn or Fixxxer

I lean Fixxxer, but both really are great, epic tracks.

Offline Deadeye21

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Re: Deadeye Deep Dives: Metallica (Chapter Seven: ReLoad)
« Reply #148 on: February 01, 2023, 04:36:47 AM »
Hey all, just an update to say that I am currently away on a short little holiday. Cunning Stunts is coming, but it might be next Monday or Tuesday instead of the regular Wednesday/Friday release schedule I try to keep to. Sorry!
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Offline The Curious Orange

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Re: Deadeye Deep Dives: Metallica (Chapter Seven: ReLoad)
« Reply #149 on: February 01, 2023, 08:07:21 AM »
There's a section of the metal audience that does seem to cling on to this "everything heavier than everything else" idea as being the One True Metal. Load and ReLoad show Metallica tempering the heavy with other shades and textures - you can't listen to stuff like King Nothing or Carpe Diem Baby and argue that it's not heavy - I used to blast those songs out at full pelt and trust me, they're heavy. The 90s grunge explosion was adapt or die for established bands, and Load/ReLoad is the sound of Metallica adapting, and doing so successfully. These are unfairly maligned albums, as they're two of Metallica's best. Still, I guess some people prefer St Anger...
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Re: Deadeye Deep Dives: Metallica (Chapter Seven: ReLoad)
« Reply #150 on: February 01, 2023, 08:13:25 AM »
I'll keep this brief but ReLoad is not just responsible for my love of Metallica but probably my journey into heavy music in general.

I distinctly remember being around 13. I was learning drums only because I loved the movie That Thing You Do and wanted to be a jazz drummer after that, despite not listening to jazz. I remember going to my first drum lesson saying I just wanted to learn jazz and not rock or anything else. My mom loved old music but never really had much on around me, so I wasn't exposed to much growing up outside of movies/tv shows.

Then one day I was getting ready to take a shower and walked by the TV which was on MTV or VH1 or whatever played music videos back then and The Memory Remains came on. I just dropped everything I was doing and was stunned. I got some of their albums and then I remember watching Reload, Rehearse, and Request with Matt Pinnfield sometime later.

Obviously my drumming goals changed, and everything else about my approach to music changed. Granted, Memory Remains probably wouldn't make my top 50 anymore, but that song opened the damn flood gates.


I really love a bunch of these songs, despite the filler. Fixxxer remains in my top 5, and Where the Wild Things Are is one of my favorites by them as well.
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Re: Deadeye Deep Dives: Metallica (Chapter Seven: ReLoad)
« Reply #151 on: February 01, 2023, 08:21:43 AM »
I just dropped everything I was doing and was stunned. I got some of their albums and then I remember watching Reload, Rehearse, and Request with Matt Pinnfield sometime later.

I LOVED that show and remember watching it over and over. 

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Re: Deadeye Deep Dives: Metallica (Chapter Seven: ReLoad)
« Reply #152 on: February 01, 2023, 08:23:29 AM »
I just dropped everything I was doing and was stunned. I got some of their albums and then I remember watching Reload, Rehearse, and Request with Matt Pinnfield sometime later.

I LOVED that show and remember watching it over and over.

I appreciate them trying to make the request part seem interesting but failing miserably.

"Any requests?"
"Yea...this is a long shot...and I dunno if you're prepared to play it.....but is there any chance you'll play.....Enter Sandman?"
"...Yea, I think we can somehow pull that off."

But seeing the acoustic set and Low Man's Lyric was especially cool.
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Re: Deadeye Deep Dives: Metallica (Chapter Seven: ReLoad)
« Reply #153 on: February 02, 2023, 11:27:51 AM »
I haven't chimed in about Load/Reload, so here we go...

When I got into Metallica, via the Black Album, folloby the first 4 records, I read a lot about Load/Reload and the way the albums divides fans. On top of that, my older brother used to talk about the crushing disappointment Load was for him.

I was hesitant to give the albums a listen and actually heard S&M way before Load and Reload. I consider S&M to be my all time favourite live album, and my first exposure to songs like Fuel, The Memory Remains, Hero of the Day were on that record. I adore the S&M versions, and in every case feel they are superior to the studio versions.

Because of this I have a bit of a weird relationship with both albums. As I said, I find all the studio versions lacking and it definitely impacts my view. The Load/Reload songs I've come to love are ones such as King Nothing, Unforgiven II, Low Man's Lyric. These are all great songs and the albums themselves aren't bad.

I think the 90s was great for Metallica due to the explosion of The Black Album and the release of Garage Inc and S&M. For me those are the real successes of 90s Metallica, and Load/Reload have become an afterthought for me.

Anyone else have a similar experience?

Offline Deadeye21

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Re: Deadeye Deep Dives: Metallica (Bonus Chapter: Cunning Stunts)
« Reply #154 on: February 07, 2023, 12:09:48 AM »
Cunning Stunts - 1998
Setlist: So What, Creeping Death, Sad But True, Ain’t My Bitch, Hero of the Day, King Nothing, One, Fuel, Bass/Guitar Doodle, Nothing Else Matters, Until It Sleeps, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Wherever I May Roam, Fade to Black. Kill/Ride Medley, Last Caress, Master of Puppets, Enter Sandman, Am I Evil?, Motorbreath

Poor Touring Me is one of two tours that really helps to prove a rule to me: Don’t skip the Metallica show even if you didn’t like the album. Some songs are much  better live and you still get to see plenty of old stuff to make it worth it. This is a record that helps lay that out for all to see.

Cunning Stunts was filmed live at the Tarrant County Convention Centre in Fort Worth, Texas on May 9th and 10th of 1997, but released in December of 1998. These were towards the very end of the Load cycle, at the point were Metallica were set to head back into the studio to finish the other songs that would become ReLoad.

As I said before, Binge and Purge is far from my favourite Metallica live album, but it was a great way to start. I feel that the success of that box set allowed them to keep going and showing what they did best, which is being a live band. Their second concert film, Cunning Stunts is a great example of why Metallica live albums are as awesome as they are.

The show foregoes the usual symphonic intro and opens with the band walking onto the stage in full view of the audience and opening with a brief jam, which on this particular night was the instrumental for the, then unreleased, Bad Seed. James engages with the crowd briefly and the show opens properly  with one of my least favourite Metallica covers, So What (more on why later this week!). What I do really like about this particular recording of the song is seeing the house lights turn off and the concert lighting kick in during the third verse. It’s quite cool seeing that transition happening while the band is already in full force.

The second song here is Creeping Death. While I’m not a huge fan of them cutting most of that iconic intro out, I have to admit that this is a great performance of the iconic track. Jason’s backup vocals are strong as steel, Lars’ drumming is tight and energetic, Kirk is in fine form and James nails the vocals. This is the tour where he started getting away from the iconic growls and started heading in a more clean direction, as witnessed in his approach to the vocals on Load, but his voice is still strong. The bridge is a powerful moment as it should be, and as a personal note, I feel the need to mention that I love the camera work on this show a lot more than the San Diego segments of Binge and Purge already!

“I’ve got an announcement to make. We’ve come here to KICK YOUR ASS!” Looking at this show, I feel this promise was kept! Third song, Sad But True. The main body of the song is played a tad slower than it’s counterpart on Binge and Purge, but I’m all for it. This song just has such a heavy bounce to it that I absolutely love. The lighting in the chorus is really cool, illuminating the audience in the seating with a strobing light to some of the quicker rhythms. I’m way more into this song on this release than I am on Binge and Purge and actually more interested in watching it here than seeing it played live nowadays.

More great crowd banter from James precedes a three song run from Load. Back to back, we have Ain’t My Bitch, Hero of the Day and King Nothing, which make up the majority of the “new” songs  in this release. Listening to Bitch here, I find myself wondering why they haven’t played this one again more recently. It translates really well to being played live and it has a huge energy! It’s also really cool to hear Jason stepping up on the vocals for a little bit of the last pre chorus. Hero of the Day isn’t anywhere near as good as it will be on S&M here, though that really isn’t a very fair comparison to make. Best moment of the song is definitely the bridges though. It’s so cool hearing James and Jason doing that delayed doubling thing live. The ambience of the King Nothing intro having the stage doused in smoke is an awesome visual. Jason spends a lot of this song playing off stage right in front of the crowd. This is another song that’s just immense live though, and I’m glad it seems to have come back on and off over the years.

Uo next is our sole representative of …And Justice For All, One. The opening explosions are a little bit hard to see, as the camera keeps spinning, but what we do get to see is nothing like the pyro displays of today where it’s practically a fireworks show. However, this performance of the song is awesome!  I love the clean tone that James and Kirk have here and having Jason’s bass tone stick out rather than being buried throughout the song is fantastic! Lars slays the double bass showcase that is the second half of the song, Kirk absolutely nails the cleaner solos (though drops it a little bit for the heavy solo) and this has to be one of the best James “noooo”s. The harmony section is awesome too!

“We’re gonna play an extra new song, like next record new”. We get a bit of a special treat here with an early performance of Fuel. This doesn’t have the finished lyrics yet, in fact the first verse is repeated. The instrumental is mostly what it would be on ReLoad though. It’s actually kinda cool to see the song this way, a little less completed and a lot more raw. Thankfully, the  “ooh, yeah-heh” is here, but it’s still not quite as strong as the take used in the studio version. Worth a watch actually.

And we come to the bass and guitar doodle. So, you’re probably thinking “yeah, Deadeye’s gonna hate this since he hates the ones on Binge and Purge”. Actually, not at all true. This is, by far, my favourite solo section from any Metallica live release. What Jason does in his bass solo here starts melodic and beautiful and then becomes an expanded version of the original idea for My Friend of Misery. Jason is sitting on one side of the bridge that crosses over part of the stage for the duration of the solo. When Kirk joins in, he sits on the other side of the bridge. They jam on Friend for a little bit, before switching into a little bit of Sanitarium and ending with the opening bars of Nothing Else Matters.

From there, Kirk plays the intro solo to the song and James joins in. Kirk drops out and we get the first two verses as a straight solo performance from James, with Kirk coming in to play his lead riff in the third. Lars and Jason return for the fourth verse and the song continues from there. It’s a really cool moment when James kicks his stool over as he kicks into his solo. Instead of playing the song through to tit’s usual ending from the album though, James rings out the last note as Lars and Jason begun the next song.

That song is Until It Sleeps. This one is interesting live. Jason’s backing vocals don’t really land right for me in the choruses and the dynamics of the song feel like they work a lot better in the studio than they do live. This is another one where the S&M version a few years later would work so much better for me. Kirk’s solo is really cool here though. I just feel that Wasting My Hate or Bleeding Me that they had been performing at other shows of this tour would’ve been a bit more worthy of committing to tape here.

Jason gives another quick solo here, cramming up the Wah before our second song from Ride the Lightning for the evening kicks off. For Whom The Bell Tolls is always awesome to see, though I think the intro here is a little flat. It seems like only Lars is playing those guitar stabs and it just feels a little weak. The rest of the song is a killer performance though. The opening lead sees Kirk walking through the crowd, much like Jason has a few times now. The middle harmonies sound strong, but one of the coolest moments occurs at the start of the second verse. “It’s the last time you will”, all stage lights cut to black and then come in perfectly in sync with the next note. So cool!  Kirk plays around with his whammy bar for a little bit afterwards and that’s the song.

Another cut to darkness leads to the sitar intro of Wherever I May Roam. This is a banger of a performance. Lars’ toms sound huge throughout the verses and James’ vocals sail right over the top of it. The harmonies are tight, Kirk’s solos are beautifully executed, James even takes a quick stroll through the audience during the solos, performing the last chorus from his small b-stage on the ground. Another really solid performance in a night jam packed with great performances.

Another powerful moment for this one is Fade to Black. Kirk’s opening solo is probably never performed better than on this one. James sings this one so beautifully, matching the shimmering clean tones magically. The heavy instrumental choruses are absolutely banging here, as is the back half of the song. I can’t put into words how much I love Kirk’s closing solo here. This is a step down from Seattle, but I’d put it above San Diego for sure!

If you’re getting a craving for more of the older stuff after that though, the next song has you covered. Apart from something that happens in a few songs time, the Kill/Ride Medley is one of the defining features of Cunning Stunts. This is perhaps not as strong of an arrangement as the Justice Medley, but I think the performance more than makes up for it. This performance combines the first verse and chorus of Ride the Lightning, the intro through to the chorus of No Remorse, the first two verses and choruses of Hit the Lights, the bridge of The Four Horsemen and most of the post-solo structures from both Seek and Destroy and Fight Fire With Fire into one huge medley of old school deep cuts! It’s sadly the only taste of Kill ‘Em All we’re given in the main set here, since other shows on this tour did also feature Whiplash, but hey, this is insanely cool. Kirk’s solo from No Remorse is never going to be something I don’t want to see in a live show, so there’s that. The breakdown gallop from Horsemen is super heavy at this slower pace, which is definitely set up well with the climb down from the pitch of Hit the Lights. Great to see Kirk getting into the backing vocals a bit on this one too. Lars’ double bass in the Fight Fire With Fire segment is strong! Definitely the track I recommend everyone checks out if you’re only listening to the show.

For anyone watching this on DVD, this is where you’ll need to change discs, so I guess now is the time to talk about the stage design. I love the stage here, it’s actually one of my favourite Metallica stages to date (I haven’t seen what M72 will look like yet though, so I wonder if there’ll be any major changes?). This is another “in the round” stage, meaning it takes up most of the arena floor. Within the area of the stage are the crew areas, where the guitar changes are occurring from. We have moving light towers, we’re about to see that there are extra drum kits on elevators, there’s even a second stage built on the ground, as I’ve mentioned, so that the band can be playing directly in the audience’s faces. It’s actually really awesome to look at. Lighting isn’t all that impressive though, with most of the songs being lit in solid blue with a few effects here and there on certain songs, but I digress.

Our last half hour opens with another jam. This one based on Leper Messiah. James plays random noises over the top of it, but the cool thing to watch is Jason gets in the second kit and kinda plays with Lars, a bit like James does on the San Diego show. This is just how the encore opens up though, as we’re about to kick into another cover. Last Caress, without Green Hell, is a shirt and sharp two minute jam that gets us right back into the action. I think it’s performed well, but both Binge and Purge versions were better.
James has a cool little singalong thing with the audience here, doing a weird little machine gun rapid thing. Then we’re into the next song,

Here we have Master of Puppets, or at least half of it. This is something I really hate about most of the 90’s shows is that Master was cut off after the second chorus way too often. In 2000, they did a cool little thing called Mastertarium, where they’d play Master up to the end of the second chorus, then Sanitarium to the end of the third solo and straight back into the third verse of Master. That’s cool. What we have here isn’t that, and boy how I wish it was. This version is awesome, the audience interaction is great, but it feels like they just cut it short for no reason!

Where the clean section of Puppets should be, Metallica instead opt to begin Enter Sandman. This performance is fine, I guess. I’m kinda bored of hearing the song live already as I’ve been getting started on something coming up in about six weeks. But yeah, this is Metallica doing their biggest song again. As you’d imagine, it’s a tight performance, as it should be after six and a half years of playing it at every show to that point. But what makes this particular performance spectacular is worth going through it all for. The “Destruction Scene”, as it’s come to be known, is an amazing spectacle where everything goes absolutely wrong during the ending of the song. We start with people swinging from the rigging, have Uris and flash pots going off, have someone falling off one of the rope ladders, a guy on fire, and ending with towers falling down! It’s a hell of a thing to see and I’d absolutely hate to see it happen for real. But this one is all staged and everyone is fine, so I love it! It was a staple of the Poor Touring Me cycle that makes it really fun to watch this performance of Sandman.

And now that everything’s kinda broken, we see lightbulbs suspended from ropes lighting the stage. Lars starts grooving away on the drums and we get a jam that ends up with the opening riff to Cure. Kirk changes out to one of his coolest guitars, the “Wavecaster”. It’s an acrylic body with the stuff from a lava lamp in it. Looks dope.

So, from there, we get an even shorter version of Am I Evil?, skipping the intro and leading straight into the main riff. This is a really cool performance, but I must be going crazy coz I’m hearing a little bit of the St. Anger ping to the snare here. The show ends with Motorbreath, but without the drum intro. This is my favourite performance of the song all the same though. I think the tone from this tour really suited the song well and Jason getting the crowd going in those post-choruses is really cool.

And that’s Cunning Stunts, a great way to spend 130 minutes. I think it’s easily my number 2 of the 3 concert films we’ve looked at so far, slotting in just under Seattle (which is still one of their best shows to this day)  but mikes above San Diego. I think the performance here is excellent, I think the cinematography was handled much better and even though I miss songs like Through the Never and Battery, I think this is a better setlist. I’m not really rating the live shows, but I will keep a ranking of them as we go. Catch you all on Friday when I dive deep into Garage, Inc.
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Re: Deadeye Deep Dives: Metallica (Bonus Chapter: Cunning Stunts)
« Reply #155 on: February 07, 2023, 10:02:14 AM »
Great review of a great VHS/DVD.  I watched the VHS plenty of times back in the day.  The Kill/Ride Medley is awesome, and this is my favorite live version of Fade to Black.  Watching it now makes me miss Jason for sure.  The "stage mishap" during Sandman was pretty cool too.  I remember a friend going to see them on this tour, and him telling me about it.  Then we realized it happened every show and was staged. 

1998 was also when me and another friend started getting into tape trading and eventually torrenting bootlegs.  Still have a box full of tapes at my parents house.  Some of the quality was rough, but man I loved hearing this band's live recordings.  I remember getting a few shows from this tour.  The Moline show was a highlight, as they busted out Shortest Straw, even though James botched some of the verses.  Now I have tons of Metallica shows stored on a hard drive.

Also, I had a music store near me that carried those bootleg import cds.  I definitely bought way too many of those for too much money.  I had like all of those Garage Days bootlegs and some other shows from over the years.  Fun times! 

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Re: Deadeye Deep Dives: Metallica (Bonus Chapter: Cunning Stunts)
« Reply #156 on: February 07, 2023, 11:07:07 AM »
I believe I sold my Cunning Stunts DVD a number of years ago when I purged a lot of my collection.  Fun fact - this was one of the very first DVD's that I ever purchased in the early 2000's.  I remember going into Best Buy and being amazed that you could get live concerts on DVD, rather than just VHS.  I bought Cunning Stunts and Iron Maiden's Raising Hell, along with a couple of films.  DVD's were really fucking expensive at the time too, being so new.

I really enjoyed the live show and felt it was a good representation of late 1990's Metallica. Jason's My Friend of Misery bass solo stood out, as did the Kill Ride Medley.  I also loved that they played Ain't My Bitch, which wasn't really featured after that tour, in favor of the singles from Load. 

This was when they decided to start their shows with cover songs as a nod to old-school fans.  On the Black Album tour, they trolled fans by playing the big hit song first (Sandman) and forcing them to sit through 3 hours of other Metallica songs to get their money's worth.  This time, they started with songs that only old-school fans would recognize, which carried through to the Reload tour (I saw them open with Helpless) as a way to again troll their newer fans and reward long-time fans.

Offline Duetsch Dream Dates

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Re: Deadeye Deep Dives: Metallica (Bonus Chapter: Cunning Stunts)
« Reply #157 on: February 07, 2023, 06:32:26 PM »
"Poor Touring Me" was my first time seeing Metallica in person at Chicago Rosemount, I was either 15 or 16. I think they were there for 3 or 4 nights.  We scored floor seats right by the stage and high-fived both Hammett and Newsted as they were running around the figure 8 stage.  They closed with Motorbreath with the four lightbulbs swinging around, which was frickin awesome (it has become one of my favorite Metallica songs lyric-wise). 

And of course the pre-show sweater puppet sans-sweater contest was a real highlight for a 15-y/o kid from the burbs.  Great job by the Rosemount Camera crew on that one.

Offline DragonAttack

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Re: Deadeye Deep Dives: Metallica (Bonus Chapter: Cunning Stunts)
« Reply #158 on: February 07, 2023, 07:04:27 PM »
I'm so far behind on so many things here, so bear with me on this one a bit.

During my Queen discography bit, I came across some videos by Lonn Friend on Glenn Hughes page (Deep Purple bassist) for the premiere night of their 'We Will Rock You' North American stage show in Vegas in 2004.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oc2weYyqn6Y

I just bought Lonn Friend's 'Life On The Planet Rock' paperback two weeks ago.  https://www.amazon.com/Life-Planet-Rock-Backstage-Debauched/dp/0767922085

A lot of great stuff on the early days of Metallica, Guns 'n Roses, Hustler magazine, Alice Cooper, etc.

It is not a 'man, we got stoned and drunk and did this and that' type of book, but a 'well, they called me up, they came over and we partied and then we played the demos of the 'Black Album' in my car' type of writing.  He only let's go of 'secrets' years after those secrets were made public.

Seeing Kevin DuBrow brings a big tear to our eyes.  He sat with my wife and I for a couple of hours on two separate days at the Paris Hotel.....  we still don't know why.  Maybe because my wife was a knock out (to me anyway) or that we just said 'Hi' had some placards, and didn't fawn over him.  And then we started talking Queen nonalbum B sides and such.  So many women came along and well....you know....and he'd take a pic with them, and then apologize after sitting back down with us.

Him apologizing!

The premiere night, he was begging to get on stage with all the 'heavy hitters'.  He was clean at the time, and was apologetic about his earlier troubles.

A year later, Quiet Riot performed in Towson, my wife got him to autograph the 'C'mon Feel The Noize' 45.   Nine months later, he'd relapsed and OD'd.

oops....sorry......  on with the show...

Speaking of which....shame on KevShmev for not allowing any 'Garage Inc' tunes in his countdown.  ;) 'So What' would have been a Top Twenty track, and, surprisingly, 'Stone Cold Crazy' (I despise 99% of Queen covers) would have been Top Five.
« Last Edit: February 07, 2023, 07:16:08 PM by DragonAttack »
...going along with Dragon Attack's Queen thread has been like taking a free class in Queen knowledge. Where else are you gonna find info like that?!

Offline Deadeye21

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Re: Deadeye Deep Dives: Metallica (Bonus Chapter: Cunning Stunts)
« Reply #159 on: February 07, 2023, 07:06:08 PM »
Cool stuff DragonAttack! Thanks for sharing that find with us!
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Re: Deadeye Deep Dives: Metallica (Bonus Chapter: Cunning Stunts)
« Reply #160 on: February 09, 2023, 07:27:59 AM »
I love Cunning Stunts. Minus MoP being cut in half of course.

It still had that unpredictable quality that Metallica had back in the day but they were less "ROAR ANGRY ALL THE TIME" which was fine with me.

I wish they'd go back to that unpredictable quality.
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Offline Deadeye21

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Re: Deadeye Deep Dives: Metallica (Chapter Eight: Garage Inc. Disc One)
« Reply #161 on: February 10, 2023, 04:25:19 AM »
Garage Inc. - 1998
Tracklisting (Disc One): 1. Free Speech for the Dumb. 2. It’s Electric. 3. Sabbra Cadabra. 4. Turn the Page. 5. Die Die My Darling. 6. Loverman. 7. Mercyful Fate. 8. Astronomy. 9. Whiskey in the Jar. 10. Tuesday’s Gone. 11. The More I See.
https://open.spotify.com/album/0vshXZYhBkbIoqxyC2fXcF?si=1jQij88_QRit1dqNg2caUw

Given the way this album works, I thought I’d break this chapter into two releases as well, since I know I won’t be able to fit it all in one go anyway.

During the early days, when Metallica only had a small handful of original tunes at their disposal, they naturally filled out their setlists with cover songs. Songs by Diamond Head, Savage, Sweet Savage, Blitzkrieg and more often saw live performances in Metallica’s first year together and would continue to stick around for many years to come, as we’ve seen over the course of our live chapters here.

When it came to the release of the Creeping Death single, Metallica needed B-Sides. What came from that was the original Garage Days Revisited (not Re-Revisited as was released in 1987). There they released Am I Evil? and Blitzkrieg. And from there a whole other side to Metallica opened. They released the $5.98 EP as their first release with Jason and between Justice and Load, every single came armed with a new cover or two to pay homage to the bands that inspired them to get to where they were.

So the day after the last North American date of the Poor Re-Touring Me cycle (the tour in support of ReLoad), Metallica found themselves in the studio once again, but this time it was different. The band started recording brand new covers from the “usual suspect” bands like Black Sabbath and The Misfits, plus a cover of a cover with Thin Lizzy’s take on an Irish Traditional tune. But they also expanded the repertoire and added some Nick Cave and Bob Seger to round out the mix.
As Lars commented the band wanted to do something different after three pretty serious albums in a row, starting with the Black Album and then Load and ReLoad, and the process would be easier by working with covers, especially as there was starting to be a tradition of taking other people's songs and turning them into something very Metallica, different from what the original artist did.

So how would this process turn out? Are these songs worth the listen as part of Metallica’s catalog, or are they merely a means of putting out more material without having to compose it themselves? Let’s take a listen!

The album starts with Free Speech for the Dumb, originally released by Discharge on their 1982 album, Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing. Discharge’s version is a very frantically paced punk song. Short, sharp and to the point.  Metallica’s version slows it down and has Kirk expand the solos out a little. I’m not a huge fan of the tone he uses on the lead parts though, which I had thought was a reference to the original for the longest time but am now finding was just an odd choice. Lars’ drum parts lack the cymbal work from the original, which makes it feel a little too much like a loop. James and Jason’s rhythm sound is nice and punchy though and James’ voice is sounding even better than on the Loads.

It’s Electric is the newest Diamond Head cover in Metallica’s catalog but one of the songs that was on the original setlists way back in 1982. This song, like many other Metallica Diamond Head covers, comes from the Lightning To The Nations album from 1980. The tones on this version are a lot more modern and the production is much cleaner than the original. I think this one really suited James’ voice for 1998. It’s a short song, but it’s a great rocker. This does sit at the bottom of the Diamond Head trilogy for me, as I really love the other two songs, but I enjoy listening to this one plenty. To me, Free Speech for the Dumb is almost more of an intro track where this one sets the tone for the album properly and serves as a far better album opener. Kinda like Regression to Overture 1928 in a way.

Sabbra Cadabra, while taking the name of only one song, is a medley of two tracks from Black Sabbath’s Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (the other being A National Acrobat, which serves as this song’s bridge). I know it’s going to sound like a blasphemy, but I way prefer this medley to both of Sabbath’s original versions. I think the guitar tones just sound much stronger and what the song needed from Sabbath. James is in top form here, with some impressive notes in the choruses. The main riff to A National Acrobat does seem like it served as a direct inspiration to a key riff from Fade to Black when you hear it with the Metallica tone too. Such a banger!

Turn the Page, originally by Bob Seger and his Silver Bullet Band on the Back in ‘72 album, is a perfect example of example of what Lars was saying about taking a song and making it a Metallica song. While the original song is very good, Metallica’s version is something else entirely. Kirk replaces the saxophone melody with slide guitar,  and the whole thing is just taken to a different level with the infusion of Metallica’s style from the Load era. James sings this with such a soul to his performance that it feels he could’ve written these lyrics himself. I believe he said in one of the interview clips from the 40th Anniversary shows that “Turn the Page could've been written for us, it’s the story of our lives!”. While it’s not one of my favourite Metallica covers, it’s definitely one that’s worth a listen. This was one of the three singles released from Garage Inc. and it reached number 1 on the Mainstream Rock Charts for 11 consecutive weeks.

Up next is a much more simple song, Die Die My Darling by The Misfits. This one doesn’t really have much to say about it. This has a very A/B structure to it that doesn’t really change. Once you’ve heard a third of the song, you’ve pretty much heard it all. James’ voice is what carries it all as the riff is very simple. It’s a cool enough song, but I really gotta be in the right mood to take this one onboard.

Well, let’s get into a weirder choice here. Loverman, by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Man, this one is different. They try to stay true to the original quite a bit here and it does feel like a very good cover of the song, but I just find it to be an odd choice. It’s a great display of James’ vocal range, for sure, but this song just doesn’t work for me at all. I find it very skippable. It’s way longer than it needs to be. I do really like Jason’s bass tone in a lot of spots here though. The ending with the synth is pretty cool though.

Still, if Loverman is the price of admission for the next song though, I’ll take it for Mercyful Fate. This is an 11 minute medley of four songs from Mercyful Fate’s Melissa album and a fifth from their self-titled EP, being Satan’s Fall, Curse of the Pharaohs, A Corpse Without Soul, Into the Coven and Evil. Holy shit. Straight off the bat, this is straight up awesomeness. Amazing riffs, great vocals featuring Jason and Kirk backups, fantastic drumming and killer solos! Man, Mercyful Fate is easily Metallica’s best cover as the mastery of this medley is a composition unto it’s own. The transitions between songs hit so naturally while defining the start and end points for each song. Nothing feels forced or lazy, it all feels like it’s always been there and simply spliced together. Even points where songs are married by a sustained note serve to only build dramatic tension, as can be felt in the intro to Into the Coven. If Metallica want to do something very special on M72, I hope they consider digging this one out live. Easily the standout track from the first disc of Garage Inc.

Following that behemoth is my second favourite cover from this disc, Astronomy by Blue Oyster Cult (surprise, they did more than Don’t Fear the Reaper!). This has such an atmospheric build to it during the first few verses before coming in with one of the coolest transitions into the heavier sections! It’s a full on harmony section and it’s not the only one there is either. Vocal harmonies and group chants, thick heavy layers of guitars and some of Kirk’s best soloing for the first disc. There are even some moments that feel particularly progressive. Kt’s hard to put into words just how much I like this one, or why, but this has always been a favourite for me.

Whiskey in the Jar. Man, what a great cover! It’s nit often you get a track where it’s a full James lead, but we’ve got it here. Man, James’ lead tone here absolutely rocks. This is another song that just really fits the Metallica wheelhouse like a glove. I’d say for many that this would likely be the ultimate version and I’d be amongst them. James’ solo is absolutely a highlight, but I also want to highlight the vocal harmonies in the third verse. I love how nice they sound. I love Lars’ groove in the choruses with such a cool feel when he goes to the rack toms. This is my third favourite, but I’m sure it would be right up top for most listeners. This was also released as a single, it went to number one on the Rock and Metal chart in the Us and actually won a Grammy for best hard rock performance in 2000 (the single was released in February of 1999).  It’s a cover of a cover, with Metallica taking inspiration directly from Thin Lizzy’s cover years earlier, but they still found a way to make it their own.

Tuesday’s Gone is the only song on this disc to not have been recorded in those 3 weeks in 1998. Rather, this one comes from a particularly special radio broadcast from December of 1997. On this broadcast, Metallica were joined by a wealth of guest musicians including Pepper Keenan, Jerry Cantrell, Jim Martin, John Popper, Les Claypool and Gary Rossington. During the performance, everyone got together to play this classic Lynard Skynard track and have a bit of an extended jam on it. While I feel the track is maybe a little long, I’m really glad it’s here for the diehard fans to listen to, but I find the original Lynard Skynard version a lot more digestible. You can tell they kinda run outta ideas vocally after a while, they I do like the little bit of them singing the chorus of Free Bird for a little bit. Cool to have the jam, but I just don’t come back to this all that often, even though I’ve been covering the song in my own setlists for a little while now.

The final track of this disc is The More I See, originally written by Discharge. The original song is a quick paced punky number, where Metallica have taken it’s simple origin and turned it into a real heavy bastard of a song. I’m kinda surprised that the original band weren’t a bit more like Black Sabbath from what Metallica did to this song. Metallica’s cover is based upon the extended version with the opening drum fill and elongated intro. I like this one a lot. It’s a good heavy jam to end off with, and going back to that punky sound to end off with kinda brings it a title full circle to Free Speech in my opinion. We end off with what a call a “turn tape over” kind of jam, which is just a rather atmospheric jam. It’s actually a really nice touch, which reminds me of the Run to the Hills jam at the end of the $5.98 EP, just this one was done right!  I’ve since found out this is a jam of Bridge of Sighs by Robin Trower, but I always thought this was an impromptu jam.


And that’s the first disc of Garage Inc.! There’s still a lot more to talk about though, so come back tomorrow for a look at disc two, which acts as more of a compilation than a new album. I used to think that this wasn’t peak Metallica and rather just a “we’re keeping the ball rolling” kind of release. Damn, was I wrong. This disc holds some of James’ best vocal performances of all time and some classic tunes that many people now associate with Metallica! The guitar tones are a great evolution from Load, though still with the same kind of mixing which sounds straight out awesome.

Since it would be unfair for me to score this as a Metallica album, being that it’s not their material, what I’ll do instead is rank these tunes from favourite to least from this disc.
Mercyful Fate, Astronomy, Whiskey in the Jar, Turn the Page, Sabbra Cadabra, It’s Electric, The More I See, Die Die My Darling, Tuesday’s Gone, Free Speech for the Dumb, Loverman.

Catch ya tomorrow.

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Online Stadler

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Re: Deadeye Deep Dives: Metallica (Chapter Eight: Garage Inc. Disc One)
« Reply #162 on: February 10, 2023, 06:44:40 AM »
Tuesday’s Gone is the only song on this disc to not have been recorded in those 3 weeks in 1998. Rather, this one comes from a particularly special radio broadcast from December of 1997. On this broadcast, Metallica were joined by a wealth of guest musicians including Pepper Keenan, Jerry Cantrell, Jim Martin, John Popper, Les Claypool and Gary Rossington. During the performance, everyone got together to play this classic Lynard Skynard track and have a bit of an extended jam on it. While I feel the track is maybe a little long, I’m really glad it’s here for the diehard fans to listen to, but I find the original Lynard Skynard version a lot more digestible. You can tell they kinda run outta ideas vocally after a while, they I do like the little bit of them singing the chorus of Free Bird for a little bit. Cool to have the jam, but I just don’t come back to this all that often, even though I’ve been covering the song in my own setlists for a little while now.


I love the start of this; I can do without the jam.  This is the trigger for my repeated comments that I would love to hear a James solo album where he does a batch of songs in this vein.   

Offline Deadeye21

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Re: Deadeye Deep Dives: Metallica (Chapter Eight: Garage Inc. Disc One)
« Reply #163 on: February 10, 2023, 06:47:09 AM »
Agreed Stads. I’d love to see it happen. I’m thinking it’ll be James’ endgame when he’s too old to keep Metallica-ing
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Re: Deadeye Deep Dives: Metallica (Chapter Eight: Garage Inc. Disc One)
« Reply #164 on: February 10, 2023, 07:18:54 AM »
Man, I absolutely adore Garage Inc. As I think I mentioned before, I first heard the album almost exactly 19 years ago. I was going on a week's holiday to Scotland with my girlfriend at the time, and her family. A few days before I found it on double cassette at a car boot sale.

I was pretty hard up back then, on an apprentice wage, and my minidisc player had died on me the previous year. That Walkman saw me through at least another year and a half, until I got my first mp3 player.

Any way, that whole week trip to Scotland (we drove up there and visited a lot of places, so lots of time in the car) I played Garage Inc on repeat! I miss those days where I could listen to an album for a week! I could never do that now, but back then it was a simpler time.

We'll get to disc 2 later, but I love almost all the songs on here. Deadeye, I agree with you about Loverman being a skipper, it is the only song that does little for me. It's Electric, Sabbra Cadabra, Turn the Page, Mercyful Fate and Astronomy are particularly strong.

I love the variety this disc throws at you. I also feel that Metallica just make these songs their own in a way that it's kinda hard for the original songs to hold up against them.

I know Garage Inc wasn't included in the Metallica Top 50 Songs Thread (gutted) but if it was, you better believe most of these would make the list. Mercyful Fate is actually my #1 Metallica song! The riffs in that thing are off the chart and the drums just sound colossal.

I really just think this album has something for everyone and it helped me start to explore the world of metal. When I first heard it I was still fairly new to metal, and was in my honeymoon period with Metallica. I knew Black Sabbath and Misfits (being into punk as well), but this record helped me start to explore these bands that influenced my heroes.

I remember reading through the tape inlay, with all the information about the bands they covered and realising I was just starting to scratch the metal surface. It was an exciting time and it fuelled that love of discovering new bands.

Let's go for a full disc rank

1. Mercyful Fate
2. Astronomy
3. Turn the Page
4. It's Electric
5. Sabbra Cadabra
6. Die Die My Darling
7. Tuesday's Gone
8. Whiskey in the Jar
9. Free Speech for the Dumb
10. The More I See
11. Loverman

Oh, also thanks Deadeye, this thread had me watching Cunning Stunts for the first time in at least 15 years this week. It was the first live performance I owned of Metallica's, and I used to watch it loads back in the day.

Offline WilliamMunny

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Re: Deadeye Deep Dives: Metallica (Chapter Eight: Garage Inc. Disc One)
« Reply #165 on: February 10, 2023, 07:19:28 AM »
Agreed Stads. I’d love to see it happen. I’m thinking it’ll be James’ endgame when he’s too old to keep Metallica-ing

I'm here for it (hopefully ;))

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Re: Deadeye Deep Dives: Metallica (Chapter Eight: Garage Inc. Disc One)
« Reply #166 on: February 10, 2023, 07:20:50 AM »
Agreed Stads. I’d love to see it happen. I’m thinking it’ll be James’ endgame when he’s too old to keep Metallica-ing

I'm here for it (hopefully ;))

I was hoping we'd be there already by now, to be honest.

Offline Deadeye21

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Re: Deadeye Deep Dives: Metallica (Chapter Eight: Garage Inc. Disc One)
« Reply #167 on: February 10, 2023, 07:21:54 AM »
Agreed Stads. I’d love to see it happen. I’m thinking it’ll be James’ endgame when he’s too old to keep Metallica-ing

I'm here for it (hopefully ;))

I was hoping we'd be there already by now, to be honest.

Metallica being over, or James doing a solo album?
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Re: Deadeye Deep Dives: Metallica (Chapter Eight: Garage Inc. Disc One)
« Reply #168 on: February 10, 2023, 07:22:13 AM »
I've been listening to each album as you do the writeups, but I haven't had time to digest Garage Inc. lately.  I remember going out to buy this at midnight from the store, the day of the release.  I was in college and walked to the main street where the record shops were.  Bought it, went back to my dorm room and stayed up for an hour listening to it, despite having class the next morning.

I've never really spent time with too many of the original version of each song (with the exception being Mercyful Fate), but I love the Metallica versions.  I think they made great choices too, going for deeper tracks than standard hits from each artist. 

I agree with Free Speech being just a short intro track.  It's Electric is a complete rocker and James sounds great.  Funnily enough, Megadeth covered this on the Rust in Peace tour and released a live version as part of the Warchest box set.  Sabbra Cadabra is one of my favorites from the first disc and has a great swing to it. 

Turn the Page is fantastic and the famous quote from Lars is that this song is James Hetfield through and through.  They turned this song into what could be a Metallica original.  Absolutely amazing and this one was all over the radio back then.  When I saw them in 2000, Kid Rock came out and sang it with them.

Die Die - eh, it's alright.  A fun little punk cover.  They opened with this song in the early 2000's when I saw them.  Loverman - completely skippable.  I find this one to be their most boring cover.

Mercyful Fate - this was my intro to the band (MF).  Amazing riffing throughout this medley and, James pulls off a great performance, singing naturally instead of trying to sound like King Diamond.  Later on, I got into King's vocals and listening to the originals. 

Astronomy - my other favorite on the disc.  I believe they said this one came from Jason, who recommended covering it.  They made it nice and heavy with great vocals.

Whisky in the Jarro - eh, I'm not a big fan and find it to be a bit overplayed by now.  Kudos to them making it sound like a Metallica tune again.

Tuesday's Gone - I never really listen to this one, but it's nice that they didn't go for one of Skynrd's hit songs.

The More I See - another quick little closer.  Not much else to say, but I think this is better than Free Speech.

Online twosuitsluke

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Re: Deadeye Deep Dives: Metallica (Chapter Eight: Garage Inc. Disc One)
« Reply #169 on: February 10, 2023, 07:24:33 AM »
Agreed Stads. I’d love to see it happen. I’m thinking it’ll be James’ endgame when he’s too old to keep Metallica-ing

I'm here for it (hopefully ;))

I was hoping we'd be there already by now, to be honest.

Metallica being over, or James doing a solo album?

James doing a solo record. But to get one it seems like we'd need the other, so that sucks.
« Last Edit: February 10, 2023, 07:31:23 AM by twosuitsluke »

Offline Deadeye21

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Re: Deadeye Deep Dives: Metallica (Chapter Eight: Garage Inc. Disc One)
« Reply #170 on: February 10, 2023, 07:33:07 AM »
Just as a brief aside here folks, I know I definitely want to cover the song I Disappear, but my question is do I make a single song Monday night review, or tack it to S&M or St. Anger? And if I tack it on, to which one?
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Offline axeman90210

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Re: Deadeye Deep Dives: Metallica (Chapter Eight: Garage Inc. Disc One)
« Reply #171 on: February 10, 2023, 08:23:11 AM »
I would say cover it with S&M, it's much more of a kin to No Leaf Clover and - Human than it is St. Anger.
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Offline Deadeye21

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Re: Deadeye Deep Dives: Metallica (Chapter Eight: Garage Inc. Disc One)
« Reply #172 on: February 10, 2023, 08:24:24 AM »
I would say cover it with S&M, it's much more of a kin to No Leaf Clover and - Human than it is St. Anger.

Closer time wise too. I agree.
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Offline DragonAttack

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Re: Deadeye Deep Dives: Metallica (Chapter Eight: Garage Inc. Disc One)
« Reply #173 on: February 10, 2023, 09:29:00 AM »
'Turn The Page'.....Seger's best version is from 'Live Bullet'  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9G6Ec1DDlc  For those who don't know it, it probably gets played on the oldies or classic radio stations a couple of times a day.

I've enjoyed Metallica's version throughout the years.  I watched the video for the first time today.  To say my jaw dropped when I saw Ginger Lynn appear would be an understatement!!!    :o  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPOTEs_yTJo
...going along with Dragon Attack's Queen thread has been like taking a free class in Queen knowledge. Where else are you gonna find info like that?!

Offline The Realm

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Re: Deadeye Deep Dives: Metallica (Chapter Eight: Garage Inc. Disc One)
« Reply #174 on: February 10, 2023, 02:31:57 PM »
Great write up Deadeye.

I am a huge fan of Garage Inc (disc 1). My absolute favourites are: Astronomy, MF, and Turn the Page with Sabbra Cadabra closely behind. If included in the Metallica countdown those 4 tracks would easily make my top 50. I also really enjoy Tuesday's Gone.

I'd also say that in the last 10 years, I have listened to these songs more than any other Metallica songs, in some ways this is my go to Metallica these days. As much as the music is awesome James vocals on these tracks are some of my favourite singing of his ever.