Official Metallica top 50 Countdown Thread!! (Top 2 featured!!!!!)

[The Realm]

Hardwired has a bunch of excellent songs.

Agree. Hard to see a there being list without one song from Hardwired? But we have one already! At the moment I have 3 songs from Hardwired in my top 50, which I don't think will change.

[nick_z]

Hardwired has a bunch of excellent songs.

Yep...I mean, Disc 1 is truly excellent. Unfortunately, the run from ManUNkind through Murder One on Disc 2 is significantly weaker (for me). Not terrible, but a bit of a chore to get through. Lars just doesn't groove super well on those midtempos. Luckily, the whole thing ends with the awesomeness of Spit Out of the Bone. Overall, I like the record as it is, but I wish they just edited themselves to a more compact album.

[KevShmev]

I busted out my top 50 and entered it, as I always like to do it early in this process, that way I don't let rankings of many others influence my picks subconsciously. 

Kill 'Em All - 2
Ride the Lightning - 6
Master of Puppets - 8
...AJFA - 7
Black Album - 10
Load - 9
ReLoad - 5
Death Magnetic - 3

[TAC]

Hardwired has a bunch of excellent songs.

Yep...I mean, Disc 1 is truly excellent. Unfortunately, the run from ManUNkind through Murder One on Disc 2 is significantly weaker (for me). Not terrible, but a bit of a chore to get through. Lars just doesn't groove super well on those midtempos. Luckily, the whole thing ends with the awesomeness of Spit Out of the Bone. Overall, I like the record as it is, but I wish they just edited themselves to a more compact album.

Spit Out The Bone has never really resonated with me. I would generally add it to Disc One and ditch the rest of Disc 2, but I've never really thought wicked highly of it.

[TAC]

Just did the ranker, and I don't agree with the results at all.

[twosuitsluke]

So I've made a top 70, that I'm gonna listen to and finalise rankings. There shouldn't be too much movement in the first draft top 50, but we'll see.

My current spread from my initial top 50 is..

Kill - 5
Ride - 7
Puppets - 7
Justice - 8
Metallica - 12
Load - 3
Reload - 3
S&M - 1
St. Anger - 1
Magnetic - 3

Ha! Nothing from Hardwired? I like it quite a bit more than Death Magnetic. No love from you? 

Yea, honestly it does very little for me. The songs are ok, but I feel it lacks something. Maybe their heart isn't fully in it, or it's just Metallica by numbers, I don't know.

I know some find it hard to believe but I'd rather listen to St. Anger. At least with that album they took a risk. I am under no illusion that St. Anger is a great album, as it features some of my all time worst Metallica songs, and it is way too long, but it has something Hardwired doesn't.

Just did the ranker, and I don't agree with the results at all.

You know you've been on DTF too long when you start to disagree with your own opinions. You're one step away from hosting a roulette where you are the sole participant 

[jammindude]

So weird to see support for DM and little for HW. I could not possibly feel more opposite.  DM to me feels like a band that “doesn’t want to be doing this” trying to force themselves through a necessary process to win back their fanbase after bleeding out like a stuck pig for the St Anger and Lulu albums.

HW, OTOH sounds like a completely refreshed band who has found themselves again and is playing with both joy and ferocity.

Now you guys make me want to listen to those albums again so I can get a fresh comparison.

[twosuitsluke]

Dude, I do agree that DM sounds like the band going back to a 'safer' sound. I just happen to think the songs are better on DM, and I guess I personally connected with it more.

Looking back, 2016 was a time where my love for Metallica was probably at it's lowest. They were my #1 band for close to 20 years, but slowly I'd become less interested in them, since DM. Coheed and Cambria overtook them as my favourite band, so that probably plays a big part in why I am not such a fan of Hardwired.

I had a resurgence in my love again about 2 years ago, and have been listening to them loads again.

[wolfking]

I'll have a few songs from Hard-wired and probably none from DM.  I'll have to reposted to it but for me, it never did anything and HW was a massive step up IMO.

Hot take here but I wouldn't be surprised if I will have the most songs from St Anger.  Maybe by a margin.

[Mladen]

I'd expect a song or two from St. Anger in the #40-#50 range, but anything more than that would actually stun me.

[Deadeye21]

Oh jeez. Ok, I’ll have to fast track a full listen through then. Still, I’m doing my deep dive, so I’m mostly there anyways.

I wonder how much 72 Seasons will offset this?

[Deadeye21]

DM to me feels like a band that “doesn’t want to be doing this” trying to force themselves through a necessary process to win back their fanbase after bleeding out like a stuck pig for the St Anger and Lulu albums.

Lulu was a little ways after Magnetic, like Halloween 2011, when Magnetic was 2008. So, this isn’t quite correct.

[KevShmev]

Just did the ranker, and I don't agree with the results at all.

See, even the ranker knows your opinions are...strange.

[WilliamMunny]

Bam! List sent!

Per usual, I suspect the majority of my top-10 to be low on the final list, and frankly, I'll be surprised if a number of my choices even crack the top 50. That said, as a Metallica fan for the past 35 years, I opted for the 'what do I want to listen to today' approach, as opposed to just automatically green-lighting every track from the first 4.

Still, as with most of these countdowns, this is Metallica. Say what you will, but the band (at least in my opinion) has more than earned their place as the legendary band that they are. The discussion will be fun, but can you really go wrong with any pick? The catalog is pretty potent from top-to-bottom (save for St. Anger???).

Can't wait to read everyone else's thoughts.

My breakdown:

Kill 'Em All   2
Ride The Lightening   5
Master of Puppets   6
...And Justice For All   6
Black Album   10
Load   7
Re-Load   6
St. Anger   0
Death Magnetic   3
Hardwired   4
S&M   1

[TheCountOfNYC]

My breakdown.

Kill ‘Em All: 5
Ride the Lightning: 5
Master of Puppets: 7
…And Justice For All: 7
The Black Album: 9
Load: 2
ReLoad: 4
St. Anger: 1
Death Magnetic: 5
Hardwired…to Self-Destruct: 5

[jammindude]

DM to me feels like a band that “doesn’t want to be doing this” trying to force themselves through a necessary process to win back their fanbase after bleeding out like a stuck pig for the St Anger and Lulu albums.

Lulu was a little ways after Magnetic, like Halloween 2011, when Magnetic was 2008. So, this isn’t quite correct.

Thanks for this. And apologies for getting it mixed up in my memory.

I guess it just felt like so much time passed between SA and DM that it felt like there had been room for both. But I should have double checked before posting. 

[Dream Team]

My feelings on DM vs HWTSD are that DM has far more lethal riffs but the other has more streamlined songwriting and much better production. SOTB is my fave song from the 2 albums.

[Adami]

I'd find SOTB a lot better if they edited the second half down by a minute or two. There was just a LOT of repetition going on and makes it really drag.

[Stadler]

I will do this but I have a LOT of listening to get through.

[faizoff]

@KevShmev Just noticed you have -Human listed as Hyphen-Human on the main list lol

[KevShmev]

@KevShmev Just noticed you have -Human listed as Hyphen-Human on the main list lol

Oops, I meant to fix that.  Excel was being dumb when I was inputting the songs about that one, so I just listed it that way, and then forget to fix it when I copied and pasted the songs into the first post here. Fixed.

[twosuitsluke]

Half way through my top 70 listen through and my top 50 has had a few changes, mainly swaying to including more tracks from their 80s output.

Kev, should have the list to you within 24 hours 

[hefdaddy42]

Not sure I can do a proper list of 50.  I haven't been an avid listener of their most recent output, so anything I produced would give more recent stuff short shrift, of which I am not a fan.

At the same time, I have until the 18th, so we'll see what happens lol

[pg1067]

I've got my list (obviously, almost entirely pre-Load) and will give it a final review over the weekend and submit early next week.

[Dave_Manchester]

I'll definitely be taking part in this one. As a big fan of Reload I figure that poor runt of the litter is gonna need all the help it can get.

[Stadler]

I'll definitely be taking part in this one. As a big fan of Reload I figure that poor runt of the litter is gonna need all the help it can get.

I'm going to do this too, even though it will likely skew the totals a bit:  I just don't get the reverence for Master of Puppets, and I actually LIKE both Loads. 

That's what she said.

[jammindude]

That's what she said.

 

[The Realm]

The highs of Load and Reload are pretty high, there are a few great tracks on those albums but overall I find both to be a pretty tough full listen. I think Reload is better overall.

At the moment I have 3 songs from each in my top 50.

This is going to a great countdown, will be lots to discuss.

[Dream Team]

I'll definitely be taking part in this one. As a big fan of Reload I figure that poor runt of the litter is gonna need all the help it can get.

I'm going to do this too, even though it will likely skew the totals a bit:  I just don't get the reverence for Master of Puppets, and I actually LIKE both Loads. 

That's what she said.

Well, I’d guess you’d have to like thrash to understand the mindset. But despite that, there is some really good songwriting on MoP.

And I agree with you in a way on the Loads, there’s a REALLY good single album there if I combine the two.

[TAC]

I'll definitely be taking part in this one. As a big fan of Reload I figure that poor runt of the litter is gonna need all the help it can get.

I'm going to do this too, even though it will likely skew the totals a bit:  I just don't get the reverence for Master of Puppets, and I actually LIKE both Loads. 

That's what she said.

Well, I’d guess you’d have to like thrash to understand the mindset. But despite that, there is some really good songwriting on MoP.

And I agree with you in a way on the Loads, there’s a REALLY good single album there if I combine the two.

There's a really good EP, maybe...

[KevShmev]

I had to tweak my list a tad.  I listened to some of ReLoad yesterday, and one of the songs wasn't nearly as good as I remembered, so I removed it altogether from my top 50, and another is still good, but not top 30 good like I thought.

[Deadeye21]

Album rundown for me:

Kill ‘Em All - 2
Ride the Lightning - 6
Master of Puppets - 7
…And Justice For All - 5
The Black Album - 8 (of which, only 3 are singles)
Load - 4
ReLoad - 5
S&M - 1
St. Anger - 0, Frantic is my highest ranking song from it at 58
Death Magnetic - 8
Hardwired… to Self Destruct - 3

My top 10 is comprised of songs from six different albums, my lowest song of all was Poor Twisted Me (which should surprise no one who reads my deep dives)

[The Realm]

Album rundown for me:

Kill ‘Em All - 2
Ride the Lightning - 6
Master of Puppets - 7
…And Justice For All - 5
The Black Album - 8 (of which, only 3 are singles)
Load - 4
ReLoad - 5
S&M - 1
St. Anger - 0, Frantic is my highest ranking song from it at 58
Death Magnetic - 8
Hardwired… to Self Destruct - 3

My top 10 is comprised of songs from six different albums, my lowest song of all was Poor Twisted Me (which should surprise no one who reads my deep dives)

Really interesting Deadeye that in your deepdive thread you seem to absolutely love Load and Reload but only have 4 and 5 songs from those albums in your top 50? I am still tweaking my list but I currently have 3 from Load and 4 from Reload and as far as full albums go I find them both to be near unlistenable. As TAC said, there is a great EP there but that is it. All good but I was expecting you to at least have more songs from Load represented?

[Deadeye21]

Album rundown for me:

Load - 4
ReLoad - 5

My top 10 is comprised of songs from six different albums, my lowest song of all was Poor Twisted Me (which should surprise no one who reads my deep dives)

Really interesting Deadeye that in your deepdive thread you seem to absolutely love Load and Reload but only have 4 and 5 songs from those albums in your top 50? I am still tweaking my list but I currently have 3 from Load and 4 from Reload and as far as full albums go I find them both to be near unlistenable. As TAC said, there is a great EP there but that is it. All good but I was expecting you to at least have more songs from Load represented?

I love them for what they are, don’t get me wrong. I think they’re great albums. Surprisingly, I have an extra song from Re than Load, given that I vastly prefer Load. Against the whole catalogue though? We haven’t yet hit my favourite album and when you’ve got the whole catalogue but Beyond Magnetic to choose from, it’s kinda easy to have those songs still get lost in the mix.

[kipkjustm]

My rundown

Kill 'Em All- 3
Ride the Lightning- 8
Master of Puppets- 8
...And Justice For All- 7
Metallica- 5
Load- 5
ReLoad- 4
S&M- 1
St. Anger- 1
Death Magnetic- 3
Hardwired... to Self Destruct- 5