Metallica

srfc said:
Listened to Death Magnetic over the last couple of commutes to work. It's not great is it? [...] Death Magentic bar a few tracks, is really just a load of riffs all slapped together and "hope for the best".
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On some level it sounds like Rubin was trying to force them to write an album in the vein of ...And Justice For All, but against their will. There are stories about how they'd rough out a song and Rubin would tell them to go back and make it "more ridiculous" until it was sufficiently quirky structurally and had more riffs in it. On the one hand that's kind of lame, but honestly it may have been exactly what they needed after completely losing their way on St. Anger.

For me, Death Magnetic is a flawed but solid album that was a big step back in the right direction, but it lacks passion and cohesion. I'd much rather listen to it than to Reload or St. Anger.

srfc said:
Hardwired is a far better album in that most of the songs, while they might not be the best tracks in Metallica's canon are at least arranged like songs.
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Hardwired is definitely a better album overall, mostly because it feels less forced and more honest. It splits the difference between their early 90s sound and their 80s sound with mostly tight, approachable songs that still have some nice musical flourishes, and it sounds like they're actually in to it rather than recording a ransom video.
 
Death Magnetic is to me what modern Maiden is to others: good ideas but overall bloated, directionless and badly-produced. The difference is Maiden don't sound like they're trying and failing to recapture past glories or prove they've "still got it", and I'd rather listen to 2 minutes of one of Steve's melodies on repeat than 2 minutes of Kirk soloing.
 
Edington said:
Death Magnetic is to me what modern Maiden is to others: good ideas but overall bloated, directionless and badly-produced. The difference is Maiden don't sound like they're trying and failing to recapture past glories or prove they've "still got it", and I'd rather listen to 2 minutes of one of Steve's melodies on repeat than 2 minutes of Kirk soloing.
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A 2 minute modern Kirk guitar solo is literally the stuff nightmares are afraid of.
 
MrKnickerbocker said:
A 2 minute modern Kirk guitar solo is literally the stuff nightmares are afraid of.
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I just double-checked The Judas Kiss to make sure I wasn't exaggerating. That solo lasts from 4:27 to 6:17, with a short vocal break in the middle. Without the fire he had in his youth or Bob Rock breathing down his neck Kirk really seems to have no idea what to do with his solos anymore.
 
Thanks to @srfc I find myself listening to Death Magnetic after a very long time and it is much better than how I remembered it! Really enjoying most of it. The Day That Never Comes and All Nightmare Long are great. :edmetal:
 
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srfc said:
Listened to Death Magnetic over the last couple of commutes to work. It's not great is it? Hardwired is a far better album in that most of the songs, while they might not be the best tracks in Metallica's canon are at least arranged like songs. Death Magentic bar a few tracks, is really just a load of riffs all slapped together and "hope for the best". Surprised it's produced by Rubin as it's nearly the antithesis of his usual no fluff style.
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Hardwired has a near perfect first half but as usual with Metallica it is let down by a bunch of filler in the second half with a decent closing song. The production is pretty fire though.

Death Magnetic was well reviewed at the time purely because it was so much better than St Anger. In hindsight it's exactly like you said. A complete mess with no direction and a half hearted attempt to recapture the technical glory of AJFA.

And the production is horrendous.
 
Death Magnetic is an album I do not want to revisit ever outside of discography listens. The last time I heard it I was questioning the purpose of music as an artform because it really, really, really fucking sucked.

St. Anger is actually a more interesting album in comparison. At least I understand it.
 
Spaldy said:
Hardwired has a near perfect first half but as usual with Metallica it is let down by a bunch of filler in the second half with a decent closing song.
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You could argue that is a common problem plaguing the CD releases from many bands who were capable of releasing superb 50 minute albums but fail to do the same with their bloated recent outputs.

I agree the first CD of Hardwired is great. The closing song of CD2 is great too.
 
Sounds like Metallica.

Not super impressed, but not actively disliking it either. Meh. This one is kind of a "well, I'll just listen to the album and see how it works there" thing for me.
 
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