METALLICA SURVIVOR 2016: Results - Fade to Black wins again

Are you satisfied with the results?

  • Total voters
    9
  • Poll closed .
Yeah. I love The Black Album as well. I count it among the classic Metallica albums. I love the simplification to the songs and the more compact nature to it. Metallica after "...And Justice" must have been a bit like Maiden post Seventh Son...They had pushed the progressive metal stuff as far as it would go, it was time for a new beginning. Also you can say what you want about Bob Rock but he really pushed the band big time on this album. On the previous albums they had worked with Danish producer, Flemming Rasmussen, who in reality was more of a sound guy - he knew how to make the band sound good and was into the technical side of it - but Bob Rock actually "produced" the band - pointed things out to make the songs better, came with suggestions etc...Metallica had never worked with a guy like that on the previous albums.
 
SixesAlltheway said:
but Bob Rock actually "produced" the band - pointed things out to make the songs better, came with suggestions etc...Metallica had never worked with a guy like that on the previous albums.
Click to expand...

Exactly, and I think later period Metallica really needs that guy in the room adding an outside opinion. After the first four albums they found some success, lost their anger and frustration a bit, and clearly found it harder to get inspired. Their best albums from the later period (black album, Load, Reload, and H...TSD) all have that guy who is in the room adding his two cents. Their worst albums don't have that - Bob Rock got too close for comfort during St. Anger (while the band had a meltdown) and Rick Rubin was completely hands off on DM.
 
Totally. Also, as you say, after the first four albums they found success, and lost all of that anger and frustration. They basically also needed someone to, I won't say "babysit" them, but learn how to deal with the success at the time and push them through some of the insecurities they had, suddenly you go from being a thrash band to being famous, that's a big pill to swallow and suddenly people are expecting more from you musically....So yeah Bob Rock was definitely the glue that held it together at times and pushed them to perform at a different level than they had been used too.
 
I love "...Justice For All" but even I have to admit it was over the top at points, I mean, it was basically Metallica trying to prove that they were great musicians, "hey, look what we can do..." but I think the true musical confidence came after the work on The Black Album with Bob Rock, it wasn't so much about standing out anymore it was about creating great songs as a band.
 
Eliminated:
Holier Than Thou
Don't Tread on Me
The God That Failed
The Struggle Within

The results were quite clear and unlikely to change so I started this round early. And once again we need more songs in the game.. Welcome Load to the game!

Edit: Forgot to add Wasting My Hate so that's why it's in caps at the bottom.
 
Just watched the first part of A Year and a Half In the Life of Metallica. This is a must watch. Despite my dislike for the album, it's one of my favorite music documentaries. Seeing the creative process is awesome. There are a lot of moments where you see the genesis of ideas that ended up on the album. My favorite moment is probably when they're giving Kirk a hard time with the Unforgiven solo and then he finally nails it and you get to see the take that went on the album.

Also an eye opening look at how the band operates. Even back then it was the Lars and James show. You see how vital it is that Metallica has a producer who is more than a yes man. Related to the producer discussion up there. I definitely don't think Bob Rock ruined Metallica or anything like that. No matter the style of music, they need a hands on producer to steer the ship because James and Lars is one of the most dysfunctional partnerships in music. To me it sounds like they had a vision of what TBA would be going into it and Bob Rock made it into something tangible. I didn't get the impression that he imposed a new direction on the band.
 
Why this wrong track order? I hope it won't lead to Con fu sion!

I vote for:
  1. 2 X 4
  2. The House Jack Built
  3. King Nothing
  4. Bleeding Me
  5. Cure
  6. Poor Twisted Me
  7. Mama Said
  8. Ronnie
I like these following two the most and hope very much that they survive. I knew the first was good but the other one was forgotten:

Until it Sleeps & The House Jack Built
 
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Even though the latter has higher highs, I would rather have Load playing from start to finish than the Black Album.
 
Load isn't as bad as I remembered. Some OK moments throughout, a much more engaging album than The Black Album. Problem is that there isn't a single song that I care to ever go back to.
 
I added Hero Of the Day to the poll. Didn't do so right away because I assumed there was some reason to exclude it that I wasn't aware of, seems like that isn't the case.
 
I like Load. There are a couple real stinkers, but overall I find it to be a highly enjoyable album. Some amazing vocal stuff, killer heavy blues riffs, and subtle (often James) lead guitar work.

Voting for:
2x4 (which was less good than I remember it being)
Cure (contender for worst Metallica song not on St. Anger)
Poor Twisted Me (almost as bad as Cure)
Mama Said (also way better than I remember, but not really Metallica - it would have been great on a Hetfield solo album)
Thorn Within (meh)
Hero of the Day

Again, folks - Hero of the Day is now part of the poll and originally wasn't. I don't know if that will change anything, but seems like you all should know that you can definitely CHANGE YOUR VOTES to make this round a little more (and to keep you demons away from Ronnie and Wasting My Hate!).
 
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