METALLICA Week On Maidenfans (9/3 - 9/10)

Favorite Metallica albums? (Pick up to 3)

  • Total voters
    20
Mosh

Mosh

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Previous threads (feel free to continue discussion):
Opeth
Black Sabbath


For this week we will be focusing on the thrash metal giants: Metallica. Feel free to discuss anything related to the band including their albums, live shows, videos, or whatever suits your fancy.

Talking Points:
  • Favorite/least favorite Metallica songs?
  • What do you think of post-Black Album Metallica?
  • What do you think of Metallica's new by request system? Should other bands try it?
  • What are your hopes for the next Metallica album?
 
I'm just going to follow Mosh's bullet points to get us started:

1. My favourite Metallica songs are 'Master of Puppets and 'The Four Horsemen' (which is way better than 'Mechanix') along with most of the other big hits like 'For Whom the Bell Tolls' and 'Enter Sandman'. I'm also a really big fan of less obvious songs like 'The Day That Never Comes' and the much-maligned 'Fuel'. As for least favourites, I have to go with 'The Cure' as Metallica's worst song and 'Poor Twisted Me' is pretty awful as well.

2. Post-Black Album Metallica hasn't been particularly good, as I think most fan would agree. There are some gems in amongst the shit though, such as the aforementioned 'The Day That Never Comes' and 'The Outlaw Torn'. Both 'Load' and 'Reload' are a bit of a mess and would probably have been better as one album, albeit one which still wouldn't stand up to the first batch of Metallica albums. I don't reserve the same amount of hatred for 'St. Anger' as most other fans do as I actually think there are some pretty good ideas on it. The execution is appalling though and they didn't even try to make it sound good. Something that would be interesting would be for Metallica to re-record some of the songs on 'St. Anger' and actually try to make them sound good this time. 'The Unnamed Feeling, for example, could sound pretty damn special if it were to be recorded properly! Then we get to 'Death Magnetic' which I consider to be a major disappointment. When it was released it was lauded by fans and critics alike as being a return to form for Metallica but I still don't see it. Yeah, 'The Day That Never Comes' is one of Metallica's best songs and there are some other good parts on the album, but overall it's dull with way too many long songs where nothing really happens. To me it seems like they tried too hard to make a heavy Thrashier album but forgot to step back and think about the music along the way. I strongly believe that most people who gave 'Death Magnetic' so much praise are looking at it narrowly in a "it's better than 'St. Anger'" frame of mind but it really doesn't compare to the first five albums. There are better ideas on 'St. Anger' and a lot of better songs on 'Load' and 'Reload'. I seriously think that if 'Death Magnetic' had been released after the Black Album the general reaction would have been "What's this shit?".

3. The request thing was a pretty cool idea but it didn't really work out that well as most of the setlists were essentially the same setlist that Metallica normally play anyway. I'd have liked to have seen some different songs in the set but the show at Knebworth was awesome and I got one of Kirk's picks so I'm not really that bothered. It probably wouldn't be a good idea for other bands to do because most people would vote for the hits that get played at every show anyway.

4. For the next album I'd like Metallica to mix up the length of songs a bit and try not to write a super-heavy album that just keeps the fans happy.
 
1. One is my favourite heavy metal song of all-time and my third favourite song of all-time. Simply put, it's a masterpiece. Other favourite are Fade To Black, And Justice For All, Ride The Lightning and Battery. My least favourite song is either Purify or All Within My Hands, it's an absolute embarrassment that either of those songs were ever released, by Metallica no less.

2. Load was pretty mediocre to be perfectly honest. Even some of the best songs like King Nothing leave little improvement over the average songs of the 80's period. Reload however, is a much better album, Better Than You aside. The Memory Remains, Fuel, Where The Wild Things Are, Low Man's Lyric and surprisingly enough, Slither are all songs that I like quite a lot, and there's some other underrated songs on the album. It's probably my favourite of their post Black Album work. St Anger has a couple of decent songs, a lot of mediocre songs, and a couple of abominations. Death Magnetic was solid, with a fair few memorable tracks on the album, and was for the most part, consistent, which equalled a pretty good experience.

3. Wizard is on the ball here.

4. Don't be afraid of variety. By all means, have heavier tracks and structure the album accordingly, but variety assists immensely in forging a non-monotonous and exciting experience.
 
I shall also follow Mosh's bullet points.

1. My favorite songs are And Justice For All..., The Shortest Straw, The Frayed Ends of Sanity, Disposable Heroes, End of the Line and Unforgiven III. I obviously like all the other classic songs but these are just my absolute favorite.

2. Post Black Album Metallica?? Oh boy, I think it's pretty bad to say the least, I hated Load, Reload and St. Anger. Lets not forget Lulu too, that album was an atrocity. How could they put "I am the table" on an album and sell it? Although those albums were terrible, Death Magnetic was very good though, except for the Judas Kiss. That song is annoying.

3. I'm not sure what I think about about the by request system. Don't the same songs get voted for every night? Or is that why they finally decided to play The Frayed Ends of Sanity? If a band like Maiden tried out the system then you would only get classic songs, but if a band like Dream Theater tried it then you would probably get a whole lot of different songs every night. I guess it depends on the band.

4. Well like every person I hope that it will be good. :D If it's anything like Death Magnetic or Justice I'll like it. But I would love a very long song. Like something more than 13 minutes.
 
Do people not like Fuel? I know it gets made fun of on the internet but it's hard to tell if people actually like the song or not when music becomes a meme. Anyway I think it's a pretty cool song, despite sounding absolutely nothing like Metallica.

1: My favorites are Call of Ktulu, Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets, Battery, Orion, Damage Inc., Blackened, most anything from those three albums really. My least favorites are Thing That Should Not Be, Nothing Else Matters, almost anything from Load/Reload/St. Anger and The Day That Never Comes. Metallica is a very hit or miss band for me. There are songs that I absolutely love and then there are songs that I can't stand. Very little middle ground for me.

2: I don't like it. The Black Album has its moments and I don't mind that they went in a more commercial direction, they should make whatever music they feel like making. But god, those albums are bad. I don't have a problem with commercial sounding music but I don't think they're good at it. The Black Album is loaded with filler, Load/Reload could be combined and still wouldn't be an even decent album, and St. Anger is pretty wtf. I think Death Magnetic is pretty solid though, I'd probably place it at #4. Which honestly isn't really saying much though since I think there's a huge drop in quality after my top three. I'm not gonna hate on Lulu though because I think they achieved exactly what they were aiming for. I think they were trying to make an album that would irk both Lou Reed's and Metallica's fan base, and they did an amazing job. One of the best trolls in recent music history. Plus it's not that bad. I'd take it over anything Metallica has done since AJFA (with the exception of Death Magnetic) any day.

3: The by request system is cool but it's not really necessary for Metallica. They're already really great at writing their own setlists. You get all the awesome songs that you'd expect to hear at a Metallica concert, some recent stuff, and then a couple of rarities thrown in for good measure. They don't need requests because their setlists are already awesome. Same with Dream Theater, there aren't really any songs that fans are dying to be brought back because they change it up so much. Especially lately they seem to like dusting off old classics so we'll probably see a lot more of that. Iron Maiden could benefit though. Do the regular Maiden setlist and then throw in a few "by request" songs. You could get some awesome results.

4: Hopefully something in the vein of Death Magnetic but with decent production and more concise songwriting. Besides The Call of Ktulu, I can't think of a single Metallica song that benefited from being long. It's wholly unnecessary, they could really trim down some stuff. In fact, the biggest reason why I don't go back to DM songs much despite really liking the album is that they're so needlessly long and I don't want to sit through 9 minutes of something when all my favorite parts are surrounded by filler sections.
 
I give Metallica credit for fearlessness. I don't believe they ever "sold out", despite their success. I'm sure they knew the Black Album, Load, St. Anger and LuLu would all be derided for various reasons. They did it anyway, because that's what Metallica was about at that time. Among major metal bands, is there anyone else with that variety of sounds across their last half dozen albums? As ridiculous as I thought it was, few bands have the guts to put our something as personal as Some Kind of Monster. Whatever the results, Metallica has never been afraid to take chances, and over the years that is the quality I have admired most in them.
 
Oh I agree. I tried to be careful with wording my thoughts on their newer material, because even though I don't like it I never get the impression that they're forcing a direction.

Lars made a point about this in an interview I saw recently and I have to agree. The true "sell-outs" are the ones who force themselves to stick to a sound that made them popular because they don't want to lose fans.
 
Favorite/least favorite Metallica songs?
The Four Horsemen, One, Welcome Home (Sanitarium), Master of Puppets, Creeping Death, Fade to Black, Seek and Destroy.
But all other songs from the first two albums are very enjoyable.

What do you think of post-Black Album Metallica?
If the last five albums had never happened, the world would have been no poorer.

What do you think of Metallica's new by request system? Should other bands try it?
Yes. You can say what you want about Metallica but they really have done good things, live. Their 30th anniversary show was a great example of that.

:notworthy:

What are your hopes for the next Metallica album?
Nihil.


EDIT:
I wonder if their other passions (watching monster movies, art collecting, skateboarding, snowboarding, water-skiing, jet-skiing, sketching, customizing cars and motorcycles in his garage, watching the Oakland Raiders, going to hot-rod shows, being a member of the National Rifle Association and shooting bears) are taking too much from them. When they get near a studio, their bodies are, but their minds aren't. They have no clue what to do.
 
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Mosh said:
Do people not like Fuel? I know it gets made fun of on the internet but it's hard to tell if people actually like the song or not when music becomes a meme. Anyway I think it's a pretty cool song, despite sounding absolutely nothing like Metallica.
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'Fuel' is, above all, a really fun song. It's got a really good energy to it and its silliness is part of what makes it great. Seeing Metallica play it live was probably one of the highlights of Sonisphere for me. At one point over the weekend my friends and I were sitting in the campsite listening to it and singing along (we also listened to Avril Lavigne's cover) then later on one of my friends went to the toiler and saw a group of guys doing the same thing, even making jokes about the Metallica Family like we were. :D
 
I mostly agree with @Forostar above. Creeping Death is my all-time favourite and is one of the greatest all-out heavy metal songs by any band at any time (imo).

I take issue with the 'by request' thing. It crosses the line into cabaret. I'd like a setlist that has been worked out to flow well, have balance, and the odd surprise. I also want to hear stuff off the current album. Anything else implies, to me, that the band don't trust their latest material. The Maiden "A Matter of Life and the Beast" leg was a perfect setlist in that regard.

I also think Justice doesn't always get the love it deserves. That album is brutal. You get a real sense of an angry band unable to process the death of their friend and musical guide. They clearly have conflicting feelings about the Newkid, mixing him out of the album. But the result is an intense, unforgiving and complex album.
 
2Mins said:
I take issue with the 'by request' thing. It crosses the line into cabaret. I'd like a setlist that has been worked out to flow well, have balance, and the odd surprise.
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Not sure about that. Have you actually seen the setlists? They're not all by request songs and it's pretty much exactly what you described. Good flow, balance, and the surprises. It's a good way of playing what you want but also giving the fans what they want to hear. And that's what they should do, because when it comes to live performance, you should play to your audience.

When I saw Doro live last year, she did her regular set and then an encore of requests. It was a small venue with maybe 20-30 people and she just had us yell out songs we want to hear. It was very awesome and more bands should do stuff like that. Of course a band like Maiden can't have fans yell out songs, but they can do it the way Metallica does.
 
Without going through the setlists and voting percentages, I thought that the sets were chosen entirely by vote, plus one new track the band said they'd play. Sure, the songs were put in an order to give a good show, but I still think that setlist construction is part of the band's creative remit, and I want to see how they do it. Doro's regular set plus request encores sounds like a decent compromise and a fun way to do a show for 20-30 people. I think it's been discussed here before, but if Maiden did a By Request show, we'd get all the same old songs with nothing post-1988 except FOTD. However, just like Metallica had to play Frayed, we would get ATG!
 
Unpopular opinions:
Nothing Else Matters is one of the most overrated songs of all time and not even average. It's dull.
Master Of Puppets, Whiskey In The Jar and Orion are good songs, but very overrated.
I love Reload, and I prefer it over a good chunk of albums.
And Justice For All is better than Master Of Puppets.
Ride The Lightning's best song is the title track.
 
I don't mind it, but it's certainly overexposed. Even the busker outside my local station plays it.
 
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