Metallica

Black album was my favorite after first full discography listen. Now it's my second favorite and I can't see it dropping lower.
 
Diesel 11 said:
Oh, I thought you said it was your favorite at one point.
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He literally just said Death Magnetic was his #1:
KidInTheDark666 said:
I'm a huge fan of them both but Death Magnetic is my #1 Metallica album.
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And you actually responded to it:
Diesel 11 said:
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I feel like I shouldn't be surprised at this point, but I am.
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No no no, I thought he said that at one point St. Anger was his number one but that had changed. I didn't mean that I thought it was his favorite now. :P
 
So... this is a genuine question:
Why are Metallica the biggest metal band in the world right now?

I listened to quite a lot of Metallica in the 90's; listened to their catalogue, which was only 80's at that point. They were aggressive & they had attitude; they had some cool riffs & Kirk sometimes impressed with his solos. Since then they've gone on to make, what most people would categorise as, a mixed-bag of albums (post-Black). So it's genuinely confusing to me why they are so big & so well respected.

I mean, James is a great metal rhythm guitarist; fast & tight. But he plays a fairly narrow range & doesn't really play lead (often). His singing is, well, James; it's not very good & has become a bit of a parody of itself. And Metallica's lyrics have never stood out for me; they've aged badly & are pretty lame. Lars is... good; but he was never unbelievable & he's failing now. Kirk was decent; but once one understood guitar playing one noticed how little he was actually doing. And he contributes very little songwriting. Bass players: Cliff was class, Newstead just followed James, and Trujillo is probably the most technically gifted but nobody seems to rate him. And it's not like they're greater than the sum of their parts; they're just not. On the face of it they're almost average.

Point is, I never looked around at other bands at the time & thought they (the others) lacked something Metallica totally had. And Metallica haven't got better. It's, all-in, quite confusing why they are where they are & why they are viewed (not necessarily on here I might add) as such. I know we're joking, but nothing on here suggests there is something I'm really missing from later albums; some gem, something that shouldn't be missed. It all sounds so incredibly average, so Metallica, & so uninteresting.
 
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I was clearly referring to Lars in the past tense. He was good, never said he was great. And in reference to James' singing; yes, I said he isn't very good. You claiming he's a great singer? Please.
 
James has become more competent as a vocalist with age. My favorite performances of his are on Master Of Puppets (his classic vocals hitting their peak), Load (after introducing his more ‘tuff guy’ style, he finally makes it work here), and Hardwired... (it’s typical James, but his control is on point and he sounds amazing). He’s never been a perfect vocalist, he’s only been James Hetfield, a person who constantly keeps evolving with literally every album and it’s quite fascinating. Most of this band is fascinating.

As to Lars, I think he was a competent drummer on the first three albums, but not always quite on point. He got better on ...AJFA, but production choices marred that. Simplifying things with the self-titled record was probably his smartest move, because the drumming on that album made it sound much heavier, and on Load he actually sounds really good as well. Its follow-up wasn’t quite that outstanding, and there’s nothing to explain about the NEXT album (good drumming, terrible drum sound). DM was solid but not outstanding, Lulu had some pretty great moments, and finally, H...TSD has probably my favorite drumming from Lars since Load, if not overall. It sounds good, he’s really getting into it, and it’s a powerhouse that drives on the rest of the album. Dunno about his live capabilities so much, but I do think he’s getting more competent with age on albums at least.

As to why the band is so big... probably having five huge albums and a really memorable name helps out.
 
Cried pretty much sums up my feelings about Metallica. The only album I really ever feel the urge to listen to from start to finish is Ride the Lightning, otherwise it's just the odd song here and there. I think James peaked vocal-wise on The Black Album - he has definitely lost much of the roughness since. And speaking of the newer albums, I'm in the camp that thinks Death Magnetic is miles better than Hardwired.... The production obviously improved on Hardwired ...(except for the guitar sound, which annoys the hell out of me), but at least the songs on Death Magnetic are actually good.
 
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