Metallica

I like this song better than Lux Æterna, but if these are the first two songs they've chosen to release, my hopes for this album are pretty low. This is just one boring bluesy riff after the next. Hardwired was far from perfect, but two-thirds of it was better than either of these songs.
 
In terms of matching up the singles released so far with the respective 1st and 2nd singles for Hardwired...

Lux > Hardwired
Moth Into Flame >>> Screaming Suicide

I still like how the riffs seem to harken back to Kill 'Em All. The little slides in Suicide's various riffs are really Mustaine-y.
 
Sounds like a Hardwired leftover.
I agree. It's only shorter. The song has some good riffs (as expected) and nice melodic interludes, but the chorus could have been better. The verses are also very typical for the band (that doesn't mean they're bad, they fits), but I like the pre-chorus. The solos are cool too. The song is co-written by Trujillo and I think it's a fusion of the band's early sound and the modern Hardwired sound.

The singles from the previous album were better imo.
 
I get the impression that this new song is somewhat Loadish and Reloadish. With echos of Kill 'Em All. As a song.... salad/hotchpotch?
 
Shout! Shout! Shout!
Shout at the Devil

Pretty good track, nothing outstanding about either of the tracks so far, but I like the ball park they are in, it's promising in terms of the album. I like the verse that comes in over the rhythm section from the solo.
 
Weird intro. I'm not getting as big of a Kill 'em All vibe on this one, which could be promising for the rest of the album. Kirk's flash of inspiration that led to his EP obviously burnt out before they started recording this album 'cause those solos were pretty lame. I hear reworked riffs from Through the Never and Atlas, Rise! here, probably more but those are the two most apparent to me. Overall, good but not great, and not as good as the previous single... which I haven't actually listened to again since its release.
 
Weird intro. I'm not getting as big of a Kill 'em All vibe on this one, which could be promising for the rest of the album. Kirk's flash of inspiration that led to his EP obviously burnt out before they started recording this album 'cause those solos were pretty lame. I hear reworked riffs from Through the Never and Atlas, Rise! here, probably more but those are the two most apparent to me. Overall, good but not great, and not as good as the previous single... which I haven't actually listened to again since its release.
I didn't care for the intro of Screaming Suicide, but the song got better as it went along. Lux AEterna is still the better of the two. As far as Death Magnetic is concerned, I really like that album, much more than HW, which has 5 great songs on the first disc, then Here Comes Revenge and Confusion on disc 2. Most of the rest is average or below (Manunkind).
 
I liked this song slightly better on a second listen, but it's still a fairly average track from them. I do like when the song changes key signatures for the pre-chorus ("Listen well, better listen well.") I like these key changes in pretty much all music in general, as remaining in one key for an entire song bores me to tears. The bridge after Kirk's laughingly sophomoric solo is neat, too. There's definitely more depth here than there is in the overly simplistic Lux Æterna.

In the end, these kinds of bluesy riffs to me equate to music with too few layers to dissect, which is suitable for daytime road listening (but only on sunny days) and not much else. I'm seemingly one of the few people in existence who thinks Kill 'em All is massively overrated, so I'm not crazy about this direction for Metallica. Writing a bunch of songs about being a child/teenager seems like a massive step back for them, but maybe that's the energy they need to tap into to prevent them from doing country again.

Kirk's flash of inspiration that led to his EP obviously burnt out before they started recording this album 'cause those solos were pretty lame.
Kirk half-asses everything. I've reached a point where I kind of tune the solos out and just imagine they're played by John Petrucci or something, with crazy runs and sweeping and such. It's this weird hybrid sound in my head that leaves me confused yet somehow satisfied.
 
I also liked some of the vocal styles James used on this. Not sure if that is easier for him due to age, but it was different in a good way.
 
I'm seemingly one of the few people in existence who thinks Kill 'em All is massively overrated, so I'm not crazy about this direction for Metallica. Writing a bunch of songs about being a child/teenager seems like a massive step back for them, but maybe that's the energy they need to tap into to prevent them from doing country again.

I'm with you, it does little for me too. I honestly think this "nostalgic" direction is because it's "what the fans want" more than a real creative decision. Look at Spit Out the Bone, that was far and away the most popular song from Hardwired, seemingly because it was the closest thing to their thrash sound that Metallica have released this century. The general consensus over Screaming Suicide seems to be (despite still heavily aping KEA) "it's alright but I wish it were thrash", which is a whole other issue that bothers me greatly that I won't ramble about here.

I've reached a point where I kind of tune the solos out and just imagine they're played by John Petrucci or something, with crazy runs and sweeping and such. It's this weird hybrid sound in my head that leaves me confused yet somehow satisfied.

Then you might enjoy this:

 

That's really cool - with music video and commentary from the band for every song.

Maiden had a similar idea for the release of Senjutsu. It would be great if they do it for the next album.
 
I really like these two new songs and I love how they planned the tour. Two nights in a same city, on a weeked (Friday and Sunday) and different setlist. Amazing. If a had 500-1000 euros extra I'd surely go.

But "72 Seasons" as an album title?!?!?!?! WTF?!?! Not that it doesn't sound as a metal album title, it doesn't sound like nothing EVER should be called like this. It sounds like something Sting would answer when asked about his sex life.
 
This Metallica's new song, imo, falls in Here Comes Revenge, Confusion, Am I Savage song's category. Boring, pointless, plodding. I don't like it.
And what's with all those intros... It's as if they forgot how to write songs or feel insecure* and work them out by "entering into song gradually"

*the problem, most likely, there's no "throw it out" man around them.
 
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Intro's a bit bloated, but I much prefer it to Screaming Suicide. That snaking grooving riff under the verses is excellent. Past two singles had some very KEA-esque riffs, and the verse riff in this is very Mustaine-y. Suicide it took me a couple of listens to get into, but this one hooked me on first listen.
 
This Metallica's new song, imo, falls in Here Comes Revenge, Confusion, Am I Savage song's category. Boring, pointless, plodding.
Some people would say you are talking about Senjutsu! :lol:

Whilst I agree that the song falls under the category of the "less inspired stuff from Hardwired... to Self Destruct", I find myself enjoying it more than those songs from their previous album. :)
 
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