Metallica

Mosh said:
Not a fan of The Black album. They pretty much lost me at that point.
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I'd be lying if I said it grabbed me right away as I felt a betrayal of their earlier roots. Yet the riffs to "Sad But True" and "Don't Tread On Me" are very thickly toned and exciting metal riffs (even if the vocal parts and overall feel is heading into rock), the proceeding in particular, along with "Enter Sandman" is just one of the most memorable riffs in the band's catalogue. There's a real craftsmanship to a lot of these tracks and yes much of it is very safe and mainstream, but it's not brain-rotting either. "Nothing Else Matters" and "The Unforgiven" are ballads of the highest order for example, not just phoned in schlock. It's not all good, but the production's incredible, the songwriting's generally on point, and it's all fun to listen to. Is it the Metallica that made them awesome in the 80s? No. But it's not the Bon Jovi album that many these days say it is.
 
Word.... Black album wasn't thrash no....but man, still unbelievably heavy and metal! Wherever I May Roam, Unforgiven , Through The Never, God That Failed, Sad But True....etc...To me this is the last "classic "Metallica album....
 
MrKnickerbocker said:
I love The Black Album. It shows what Metallica could do with some restraint and, though overplayed, I think it's probably the most "powerful" album they ever recorded.
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It's their most thought through album. Everything is right where it should be. Compact, powerful, energetic and emotional songs....Stuff that Death Magnetic could learn from ;)
 
SixesAlltheway said:
Word.... Black album wasn't thrash no....but man, still unbelievably heavy and metal! Wherever I May Roam, Unforgiven , Through The Never, God That Failed, Sad But True....etc...To me this is the last "classic "Metallica album....
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"Through the Never" has a good riff but the vocal part ruins it for me. I like the live version for the extra energy but the studio cut does nothing for me. "The God That Failed" also seems to go nowhere IMO though not without it's moments, and I love the lyrics. And as great "Wherever I May Roam" is, it's a very mid-tempo song more based around atmospherics. I wouldn't call the album metal at all. I still think it's great though and I don't think the band were trying to change their sound, they still were holding on to their roots to some degree. It's definitely not as much a shock to the system as Load and ReLoad.
 
I still stand by that Master of Puppets is their most thought through. Takes all the ideas of the last album and refines them to perfection.
 
I don't have a problem with the direction they took and it's a very well made album. Just not really anything I'm interested it.
 
Puppets didn't refine Lightning. It had a different approach resulting in less good material imo. Here my comparison:
Forostar said:
My take on Master of Puppets and Ride the Lightning:

The album closers:
I find both Orion and Ktulu quite repetitive tracks. Ktulu has an intruiging intro and Orion a cool riff. The intro is over at some point and the riff gets repeated for aeons. Especially Orion is getting boring after a couple of minutes. Not much variation for such a long song.

The problem I have with with Puppets is that I miss the melodic/catchy-aspects from its predecessor. Especially shown on the second half. When Welcome Home (Sanitarium) is over I already have the idea "Well, that was that, the rest is only going to be less".

Ride The Lightning sets itself apart because of some really nice melodies, solos and harmonies (the Maidenish ending harmony in Fade To Black still sends shivers down my spine!). Also I notice that this album contains a lot of variety. There's always the unbeatable Creeping Death we're looking forward to, and the songs before it are short (which is excellent) melodic songs leading to this heralded riff. So, the "Well, that was that, the rest is only going to be less" feeling is not starting before I am well into the final track.

Instead of putting emphasis on melody, Puppets, relies heavily on riffs. Now if some of those riffs were less repetitive, and if some of the songs had more melodic passages built in, then it'd be a different matter.
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Mosh said:
I don't have a problem with the direction they took and it's a very well made album. Just not really anything I'm interested it.
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Well that's fair enough then.

Forostar said:
Puppets didn't refine Lightning. It had a different approach resulting in less good material imo. Here my comparison:
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Both albums have the same structure, and Puppets mixes old ideas with new ones. Personally I think Orion is one of their best songs, so many great riffs within that song. As for the lack of catchiness, how can you forget the "You will do what I say when I say back to the front" part of "Disposable Heroes" or the eerie whispher of "Damage Incorporated" following by Lars's brilliant double-bass gallop (one of his most effective moments I find). Those are all ridiculously memorable.
 
EddieoftheOpera said:
"Through the Never" has a good riff but the vocal part ruins it for me. I like the live version for the extra energy but the studio cut does nothing for me. "The God That Failed" also seems to go nowhere IMO though not without it's moments, and I love the lyrics. And as great "Wherever I May Roam" is, it's a very mid-tempo song more based around atmospherics. I wouldn't call the album metal at all. I still think it's great though and I don't think the band were trying to change their sound, they still were holding on to their roots to some degree. It's definitely not as much a shock to the system as Load and ReLoad.
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I respect that but to me...Through The Never and Wherever I May Roam are my go to songs on this album...:D
 
It's more metal than half of the two load albums put together, more metal than Sgt.Anger and a better song than what's on Death Magnetic.
 
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