Metallica

The trio of Moth Into Flame, Dream No More and Halo on Fire is brilliant. The latter two are instant classics for me. I'm very pleased that the band took the direction I wanted them to take. More compact songwriting, like the stuff they did in the 90s. After hearing Hardwired, Moth and Atlas I wasn't expecting stuff like Dream No More, Halo on Fire and Murder One at all.

The album, for me, has a pretty weird "streak" thing going on in its sequencing. The first three tracks are meh, then the following three are great, Confusion is the outlier, #8, #9 and #10 are the worst tracks, and the last two are also good. Overall I'm left with a %50-%50 split, 6 decent to great tracks, 6 bad to meh tracks.

I see this album as a 3,5/5 type for now, but it could go into 4/5 territory over time. (Which is my rating for Death Magnetic also)
 
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That explains the pig head. That was my thought too...didn't know if they were taking the piss or what...Metallica music over black metal visuals just confused the fuck out of me :D
 
Everything is Mayhem related. The style of clothing, hair, makeup. The lead singer sniffing a bag before going on stage (Mayhem's vocalist would put dead birds in it IIRC) and the pig head, obviously.

It does look out of place, because the song itself isn't brutal at all. It it was, it could be viewed as a tribute but as it is, it seems more like taking the piss. The intention seems to be neither, though.
 
soundwave said:
My initial enthusiasm has been tempered now that I've digested them after a few listens....
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Hehe. The new tracks really have all going for them. They just need to be better than Sgt.Anger and Death Magnetic. That's a very low hurdle to climb (IMO) so perhaps we're easily impressed at this point...a 20 year slump will make almost anything half decent sound fantastic in comparison... :D
 
SixesAlltheway said:
Hehe. The new tracks really have all going for them. They just need to be better than Sgt.Anger and Death Magnetic. That's a very low hurdle to climb (IMO) so perhaps we're easily impressed at this point...but are the songs then actually really good? :D
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Very true! There are some killer riffs/ideas...and some stuff that sounds really "stock". I dunno....I should keep listening to it to be fair. The production is way better, James sounds inspired, and I actually headbanged (well...more like head nodded) in a few places (haven't done that to a Metallica song in years). Unfortunately, "Meh-tallica" comes back in a few places to kill the mood for me. But it's a start! This actually would have been a good follow-up to the Loads (takes the AIC/Sabbathy stuff, but brings in some thrash elements with a few harmonies that nod to their 80s work).
 
I read an interesting in depth article (printed magazine) on Load (twenty years after its release). It was the first time they let Hammett play rhythm guitar, recorded in the absence of Hetfield who needed some time alone after his father died. They were afraid he might not like it when he returned but it was alright!

From another interview I just found:

"It took a little time for me to get used to that. Getting Kirk to play along with me and have the parts complement each other was an even a bigger challenge than me trying to double it and get it tighter than a knat's ass, like we did before. And it's obviously affected the sound - it's broadened it and made it deeper, instead of being a one-dimensional sound. Most of the time my rhythm parts are mixed on the left and Kirk's are on the right so you can hear who's doing what - which is cool."

Perhaps I should give this album another chance. Knowing more of the background and details from the recording certainly makes it more interesting now.
 
Huh. Color me very wrong. I thought that Hetfield has been playing all of the rhythm on the new stuff. That gives me at least a modicum of respect for Kirk on the new album, I suppose.
 
I pre-ordered on Amazon and it was to be delivered today. I woke up this morning to a note that the revised delivery date is Nov. 28. So naturally I cancelled my order. Now I'll probably stream it a few times, get sick of it, and never buy it. Or buy it used in a few weeks. If you want my cash, Lars, you gotta ship the product.
 
MrKnickerbocker said:
Huh. Color me very wrong. I thought that Hetfield has been playing all of the rhythm on the new stuff. That gives me at least a modicum of respect for Kirk on the new album, I suppose.
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No, Hetfield is definitely doing all the rhythm stuff on HTSD (and Death Magnetic for that matter too). Kirk only did solos, not even any harmonies or anything. The quote was referring to Load.
 
SixesAlltheway said:
That explains the pig head. That was my thought too...didn't know if they were taking the piss or what...Metallica music over black metal visuals just confused the fuck out of me :D
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The Flash said:
Everything is Mayhem related. The style of clothing, hair, makeup. The lead singer sniffing a bag before going on stage (Mayhem's vocalist would put dead birds in it IIRC) and the pig head, obviously.

It does look out of place, because the song itself isn't brutal at all. It it was, it could be viewed as a tribute but as it is, it seems more like taking the piss. The intention seems to be neither, though.
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I got some clarification on this from a Mayhem fan. The video isn't taken from the film, it's the actors in character performing for the sake of a Metallica video. So yes, even odder.
 
Brigantium said:
I got some clarification on this from a Mayhem fan. The video isn't taken from the film, it's the actors in character performing for the sake of a Metallica video. So yes, even odder.
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Could be a promotion type deal. A Metallica music video is a huge advertisement. (Even if they released one for each track)
 
I bought the new album (3 CD version) and heard the first seven songs. Very impressed. And there's a lot of guitar harmonies! Maiden might have (re-)inspired them more than ever.
Ruflux said:
No, Hetfield is definitely doing all the rhythm stuff on HTSD (and Death Magnetic for that matter too). Kirk only did solos, not even any harmonies or anything. The quote was referring to Load.
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Yes, I was only referring to Load indeed. That was the first time Kirk was allowed to play rhythm. I do not know if it was the last time though.
 
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