Metallica

Zare said:
Lars @ 1:08:30
Kirk @ 1:30:20

Lars is the best he's been in 20 years. Kirk is getting worse and worse.
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Kirk is far, far better than he was a couple of years ago. I dunno what you're smoking. Yeah, that specific bit is an enormous fuck up but that sure as hell isn't representative of the whole show at all. Compare this to some 2015 gigs, where practically every solo is fucked up in one way or another.

Lars is okay I suppose, but 20 years ago was 1998, and he was undoubtedly in better shape in 1999 and 2000. And 2003 too, far more power and consistency, although his tempo issues started making a comeback in a huge way then too. 2004 he started getting really sloppy and after that it's been downhill consistently. He's sort of improved during the new album cycle, but not by a lot and he's started dropping more and more double bass drum sections.
 
Ruflux said:
Lars is okay I suppose, but 20 years ago was 1998, and he was undoubtedly in better shape in 1999 and 2000. And 2003 too, far more power and consistency, although his tempo issues started making a comeback in a huge way then too. 2004 he started getting really sloppy and after that it's been downhill consistently. He's sort of improved during the new album cycle, but not by a lot and he's started dropping more and more double bass drum sections.
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Oh yes, he was in top shape and well prepared in the late 90’s and 2000! Very evident on S&M, very solid playing by Lars there. And the whole band sounded very bad in most of the 2004 shows. Guess they still had some post-St Anger issues to deal with back then
 
Lars' mistakes are more tolerable because drumming is way more physically demanding as players get older, although him not practicing didn't make it easier for him. But at least he's doing his best.

Kirk has been phoning it in for years and playing like shit, while guitarists much older than him can churn out perfect shows every night.
 
Speaking of paying, the tickets for the Metallica concert in Romania next year were sold out in 3-4 days. Now there are hundreds of offers on the online marketplace websites with prices of EUR 100-200 per ticket.

I find funny that half the people I know that are going to attend the gig are not even rock fans, but it seems that nowadays it is "cool" to go to big rock concerts, although you don't have a clue of what's happening there.
 
Does anyone know if there are any recordings of Load/Reload played in the style of Master Of Puppets or Ride The Lightning? I'd give anything to hear those albums with that type of sound.
 
Edington said:
More points to Maiden, their Ticketless Entry means that tickets can't be bought and sold on. Why are more bands not picking up on this?
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Hear! Hear!

The new scam from Ticketmaster is called Platinum Tickets. I saw it being used for the Ozzy + Judas Priest gigs: a bunch of tickets are not sold at face value but at a more expensive price "driven by demand"! What a bunch of thieving bastards... :mad:
 
Sth2112 said:
Oh yes, he was in top shape and well prepared in the late 90’s and 2000! Very evident on S&M, very solid playing by Lars there. And the whole band sounded very bad in most of the 2004 shows. Guess they still had some post-St Anger issues to deal with back then
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Yeah, it's pretty hard to imagine Lars of today leading an entire orchestra (after all, being the drummer everyone else basically has to follow his tempo). Just listen to Creeping Death (drums, bass & vocals only) live at one of the Big 4 concerts (start at 3:10, forums embedding apparently strips the timecode - also if it says the video is unavailable, try watching it on YouTube):


Unbelievably bad. I feel sorry for Rob, having to somehow keep up with that. Just for comparison, the Cunning Stunts version (start at 6:00 or so):


That actually sounds like drumming, instead of some kid banging away overeagerly at his first drumkit.
 
Rob is supremely overqualified for that band. He sticks out in a bad way because of it. On the other hand, it’s rare to see a musician of his caliber with that level of wealth and fame. He definitely deserves the gig.

Jason was a much better fit and probably the best bass player they had in terms of his role in the band.
 
Jason is a good fit in Metallica in the sense that there's absolutely nothing remarkable about his playing. That's in line with James and Lars' view of a bass player.

I think criticism of Rob in terms of fit has a lot to do with the fact that his tenure coincides with Lars and Kirk badly falling off. I'm not sure we see the same type of criticism if he was in the band in the 80s or 90s. Fit wasn't an issue for him when he was in Suicidal Tendencies, which is another thrash band.

I also think image has a lot do with it. Rob doesn't have a "cool" stage presence like Cliff or Jason.
 
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Rob is a great bass player, no doubt, and certainly technically more skilled than Jason. However, his playing style (evident in these videos stripped of rhythm guitar) is incredibly loose, with lots of string flapping and finger movement evident in the overall sound. That type of playing fits wonderfully with an incredibly tight, rhythmic drummer (the complete opposite of Lars).

Jason’s playing was tight and powerful and a perfect match for James’ similar style. When he was there, at least two band members were holding down the same rhythm and same tone.

Current Metallica at its worst sounds like Lars hitting a child’s drum kit with bent forks, Rob thwacking away on a tuneful tennis racket, and Kirk sliding a bunch of sausages over an out-of-tune guitar played through eight crying infants while James just strums along in perfect time and tone wondering why he ever stopped drinking.
 
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MrKnickerbocker said:
Jason’s playing was tight and powerful and a perfect match for James’ similar style. When he was there, at least two band members were holding down the same rhythm and same tone.
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You're reaffirming what I said. Jason was a better fit because there was nothing remarkable about his playing. He copied exactly what James was doing.
 
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