Metallica

____no5 said:
Hit -what? Lars is worthless in all aspects. 3 musicians and a drummer.
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Hi-hat, the double-stacked cymbals near the snare drum that are generally used for accents and time-keeping. Every time there's a riff break Lars is just sloshing away on his fucking cymbals and completely ruining the vibe. Any producer with a pair of balls would have told them to cut those out of the final mix. Bring back Bob Rock!
 
I know what hit -hat is, I was pointing out that no matter the sound etc Lars is a basic level drummer. Even with Bob Rock, Lars will still be Lars.
 
Still early but I think this is my favorite Metallica album since the Black Album. It might be tied with it actually. I like all of the songs and they work even better as a whole. The only criticism I can think of is the song "Lux Aeterna" feels like it is in the wrong slot. I think it would have worked even better earlier in the track list. I like every Metallica album (yes, even St. Anger) with Hardwired being my least favorite.
 
____no5 said:
I know what hit -hat is, I was pointing out that no matter the sound etc Lars is a basic level drummer. Even with Bob Rock, Lars will still be Lars.
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Well, yes, we all know that is true. My point isn't necessarily about the playing itself, but more the fact that they decided to keep his counting in the actual recording. Sure, it's going to sound like that live, but it completely diminishes the power of some of those sections on the record.

stvn1974 said:
Still early but I think this is my favorite Metallica album since the Black Album. It might be tied with it actually. I like all of the songs and they work even better as a whole. The only criticism I can think of is the song "Lux Aeterna" feels like it is in the wrong slot. I think it would have worked even better earlier in the track list. I like every Metallica album (yes, even St. Anger) with Hardwired being my least favorite.
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This is a hot take.
 
MrKnickerbocker said:
Screw faster songs, I just want some clean sections and dynamics. This whole album is just chunk chunk chunk chhhh chhhh chhhh chhhh *pentatonic turnaround* at full distortion for 80 fucking minutes.
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MrKnickerbocker said:
The riffs are all the same, the compositions are bloated and poorly constructed; there are virtually no melodic hooks on the entire thing...

Lux is still the catchiest (and truly the only straightforwardly catchy song on the whole thing).

Lars' hi-hat counting is fucking infuriating.

... riff salad, riffs with the same progression. Hardwired, for all of its bloat, was far superior in that the songs felt like songs.
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I can agree with all of that. There are melodic hooks, but not so much in the vocals. As for Lars, I guess that's just his style.

Hardwired has Atlas, Moth, Halo, Bone - really strong songs. Add to them 72 Seasons, Lux, Chasing Light, Room Of Mirrors and Inamorata and you have a killer album.
 
____no5 said:
I know what hit -hat is, I was pointing out that no matter the sound etc Lars is a basic level drummer. Even with Bob Rock, Lars will still be Lars.
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Nah. Lars's drumming was tasteful as hell on the Bob Rock 90s albums, with dynamics aplenty and generally being incredibly in the pocket. On St. Anger the drum sound itself is shit but it is by far the most technically complex album Metallica's done drumming wise. Death Magnetic was already much more stock and basic in that department and Lars's studio work's been on the decline since.
 
Yeah... I can agree with most of the criticism here. As most of you surely know, I like all of the Metallica studio albums a lot, but for now, this one has to place at the very bottom of my ranking.

Positives:
- It's Metallica
- Hetfield sounds great
- The title track, Chasing Light, Too Far Gone? and Room of Mirrors are definitely great songs
- I think the production is decent enough
- Some Maiden-like guitar harmonies

Negatives:
- Kirk's solos
- If Darkness Had a Son and Sleepwalk My Life Away are some of the weakest songs they've done
- Generally the album just feels like Hardwired's less developed brother
- Not enough vocal hooks (although there are some pretty cool ones such as Too Far Gone)
- I would've liked a ballad or two instead of ten billion mid-tempo rockers
 
Imo, album is bad :facepalm: Good producer is needed. Most songs sounds the samey. Of course, I liked the most songs that have hooks in the form of harmonisation, those are good. Overall, they sound old and tired. Hetfield is primary riff master in Metallica, it is clearly audible that he has some inner struggles and as a result he's not fully into music. I understand that he's just a human being, i do. But music suffers, because of this.
Combined with Hardwired, we would have one decent album. At this point, I see no reason for them to make new albums...
Hammett is unmemorable, Ulrich plays in the same pattern.
Best songs: 72 Seasons, Lux Aeterna, Too Far Gone, Room Of Mirrors, Inamorata.
 
KidInTheDark666 said:
Yeah... I can agree with most of the criticism here. As most of you surely know, I like all of the Metallica studio albums a lot, but for now, this one has to place at the very bottom of my ranking.

Positives:
- It's Metallica
- Hetfield sounds great
- The title track, Chasing Light, Too Far Gone? and Room of Mirrors are definitely great songs
- I think the production is decent enough
- Some Maiden-like guitar harmonies

Negatives:
- Kirk's solos
- If Darkness Had a Son and Sleepwalk My Life Away are some of the weakest songs they've done
- Generally the album just feels like Hardwired's less developed brother
- Not enough vocal hooks (although there are some pretty cool ones such as Too Far Gone)
- I would've liked a ballad or two instead of ten billion mid-tempo rockers
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I agree with all.
Kirk Hammett's uninspired guitar solos. All are the same. Starting with chords and wha.
Inamorata too much inspired in early Sabbath. The guitar harmonies reminded me to other doom and trash bands.
Screaming Suicide has the guitar lick of Deep Purple's Speed King on it. Why?
Generally speaking the whole album could be the second part of Hardwired for that reason I think they would have to hire another producer. but I think this one has more complex changes all the time and the songs are too long.
…
The album is good enough 4/5 for me.
 
MrKnickerbocker said:
Screw faster songs, I just want some clean sections and dynamics.
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That’s how I fell about Powerslave. Don’t enough light and shade compared to other Maiden albums.

Back on topic, I have always been a big fan of Metallica, but I have found the last few albums quite unmemorable. Do I give the new one a listen? Is it worth my time?
 
Ascendingthethrone said:
That’s how I fell about Powerslave. Don’t enough light and shade compared to other Maiden albums.
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At least Powerslave has the title track and the dynamics in Rime. This Metallica record literally has one song with a clean guitar and it’s the last song on the album.
Ascendingthethrone said:
Back on topic, I have always been a big fan of Metallica, but I have found the last few albums quite unmemorable. Do I give the new one a listen? Is it worth my time?
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Give it a spin, but expect more of the same. It sounds like a combo of the last two.
 
I picked up the album this morning and have blasted it in my car on my way to work and during my lunch hour. I've made it through all but the last song. When listening to the singles as they came out, each one got better on the second listen and took time to grow on me, except for Lux AEterna, which was good from the gate. I really hope the rest of the songs grow on me. There's some really great intros on this album, some crunchy riffs and mid-sections. There's even a couple of good solos, but a lot of the songs feel the same. Some clearly feel more inspired than others.
 
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KidInTheDark666 said:
Positives:
- It's Metallica
- I think the production is decent enough
- Some Maiden-like guitar harmonies

Negatives:
- Generally the album just feels like Hardwired's less developed brother
- Not enough vocal hooks (although there are some pretty cool ones such as Too Far Gone)
- I would've liked a ballad or two instead of ten billion mid-tempo rockers
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I agree. It's definitely not a bad album, but I think it should have been more varied and a bit different than the previous album. That would have made it more distinctive. The only surprise is the last song. Vocal hooks are really missing, yes. A ballad too, they should have made one. Too many songs sound/start the same and that's a bit tiresome to listen to, not that the band is tired.
 
It's pretty much like every post-thrash era Metallica. There's a couple of gems, some half decent rockers and a fair amount of filler. They very much need a strong producer again to tell them where to edit stuff.
 
In the context of the first five albums, this all is very sad. As to compare Wagner, Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, Vivaldi with synthesizer playing on Senjutsu:ninja:
 
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After one listen, worst Metallica album. Some of their coolest titles and what did they write to back them up? Their most boring collection of songs. Also the production sucks. Why does Lars's hi-hat sound like fucking jingle bells??? There are good moments here but they are far outweighed by plodding numbers without variety that just keep going on and on and on. Holy shit.
 
I think there are others that are worse (paging St. Anger and the Load albums). It is not horrible, but suffers from all the post-Justice albums, it is just really uneven and has an EPs worth of good material and a bunch of songs that essentially sound all the same
 
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