With respect to Ken and anyone else who likes this album, I must point out that when Matt, John and I heard it on the radio last week, we were all in disbelief. It sounds like the whole thing was pasted together using Pro Tools and the band didn't even play together in the studio. The once powerful guitar and drum sounds have been replaced with nu-metal like samples and thin tones. There is no unity or cohesiveness to the songs. Some of them are downright funny, as if Saturday Night Live was doing a skit making fun of them.
If they really wanted to recapture their old energy, they should have gone back to the garage and got in touch with who they once were. This album represents what they are now: a sloppy mess (albeit one with a lot of wealth and power). Lars Ulrich once said that Bon Jovi's music represents everything wrong with the music business. The same can now be said of Metallica. I don't mean to be so negative here, but as a one time fan of the band, and even knowing them a little from the Bay Area scene at one time, it's sad to see the that all the integrity which they prided themselves on is gone.
From http://www.alexskolnick.com/wwwboard/messages/1029.html
If they really wanted to recapture their old energy, they should have gone back to the garage and got in touch with who they once were. This album represents what they are now: a sloppy mess (albeit one with a lot of wealth and power). Lars Ulrich once said that Bon Jovi's music represents everything wrong with the music business. The same can now be said of Metallica. I don't mean to be so negative here, but as a one time fan of the band, and even knowing them a little from the Bay Area scene at one time, it's sad to see the that all the integrity which they prided themselves on is gone.
From http://www.alexskolnick.com/wwwboard/messages/1029.html
uke: What message are they trying to convey anyway? 
