*BUMP*
Metallica were the first 80's metal band I got into, they might have even been the first metal band I got into, its a bit blurry now.
Here's my view on their albums (and some other stuff):
Kill em All: Awesome album, though distinctly less varied then later releases. Personally, I think this album contains Kirk's best work technicely. I also think he improved the solos significantly from Dave's versions. As a whole, the album sounds a bit immature compared to later albums, but that's also got it's charm. It's just full of energy and you can really hear the band giving it 100% in showing the world what they're made of. I also love James' high pitched screams on songs like Metal Militia and Hit the Lights. There isn't a single weak song on the album, it's very consistent and flows very well. Then we have Cliff's solo... well, what can be said that hasn't been said a million times already? greatness.
Ride the Lightning: I find I listen to this album quite a bit less then their other pre-92 albums. Don't know why really, it's a great album and in many ways a step up from Kill em All. Kirk developed his own style as opposed to copying Mustaine and overall the songs sound much more mature. But... some songs just don't really do it for me like they do it for many Metallica fans. For instance I find Fade to Black to be a good song, but I definitely don't consider it one of their best. I think the album is less consistent then Kill em All. And if ever Metallica sold out it was with this album and the track Escape, which is basicely a heavy pop song.
Master of Puppets: What hasn't been said about this album? It's probably the definitive metal album. It has the perfect mix of quality and classic status. Im not saying it's the best metal album ever, though. But Im not here to discuss the album's position on the Top X metal albums of all time. The album saw the Metallica songwriting formula perfected. The only song on here that slightly disapoints me is The Thing That Should Not Be. Sure, its good, but not up to the standards of the rest of the album IMO. The rest of the songs are totally awesome. I think this is the best paced Metallica album, It works best as an album I think. It just flows perfectly, with enough variation in tempo and mood that it gets to the point that the album isn't boring for a milisecond.
...and Justice for All: I consider this the only Metallica album they made as a three-piece band. Jason Newsted contributed some songwriting (Blackened), but that's about it as far as his role on this album goes. The bass is basicely inaudible most of the time, the overall sound is very dry, and is lacking in the lowend. That said, this is still an excellent album, though this is the first album that contains songs that sound like filler (to me at least). It starts perfectly with one of their very best thrashers, then slows down nicely for the epic title track... but then, it dips slightly. Eye of the Beholder is a pretty good track, but I feel it's nothing more. It's followed by One, an all-time metal classic, period. The Shortest Straw is next, and I think that's a great, somewhat underrated song. It contains one of my fave solos by Kirk. As we move on, we have Harvester of Sorrow. Very solid song, but I think it sounds better live. Then we have the Frayed Ends of Sanity. I feel this is another borderline-filler song. It just doesn't seem to be going anywhere. I think it drags on too long really. Really like the bridge though. Next up is To Live Is To Die, a tribute to Cliff, with some lyrics spoken by James somewhere in the middle. The song's got kind of an unsettling atmosphere surrounding it, which suits I suppose. The part that starts around the 4:30 mark and continues into the soft part is absolutely gorgeous, very sad. Overall, great song, possibly my fave Metallica instrumtal.
Wrapping it all up is Dyers Eve, maybe the best up-tempo thrasher Metallica has ever written. The intro gets me pumped every time. Also love the abrubt ending.
Overall, the album does work well as a whole. The album follows the basic blueprint of RTL and MOP, so it all flows well.
Metallica (aka The Black Album): IMO this is their last classic album. I find it to be better then AJFA is some aspects. Obvious aspects like production, but also in the songs. Some songs on AJFA were maybe a bit too ambitious. Some songs didn't seem to really be going anywhere with odd sections and time signatures thrown in just for the sake of having em. The Black Album saw a change in songwriting. They went back to more conventional songs that relied more on recurring riffs and more traditional verse-chorus structures. This was not at all a bad development IMO. This is yet another excellent album, displaying some of Metallica's best songwriting to date. Wheter you find them overrated or not, songs like Enter Sandman, The Unforgiven and Nothing Else Matters work, both commercialy AND artisticely. There's also harder stuff like Sad But True, Wherever I May Road and Of Wolf And Man which also works very well. Holier Then Thou (which was in the race for being the first Black Album single released) is also an underrated gem. I also like Don't Tread On Me (though the patriotic lyrics are kind of silly). But, like AJFA, I can't help feel that some of these songs are filler. Through The Never is kind of uninspired (also better live), The God That Failed has some nice ideas, but overall not as good as the majority of songs on offer. Same with The Struggle Within. The intro sounds awesome, but the rest of song can't live up to that premise. What's left is My Friend of Misery. Now I think that's a great song. I love the riff under the chorus, and the song contains one of the few contributions by Jason (Ive always wondered what Metallica would have been like if they gave Jason more creative freedom).
All in all, a great album, in my view this was the last of the classic Metallica.
Load/Reload: The controversial Load and Reload are often source of heated debate among Metallica fans. Some say they're great, the band is breaching out, expanding it's horizon, and such. Then there's the people who despise the albums and this ain't the Metallica they know. Cut hair, mascarra, suits? This wasn't metal. And it isn't I guess. It's hardrock mixed with occasional blues and some country. Load is a good, underrated album I think. Sure, it's not very consistent or remotely as groundbreaking as their 80's work, but I think there's some solid traditional songwriting on display here. As for Reload, must admit I havent really given that one a good listen. Im gonna have to listen to it more before I can pass judgement.
Garage Inc: Great covers album. Nothing really radical in songs getting turned inside out or anything, just really solid covering.
S&M: Awesome, songs like Master of Puppets and Call of Ktulu just work so well with an orchestra, I sometimes actually prefer these versions to the studio-versions. Not all songs are perfectly suitable for this kind of treatment. Especially Sad But True is actually pretty much ruined due to the orchestra. But most songs benefit from the symphonic extra's. Overall, great album, probably one of my fave live albums. The DVD ofcourse makes it all even more awesome.
St.Anger: Perhaps even more controversial then Load/Reload, St.Anger was basicely put to shit by almost everyone. Nobody seems to be able to get passed the "tin-can" drums and the total lack of solos. Not to mention the so called "failed-attempt-to-return-to-their-roots". I have though. I don't mind the lack of solos. Kirk's been getting sloppier and sloppier since the 90's, the solos that would have been present would have probably been uninspired and hardly mindblowing (aka, the solo in "The New Song"). The "tin-can" sound of the drums is something you have to like, or at least get used to. I personally think it fits the sound. It sounds like the band's playing in a garage, which was the point. And about the "return-to-their-roots", well I simply let that idea go If I listen to St.Anger. It's most probably never gonna happen anyway.
On to the songs. Im not gonna go into this very deeply, lets just say that I think Frantic, St.Anger, Dirty Window, Invisible Kid and My World are all pretty good to great songs. The main problem with St.Anger as I see it, is that it's generally pretty random. Parts don't always flow well together, overall the album feels like parts thrown together. But sometimes this works, and most of the times it's listenable. Overall, Id say this is definitely down their as Metallica's worst album, but I don't think it's the worst metal album Ive ever heard or anything, though my slight bias towards Metallica might be getting in the way here, but I doubt it.
Thoughts on the new album: To be honest, Im not really excited. The New Song sounds really lame to be honest. Load and St.Anger thrown in a blender.
Im curious to see what Rick Rubin does with the record. He seems to be able to save any band, so yeah, I haven't abandoned all hope. I hope The New Song isn't representative of the quality of the album, cause then we might be in for a rather lame album. I'm guessing that if the album is butchered by the media and fans, they do a tour and then call it quits. Can't blame them really.
Live: I saw them live for the first time Junu 8th in Holland this year. Can't say it was what I was expecting, though. Mainly the sound was HORRIBLE (it was a stadium). You could barely heard what they were playing. They did play the whole of Master of Puppets, which was cool. They also paid tribute the cliff afterwards, showing a picture of him on the screens followed by "RIP Clifford Lee Burton 1962-1986" (might have just been Cliff Burton, can't really remember). Overall, definitely glad I saw them, but I wouldnt see them again, at least not in a stadium.
Oh, and one more thing. Lars Ulrich is the single most overrated "drummer" in the universe.
