Metallica - Hardwired...To Self-Destruct

Sounded alright...I like metallica until the singing begins. Used to be a pure metal head as a child but have really got bored of this type of tunes as there is nothing that grabs your attention like the good old 80's thrash. I do still own my vinyls but never use them.

  On 8/30/2016 at 10:10 AM, Haste said:

I really enjoyed the black album. I seem to be the only one on the planet that will freely admit to that. That album was so massive, half the people on the planet must have bought it. Because of that album I had many kids at school coming up to me going "Hey... this metal thing seems really cool, can you recommend anything else?" Hell yeah, I can. Evey album before it, and all these other cool bands too. For me, I thought they had nailed maturity in the songwriting without losing the essence of what made them great in the first place. Not to mention the subsequent tour where they were still playing alot of the old stuff with a ridiculous level of ferocity (Watch 'Live shit, binge and purge'). James' voice was just in beast mode.

 

Load however, was a complete shock. They (for the first time) seemed completely unsure of themselves and the quality of the songwriting went through the floor as they seemed to have made a few decisions to try and fit into the current climate. James' monster of a voice had become like a parody of itself.

 

I've never been able to muster any enthusiasm for anything after that. It just sounds like some dudes trying to cover their early stuff, but not as well. Also, they should have driven over to Jason's house and given him a big hug and profusely apologised for all the treatment over the years (maybe they have?.... nah) and begged him to come back. They were lucky to have him. Dicks.

Good points. That Live Shit era stuff was indeed awesome. Also the two Year And A Half In The Life Of.. videos were fkn excellent.

 

I did like Load/Reload, but I realise now that it's probably only because those were the first Metallica albums I heard along with Justice.. and as a 13 year old who hadn't heard much else at all besides pop music and my dad's tame 60s/70s rock collection I didn't really make any comparisons between them. I did see Justice as some kind of impenetrable fortress of mystery though, right down to how bizarre they look in the photos on the back cover.

Anyway, it's hard to imagine what they would have sounded like if they didn't go the hard rock direction; I like to think Meshuggah's first album is a continuation of that prog-thrash style (but with better lead guitar and drums :P) and are what Metallica would have ended up sounding like, haha. Probably not..

  On 8/30/2016 at 5:47 PM, modey said:

I like to think Meshuggah's first album is a continuation of that prog-thrash style (but with better lead guitar and drums :P) and are what Metallica would have ended up sounding like, haha. Probably not..

Yeah, I always thought of Contradictions Collapse as the logical continuation of AJFA. I even discussed this with Brent Hinds of Mastodon at one point, lol.

  On 8/30/2016 at 7:08 PM, psn said:

 

  On 8/30/2016 at 5:47 PM, modey said:

I like to think Meshuggah's first album is a continuation of that prog-thrash style (but with better lead guitar and drums :P) and are what Metallica would have ended up sounding like, haha. Probably not..

Yeah, I always thought of Contradictions Collapse as the logical continuation of AJFA. I even discussed this with Brent Hinds of Mastodon at one point, lol.

 

 

lol. Pretty damn accurate really. What did Hinds say of your thoughts?

I've always thought it a bit strange how the same band who wrote AJFA then pumped out Load/Reload. The Black Album I can kind of see (sort of) but it seems a bit weird to me. Almost two entirely different set of human beings.

  On 8/30/2016 at 7:22 PM, beerwolf said:

I've always thought it a bit strange how the same band who wrote AJFA then pumped out Load/Reload. The Black Album I can kind of see (sort of) but it seems a bit weird to me. Almost two entirely different set of human beings.

 

the dude on the right has compromising pictures of all of them.

 

 

 

Yeah bob rock sucks hard

He brought them to mainstream

The Black album gave them so much visibility, i think they just burned out because of the success//money//drugs, alcohol//ego issues

You can look at this in the documentay "some kind of monster" , pretty good !

They still wrote the songs though. Bob Rock only really gave them advice on how to polish them a little (well, a lot), at least for the black album.

 

I wonder what kind of album they'd make if they weren't pandering to their fans (death magnetic) or trying to get new ones (load/reload)..

Black Album is actually pretty good, I think. Overhated.

Yeah, I seem to constantly forget that it has some fkn awesome songs on it. I nearly always skip Enter Sandman and Nothing Else Matters, only because I've heard them enough in my lifetime, but pretty much everything else is great imo. Just because it's slower doesn't mean the riffs aren't still excellent.

  On 8/30/2016 at 7:26 PM, olo said:

 

  On 8/30/2016 at 7:22 PM, beerwolf said:

I've always thought it a bit strange how the same band who wrote AJFA then pumped out Load/Reload. The Black Album I can kind of see (sort of) but it seems a bit weird to me. Almost two entirely different set of human beings.

 

the dude on the right has compromising pictures of all of them.

 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

 

 the mystery is solved. That said, milking the dumbarse market probably set their families up for several generations, and now they're back to making metal again. Even if it's by the numbers. Although you could argue that that was a market based decision as the damnably clone people dropped off and they were left with old school metalheads and a new breed of said. So they went back to the faster tempo.

  On 9/2/2016 at 4:12 AM, delet... said:

That said, milking the dumbarse market probably set their families up for several generations, and now they're back to making metal again.

Back in 2012 they were complaining that their income was barely matching their spendings, and that they couldn't afford to take two years off anymore.

 

  Quote

...the band has to tour pretty continuously in order to pay for its huge overhead, which includes their own studio, salaries for their staff and crew, and their live show production.

http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/metallica-has-to-keep-touring-to-pay-the-bills/ Edited September 2, 2016 by psn

Anyone else think Lars is one of the most sloppy and worst metal (or other) drummers ever?

 

As a former drum corps tenor drummer, watching his technique and timing is fucking painful to hear and watch. Then you add on his EQing as of recent with their albums and blhheheheeehhhhh. It's like he's good enough to be a drummer, but never got any better or ever really got 'in the pocket' IMO 

I can't stand him. I'm not a musician but it seems like he has two beats. snares on the twos, and then snares on all 4s. repeat.

Lars is quite the enigma when it comes to drums. I've never really been a fan.

That being said, stuff on MOP and AJFA made me pause and think "ah, that was a pretty interesting arrangement",

then on many other albums, his drumming is pedestrian at best. He definitely has an identifiable beat. The Lars shuffle I guess.

He seems capable at times and inept at others. Strange.

 

There was a story I heard from maybe Sammy Hagar or someone like that, where they were all at a party with other musicians and jamming away.

Lars jumped on drums and couldn't play a lick to what song was being jammed. They booted him off the drums. 

I gotta find that story...

Quiz: on how many songs does he use the ride cymbal, post Kill Em All?

  On 9/2/2016 at 4:55 PM, psn said:

Quiz: on how many songs does he use the ride cymbal, post Kill Em All?

 

I would say Master of puppets there may, didn't he use one during bridge of disposable heroes? But otherwise I'm stumped.

But, yea...Lars ain't big on the ride. 

Even when he plays "open" on the toms he uses a closed hi-hat on his right. Like on justice (the track).

Also :

 

Lol at the kickdrum on justice

They nailed it

Edited September 2, 2016 by autechrist

  On 9/2/2016 at 8:34 AM, psn said:

 

  On 9/2/2016 at 4:12 AM, delet... said:

That said, milking the dumbarse market probably set their families up for several generations, and now they're back to making metal again.

Back in 2012 they were complaining that their income was barely matching their spendings, and that they couldn't afford to take two years off anymore.

 

  Quote

 

 

 !! They must have a shitty accountant, hang on, blame it all on lars, it bet it's lars' fault.

  On 9/2/2016 at 9:40 AM, Audioblysk said:

Anyone else think Lars is one of the most sloppy and worst metal (or other) drummers ever?

 

Literally everybody thinks this, including his bandmates.

 

Black album is excellent.  Every riff on that album is great, and so are the vocals.  It is a shame that perhaps having that taste of success altered the course of their music for the worse (maybe).  I do agree that Bob Rock ended up being a terrible influence, but he did a really good job on this album.

 

 

  On 9/2/2016 at 5:15 PM, olo said:

 

  On 9/2/2016 at 4:55 PM, psn said:

Quiz: on how many songs does he use the ride cymbal, post Kill Em All?

 

Until It Sleeps.  Other than that, I don't know.  So my guess is 1.

 

Lastly, I just forced myself to listen to St. Anger again a couple days ago.  That is a monumentally shitty album, to the point where it almost becomes high art.  Like, it's a really special kind of shitty that may happen only once every century.  Since recording has only been around for roughly one century, it will be some time before my theory is proven.  But I believe it.

 

Death Magnetic was okay.

I don't understand the hating on Bob Rock for ... I don't know what?  The Black album, which was quite good.  They hired him for a specific purpose (because they heard Motley Crue's Dr. Feelgood) and he did what he does.  They wrote those songs.  They decided they were ready for the arena slickness and got the man for the job, to polish them up.  He didn't change them or anything.  They knew what they were doing.

^ Yeah that's what I've been trying to say basically. Bob Rock only really encouraged them to flesh out their songs. Apparently he was trying to capture the energy from their live performances for the black album; I reckon it worked. That album is so massive in sound compared to what came before it.

  On 9/3/2016 at 5:40 AM, Zephyr_Nova said:

Lastly, I just forced myself to listen to St. Anger again a couple days ago. That is a monumentally shitty album, to the point where it almost becomes high art. Like, it's a really special kind of shitty that may happen only once every century. Since recording has only been around for roughly one century, it will be some time before my theory is proven. But I believe it.

ha yeah it's kinda minimalist in a way, much like Lulu. Almost like weird art metal. I don't particularly enjoy either album, but they're certainly fascinating. Edited September 3, 2016 by modey

 

by far my favorite from Black Album

Edited September 3, 2016 by beerwolf

Through the Never not bad either...

St. Anger is a better album if you remove St. Anger the song from the tracklisting. Then again, I'm that rare fellow that didn't really mind the snare, as strange as it was.

 

I'm probably due a revisit on Load + Reload too, haven't listened to them for yeeeears. Should revisit everything, even AJFA, which was the only album I could never finish. Way too long imo.

Edited September 4, 2016 by Bechuga