Album of the day (#2000): ...And Justice For All - Music

RockyRaccoon

Is it solipsistic in here or is it just me?

Gender: Male

Age: 34

Location: Maryland

Moderator

StreetSpirit wrote:

I agree with that too. I would say Load was the death of Metallica. However, ...AJFA is where I think they started going downhill. Still a good album, but the raw energy and randomness of KeA, RtL, and MoP was missing.

AJFA was the tip of the roller coaster starting to head down, The Black Album was the beginning of the end and Load was the killing blow.
_________________
Progressive Rock

Early Psychedelic Rock

Live Albums

Anti

I Dream of Drone

Age: 29

Location: Somewhere in Ohio

Weaker than the predecessors? If anything, I feel like it's greater than or equal to their predecessors. It's up to the listener's preference. Everything sounds so precise with this record. The biggest issue is obviously the weak bass recording, but I've grown so acclimated to the sound that it doesn't entirely matter anymore. Even with the thin sound for recording, it still sounds massive, even with age.

PS, To Live Is To Die is one of my favorite instrumentals ever.
_________________
...and for dessert!

Anti

I Dream of Drone

Age: 29

Location: Somewhere in Ohio

RockyRaccoon wrote:

StreetSpirit wrote:

I agree with that too. I would say Load was the death of Metallica. However, ...AJFA is where I think they started going downhill. Still a good album, but the raw energy and randomness of KeA, RtL, and MoP was missing.

AJFA was the tip of the roller coaster starting to head down, The Black Album was the beginning of the end and Load was the killing blow.

I found ReLoad to be pretty decent, going down the Metallica timeline. And I thought S&M was kinda cool.
_________________
...and for dessert!

CA Dreamin

Gender: Male

Location: LA

RockyRaccoon wrote:

AJFA was the tip of the roller coaster starting to head down

I'd take it a step further and say MoP was just starting to head down, but that's my love of Ride the Lightning speaking.

But anyway RockyRaccoon, we didn't get your reply regarding a correlation between Metallica's greed/ego and their musical output. In your opinion, why was Load, Reload, and St. Anger so disappointing. You said earlier those albums were fueled by ego and not artistry. But was the music bad because of their ego, or because they didn't have the musical talent they once had? Or a combination of both?

AAL2014

StreetSpirit wrote:

AAL2014 wrote:

I also think the songs themselves have a great charm to them...

I am not sure if charm is what Metallica was striving for.

I guess I should have worded it differently. I just love the first bunch of Metallica albums so much that charm is the word that came out. Not charm in the traditional sense of course but a charm that for me sets that era of Metallica apart from a number of bands.
_________________
Attention all planets of the solar federation: We have assumed control.

AAL2014

StreetSpirit wrote:

RockyRaccoon wrote:

AJFA was the tip of the roller coaster starting to head down

I'd take it a step further and say MoP was just starting to head down, but that's my love of Ride the Lightning speaking.

But anyway RockyRaccoon, we didn't get your reply regarding a correlation between Metallica's greed/ego and their musical output. In your opinion, why was Load, Reload, and St. Anger so disappointing. You said earlier those albums were fueled by ego and not artistry. But was the music bad because of their ego, or because they didn't have the musical talent they once had? Or a combination of both?

Those are interesting questions and definitely worth digging into. The questions weren't pointed to me but I'd like to share my 2 cents Very Happy

Load and ReLoad reek of ego. Right now, I'm not talking about musical quality as I like a lot of stuff off of Load and some tracks from ReLoad, albeit I can't stomach other material from them. But starting even with the fucking record covers of blood, semen, and piss as well as the press photos inside the CD of Metallica trying to be these artsy dudes and even changing the classic logo to fit that persona is for me the worst choice they've ever made. I don't think they lost musical talent, but they lost a desire to play fast and furious, that much is for sure. There is some great songwriting and lyrics from James Hetfield on those albums as well as some tasteful arrangements and guitar parts so to me it is definitely a lack of traditional desire rather than lack of musical ability.

I was 1 when Load came out so I can only talk of my experience of discovering the record 16 years later and really enjoying it. Had I been 16/17 or older when Load came out I can imagine I would be incredibly disappointed just because of what I mentioned about their horseshit artsy personas and drastic change in the direction musically.

Load, ReLoad, and St Anger are some of the most baffling pieces of canon in rock history but I think in a roundabout way they are just pieces of the puzzle that maintained Metallica's social and cultural relevance through the past 35 years. It kind of brings to mind "There's no such thing as bad press," as they are still one of the world's biggest bands. But regardless of any of that, I go back to the point that Load and LeftoverLoad reek of ego on all accounts.
_________________
Attention all planets of the solar federation: We have assumed control.

RockyRaccoon

Is it solipsistic in here or is it just me?

Gender: Male

Age: 34

Location: Maryland

Moderator

StreetSpirit wrote:

But anyway RockyRaccoon, we didn't get your reply regarding a correlation between Metallica's greed/ego and their musical output. In your opinion, why was Load, Reload, and St. Anger so disappointing. You said earlier those albums were fueled by ego and not artistry. But was the music bad because of their ego, or because they didn't have the musical talent they once had? Or a combination of both?

My bad, I saw that yesterday and intended to respond but didn't.

I think there's a correlation, but not necessarily a direct causation.

With their first few albums, Metallica was being honest ("Honesty is my only excuse"), they were being true to themselves and trusting their instincts. It's when they began to mistrust their instincts that the missteps began, and those missteps have made them look, at worst, dishonest. Things like Lars' anti-Napster bullshit to Lulu or the money pit that was Through The Never were just terrible ideas that never got truly critically thought about because the band members were so wrapped up in themselves.

They went away from being hungry and fresh to being sycophantic. Were their egos directly the cause of that? I don't know, but I certainly think they were a contributing factor.
_________________
Progressive Rock

Early Psychedelic Rock

Live Albums

SuedeSwede

Ognoo

Gender: Female

Age: 27

Location: On a cloud

"and justice for all"?

haha fucking sjws
_________________

denmarkman

Gender: Male

Age: 32

Romanelli wrote:

I think the whole "death of Metallica" thing is just re-spouting critical dislike for a band that decided it wanted to do more than just make the same album over and over. Growing musically and changing band members will have that effect on a group. Metallica didn't die. Metallica evolved. You may not have liked it, but it's really unfair to blame them for making music that was outside of the box they were in.

I'm not blaming them for anything. They're independent human beings who have the freedom to make whatever kind of music they want to make. They don't owe their fans anything. I'm just saying that this is the point where I lost interest in them and why.