Death Magnetic (studio album)
by Metallica

The album that put Metallica back on the map musically and both critically and commercially. It’s also the first new Metallica album that came out shortly after I got into the band and rock music in general as a teenager, so I have a soft spot for it for that reason alone.

But, while it may be way better than St. Anger…it also marks the very first time musically when Metallica decided for once and for all…to completely play it safe musically…and when I compare this album’s set of songs to the sets of songs that were on Load and Reload…there is nothing on here that compares musically to tracks like The Outlaw Torn or Low Man’s Lyric or The Unforgiven II and there is nothing here Magnetic that rocks as hard as Fuel or King Nothing or Ain’t My Bitch did and still does.

Still, Death Magnetic was a HUGE COMEBACK album for Kirk Hammett and it can stand as the best Metallica album of their last three releases as there are some good songs on here that are worth paying attention to even if it is a bit boring and didn’t tread any new ground musically.

This is better than it's given credit for. After the debacle of St Anger, I think that soured a lot of peoples view on Metallica. This has good riffs, good rhythms and is a not far off their prime sounding days. Overall, this is decent metal and a decent album. My only gripe is the length of each track. Sometimes more is not always best.

Easily my least favorite studio album by Metallica (yes I’m including St. Anger) and quite possibly the most overrated metal album of all time. I’ve just never understood all the love and praise this album got.

In no particular universe was this album their “comeback album” let alone remotely better than the Load and Reload albums or even in the same league as those albums let alone The Black Album. As everyone has said, the production is terrible and the music and songwriting on this album was subpar at best.

Time has not been kind to this album and I would just stick to 72 Seasons or Hardwired…Self-Destruct if you want to check out Metallica’s new material.

It's hard for me to judge the quality of the music on this album compared to the rest of Metallica's discography, because the tracks are loudness warred to death (magnetic).

From VictorVale 04/21/2023 11:51 | #296259

Triunfo de retorno!

Liked this album. No weak songs but they are all too long. Every song is above 5 minutes - if the album were three quarters the length it is I reckon it'd make my top 50 of the 00s. This Was Just Your Life is a great song, I also like All Nightmare Long and The Unforgiven III.

The main debate I have about this album is that I can't decide if it's in my top five Metallica albums or not, its competition for that fifth spot being Kill 'Em All. KEA had that youthful energy/enthusiasm that can't be captured again, but it was very much a snapshot of their formative years. This album has some corny/cliched lyrics but Hetfield sings them with so much vitriol/passion (as he always does) that I can look past it. The songs are well structured and keep your interest throughout, and I honestly don't think there's a weak track on the record.

Aside from the riffs (which Hetfield ALWAYS delivers), the instrumentalists are not up to their 80's standard, which is, to be fair, quite a high bar to meet. At the time it was released, DM was hailed as a return to form for Kirk, but I think that was mostly due to his complete lack of presence on St. Anger rather than a true return to his shredder roots. Rob's playing always seems conservative, never really gets an opportunity to stretch out like Cliff used to. And I can't tell if Lars is playing well or not because everything from the drums is clipping so it just sounds bad lol.

The thing that sucks the most about this album is the production (common problem with a lot of their discography). I don't it find it endearing like I do with how ...And Justice For All was produced, it's often just grating to my ears. Despite that, this album still finds heavy rotation when I'm in one of my Metallica moods, which I get at least once per year for a few weeks. There's just something about it that brings me great joy. Maybe it's because they finally did another instrumental song, maybe it's because they're back to doing thrashy riffs in standard tuning after twenty years of not doing any, or maybe it's just a deep love for this band that makes me enjoy an album most others find mediocre.

From Fischman 12/07/2018 20:33 | #226440

to me, this is a Metallica comeback album after a string of much lesser releases. Back to form in both music and attitude, this was a nice surprise.

This record is good, but the songs are just to damn long. In my opinion, if they had cut the majority of them down to under 5 and a half minutes, then I think it would be a 90. Also, the clipping throughout is really unfortunate.

A good return for Metallica after the worst album of their career. Heavy riffs and guitar solos are back.