Metallica

From Strangel TOP 100 COMMENTER 06/29/2016 12:22 | #170107

Having not been at all interested in anything Metallica has released in over 20 years, I recently decided to fully immerse myself in the albums that were basically the soundtrack of my youthful rebellion. On reflection, I can still safely say that, despite having little interest in heavy, angry, metal music anymore, I'd still rate the era of Ride the Lightning through to The Black Album as close to perfection in this genre. They seemed to be riding the zeitgeist, if not the lightning, as well as any band in history has. The musicianship was slick with classical sentiments. The lyrics were thoughtful and exposed the youth of the time to themes and imagery that they might otherwise have eschewed in preference of more mundane contemplations. And there was a genuine passion of expression that suggested they weren't a gimmick or novelty act. Unlike Anthrax, they had a more serious cathartic energy (Anthrax were there to have a bit of fun).

Grunge came along, thankfully, and killed off the pretenders; the big-haired cock-rock shemozzle of the 80s. But it wasn't grunge that killed Metallica. Metallica killed Metallica. They seemed to shift their focus when grunge and Indy music took hold when they really didn't have to. They were pioneers that were giving voice to a generation of alienated youths. That generation would have followed a more organic evolution but instead they got a re-created band with only subtle familiar 'Metallicaness' remaining. They had essentially become irrelevant in the 90s just when alienation had become popular. It was around this time that I discovered Radiohead and never looked back. The glaring difference being, of course, that Radiohead have perfected the art of remaining relevant in a seamless evolution of their art. Load was an irrelevant album to the alternative music scene whereas, Kid A, for example, was possibly the most relevant album of the turn of a new millenium. It's a strange comparison maybe but I think Metallica, at their peak, were the most relevant band on the planet. (Edited)

Despite all their ups and downs, there is not disputing how influential Metallica has been on not just heavy metal music, but rock music in general. Their first four albums are classics of thrash metal, and I'll defend the Black Album despite it's more commercial-oriented sound. And there are several songs from the mid-90s to now that are damn great songs.

It's a shame that Cliff Burton died. Would have been interesting to see the direction the band went in. What a loss to the rock community. (Edited)

From Johnny Flynn 08/17/2010 03:02 | #14454

They have a great quarter of a catalog, an average quarter of a catalog, and then a truly abysmal half of a catalog of songs. (Edited)

Possibly the greatest Metal band of all time. They made 4 thrash metal classics in the 80's, which are essentially perfect albums and all among the 10 greatest albums in the thrash metal genre, three of them (Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets and ...And Justice for All) are among my 5-10 favorite metal albums.

Then in the 90's they branched into other metal subgenres, Self-Titled, Load, Reload and Garage Inc. are all brilliant metal albums with incredible creativity on them. They fall short of masterpiece status due to a few inconsistencies, but still high quality. Even the S&M live album showed a band that was willing to push their music in totally different directions with great success.

Their 2003 release St. Anger was their first true misfire, it is a very original sounding album, unfortunately they clearly missed the mark in the songwriting department, for the most part.

Death Magnetic was a return to form, an album without fillers, unfortunately with a trainwreck of a production job, that must be embarrassing for a band like Metallica, really one of the worst productions a major band has ever done. Their most recent album Hardwired to Self-Destruct corrects this massive blunder, though lacks a bit in the songwriting department for certain tracks. (Edited)

My favorite Rock and Metal band. They released 7 fantastic albums in a row (From Kill 'Em All to Reload), and illustrated later on that they weren't afraid to experiment. After more than 40 years after their debut album, they are still kicking ass and putting on fantastic live shows. (Edited)