METALLICA

From a personal point of view it took me a REALLY long time to get into Metallica. Like most kids buying albums in the nineties the MTV-endorsed black album (Metallica to pedants) was the first album I bought and, like most classics of that era (Nirvana's Nevermind and Pearl Jam's Ten), I was not overly enthused. A year or so later a friend of mine recommended Ride the Lightning as a great classic rock album so I went out and bought it and, while I was definitely more impressed, it was still far from favourite band territory. I thought I may as well have one last go at it and get Master of Puppets, which I did a number of months later. However, I STILL was not that impressed and pretty much discarded Metallica. A few months ago I reasoned I may as well just get their other two eighties albums (their debut - Kill 'em All and ...And Justice for All) and just give them their own page for posterity's sake - after all, whatever my opinion on them they are a vitally important band in rock music history. Thus, for a final time, I went back to Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets to gauge my value judgments and discovered, much to my utter surprise, they were absolutely magnificent. And thus, in the most round-about way possible, I am now a fan of Metallica and often even play Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets back-to-back to fully appreciate the true genius of their artistic peak. I would even go so far as to label them the best heavy metal band of all-time. Black Sabbath are obviously a very close second and were probably more influential (although that's not to say Metallica weren't enormously influential themselves) but I think Metallica's peak catalogue just about shades it as being marginally superior. I also give Metallica the edge because, in contrast to Sabbath's spectacular stupidity, they are actually a rock band of above average intelligence (particularly in their arrangements).

Even if Black Sabbath were the undeniable inventors of heavy metal I'm sure Metallica were the second most influential band of the genre. As always I am not a rock historian so I'm not going into detail over this but the stripped-down thrash that Metallica pioneered on their debut album was apparently a real shot in the arm for heavy metal music which was wallowing in the post-glam decadence of the likes of Motley Crue and the Dungeons & Dragons and helium wails of The New Wave of British Heavy Metal (primarily Iron Maiden and Judas Priest). With Metallica's ascendancy thrash became a crucial sub-genre of heavy metal spawning all manner of extreme movements (including bands like Sepultura, Pantera, Slayer and Mustaine's own Megadeth). People argue about how original Metallica's thrash was but I'll leave my comments until the Kill 'em All review. Their (early) image is also an important factor as they deliberately tried to utilise a non-image to avoid the style over substance approach of so many other contemporary metal bands. Of course, this non-image was itself an image and certainly didn't hinder their record sales and popularity (which is even more impressive given they ignored music videos until 1988). The band did spawn two veritable metal celebrities, though, in the form of omnipresent drummer Lars Ulrich (who is perhaps now most famous for getting Napster shut down, despite the fact he is a multi-millionaire) and notoriously fast-living (in the old days) wild-man Dave Mustaine who was so wild that he was sacked by the band before their debut was recorded (despite co-writing most of the songs) and, instead, formed his own band, Megadeth, which, if anything, showed the wisdom in Metallica jettisoning his "talent" in the first place. The main strength of Metallica's line-up, though, probably lies in the interplay between James Hetfield's rhythm guitar and Kirk Hammett's lead. Hammett's solos are flashy without being particularly impressive but the way the guitars so effectively combine to produce a wall of riffing is probably the single most crucial element in Metallica's sound. Like most metal bands melody isn't their strong point (not that the genre allows it in any case) but their songwriting skills (at least up until they tried to embrace melody in the nineties) are nothing short of exceptional. Particularly as the albums got more progressive one really marvels at the time and patience they must have put into writing and arranging their songs. After all, I didn't call them the greatest heavy metal band of all-time for nothing.

Although hardly the best album of their career it is Metallica's debut that is often regarded as their most influential album, leading to all that pioneering stuff I mentioned in the introduction. Obviously this full-throttle take-no-prisoners approach was somewhat original and innovative but Metallica were probably not sole pioneers. Although not strictly heavy metal the intensity and ferociousness of Motorhead's music, who had already been around for several years before Metallica, displayed a similar attitude and approach and were surely a strong influence. Even Metallica's so-called enemies Judas Priest were not a million miles away from this album. Their twin guitar approach on British Steel (1980) at times sounds suspiciously similar to the dual riffing on here. Obviously there is no helium wailing but this album is actually closer to traditional metal than you might realise. Hetfield's vocals are poor and he quite often screeches in a sub-Halford/Dickenson style (most notable on the disappointing closer "Metal Militia"). And even if the lyrics aren't Dungeons & Dragons the band's paranoid obsession with all things evil has hardly come to prominence yet. Again the "no life till leather" approach closely mirrors the antics of Judas Priest (although not too closely, if you know what I mean). We might be able to put this initial attitude down to the role of Dave Mustaine, however. I'm certainly not a fan of Megadeth but he was the most fast-living member of Metallica and therefore the most likely to pen lyrics about drinking and fighting. He co-wrote four of the songs on here, although to be fair, not always the songs about arse-kicking. As I outlined in the introduction the best feature of Metallica is (was) their ability to come up with incredibly impressive and complex arrangements but on here only one song shows signs of what was to come - the brilliant "The Four Horsemen". Clocking in at a reasonable seven minutes it was obviously pointing towards their future with apocalyptic lyrics, complex structure and fantastic dual guitar riffs. Even James' vocals aren't too bad. Also indicative of future albums, there is an instrumental on here, "(Anesthesia)-Pulling Teeth", which is essentially a bass solo and not really the most impressive of tracks. Comparing it to "Orion" or even "The Call of the Ktulu" really shows how quickly they progressed and matured. Whereas subsequent albums usually included a maximum of two fast, intense rockers this album features tonnes of them. I'm not actually the biggest fan of their fast numbers as, controversial I know, I don't think it plays to their strengths. Album opener "Hit the Lights" is good, as is "Jump in the Fire" but the best fast number is probably "Whiplash" which definitely features the most aggressive riff on the album. Again, it was a good thing Mustaine left as he was the one driving for the over-the-top take-no-prisoners approach. As if to prove my point the best song on the album is actually pretty mid-paced. And, of course, you all know I'm referring to "Seek & Destroy" which, along with "The Four Horsemen", is the bona fide classic on the album. It also features one of their best and most memorable choruses. Like many a debut album it is clear they were treading a new path for heavy metal without being at their best or even knowing what strengths they should play to. The riffs and guitar interplay are less impressive than their other eighties albums but it is clearly something Hetfield and Hammett had to develop whilst Hetfield also did not immediately "find" his voice. Obviously, though, there are plenty of good songs on here, and two great ones, so it still stands up as a strong album. If anything, it suffers from knowing what came next so it is a problem worth having. Not bad for a bunch of Judas Priest rip-offs.

Metallica's second effort already showed immense artistic progression for artists barely out of their teens and, indeed, represents a premature peak for the band. The fact that an album of this magnitude (debatably the best ever heavy metal album) came a mere one year after such a pioneering debut certainly serves as excellent evidence that Metallica were, collectively, one of the great artists of the eighties. They perhaps showcased an even more mature sound on their subsequent albums but for sheer aggression and violence contained within a set of classic songs no album exceeds the quality of this one. Even if arrangements did get more complex later on it is difficult to argue they were ever much more impressive than on here. Hetfield's vocals are a lot better second time around and perfectly suit the music, even if he undoubtedly continued to improve as a vocalist even into the nineties. The rhythm section is tighter and more powerful than before but the real improvement on here is the excellent guitar interplay honed by Hetfield and Hammett. As I said, the arrangements might not be at their most complex but the sheer quality of the riffs was not matched on any other Metallica album. Many individual songs contain more great riffs than can be found on the entirety of most heavy metal albums. At times it is even as if they had so many they struggled to fit them all into the songs. Certainly, between them, the succinct masterpiece "For Whom the Bell Tolls" (one of the very, very few Metallica songs that is too short) and the lengthy instrumental "The Call of The Ktulu" clock up a quantity of great riffs that is almost uncountable. Even if we, unwisely, ignore the quality of the guitar riffs we are still faced with a number of songs that remain absolutely immense achievements. Despite featuring an array of astonishing riffs "For Whom the Bell Tolls" even features an unforgettable and superb vocal melody. Even more so, the incredible rock ballad "Fade to Black" has a vocal melody and hooks that pop bands would be envious of. It is actually one of the least riff-driven songs on the album with a subtle change between acoustic ballad and crunching rock section, not unlike a song like "Stairway to Heaven", and I swear it barely seems any less impressive. It also features one of Hammett's few solos that actually improves the song, rather than just giving Hetfield a breather. It is certainly one of rock's greatest ballads (about suicide, I believe) and probably simply one of rock's greatest songs. And if you think "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and "Fade to Black" is enough then you are in for a treat as, on top of the aforementioned pair, this album contains what I well think might be Metallica's greatest ever song - "Creeping Death". Yet again it is the memorable vocal melody combined with jaw-dropping riffing that sets the song up but, for me, it gains the edge through a devastatingly aggressive delivery. The lyrics are rather dubious fare about being an angel of doom or something but the end of the chorus where Hetfield roars "I'M CREEPING DEATH" rocks me every time. As was to become the norm there are two intense rockers on here, album opener "Fight Fire With Fire" and "Trapped Under Ice". Indeed, despite my admiration of this album, I am probably the only Metallica fan in the whole world who doesn't think "Fight Fire With Fire" is an absolute masterpiece. It is undoubtedly intense and an obvious immediate improvement from the similar rockers on Kill 'em All but I've never been particularly taken with the staccato vocal melody for which James essentially sings at the same beat as the riff. Instead I prefer "Trapped Under Ice" which is every bit as intense but with a marginally stronger vocal melody. I've also had a thing about imagining being under water and coming up to the surface to find it is all iced over and you can't get to the air. Of course that sort of disturbing paranoia was what Metallica were all about in the early days. Speaking of vocal melodies this album also probably features their most obvious attempt at utilising a pop melody pre-Metallica in the form of the chorus of "Escape". I don't see the problem, however, and actually really like the song. Other than the towering trio ("For Whom the Bell Tolls", "Fade to Black" and "Creeping Death") the title track stands up as a superior number on here. Again the vocal melody is surprisingly deft and the instant drop from the introductory lead line into the gruesome riffing immediately sets the song up as a classic. The lyrics are essentially a re-write of Iron Maiden's magnificent "Hallowed Be Thy Name" (a condemned man's last thoughts) and, again, the fact I can compare it to such a legendary rock song and it doesn't come off too unfavourably speaks volumes for the quality of this album. If I'm calling Metallica heavy metal's greatest band and I'm calling this album their best then it doesn't take a genius to deduce that this is one of the all-time classics of the genre. The material is absolutely top-rate throughout and I recommend it unconditionally to anyone with the slightest interest in heavy metal or rock music in general.

From: Nick Collings

I agree that Metallica's Ride the Lightning is a stone cold classic slice of '80s metal. I especially enjoy "Fade to Black", a successful attempt from a thrash band showing great restraint in what's essentially a ballad.
On a side note, I've notice many web reviewers rate The Black Album lowly in relation to Metallica's previous discs. As the album that more or less got me into Metal, I can't really knock it. I just enjoy the songs too much to see through the flaws.

Amazingly, an album as incredible as Ride the Lightning was not the entire peak for the band. Instead, their period as superlative artists lasted for a further album which is almost as strong as its predecessor. Furthermore, the sound and ambitions etched out on Ride the Lightning are probably at their most refined and impressive on this album. With that in mind it is unsurprising that the debate over Metallica's catalogue most centres on whether this effort or its predecessor should be considered their finest album. Any gap in quality is barely noticeable and this album certainly benefits from even more intelligent and impressive arrangements. On the other hand, I think the riffs and songwriting on Ride the Lightning are marginally superior to this album and therefore I give a tentative nod to the earlier effort. However, this album is certainly most representative of a Metallica formula (although not yet formulaic) with the first and last song being intense rockers, one rock ballad ("Welcome Home (Sanitarium)"), one progressive instrumental ("Orion") and the remaining songs being multi-sectioned, mid-paced and wholly impressive metal songs. Of course, such a result is not unusual as many bands seek to continue their artistic peak by refining the ideas presented on their break-through album, the Rolling Stones for example (Let it Bleed-Sticky Fingers). In terms of individual songs, to my mind two songs on this album come close to knocking the triumvirate from Ride the Lightning off their pedestal. The title track is often referred to as Metallica's greatest ever song and it certainly makes the shortlist. The riffing is probably at its most impressive on the whole album and I doubt the guitar interplay between Hetfield and Hammett was ever matched again. A fairly sensible criteria of judging such a long song (over eight minutes) is whether it gets boring and I can safely say it does not even come close. That said, far from being boring, "Disposable Heroes" (of a similar length) is downright exciting and exhilarating throughout. I actually believe it isn't regarded as one of the classics on the album but I'd personally rank it is as perhaps the best song on here. Despite being long and multi-sectioned it is far from a progressive "thought-provoker" with a thunderous verse, pummelling chorus and perhaps the most violent and aggressive Hetfield vocal ever committed to tape. The two short (in a relative sense - both are over five minutes) aggressive numbers, album opener "Battery" and closer "Damage Inc.", are roughly of the same intimidating quality but the former probably shades it as the better. That said, "Damage Inc." has a fabulous intro with eerie feedback-induced noises echoing through the temporary silence before the song roars into prominence. The rock ballad "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" probably isn't quite as good as "Fade to Black", all things considered, but that is hardly a damning criticism. Again the acoustic verses are contrasted with rock-heavy choruses and the Metallica trademarks of lyrics about paranoia and mental illness and a squealing Hammett solo feature prominently. One area where this album definitely improves over Ride the Lightning, though, is the instrumental "Orion" which is essentially as long as the last one but has a cleverer arrangement (switching between acoustic picking and electric riffing) and superior guitar riffs. Again criticism of this album is fairly hard to come by but I'm not wildly enthusiastic about "The Thing That Should Not Be", although perhaps it is just too creepy for my tastes, whilst "Leper Messiah" is also a really good song that just fails to match the superlative standard set by the other numbers on here. Also, for a band that tried to avoid commercialising their music, judging by the inlay photos, it is quite a feat that they could pack such enormous stadiums after a mere two-album career. Mind you, on the quality of their music it would be churlish to deny them their fame and prosperity. The fact they went on to even greater popular acclaim doesn't entirely match their subsequent output but there is no doubting when they were on top of their game in the mid-eighties few bands could claim to be able to match them. Certainly this album is as essential as Ride the Lightning and barely any less brilliant.

With the band's artistic peak obviously reached and commercial success abundant Metallica's fourth album very definitely represented the extreme logical extension of their musical progression. The long songs got longer, the multiple sections became even more multiplied, the complex riffs got more complex and the paranoid lyrics became practically nightmarish (quite why a big rich American rock band was so cynical, I don't know). Unfortunately for the band their deserved success was marred by the unexpected and tragic death of bassist Cliff Burton in a road accident. Of course Burton was never a particularly influential member (Ulrich and Hetfield wrote most songs) and so a new bassist was promptly recruited (Jason Newsted) and the band pressed ahead with the recording and release of this album. As is often pointed out they might as well have not bothered with getting a new bassist as Flemming Rasmussen's production of this album is poor at best with the bass inaudible and the drums mixed so poorly it sounds like Ulrich is bashing biscuit tins. The production is something of an anomaly particularly as Rasmussen produced their previous albums perfectly adequately. Thankfully the guitar interplay is still at the forefront of the mix and, indeed, is perhaps at its most complex, compared to their other albums. As I said in the introduction you can only marvel at the time and effort put into writing this album (over an hour of deeply complex material). I shudder to think of the number of sheets of paper that were around in the recording studio, detailing every guitar fill and tempo change. Unfortunately and perhaps unsurprisingly this minutely detailed approach to songwriting does deprive the album of some of the energy and aggression of the first three efforts. Maybe as a consequence, although I wouldn't say so categorically, the hooks on here aren't always as memorable as earlier or even later efforts. That said, this album still contains two more of Metallica's all-time classic tracks. The title track (despite approaching ten minutes in length) I really don't think is that much worse than the monumental title track from Master of Puppets. The riffing and guitar interplay is almost as impressive and the chorus hook - "I can't believe the price... I can't believe the price... YOU PAY" - is one of their best. Furthermore the second great song is even better and is certainly a genuine Greatest Hit of theirs - "One". I guess it stands as the typical rock ballad but it is easily as good as "Sanitarium" and probably even "Fade to Black". As per usual it begins as an acoustic ballad contrasted with a hard rock chorus but it eventually turns itself into an awesome and ferocious metal classic. I am led to believe it is the first Metallica single that featured a promotional video therefore encouraging the first accusations of "selling out". To anyone listening to this album, though, such accusations are obviously ludicrous as this album is clearly the most uncommercial album of their career. Sticking to their blueprint this album also begins and ends with the two fast and intense numbers. Album closer "Dyers Eve" is as fast and furious as can be expected and a typically excellent number (and, at just over five minutes, the shortest number on the album) whilst opener "Blackened" is undoubtedly a stand-out moment on the album and perhaps Metallica's very best take-no-prisoners track. For mid-paced numbers the duo "The Shortest Straw" and "Harvester of Sorrow" are both genuinely impressive, with the former edging it as the better song. Whilst the songwriting is again uniformly strong you can sometimes get the feeling that Metallica are not matching their previous achievements. Despite opening with some genuinely creepy slave chants "The Frayed Ends of Sanity" is a little sparing on hooks and I can never remember what "Eye of the Beholder" sounds like. The worst offender, though, is ten minute instrumental "To Live Is to Die" which is definitely the worst such exercise they've released and falls far short of the standard set by "Orion". It does feature a few lines of spoken word in the middle, though, written by, and as a tribute to, Burton. Overall, you just get the feeling that complex arrangements were perhaps concentrated on too much, resulting in a slight lack of solid hooks. I still think this is an excellent album, though, with plenty more classics but it is perhaps unsurprising that Metallica sought a musical change after this release and a purge of their inherent complexities. The fact that they did so, though, is one of the most controversial decisions in their career...

As I mentioned in the opening blurb Metallica's sell-out album was one of the key releases in the early nineties explosion of commercial MTV-endorsed rock music and I'm certain this was appropriately their biggest selling album. Of course Metallica weren't a cult underground band suddenly making it big, they were an already incredibly successful metal band and therefore this album seems far more like a cheeky cash-in than other "classics" of the era. I, of course, bought this album before any other Metallica release and I was far from impressed. Not only did it seem cynically miserable (and therefore even more like a grunge cash-in) but the songs were boring and the album was far too long. However, we all make mistakes but the surprising thing is it was only after listening to their eighties albums that I came back to this one and realised its true merits. I still think it is too long (you won't find many people that insist on the inclusion of the last two numbers - "My Friend of Misery" and "The Struggle Within") but I have now seen past my initial impression of semi-blandness and the riffs and arrangements on here are not that much less impressive than previous efforts. There is no doubting that the material on here is consciously more commercial but I'm sure that was as much an artistic decision as a greedy one. In essence the whole concept of the Beatles' White Album was pinched for this album with the almost entirely black cover and eponymous title echoing the stripped-down and back-to-basics approach of the songwriting. I still think the commercial edge of the songs has a slightly rotten stench to it as they could have easily stripped-down a la Kill 'em All without resorting to MTV-favoured pop melodies. That said, it certainly shows the band were not out of depth with normal vocal melodies and whilst this is hardly the Beatles, or even Bon Jovi (whose producer, Bob Rock, replaces Flemming Rasmussen), the results are hardly disgraceful and are even eminently hummable at times. Two rock ballads are included instead of the standard one and strings even pop up, offending the more hardened Metallica fans. On the other hand, "The Unforgiven" and "Nothing Else Matters" are both good songs and stand-out moments on the album with good, if predictable, ballad arrangements and nice, melodic hooks. If I was forced into trying to predict Metallica's most famous and popular single then I guess I would plump for album opener "Enter Sandman" which is as good a signifier of Nu-Metallica as you are likely to get. It certainly isn't as good as their eighties classics but you cannae deny the strength of the melody or the fact that it practically defines commercial heavy metal. Unfortunately, being a regular frequenter of rock clubs in my younger days any personal liking for the song, which was slim to begin with, has been painfully sapped out of me. "Sad but True" is the other big classic rock song on here and I certainly prefer it, with its combination of impressive riffing but noticeably minimal arrangement. Indeed, the only song on here which I give unequivocal backing to is "Wherever I May Roam" which manages to combine a good melody with an intelligent, Eastern-flavoured arrangement and not sound at all commercially-minded. The verses where Hetfield growls one line in an undertone and roars the second is probably the single best idea on the whole album. "Don't Tread on Me" is probably the most aggressive song on the album and the military riffs combine well with decent vocal hooks. The apparently pro-Gulf War lyrics leave a bitter taste, though, and are particularly surprising given on their last album the band were lambasting the corrupt and manipulative government. One might even go so far as to suggest such conformist lyrics are further and damning evidence of their unabashed commercial swing in not wanting to offend potential record-buyers. Certainly Ulrich did himself no favours in the face of such accusations by attacking Napster. I've read quotes of his, openly admitting to being entirely motivated by money, which is a real shame given their artistic achievements in the mid-eighties. I would certainly agree that this album is somewhat a self-conscious sell-out but, at the same time, a very strong collection of stripped-down commercial metal songs. Most of the time the material is barely any worse than previous efforts but it can drag occasionally and I'm sure it is more than just my indigestion that is leaving a bad taste in the mouth. And, of course, it all got worse from here. For shame, Metallica, for shame.

After a five year hiatus Metallica finally came out of their cocoon with their transformation complete. The bare fact is Metallica had wilfully become a whole different entity from the one that had made their name. Whereas the black album had still hinted at their origins through some of the more punishing riffs and speedy guitar solos this album is a world away from the likes of Ride the Lightning with metallic intensity swapped for bruising hard rock, groove-based stoner-isms and, naturally, the odd cheesy ballad. It would be nice to say the band are only trying to act their age but one look at the incredibly lame posturing in the sleeve-notes is enough to dispel that particular potential compliment. Although they have the nerve to ridicule the self-absorbed grunge crowd (who were already dispersing by 1996, Cobain being long in the ground) with the parodic "Poor Twisted Me" Metallica obviously still felt that they were terribly relevant and still a cut above their languishing peers. A swift comparison of this album with Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets, however, shatters such puffed-up self-importance all too quickly. In defence of the band, and the reason this album does not fall into an offensively poor standard, over the five years they did at least manage to hone their new skills sufficiently to produce an array of decent hard rock songs. Even if the likes of "Ain't My Bitch" and "2x4" are more blues-based rock music than thrash metal at least they are passable efforts in that particular field. It goes without saying, though, that the best metal band ever showing themselves to be an OK middle-of-the-road hard-rock band is still a rather galling experience. Ironically, as musicians, one might even argue that the band are at their peak as Hetfield's vocals display the widest range of his career (although a listen to "Creeping Death" will tell you subtlety is hardly what was needed) and Hammett's solos often attempt to actually do something, as opposed to showing how fast he could play over the top of Hetfield's manic riffing. What ultimately drags this album down from acceptability, though, is the complete and utter lack of self-restraint in the editing department. I know the nineties were particularly bad for this (especially as old artists started getting used to the extra capacity of CDs) but releasing 14 song 70+ minute albums is NOT the way to achieve success. I could probably name the number of great maximum-length CDs on one hand and, even then, mostly by bands at the peak of their powers as opposed to over-the-hill old-timers like Metallica. The second half, in particular, is a lumpen mess of one indistinguishable stodgey rocker after another. It is a shame as, with a bit of self-restraint on their part, I wouldn't have had to moan anywhere near as much. Indeed, I've no bones with the opening duo of "Ain't My Bitch" and "2x4" which are groove-based hard rockers that borrow substantially from the stoner rock genre that Metallica had initially inspired (Kyuss in particular). "King Nothing" is another of the more successful hard rockers (although still noticeably a notch below their best material) and the power-ballad "Until it Sleeps" almost matches the similar efforts from the previous release. Furthermore, one aspect of their ambition that does kind of pay off is the two side-closing epics - "Bleeding Me" and "The Outlaw Torn". At least the excessive length means they actually attempt to evolve the song (I'd always take a 9 minute song that goes somewhere over a 5 minute one that doesn't) and Hammett's improved soloing is particularly noticeable. Hell, they ain't no "Fade to Black" but at least they tried to do something interesting. Mind you, in that respect, I can't let the infamous "Mama Said" go unmentioned. I tell you, I would have loved to have played it to them in their mid-eighties incarnation and see what they would have made of it. Something tells me (or I would like to think) that they might have been rather horrified with the thought of what they would become. It starts out innocently enough as a David Brent-esque acoustic ballad (with laughably over-emotive vocals) before, in the biggest shock in their entire career, in comes an assault of pure Nashville steel guitar and we are confronted with a friggin' country and western ballad on a friggin' Metallica album. Of course, it would be narrow-minded to dismiss it purely on the fact that Metallica are a man's band or some such macho nonsense so I'll dismiss it on the basis of being really rubbish instead. To be honest, after the rotten overtones of the black album, it isn't really the selling out that bothers me at this point. A band like Slayer did show that thrash could still be successful in the 90s but Metallica were obviously always in it mainly for the wedge. They made their money, of course, but they also made a rather disappointing album as a result. Lars Ulrich is free to burn money in his mansion if he so wishes. Me? I'm off to listen to Ride the Lightning again.

And with mediocrity comes decay as soon after Load signalled the acceleration of the downward spiral Metallica made the inexplicable decision to release another full-length CD of stodgey generic hard rock shamefully made up from the left-overs from the Load sessions. Ignoring the obvious fact that there is no real reason why this album should ever have been released in the first place it does raise some interesting questions about Metallica's frame of mind at the time. I can understand their desire to make more money from relinquishing another product onto their undeservingly loyal fanbase (although when fans do become blind to their favourite bands' obvious decline you can't help but feel they deserve it). On the other hand, why prolong the semi-embarrassment of Load and further taint their previously impeccable reputation with more of the same (only worse)? Why release ANOTHER full-length CD when it was patently clear out of all the multitude of material recorded they had barely enough to put together one decent moderately-lengthed CD? I guess the fans want as much Metallica as they can get their hands on and clearly artistic integrity had long since said its goodbyes to the band. Most importantly and bewilderingly, the fact that this CD consists of thirteen songs (going on for over 70 minutes) means they wrote and recorded AT LEAST twenty-seven songs in those Load recording sessions. That means they consciously and deliberately wrote TWENTY-SEVEN boring, mid-tempo, sludgey hard-rockers that woefully misrepresent just how much talent Metallica actually once had as songwriters. Christ-on-a-bike, they thought writing songs like "Carpe Diem Baby", "Prince Charming" and "Better Than You" was a good idea! It is not hard to point out where excesses from drink and drugs ended up ruining once promising, often great, careers (cf. Johnny Thunders, Alex Chilton, Gram Parsons, etc.). Similarly, there are inherent personal traits that can lead to self-sabotage (Syd Barrett, Nick Drake, and so on). However, I doubt any band quite exemplifies what a sheer lust and greed for money and wealth can do to one's career better (or worse, if you like) than Metallica. Even with sizeable personal fortunes already safely tucked away their relentless push for more and more money ensured the music and, more importantly the art, was simply brushed under the carpet. Of course, who is to say what is good and what isn't and if the millions of fans are still buying their albums isn't that what really indicates quality? I ain't going near that subject in the course of this review but, for now, this is my moment on the soap-box and my sanctimonious reproaches will be thrown down with no sense of doubt. In order to fool the fans into thinking Reload is a back-to-basics exercise the album opens with the intended old-school metal of "Fuel" which is at least a bit faster than the rest of this sludge. Then they try and fool the critics into thinking they've gone experimental with the following "The Memory Remains" which features Marianne Faithful contributing spooky backing vocals. Both songs are just about passable but the rest of the album soon slides into an unforgiving stodge of generic hard rock. As I said in the last review, one of the most disappointing aspects about this whole deal is the fact that it could be any mediocre metal band grinding out such workmanlike genericism. If you saw an unknown band playing these songs live you'd probably spend most of your time chatting at the bar. As if to rub salt in the wounds, the best song on the album is basically a self-cover as it is a variation on the black album's "The Unforgiven" cleverly retitled "The Unforgiven II". To think that that represents the highlight of this entire album is, quite frankly, unforgiveable. Of course, it is not that the songs are all terrible, they are all just basically nothing. If this is what the once-great Metallica are reduced to then money truly is the root of all evil.

After exhausting all their songwriting ability with the twenty-seven Load tracks (and proving in the process that they no longer had any songwriting ability) the next two albums released by Metallica to keep the money syphoning from their fans were two double CD compilations with essentially no new material at all. 1999's S&M tried to make a point out of the pointless by showing us Metallica experimenting with a full-blown symphony orchestra but, in between, the obligatory covers album made its belated appearance into Metallica's cannon. Indeed, it would have been unthinkable for a band as greedy as Metallica to have NOT tossed out a covers album at some stage. The main surprise is the fact that it is not actually all that bad. The saving grace is that the second CD is really a retrospective compilation, gathering together the covers they released as EPs and b-sides in the eighties and early nineties and is therefore the work of a good band, rather than the mediocre wasters they had degenerated into. Of course, they needed to make sure hard-core fans who already owned the old songs in their various incarnations still purchased this album so the obvious solution was to record a new covers album to complement the compilation. And that, mainly, is where the problem with this release really lies. The first CD consists of eleven covers hastily knocked off by the ageing band uneasily striking a balance between workmanlike renditions of the classics and trying to flash some alt creds with cult favourites. Highlights on the first CD are minimal although a brutal run-through of Discharge's "Free Speech for the Dumb" briefly breaks the band's amnesia with dim recollections of when they used to be a great, full-throttle metal band, and the predictable arena rock covers of Thin Lizzy's "Whiskey in the Jar", Blue Oyster Cult's "Astronomy" and Black Sabbath's "Sabbra Cadabra" at least make them resemble a decent enough pub band (particularly when they segue into "A National Acrobat" on the latter). The "Mercyful Fate" medley is a muddled mess, though, and tracks like Nick Cave's "Loverman" and an all-star performance of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Tuesday's Gone" similarly drag on interminably. The real low-light, though, is the excruciating cover of Bob Seger's "Turn the Page" which features Hetfield's all-time worst vocal performance (as I've said, great at barking out intense metal, not so good at sincere emoting) which makes the greatest metal band in the world sound like nothing more than a Bon Jovi tribute act, and a shit one at that. Thankfully, there are two of those funny circles of shiny metal in this package so one can just throw away the first and settle back to recall Metallica at a time when they actually were the world's greatest metal band. The chronology is surprisingly a little out of order, opening with the 1987 EP Garage Days Re-Revisited, before taking in the original two track Garage Days Revisited (released in 1984), and then returning to the linear stream of history with assorted b-sides from 1988-91 and ending with a poorly recorded four track live run-through of some Motorhead songs from 1995, apparently for Lemmy's benefit. With the exception of the masterful epic "Am I Evil?" (from 1984), which is something of an unofficial Metallica Greatest Hit, none of the covers are actually superior to Metallica's own material at the top of their game, although it does make their roots in the British New Wave of Heavy Metal more explicit. Too cool for the mainstream commercialism of Iron Maiden and Judas Priest Metallica take great glee in highlighting their fondness for the more obscure artists of that movement, particularly Diamondhead (who get covered on here too many times for me to even count). The opening grind of "Helpless" and "The Small Hours" bring with them fond memories of Metallica at their prime and the shift in sound from Lightning and Puppets to Justice for All is further evidenced in the stop-gap EP (primarily recorded to allow Newstead to settle in, after Burton's tragic death). Similarly, the 1984 EP recalls the freshness of Kill 'em All, particularly with the impressive "Am I Evil?", although the accompanying "Blitzkrieg" also shows the band at a time when they still had an obsession with top quality heavy metal. The black album b-sides are a little more mixed with Queen's "Stone Cold Crazy" dishearteningly showing their embrace of the mainstream, although in complete contrast is the brilliantly vulgar "So What" by British punk louts the Anti-Nowhere League which was originally banned under the Obscene Publications Act of 1959. I actually had to write an extended essay on obscenity legislation and you may be interested to learn that said act includes a get-out clause whereby an obscene work can be saved if it is deemed to be in the public good. Somehow, though, I doubt you'd convince a judge that a song as vile as "So What", regardless of its ironic intensity, was a work of art to be cherished alongside the "obscene" novels of Lawrence and Joyce. Still, at least it wasn't a direct drive into the cold-hearted embrace of sanitised MTV for Metallica. Unfortunately, it was hardly a drawn-out one, either, and it is all rather indicative that the last decent material they released after passing the point of no return with the black album was a collection of material from over a decade ago. Sadly, they show no signs of letting up in prolonging their embarrassment and further tarnishing their previous achievements.

Call me a stick-in-the-mud, if you will, but I kinda think that when artists run out of decent ideas they might as well call it a day. Or, at the very least, take a bit of a break until a good idea does come along. Of course, this might be a little unfair on Metallica. Perhaps they genuinely thought this was a really good idea and a sure-fire way to raise their artistic stock. To be honest, their concept of what constitutes good music seems to have been so distorted over the past decade that such a concession is actually feasible. Nonetheless, the proposal of merging Metallica's grandiose metal with a symphony orchestra was, all things considered, not a good idea. Almost throughout the double CD two-hour-plus experience one cannot help but wonder "what's the point?". I like "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and "Master of Puppets" as much as the next man (if not more) but what exactly is gained by hearing them performed with a conspicuously out-of-place orchestra piping along in the background? Even if one tries to shut one's ears to the orchestra and just concentrate on the song itself one is inevitably disappointed by a lacklustre rendition. Metallica are not the band they once were in almost every respect and the fact is they simply cannot match the intensity and vigour that they displayed as a young band. Hetfield's vocals are dulled by age (if not quite ravaged) and the rest of the band simply seem more bloated, making tracks that previously sounded so vital now sound like mere apologies. And, of course - and more to the fucking point - why should one have to close one's ears to the orchestra? Isn't the whole point of the album to listen to them? If they just make poor renditions of great songs even worse then doesn't this whole project go from being a pointless one to an outright negative one? Certainly, that is the case to a degree. Furthermore, Metallica being Metallica and just so, so proud of the genius of the Load albums, not a huge amount of the best material is even included. Nothing from Kill 'em All is selected and the RTL classics "Creeping Death" and "Fade to Black" are omitted (and the latter is one of their few songs that might have actually sounded interesting in this context, due to its epic scope). I guess, though, that such omissions are a benefit given that, more often than not, the eighties classics suffer in these surroundings. Thankfully, then, we get treated to the "highlights" of Re/Load, embellished by the wonderfully necessary contributions of Michael Kamen's San Francisco symphony orchestra. If you thought "Devil's Dance" and "Hero for the Day" were great before wait till you hear them now! I am being a touch obstinate, though, as I would deign to admit that, actually, some of the Load tracks are improved by the string embellishments. "Fuel" (bizarrely) and "Until it Sleeps" come across as superior (even decent) songs and the epics "Bleedin' Me" and "The Outlaw Torn" are probably the two greatest beneficiaries of the whole experience, as they come out sounding like powerful arena rock anthems with the added pomposity of the orchestra. Another possible reason to further line Lars and co's pockets by buying this album comes with two! brand! new! tracks! Such a prospect should become even more enticing upon learning that "No Leaf Clover" is actually OK. "-Human" less so. Due to being their biggest seller, a fair whack of black album material is included and none of it is any good. The likes of "Of Wolf and Man", "Sad but True" and "Wherever I May Roam" are unsurprisingly not aided by the new approach and "Nothing Else Matters" had bloody strings to begin with. So much for the radical experiment. Other than the Load material's marginal improvement, "The Call of the Ktulu" is at least not obscured by the strings, given there is no vocal melody to mess things up, and "One", like "The Outlaw Torn", does become a little more epic. In truth, though, I can think of better ways to spend two hours of my life. There are so many great albums out there that feature so many great ideas that entertaining Metallica's flatulent pomposity exhibited interminably over two CDs is a disservice to the scores of really great artists still producing the goods. It is not like it is unlistenable but, dear God, it IS a bloody pointless waste of time.

After a seven year absence of new material Metallica blasted back on the scene with the risibly-named and much-maligned St. Anger. In contrast to the creeping commercialism of their nineties material, coupled with Lars's attacks on Napster, the band decided they were going to show the poison-tongued critics that they were no sell-outs (or, at least, no longer sell-outs) with a back-to-basics assault of pure heavy metal action. Although this album has been heavily derided by many critics I personally think the most disappointing aspect of it is that it actually might have been a lot more successful. Going back to basics was not necessarily the worst career move in the world and the complete absence of guitar solos and the intense, staccato riffing actually regresses the band's sound all the way back to Kill 'em All. Although James's voice is showing signs of both his age and previously errant ways his vocals still pack a sometimes brutal punch and are a welcome relief from the preening soft-rock shenanigans on the score of nineties power ballads the band previously indulged in. Furthermore, at times this album is actually - amazingly - rather impressive. Three of the opening four songs represent the best material the band have released certainly since the black album and the punishing rush of "Dirty Window" is almost worthy of comparison with some of their material from the decade they were actually any good. "Frantic" is a ferocious opener with James's harrowing, intense vocals almost masking the absolutely ludicrous lyrics ('my lifestyle determines my deathstyle'!). Indeed, despite the raw authenticity of much of the actual music a man as patronising as myself could not let a review pass without commenting on the lyrics for this album which are, put simply, some of the most brazenly stupid verse I have ever had the pleasure to laugh out loud at. As I said, though, the intensity of the music often excuses James's idiotic sincerity and although the title track contains, at a push, the most unintentionally humorous lyrics one can let it pass thanks to the punishing-yet-melodic climatic chorus. "Dirty Window" is the highlight on the album, though, with a seamless switch through three stages, starting from a swinging charge and progressing to an abrasive stop-start assault. It is also the shortest track, at a mere five and a half minutes. Indeed, that is one of the central faults with this album - it is simply far too long. Combined with the infamously terrible production (with Lars adding a steel pipe to ...And Justice for All's biscuit tin drum kit) seventy-five minutes of intense no-nonsense heavy metal just adds up to a crushing head-ache. It is not as if it would have been hard to cut the length down as most songs are only long because the same sections are repeated about three times for no apparent reason and, although every song contains some good ideas (I particularly like "My World"'s explosive 'I don't even know what the question is' section), they could easily have been condensed into less-in-quantity-but-higher-in-quality songs. And the songs without any memorable hooks, like "Sweet Amber", "The Unnamed Feeling", and "Purify", are obviously detrimental inclusions. But then that is Metallica. A band now so stupid that one suspects if they ever did rediscover their artistic relevance it would be if they fell arse-backwards into it, rather than by any direct design on their parts. Frustratingly, some of this material suggests they might actually have it still within them to release another good album. My hopes are not high, though.

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Email me at: jackfeeny@yahoo.co.uk