I now realise what I really think of Metallica...

ndrly · #1 12-31-2008, 06:40 PM

Okay, so I've been told a lot of stories that Metallica were great until they did the Black Album and sold out.

I tried listening to their first four albums, and whilst they sounded great, were way too fast and left me with a headache. Heaven forbid I should start snorting crack to appreciate this stuff.

I tried listening to Load and two songs in, I was like, "Is this a joke?" It sounded so much like Nickelback, it was so wussy.

Do not get me started on St. Anger. That was just them trying to be System of a Down. The drums just sounded awful too...

I also consider Lars Ulrich a whiny little bitch who is mostly interested in the profits.

I also heard that Metallica only did thrash because it was popular at the time, what with Iron Maiden and everything. I think this may establish that they cannot decide what genre to be and they just play whatever metal is popular at the moment, which may explain why they're always changing directions. Post-grunge/wuss rock was popular in the mid-late 90's, and I think nu metal was popular when St. Anger came out. Drop C tuning, no solos.

However, they have had their moments. The Black Album was awesome, and I enjoyed some of their slower tracks from the earlier days, like One and Welcome Home (Sanitarium). But a band that "has their moments" is anything but good. I really wanted to like their stuff, but I just couldn't.

Overall, I'd say they're okay, but I would prefer to see them just pack it in than continue.

I think I will continue listening to Alice in Chains instead...

neurotictim · #2 12-31-2008, 07:03 PM

Umm... okay.

I love the older Metallica stuff, I pretend (for the most part) that Black Album through St. Anger don't exist, and love the new album.

Different strokes, I suppose.

baalroo · #3 12-31-2008, 07:07 PM

thanks for sharing

rubber_ritchie · #4 12-31-2008, 07:34 PM

They are a hit and miss band for me too. I go through phases of loving them and not. I heard Load again recently and actually really liked it. St Anger and the latest are grim. I find it unlikely that Metallica chose to do thrash as it was 'popular'. I'm a bit young to know but I doubt thrash metal was ever an easy choice for commercial success.

Nino Valenti · #5 12-31-2008, 07:42 PM

Iron Maiden is far from thrash. Kill em All Master are awesome. If yoi think I'm a crackhead for that, that's cool. I've been called worse.

BillMason · #6 12-31-2008, 07:42 PM

Yeah, no, Metallica was the real deal back in the 80s, and arguably (like them or not) they always have been the real deal, just playing what they wanted to play. Iron Maiden was not thrash metal or speed metal, they were heavy metal. They helped make metal in general more popular, but only to metal fans. People who said they liked metal in the 80s but didn't listen to Maiden, Anthrax, Sabbath, or Metallica were usually into Def Leppard, Twisted Sister, Ratt, or Quiet Riot and only thought they were listening to metal. I Metallica were after commercial success back then, they'd have been played on MTV and would have worn makeup, bandannas, and hair perms. They didn't even have videos until the late 80s with AJFA.

tycobb73 · #7 12-31-2008, 08:05 PM

Metallica started thrash. Bands like Anthrax and Pantera heard them and went back to the drawing board to compete. Not to mention that Mustaine, founder of Megadeth started in Metallica. A lot of other bands like Testement soon sprang up because of them. Say what you will about their music, but they are the originators of thrash.

ndrly · #8 12-31-2008, 10:04 PM

I admit I like some of their videos as well. But really, the only one that is great with both audio and visual content is One.

ndrly · #9 12-31-2008, 10:05 PM

I nearly died laughing listening to Load.

Any music that is unintentionally funny is far from good. Which is why I don't like death metal, but I love Stutter Rap.

ndrly · #10 12-31-2008, 10:11 PM

I was told thrash was popular before Metallica, but I don't totally believe the guy who told me that.

Maybe thrash did exist, but it just wasn't called that. It was probably just called "heavy metal music with really fast paced songs".

Spector_Ray · #11 12-31-2008, 11:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ndrly

I was told thrash was popular before Metallica, but I don't totally believe the guy who told me that.

Maybe thrash did exist, but it just wasn't called that. It was probably just called "heavy metal music with really fast paced songs".

There were a handful of bands doing thrash back in the 80's, but it was Metallica who brought it to the forefront. I think a lot of what gave Metallica their larger than life status was the fact that they got big solely by word of mouth and their "we don't give a **** attitude. They had no radio support and in the heyday of the music video, MTV wouldn't touch their stuff. They relied on their fans to bootleg their music which forced record companies to sign them and bands like Megadeth, Anthrax, Slayer, Biohazard, DRI, Suicidal Tendencies, etc.

Look at the moment in time when Metallica came along. They were the anti L.A. glam band. Just like Nirvana turned the music scene on it's head in the early 90's, Metallica in the 80's was just what people were looking for.

The black album was the turning point for the band and the fans because of the entrance of Bob Rock who wanted to polish up something that didn't necessarily need to be polished. For the die hard Metallica fans who liked the fact that Metallica was a trailblazing band, the black album put them in the middle of the pack.

TheWalrus · #12 12-31-2008, 11:30 PM

It was all downhill from Kill 'Em All. Not to say the other 80's stuff was bad, far from it. Let's say the last time I saw them on tour was for the black album. I saw them three times on that tour... easy to do since they toured on it for 4 years. I'd never see them now for 2 reasons: My tastes have changed as I've gotten older, and there would be all that 90's-2000's crap that I just can't listen to. Same with Queensryche... as the years go by, their live shows just become more of what I hate and less of what I love.

ndrly · #13 01-01-2009, 04:30 AM

I had another listen to Load, and it's actually not that bad. I guess sometimes it doesn't work the first time.

Also, listening to the song "Mama Said" makes me think that James Hetfield has potential as a solo artist. To me, this isn't a Metallica, it's a James Hetfield song.

This is another reason I believe that Metallica should pack it in.

ndrly · #14 01-01-2009, 04:30 AM

I had another listen to Load, and it's actually not that bad. I guess the first time isn't always the charm.

Also, listening to the songs "Nothing Else Matters" and "Mama Said" makes me think that James Hetfield has potential as a solo artist. To me, this isn't Metallica, it's James Hetfield.

This is another reason I believe that Metallica should pack it in. I mean, I'm sad that Soundgarden broke up, but I guess they had a good run.

Truktek2 · #15 01-01-2009, 05:39 AM

Personally i think they sold out with Master of puppets

rubber_ritchie · #16 01-01-2009, 07:22 AM

Even though I'm not a big fan of some recent Metallica albums I admire the fact that they do what they want and don't follow a formula like a band like Slayer.

tplyons · #17 01-01-2009, 11:54 AM

I love Load and Reload, two of my favorite albums.

I love Ride, Master, Justice and Kill 'Em All too.

If they weren't written by the same band, Load and Reload would have had better reception. It's great music, just not what people expected.

They matured, their musical tastes evolved. No complaints from me.

baalroo · #18 01-01-2009, 12:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rubber_ritchie

Even though I'm not a big fan of some recent Metallica albums I admire the fact that they do what they want and don't follow a formula like a band like Slayer.

Yeah, but ever since they hit it "big time" with the black album, it seems like the "what they want" is whatever is the flavor of the month at the time. They don't seem to have their own ideas anymore they just rehash whatever is popular.

aarrgggh, I got pulled in again!

Dertygen · #19 01-01-2009, 01:05 PM

*Ramones & Motorhead spawned thrash, not Metallica.
*If Load & ReLoad were consolidated & slimmed into one album it would be decent.
*Death Magnetic is fantastic.

chrisisnotevil · #20 01-01-2009, 01:30 PM

they used to be my favourite band, but these days only the first three albums, and a few songs from ajfa and bizarrely, load still do it for me. rob breathed new life into the band, but i guess i just grew away from what they were doing. the pic of james with the armani bag unsettled me to my very core.