Ahh yes. Another Metallica review. Most of you will recall my love for the 'Load' album. I gave that a great review and talked about how people think they're sell outs. Blah blah blah. I even went on a rant about it. It's true, look it up! Well, this was the original recording that die hards said they sold out. And it's not even really because they made tracks that are all that much different than previous, it's simply because 'Enter Sandman' became a radio sensation. Now sure, one could argue that the song is a little riff heavy and built for radio - but even so, who cares? The same thing could have happened with 'Seek And Destroy' years earlier. Because it didn't, the fans were pleased. Makes no sense. It's hard to find people who still love Metallica today. It seems that their most recent albums are pretty much considered a joke and the old stuff is the gold. I've heard Death Magnetic a couple times, and it wasn't that bad. Regardless, this is one of the best selling albums ever. It has sold over 15 million copies in the US alone. Crazy numbers. Since this sell out, they've battled the MP3 world, gone into rehab a multitude of times and even worked on solo stuff. Here is what I'm going to say about this record though, people think it's great. People think that it's got all these 'hits' and it's amazing. I'll tell you that this is the first Metallica record I owned. I'll tell you I loved it back in 1998. But looking at this now, I'm not that big of a fan. I think 'Load' is better, I think a couple other earlier records are better too. I think we've heard half these tracks so many times, they've lost their excitement. I don't get amped up when Enter Sandman is played anymore. It's lost that value for me. Top to bottom it's still really good, but it's not the 5+ star record you'd be led to believe by critics and certainly the sales numbers. Still very worth listening to today, but don't expect to rush out and buy it if you don't own it already. Happy Monday!
TRACK LISTING:
1. Enter Sandman
2. Sad But True
3. Holier Than Thou
4. Unforgiven, The
5. Wherever I May Roam
6. Don't Tread on Me
7. Through the Never
8. Nothing Else Matters
9. Of Wolf and Man
10. God That Failed, The
11. My Friend of Misery
12. Struggle Within, The
Listen To Samples
Top 3 Tracks:
1. Nothing Else Matters
2. The Unforgiven
3. Enter Sandman
FINAL RATING:
3.75 out of 5 stars
i definitely think 'of wolf and man' is better than 'enter sandman,' but your other two tops are good picks. and this was the first album they did with bob rock, of course it's going to sound different than everything else they had done to that point. i don't know if i agree that load is BETTER, but i have more favorites on that one than i do on black album. and i don't know why you think it's hard to find people that still love metallica today. i think metallica is one of the few three-generation bands out there - bands that grandma will go to see with her kid and grand kid, and all three started liking the band at different times or for different albums. there's a reason they still sell out arenas. i concede that some later material - reload, st anger - isn't as good as their other stuff. but that doesn't mean people stopped liking them all together. and if anyone is still holding a napster grudge ... well give me a fkn break here. the RIAA is more ridiculous than metallica ever was concerning that issue, AND, BESIDES THAT, they did have a valid point in all that.
ReplyDeleteand ALSO, of course a band's sound is going to evolve over the course of twenty years. they can't keep recording the same album over and over again, or they'd be nickleback. *rimshot* plus they're not 20 anymore, and the kind of stuff they recorded in their early career is hard on your body - listen to lars' drumming on something like 'dyer's eve' and tell me you (if you were a drummer) could keep playing that every night for three hours into your 50s. maybe you can, but it's not easy.
all in all, i think this album probably earned them more fans than it lost them. and those early-era die hards still go to all the shows. and metallica still plays all the early era stuff at all their shows because that's what kicks the most ass.
Janis.
ReplyDeleteI think you misread my post. I personally don't think they are sell outs or whatever at all. I think the whole idea of a fan calling their band a sell out because they make music that is appealing to many different people seems silly. I totally agree that this record garnered them more respect and more fans than lost them. I personally didn't even know who Metallica was until this came out - but I was also pretty young.
The only reason I like Load better is because of the arrangement of it and the overall sound. It has some great heavy tracks and then it's got a couple really well placed slower tracks. Just overall, I think it flows as well as almost any record ever made. This has a couple slow songs too - but I think they're misplaced on the album.
I simply think it's easier to find people who would argue Metallica 'sucks' now compared to the 80's than people who'll say they love the new stuff. I think we're in the minority of people who actually like Load and there are a lot of people who also don't care for this one.