Death Magnetic

[brandondrury]

I think it's an awesome album, just because it's not "old Metallica" doesn't mean it's shit, it's just eveolved, some people are too stuck in the past in order to move on.

I'm curious why so many people immediately assume you live in the past if you can't like the new thing that comes out. I don't get it. Whatever Metallica was trying to do on this new album simply did not work on me.

But if we are going to use this stuck-in-past argument, we could say that people who like this new album are simply in counter-stuck-in-past mode.

Both arguments are without merit in my opinion. There is no reason to pyschologically analyze anyone based on their tastes. If you like it, great. If you don't like it, great.

Brandon

[BillyShears]

Whatever Metallica was trying to do on this new album simply did not work on me.

Agree 100% on that one. I was a Metallica fan from about Ride The Lighning to the "black album" and I think what has happened is what happems to just about every band - music is not as exciting to them as much as it was when they were an up and coming band and that gets reflected in the song writing. After years of earning big bucks and having "yes" men around you for years, you turn soft and wouldn't have the same drive and ambition.

They sound like it is too easy for them to be Metallica - hopefully that makes sense

[brandondrury]

After years of earning big bucks and having "yes" men around you for years, you turn soft and wouldn't have the same drive and ambition.

When your environment changes, your need to express X feelings also change.

I don't think balanced people are much good for entertainment. I think singers need to emotionally screwed up, alcoholics who have a drug problem. Actually, musicians and porn stars have a lot in common.

When people get their shit together they are seldom of any use in front of a microphone. There are exceptions, I guess.

The Offspring was my favorite band back in my early teens. They captivated teenage angst perfectly on the Smash album. That's just one pissed off record that I can still relate to. After caviar, private jets, and champagne for 14 years, it doesn't seem like they have anything to offer and they just aren't that good at making happy music.

They sound like it is too easy for them to be Metallica - hopefully that makes sense

I totally agree. They need to be tossed in a POW camp for about 18 months. Then they should make a record. There is no way that record could possibly bore me. I know it.

Brandon

[BillyShears]

Actually, musicians and porn stars have a lot in common.

ha ha, and any line separating the two disappears the closer you get to top 40 land.

They need to be tossed in a POW camp for about 18 months. Then they should make a record.

That is one album I would buy - bugger the POW camp, imagine how pissed off you would be being locked up in a cell with Lars for 18 months

[brandondrury]

imagine how pissed off you would be being locked up in a cell with Lars for 18 months

Yeah, but you know the guards would hate his guts too so maybe they'd tear his finger nails out with pliers and not have much energy left to get to you.

Brandon

[BillyShears]

That sounds like a solid dept recovery plan to me - you wouldn't have many bands trying to avoid paying for studio time with that in place

[orb451]

Here's my .02 cents for what they're worth these days. Metallica WAS a great band, in 91' when the Black Album came out, things changed. Not just the band, the whole musical landscape was changing. I don't know, nor do I care, what made them decide to suddenly go with Bob Rock for the Black Album but no one can deny that it was *different* than their previous albums in terms of sound and to a certain extent, style.

After that album, I stopped listening to them for the most part. Only hearing what was played on the radio. I remember seeing an interview with them, probably in the mid 90's where they said they were NEVER metal, they were ALWAYS alternative. Started cutting their hair, wearing wife-beaters, looked more like the guys from West Coast Choppers than anything I knew or recognized.

Anyway, point being, if they had disbanded, broken up, or alternatively released EVERY album AFTER the Black Album as some other band, some other name (all other logistics aside) I think I and most others, could accept their music at face value. Just another rock/metal band doing their thing. As I said, the stuff I've heard from them since the Black album has gone progressively down hill. Music wise, production wise, style wise.

The stuff I've heard off of Death Magnetic is to me, kind of like them finally waking the fuck up and realizing that they went off completely off the rails musically. These guys were a METAL band. Not some fucking alt-rock band or some shitty neu-metal band, they were Metallica. They had an image, a sound, a BRAND that people recognized and expected certain things from.

Imagine if Lamborghini decided to suddenly start selling Hummer sized SUVs. Sure they might be Lambo's in name, and maybe they'd be put together really well... but for fuck's sake, you couldn't say they were the SAME thing as a Gallardo or Murcielago. And sure, some people would buy them anyway, and some people would LIKE them anyway. That's fine. No problems. But to say that you should have come to expect nothing from the company other than to produce something with four wheels is silly. You expect them to pretty much stay the course, and continue to produce cool, fast, HIGH priced performance cars.

If they want to start making Hummers or Scooters or frickin' sand rails, then go ahead but even THEY would know enough to spin them off into some other brand name to *test* the market.

Metallica wasn't smart enough to do that. They figured whatever the brand name Metallica released, would be eaten up by the bushel full by the masses. And it didn't take long for most fans to realize that they had the wool thrown over their eyes with every new release from them.

Death Magnetic pales in comparison to pre 88' Metallica tunes. Honestly, you think if you played those tunes for those guys back in the 80's and said "yep, this is what YOU are going to produce in 20 years" they would have believed you? But grandfather paradoxes notwithstanding, the bottom line is they changed as a BAND and not as a BRAND whereas they should have changed as BOTH because that is how fans and foes alike know them and their sound and style.

Which is the most interesting thing of all, and maybe the only argument I could see from their *camp* as being remotely legit. They simply out-grew the *style* of metal. These guys weren't Led Zep, they weren't in a band that could go from rock, to rhythm & blues, funk, jazz, country and straight blues in a single album... Metallica painted themselves in a corner and they did it TOO well.

Lastly, as re-emphasis of my point on branding, look at AC/DC. Those guys have made the same fucking album for like 30+ years. And they've had a few clunkers thrown in, but for the most part it was all the same formula. Riff based rock n' roll. You don't put on an AC/DC album from ANYWHERE in their catalog and expect world beats, afro-cuban, salsa, lounge music or jazz... no, you put it on and you expect rock. And that's what you get. Rock. Nothing more, nothing less. And for the most part, their stuff stands up on its own and kicks ass. That's a band and a brand done succesfully, for better or worse. Like them or not, they play the same 3 chord shit they've always played and it WORKS.

Metallica got a little too big for their britches in my not so humble opinion and this latest foray "back to their original roots" or whatever the Christ they're calling it is like Hollywood's latest trick of releasing Prequels and backstory movies to every shitty character ever created.

Oh and one more thing and my diatribe here will be done, if you're interested, trying looking for the youtube video of Chuck D (from Public Enemy) and Lars (from Metallica) talking about copyright, the internet, downloads, etc. It's fascinating to hear two very different artists, one of whom understands the changes in the music industry and one who clearly JUST DOESN'T FUCKING GET IT.... watch it an you can decide who's who. And for those that won't, just know that Lars et al weren't doing it to line their coffers with more gold, napster and their fight against downloading etc was about CONTROL... pure and simple.

orb..............

[fortyseven]

Blah blah blah blah! What a waste of time this topic is!

[jeffsanders]

Meh. It's a good album. Better than just about any other current non-Opeth metal cd out in the past few years. James has gone through hell of his own over the past ten years, and to say he has no demons to inspire real shit is silly.

Anyone who can't at least agree this is the best Metallica cd since the black album has not actually listened to it with an open mind. Trust.

[Brock]

I agree... I gace up on them a while ago, especially after St. Anger, but they did the impossible... They rock again.