For Metallica fans ... re: new record! (2 Viewers)

[Hank]

Watch it with the attack on 90s Iron Maiden bub , While No Prayer for the Dying and Virtual XI were awful, and Fear of the Dark had its issues, you can't say that X-factor is at all trendy or stale. It's much darker and more inaccessible then anything they did with Bruce, and far more complex as well. It had its flaws, it goes on for too long, and it needed to be reigned back a bit, but in a way it reminds me of ...And Justice for All, a brilliant but flawed album that falls just short of being a truly incredible piece of work.

The X-Factor is over looked alot. When it was first released I didn't give it a chance due to me hating the fact that Bruce Dickinson departed. I than discovered The X-Factor and like it alot although I still wish Bruce was on it.

 

[Chris Farmer]

Oh yeah, Bruce can make any song sound better. Just check out his awe-inspiring rendition of Sign of the Cross on Rock in Rio.

Oh, and just to stay on topic, the more I hear about this new Metallica CD, the more interested I get. We're definitely not looking at another Load/ReLoad here, but htat doesn't neessarily mean it will still be godd. We'll find out soon though.

 

[JonZ]

"Watch it with the attack on 90s Iron Maiden bub"

I never attacked Iron Maidens 90s music.I've never heard it.

I used Iron Maidens evolution from Iron Maiden to Powerslave as a example of how a band can evolve - NOT to say everything afterwards was crap.

To me, saying Metallica has evolved just doesnt cut it - its a way for fans to "explain" their treachory and their desolve into simpler,more popular music.

 

[MickeS]

True. One thing that worries me about these early reports from listening sessions is the emphasis on speed, heaviness and all that. Sure, Metallica was always about that. BUT, they were always about the melodic parts as well. They had some great hooks, and the riffs were always there to emphasize the melodies, especially on "Kill 'em all" and "Ride the lightning". Even something as intense as "Battery" or "Fight fire with fire" had a solid riff-based melody at its core.

I hope they don't make a mistake thinking that they have to make a 180 turn on the melodic aspects of their music in order to be perceived as "hard" or relevant". Of course, they HAVE to write better songs than they've done in the past 10 years or so, but that's another matter.

 

[Chris Farmer]

Micke, exactly, that's what worries me. the best example of old-school Metalica and what made it so great was Master of Puppets. That song is almsot a 3 movement concerto in its form, with the killer opening and verses as movement 1, the slow melodic interlude for mvt 2, the guitar solo and the frenzied finale closing the piece. I'd love to see them get some of that complexity back. What I've heard described is intriguing and certainly has potential, but I'm afraid we're gonna get a Slipknot sound-alike that just beats the crap out of their instruments as fast as htye can without any real cares for melodicism.

 

[Scott Van Dyke]

As long as they don't start rapping, I'll give it a listen.

 

[JonZ]

Chris,
It took me forever to be able to play Master of Puppets correctly. For 2 1/2 years I left and would go back. Except for the part before the slow "Master....master....(fade) into the acoustic part" this song never stops. It used to kill my hands to play it.

Its awesome.

I think it took me 5 minutes to learn Enter Sandman.

 

[John-Miles]

well you can see how all that practice on MOP payed off then Jon.... I'm am just kidding, actually i ahte enter sandman i think its their worst song bar none. and I am not a musician so i really cant comment on the difficulty of their songs as far as playing them goes, but I will say harder to play is not always better.

 

[TedT]

Anyway,I saw this guy about 6 years later buying 2 Metallica CDs at Media Play - enough said.

Oh, I believe you! I had many such experiences in high school when "Kill 'Em All" came out. I would bring the tape/LP to school, play it for EVERYONE and would get comments like "Maiden, dude! This sucks!" and "They're kind of ok, but not as good as the Scorpions". Only one guy said it was a great ablum. The rest of the dirtbags thought I was nuts for liking this stuff.

Needless to say, they all became Metallica fans once it was cool to like them. Sheep.

 

[TimDoss]

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned Cliff Burton. As I understand it he was
the major musical influence for the first three albums.
He was the only one to study music theory and he put a lot of experimentation into his playing.
I don't see Metallica as sold out, I see them as a band that
has been struggling. AJFA was written right after Cliff died, his influence can still be heard, especially in "To live is to die".
The Black Album, so many years later is a departure from
Cliff's style, and to some extent Dave Mustaine's from the
earlier albums. Load and Reload aren't sell out albums, they
are experimentations.
Not only did they lose they're major talent but they also have to stay interested in what they're doing, and the only way to do that is to try new things... sometimes they work, and sometimes they don't.

What was it that Cliff said... "you don't burn out by going to fast, you burn out by getting bored."

 

[Neil M]

Here are the 11 song titles on St. Anger:

Frantic
St. Anger
Some Kind of Monster
Dirty Window
Invisible Kid
My World
Shoot Me Again
Sweet Amber
Unnamed Feeling
Purify
All Within My Hands

 

[JonZ]

Cliff was a GOD to me(I have a link to a tribute page of him on my webpage). I had tickets to see Metallica in Poughkeepsie but Cliff died and the show was cancelled.

I also think Cliffs influence was huge. They thought enough of Cliff and wanted him so badly they were willing to relocate.The fact that the bass is so prominant on the first 3 records is a testament to how much this band thought of Cliff(I cant think of another band(at the moment)that used the Bass as a solo instrument)

I dont know if I would call him THE major influence - I still think Metallica was always Hetfields baby.I think he contributed more than,say Lars, who got alot of songwritting credit, more for organizing and orchastration than anything else(at his own admittion).

Tim,
You mentioned Mustaine. According to him, Metallica was still using his ideas and songs well into Master of Puppets without giving him credit. It was so long ago, but Im positive the song he mentioned was Leper Messiah. Dave was a Bowie fan and Leper Messiah was something he was working on while still in the band.

 

[TedT]

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned Cliff Burton

Except for "Garage Days Re-Revisited" (not their songs, so it shouldn't even count), Metallica jumped the shark when they lost Cliff.

 

[Todd Stout]

What was it that Cliff said... "you don't burn out by going to fast, you burn out by getting bored."

I have a picture of Cliff Burton from a 1980's vintage magazine that has that quote on it. I think it reads, "You don't burn out by going too fast, you burn out by going too slow and getting bored."

 

[oscar_merkx]

just read th ewhole thread and some great stuff here indeed. I always thought that Damage Inc was simply one of their best along with One, yet when I think of their stuff nowadays, It is still rocking.

I am looking forward to St Anger

 

[MickeS]

So who watched MTV Icon with Metallica?

Pretty enjoyable, even though I only liked Avril Lavignes and Limp Bizkits performances. Snoop Dogg was horrible, the others were just dull. And why they had Sean Penn and Lisa Marie Presley as presenters I don't know.

I was mostly interested in hearing the new song Metallica was going to perform, but that was cut short. I was pretty disappointed in what I heard too, didn't sound that much different from the last few albums, except it had less melody and more guitarcrunching. Oh well, I hope it sounds better on record. It could be one of those songs that grow on you too, I guess. I'm still excited about the new album.

 

[Carlo_M]

I only caught the last "medley" by Metallica on the show. I have to admit, I've always like Trujillo's playing and I like how his bass was very prevalent during their set. I might actually pick up this new one just to give it a try (haven't bought one since I got burned on "Loaded").

 

[MickeS]

Carlo, it's odd, but Trujillo to me already seems like more of a true member of Metallica than Jason ever seemed.

If you caught the medley (which I loved), you should have heard the new song, which they performed right after that. What did you think of it?

 

[StevenW]

The opening to that new song kicks major ass! From what I heard it really sounds like they are going back to their roots. Damn MTV for cutting their performance short! Odd how they let someone like Avril Lavigne perform a complete song, but they cut off the band who the show is dedicated to....go figure!?

 

[Carlo_M]

Yeah, Trujillo's got the kickass attitude the band used to have (and might have again). I loved his work w/ Suicidal Tendencies and Infectious Grooves (though I wasn't a huge fan of either band, I can recognize quality playing when I hear it).

From that snippet that, I agree w/ Stephen, MTV should be damned for cutting short, I am actually a bit excited by the sound! I understand that the songs were mostly written before Trujillo joined the band, but even during recording never underestimate the things that a talented musician can bring to the table even at a late stage of the recording process.

I just hope Bob Rock remembered to mic the damned bass amp. Some of their older albums are so lacking, and I know that Cliff was awesome, so it wasn't his fault that his instrument wasn't well represented!