I just heard the Metallica/JaRule song.... (1 Viewer)

[Joe McCabe]

and it is worse than you can possibly imagine!

There really are no words to describe it's level of awfulness.

Good luck with what's left of your career Metallica.
It looks like you're gonna need it.

 

[Jim_C]

This is the first I've heard of this. Sounds like a bad idea.

I remember when Ride the Lightning came out. Absolutely amazing. The band would always talk about not selling out. Times have changed....

They'll never reach the level that Aerosmith has dropped to though IMO.

 

[Mike Broadman]

That's an unfair comparison. I don't think Aerosmith ever claimed to never sell-out, nor are they about anything more than fun rock 'n' roll. They never could sell-out because they had nothing to sell.

Metallica, on the other hand, made such a big deal about being the big bad metal band and all this nonsensical punk rock posturing that people are picking on their every move.

With both bands, my tastes are purely based on music: I like their old stuff, not the new stuff. Aerosmith- up to and including Rocks. Metallica- up to and including the Black album.

I would love to hear the JaRule song, though. He's not bad for a pop-rap guy, and it should be good for a laugh.

NP: ELP, Brain Salad Surgery, DVD-A

 

[Jim_C]

I knew that the Aerosmith comment would come back to haunt me...

Let me clarify. Aerosmith is supposed to be the 'bad boys of rock'. Their early albums are amazing. I love them and listen to them fairly often. Toys in the Attic is a regular in my rotation. In the early days they didn't seem to make any effort to appeal to the mainstream. I have no idea if they said something about not selling out or not. I believe you when you say that they never made such a claim.

However, I look at their actions and music since the late 80's and I have to come to the conclusion that they have transformed themselves into a pop rock band. They weren't like this early in their career, far from it IMO. I believe that they've left behind what made them a great rock band. I know that bands should evolve and grow but I just don't like what they've grown into. Now they focus more on Dodge commercials and MTV.

Perhaps the comparison between the two is unfair WRT comments that each band made or didn't make about 'selling out'. I remember just as you do that Metallica was extremely vocal about 'staying true'. I stopped buying Metallica albums after And Justice for All. We both stop at Gems for Aerosmith.

Again, I really like Aerosmith. I just don't think that they hold to the same ideals that they did early in their career.




I used to run into some of the band when I was a teenager. I grew up in Pembroke, MA which is on the south shore. Most of Aerosmith live in that area, Marshfield IIRC. They were always in the various retail stores, grocery stores, etc. When I was 18 I worked in the Hanover Paperama, which was a party goods store. Anyway, in walks Steven Tyler and his gorgeous wife. She's dressed like a normal person and Tyler was dressed like he just walked off the set of a video. God he looked goofy dressed like that while he was shopping for party goods for his kids birthday party. Leopard skin pants, bandanas, the works. He even had the long scarfs tied to his wrists.

It was either Whitford or Hamilton that would shop at the local Stop and Shop. He would always drink an orange juice while he shopped and paid for it when he checked out. He'd give it to the cashier to throw out. The girls would fight over who would keep the empty juice bottle.

 

[Shawn C]

Holy crap does that song ever suck! I just hunted it down after you started this thread.

and it is worse than you can possibly imagine!

Man, you weren't kidding.
"...Who wants a little Rock and Roll mixed with a little Hip-Hop soul? We do! We do!..."
WTF is a line like that doing in a Metallica song?!?!?! Please tell me this isn't going to be on the new Metallica CD. Please, please, please. You can put it on a JaRule album if you want but if that single makes it onto a Metallica album, I'm going to melt every single CD and DVD I own from Metallica.
No wonder Jason Newstead decided to leave. That song is pure crap.

 

[Jeff Pryor]

The horror....the horror....

 

[Carl Miller]

I thought this thread was a joke when I read the heading...guess not.

Just because Aerosmith has already been mentioned here..Has anybody noticed that Aerosmith has more than a half dozen greatest hits discs/type packages of some kind? Greatest Hits I, Gems Classics Live I & II, Big Ones, Pandoras Box, Anthology, the new release and I think one or two more.

Talk about a marketing machine.

 

[dave_brogli]

Oh my god This is worse than the jimmy page and p diddy song!!!(and I am madly in love with zepppelin)EWWWWWW!!!!!

Long Live MASTER OF PUPPETS.... The greatest Metallica album before they sucked.....

 

[JonZ]

"Long Live MASTER OF PUPPETS.... The greatest Metallica album before they sucked....."

IMHO its the finest Metal album ever made.

I have been one of Metallicas harshes critics since the Black album.
I remember talking to a high school friend(and a guitar player)after the Black Album came out and he said to me "Well they grew up and evolved"
So Master of Puppets isnt evolved but Enter Sandman is? Give me a freaking break.


I ADORED this band from 84-89. They sold out and long time ago-plain and simple!

 

[Sheldon C]

Yes, it this is truly sad. Metallica will always be my favorite band, not because of anything but the music. To this day I still listen to Lightning, Puppets, and Justice more than anything else. I understand that a band has to change a bit and not keep writing the same thing, but my argument would be that these three albums are nothing alike either. It's not like you could mistake the sound on Justice with the sound on Lightning... in fact that's what made Metallica so good during their prime - the ability to put out beautiful melodic thrash metal albums that sounded nothing like each other.

I believe they could have kept doing this, but they simply got lazy. It's a hell of a lot harder to play those albums live than the stuff they put out in the 90's. I have really tried my best to still like the newer stuff because there are still some songs that are very good (Bleeding Me, Fixxxer, God that Failed, Outlaw Torn, My Friend of Misery, etc.) and I really do like how they sound with the symphony. This latest idea however is absolutely horrible.

It seems like they are trying too hard to prove to everyone that they will take any risk imaginable to do somthing different. Maybe the truth of the matter is that greatness in music cannot last very long.

 

[Mike Broadman]

Maybe the truth of the matter is that greatness in music cannot last very long.

No, there are plenty of musicians who last pretty darn long. It may be more accurate to say that greatness in rock music usually doesn't last long.

I'm all for bands changing their sound and exploring new things. However, it's usually a bust when metal guys do it, because, let's be honest here, they are generally very limited in what they can do musically. They have not training and spent their youths interested in head-banging and being loud. There is nothing wrong with this, that's what metal is all about. But that doesn't equip someone with the know-how and tools to really branch out musically.

The best metal bands understand and embrace their limitations. Slayer and Pantera, whether you like them or not, know they are good for one thing: loud angry metal. So that's what they do. AC/DC never changed their style because they couldn't and have no reason to. These are all bar bands that got lucky and made it and are sticking to what they know.

Maybe Metallica got bored with metal. While they can do what they like, such as putting out mediocre hard rock and playing with symphonies and rappers, it doesn't interest me in the slightest bit. To me, they band ended a long time ago.

Coming at it from another angle, I find that mixing metal and rap usually don't work. Last night Letterman's musical guest was a bunch of DJs with X-ibit (sp?) and Biohazard. It was so sloppy and silly that it was comical. This sort of thing usually takes the groove out of hip-hop and the punch out of metal and ends up with mush.

NP: Miles Davis, Amandla, CD

 

[JonZ]

"...but they simply got lazy. It's a hell of a lot harder to play those albums live than the stuff they put out in the 90's."
They also say theyre older so its harder to play faster live. Slayer and a bunch of other bands continue, its a bullshit answer.
And just to be clear it has nothing to do with playing harder or faster. There are lots of hard bands out there that have slowed down or altered their style with age(Sepultura for instance before Max left),but arent writing shitty songs like the "newer" Metallica stuff.
Hetfield could play songs like Aint My Bitch in his sleep - its laziness as already said.
"let's be honest here, they are generally very limited in what they can do musically. They have not training and spent their youths interested in head-banging and being loud"
Whoa! Nothing could be further from the truth. Alot of these guys know plenty about theory. Kirk Hammet, Alex Skolnick, Dave Mustaine, Chuck Schuldiner(RIP, one of the most fantastic guitar player to ever walk the earth and never took a lesson in his life),Randy Rhoades,Marty Friedman, Zakk Wylde etc etc - just becuase they love the Metal style doesnt mean they cant play anything else.
I know a guy who graduated from Juliards School of Music. He can sit down and play Mozart on the guitar but nothing makes him happier than playing Pantera or old Metallica.
Ive played in bands and the feeling of distortion,loud powerful music, and watching your friends bounce of the walls - its the most amazing feeling in the world.
Nothing else comes close- not even sex
Thats all IMHO btw

 

[Mike Broadman]

- just becuase they love the Metal style doesnt mean they cant play anything else.

Yes. I was talking about popular metal acts like Metallica.

Hammet may know gobs of theory, but do the other band members? Besides, theory alone doesn't allow one to branch out musically (though it certainly helps). It also involved exposure to different music, professional and personal relationships with musicians, and a general sense of feeling and style for a type of music. Do Metallica have that with hip-hop or "alternative" rock? I doubt it, and their musical output suggests this.

NP: AC/DC, who never changed their style, God bless them.

 

[JonZ]

"....Do Metallica have that with hip-hop or "alternative" rock?"

I see what your saying.

"However, it's usually a bust when metal guys do it, because, let's be honest here, they are generally very limited in what they can do musically."

I read the above sentence like "Metal musicians can thrash but cant do anything else" which is what I believe to not be true.
Its hard to restain myself not to defend them, when people say stuff like that. Some of these guys could wipe the floor with a few of the more well, respected,honored and acclaimed musicians out there.
Even in Hetfields case (god I hate to defend this guy nowadays)but he can play different styles including Country(including the Banjo), Blues and Rockabilly.

I agree that being in a Metal band can also be a trap or no win situation when its comes to expanding your horizons musically. Its very limiting not becuase of the musicians, some of them are very versitile, but what the fans expect from you.You cant do a song like Nothing Else Matters without a backlash after tearassing through your previous albums. I have nothing against a band doing such as long as they can pull it off - I think Nothing Else Matters is a terrible song.Not becuase its a ballad (Overkill for example has done numerous slower songs, but they do them well)but becuase the lyrics are stupid.

I think Hetfield ran out of things to write about a long time ago and has been treading water since the Black Album.In their earlier efforts it was very clear what the songs were about. Justice has a few obscure songs but compare the lyric writing on Ride The Lightning or Dyers Eve compared to Nothing Else Matters or Unforgiven.
I dont dislike Metallica now for making slower songs just bad ones.

 

[Carlo_M]

As a musician, I dislike using the term sellout.

The truth is, over the years my musical tastes have changed. I used to play a lot of rock/metal. Now I play folksy tunes. From Metallica & AC/DC to Toad the Wet Sprocket and John Mayer.

If I'm allowed to change, why aren't they?

It is up to us though to have an opinion of their direction as long as they put out albums. But I don't like using "sellout" when in fact time affects all living creatures in different ways.

If this is Metallica's direction: more power to them. I won't label them something just because I don't like it.

I do think, however, that the JaRule collaboration SUCKS, and I did stop listening to Metallica after the black album.

 

[JonZ]

"Now I play folksy tunes."
"If I'm allowed to change, why aren't they?"

Carlo,theres nothing wrong with it.

If Slayers Jeff Hanneman said I want to do acoustic songs, fine so be it-and Id probally be interested to hear it, but I dont think Slayer would be the vehicle to do it in.
Its a bit extreme of a example but shows what Im trying to say.

BTW, Whos playing bass for them now? Jason Newsted is going to be on the next album of one of my favorite bands - Voivod. I nearly dropped dead when I hear that.

 

[Sam E. Torres]

what's the song called, i'm trying to search for it on kazaa.

 

[MichaelAW]

I remember when Metallica "sold out" and made a video for "One."

Then, I remember when they sold out and worked with Bob "Bon Jovi" Rock.

And, then, they sold out and cut their hair and looked all cool on the cover of Load.

After that, they wrote a song for a movie!

And, now, this? Who's surprised?

I've heard worse rap-rock hybrids. It ain't "I'm the Man," but it's not that bad.

 

[Shawn C]

I'm all for Metallica branching out or trying new things. They have proven that they can do it pretty successfully. I also like the fact they seem to warm up to new formats: DVD, DVD-A, etc..

Garage INC. was alot of fun.

I thought S&M was an awesome experiment and I play the DVD and the CD's often. 10 years from now it will still sound awesome.

Their Cunning Stunts concert DVD is still one of the best looking DVD's I have ever seen, and it was a great concert as well.

Their DVD-A remix of the black album is very nice.

BUT, this whole JaRule thing is just flat out bad and needs to be forgotten ASAP.

 

[Greg Robertson]

I'm not a huge fan of metallica, but I found the song and was hoping it was a joke. I like a lot of the 'rap-rock' music we hear, but this is SO bad I felt embarassed for metallica. Hearing that song, I think that Newstead was the smart one of the group. I was hoping it was an internet manufactured joke, but unfortunatly I doubt it. I also really hope they don't put this on any 'Metallica' album...
I know the group that made Kill 'em all, Ride the Lightning, and And Justice for all, is there somewhere. The biggest shame is that such a talented group has become so lost as to come up with this song.