defend the indefensible: METALLICA

i think the more pertinent question is how to defend their continued existence after master of puppets.

TS: AJFA vs. AJA

"Blackened!"
"What?"

One of my favorite albums...ever, anytime, anywhere. The only album that comes close is Reign in Blood. After that one there was no place to go but down, down, down, down....splat!

There is no bass at all on "And Justice for All", the tunes are in similar style, but now they made a video did some big tours of the US and got hooked on being on TV and being stars.

Next record they softened up a bit, hired a popmetal producer, made some more poppy music, made some serious cash, but whatever musical heft they used to have was fleeting.

"Garage Days Re-Revisited" sounds so much better, it isn't even funny. Now that EP came out after Cliff died, it is pretty good for a covers record.

....it's because of the Killing Joke cover, of course.

Of course, that EP also probably sold a few Misfits, Budgie and Diamondhead records.

= sticks up their butts. (Not that that's always a bad thing.)

My favorite part is Torben Ulrich, the bearded former tennis star, who comes mystic-like with knobby cane to visit the recording studio one day. Listening to a trippy instrumental intro that I don't think ended up on St. Anger, he crushes Lars with a critical: "I would say -- delete that." Lars squirms and tells him they were planning to use it to launch the album. Oops.

Kill Em All I heard later - that's more of a regular rock n roll record to me, it's practically New York Dolls compared to the grimacing technician schtick that came next. (but i heard nydolls way after i heard kill em all, so that's maybe revisionist too)

OK and what nobody's talked about yet is Hetfield's voice & lyrics - which I think is what really gave them mass appeal in a way Mustaine or Araya could never hit it - not that slayer was looking for it so much, but megadeth surely was. Anyway, James looks like the Cowardly Lion and I think he's kind of shooting for a Danzig gladiator in the pit style heroic "hey-yaugh!" thing but he's really a lot more regular joe in the voice than most metal dudes, kind of seger or mellencamp on some level, like the voice of the coolest guy who you worked with at your first-ever job or something. I find him really likeable for some reason. It's weird.

Haha! Best rock and roll dad ever!

1. Master of Puppets
2. AJFA
3. Ride the Lightning
4. Master of Puppets

I mean NO!

It's so NICE it gets placed TWICE...dude!

"Harvester of Sorrow" being the best song. Still though- absolutely indefensible.

But I HATE them now. I hate everything about them, even more so because they were the first band that ever really fascinated me. I hate the manufactured story about Hetfield's all recovering drunk and angry for the album bullshit that got published when St. Anger came out. I hate St. Anger. I hate that they intentionally created a cut and paste piece of shit in an attempt to 'keep it real'. DIY my A-S-S. Everyone should hate that kind of shit.

Spot on, James' voice was way too thin but roughened over time. Although when you hear their Motorhead covers, it's still pitiful in comparison to the mighty Lemmy (as well as the laughable bass sound). Motorhead vs Metallica, or how to grow old with dignity.

"Justice" has the best riffs, the best guitar sound (three hundred overdubs!) and the drums way up front (which is great). But there's no balance, it's all excess - whether that's good or bad depends, really.

& Taking sides: Death Angel "Frolic Through The Park" vs Dark Angel "Darkness Descends".

I NEVER listen to Kill 'Em All, but Ride The Lightning, Master of Puppets and And Justice For All all 100% classic.

Lars is the problem in that band.

I'm probably the only person on earth who likes St Anger (actually there WAS an ILMer who agreed with me...) - I don't listen to it every day or anything, but I was sold on "Frantic" from the first riff.

Nice to hear folks talking about Death Angel. They were about to get really big when Act III came out - what happened?

it DOES look a lot like him (James, not Cliff...)

people aer retraeded

note to self and to all future bands: never, ever, ever reveal your lyric writing process on camera. especially if you are metallica.

absolutely fantastic movie, by the way. i'm sure there will be others in its wake, as dleone suggests, and i'm equally sure all of them will suck.

And this is something they should be celebrated for????

For the record, I've been wearing mesh caps since high school and i'll be damned if I'm going to stop because Ashton Kutcher wears them now. I just take great pleasure in going up to trendy shitbag posers and asking them if they even know who Von Dutch WAS. 9 out of ten never know. Assholes.

I used to do that at college too, when chicks would wear vintage metal T shirts. I'd go up to them, mocking genuine excitement, and say "WOW! Another Dio fan! I thought I was the only one! What's your favorite Dio song????"

It got to the point where my friends were saying "don't you get tired of fucking with people?"

I'm incorrigable.

You could be next.

Please, please, please. For your own sake. Don't get me started on this. We could be here all night.

Bob Seger: deceptively impressive pipes. He does indeed come across all regular-guy, but just try singing his stuff...

I never knew that, and it's like a light bulb going on! "Night Moves" is totally Van Morrisson. I'll be darned.

tried to pretend I thought it was "ok" for a few years, but nah. and believe me, I bought it the day it came out, couldn't have BEEN a bigger Metallica fan at the time -- thought (and still think) Justice was genius -- but ... nah. "Sad But True" is the only one I ever want to hear.

Similar stuff I like much better than Metallica these days: Megadeth and Slayer go without saying, but also Anthrax, Coronor, Celtic Frost, Venom, Voivod, Motorhead, Iron Maiden, Motley Crue (not really similar, but just as embarrassing and man do I love the first 3 albums).

I thought the production was nice (especially coming off ...And Justice for All) but it didn't get the blood flowing like their earlier records. It seemed like an olive branch to the middle of the road.

That record came out at about the same time that I was getting really, really interested in black metal, which I was drawn to as a result of Darkthrone's change in style between Soulside Journey and A Blaze in the Northern Sky. Thus, I pretty much dismissed The Black Album, as "moshy" garbage. At the time moshy riffs were completely and totally anathema to me and my death/black metal loving friends (to be honest, I still feel pretty much the same way). We were more interested in the aural hailstorms on display in the demos we were hearing from Scandinavia.

I can't say that my opinion on The Black Album has changed since then. Ride the Lightning remains my fave.

i've tried. every era. it all sucks. they suck. every sniggering riff. every flattened out drum hit. every douche utterance from james. i can't even hear the appeal in theory. they're the music equivalent of a camo micro fiber blanket.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOFPDyCkXRA