Metallica's Death Magnetic came out last week and I have listened to it a few times through really well so I feel like I should put in my two cents.
Every one's anticipation for the release probably fell into one of two categories: excitement at a return to form or a dread of what could come next. I have tried to stay away from other reviews of this album wishing to form my own opinion but it is hard not to see some of the headlines saying this was a return to their old self as in And Justice For All. That is lofty expectations for a group of guys 20 years older than they were making that album. The side of dread represents the group of people that were turned off by St. Anger and the subsequent documentary Some Kind of Monster. These days I am a little softer on my thoughts of St. Anger. It has grown on me as something different and at least fueled by some deep issues within the band and the anger that came out. There are a couple gems in there: Invisible Kid and All Within My Hands. My take on Death Magnetic is somewhere in between those two extremes.
I find this album to be more of a tribute to themselves than a return to form. I don't know if what I am hearing is something new or just a rehash of what they have already done. There is some And Justice For All moments in there but to me it seems more like Load/ReLoad just a little faster at times. One song is even titled Unforgiven III. The Day That Never Comes reminds me the most of Load and specifically the song Hero of the Day in lyrics and tone. Although I could see the comparison to One but I would never put it on that pedestal. The opener, That Was Just Your Life, is fully fueled metal but then the album fades over the long haul just like their following tour undoubtedly will. Although I would still pay to see one of their shows and would be singing right along with The End of the Line and Broken, Beat & Scarred.
Overall, the music is good. It sounds much more like Metallica and not like they are trying to copy the modern metal scene. The lyrics are bad at best, most of the time terrible ("whatever don't kill ya make ya more strong"). I thought they were more well thought out in St. Anger. The soloing is back and a very welcomed addition. Kirk keeps proving his worth as they get older. Lars's drums at least sound normal on this release if not predictable in his rhythms. The darker tone is a stab at reclaiming their youth and I think it would be unfair to believe that they could play as fast and hard as they did 20 years ago. After all that is what maturing as an artist should be; become more technical in your play and playing for deeper reasons. Handicapping them for age, which given what they've done to their bodies and the style they play is pretty good chunk, this is a very good album bordering on awesome. For every knock I would have on it, I could find just as many positives. I don't think it deserves all the criticism that the lofty expectations the name Metallica brings (return to form believers) nor does it warrant all the fan boy praise that is out there (those afraid of another St. Anger). I believe many other hard rock/metal bands out there would love to have made this album. *** - 3 Stars
EDIT: Check out a page on some of the chart success Metallica has achieved this this Album. http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/chart_watch/13450/week-ending-sept-14-2008-metallica-and-the-hard-rock-pantheon
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7 comments:
Nice review. My guess as to why the other reviews you read go strongly one way or the other with this album is because the reviewers editor demands a strong stance in some direction.
I was wondering what this album was really like. I was sort of turned off by the title (it seemed corny to me) and the CD cover. I always like the title St. Anger. I digress. I think what I have found lately with new Metallica songs is that I don't dislike them, but I also can live without them. Probably like you indicated, the strengths and weaknesses are glaring at points in their music.
The biggest thing though is that they're about the only metal band to exist 20 plus years and still have relevance. So there's really no one to compare their career arc too. In the future they'll be the band other great bands are measured against.
Thanks for the support, I thought about and wrote this thing out for like 3 days straight I think. I almost put in a statement to the same effect that you say, my life would be the same whether these songs existed or not. But everyone has to agree with their staying power one way or another and we can't all stay aggriveness, angery young people forever. Most bands try to reinvent themselves sometimes or another. Anyway we could have a blog just dedicated to a debate on Metallica and whether they sold out or not.
Selling out in any situation or any branch of art and life is a fruitless conversation usually posed by people not creative or talented enough to make money with their own product and/or art form.
Did Metallica sellout? No. They always wanted to make money. Basically all that happened was they went from drunk poor assholes that every one wanted to party with to old "soberish" rich assholes who took away the music we stole from them to begin with.
Musically and artistically, as your review indicates, they've made minimal (sometimes good, sometimes bad) changes.
In some of these conversations, I feel like you are the Dan Bernstein to my Terry Bores.
How bout the Ernie to your Bert.
Is that because you are short & fat and i am tall & dorky looking?
I think it has more to do with you haveing yellow skin and me bright orange. Besides I am not fat, just husky.
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