Metallica - Death Magnetic
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Free Music Notes for Death Magnetic
Free Music Review: Believe the Hype.
Hit: 5 Stars
This was about to be a two word review: "Holy Sh..!!!" but I guess I should add more to that. Metallica has come full circle with Death Magnetic. I like all eras of Metallica(have been a diehard fan since 1986) but I think they are on the right track this time. Having Rob Trujillo in the band, dropping Bob Rock and working with Rick Rubin and getting in touch with their inner metalhead seems to have done the trick. Lars Ulrich is doing the most amazing drumming I've heard in years on this new CD. Bob Rock is a great producer but they really hit a brickwall with St. Anger. Even though I like that CD, it was fun but messy and was a bit of a left turn for them to say the least and the lyrics seemed a bit weak at times. I don't understand all the negative talk of everything 90's Metallica. There are some hidden gems during that era("Carpe Diem Baby" deserves more attention in my view - Hetfield even has a tattoo of it on his arm) so I hesitate to call this the big comeback or their best album since "...And Justice for All". It's almost impossible for this band to put out a truly horrendous album but St. Anger was the closest they ever came to that(again, I like that album!).
I think the band finally realised that they should give the fans what they really want to hear: No BS METAL without the country tinges of "Mama Said" or "Low Man's Lyric" and without the truly lame lyrics of something like "Invisible Kid"(and most of St. Anger) or the ZZ Top-like "Ronnie" from Load. The one true oddity of this new CD is "The Unforgiven III' which, although a good tune, doesn't seem to fit lyrically with the previous Unforgiven songs. So the abused kid described in the first two songs grew up to be a murderer('She'll be there when I'm gone/DEAD sure she'll be there' in U-II) to sailing a ship looking for Gold? I don't get it. All of a sudden he's on Gilligan's island. They could have easily called the song something else and that way we wouldn't be comparing it to Unforgiven I & II because part III stands on it's own. If they are going to do sequels, I vote for Blackened II or Orion II. "The Judas Kiss" has perhaps the weirdest solo I've ever heard from the band - a weird bendy melody line that repeats. I got chills. I predict that song will make it's way into their concerts in the future. The constant hammering riff(NOT hammer-on, that's something different) near the end of "All Nightmare Long" also will make you take notice. "The Day That Never Comes" has a few slight echoes of "One" in the speedy parts. All in all, a great album. They are back on track. Let's hope it last. Maybe they should work with Rick Rubin from now on like Slayer has mostly done in their career that way you know what you are getting - a great album from a great legendary metal band. To quote a review I read in TIME magazine: "the result isn't a wall of sound; It's a giant barbed wire fence". Jump the fence and go buy it.
Free Music Review: Metallica Resurrected
Hit: 5 Stars
As a long time listener of Metallica, going back 26 years to the Kill `Em All album, I am proud to say that the most popular Metal band in existence have returned to their roots. I love the heavy Metallica of old and ever since The Black Album have been a bigger fan of Slayer than Metallica, although I still occasionally throw in "Modern Metallica" and really like specific songs from Load, Reload etc. Unlike many Metallica fans, I feel St. Anger was a superb experiment that requires many listens to appreciate. That being said, Death Magnetic contains doses from ALL of their past efforts. Metallica sound as relaxed and confident as ever and they use all of their past experience, including thrash metal (Kill Em All), The Black Album, St. Anger, And Justice For All to create ten songs of awesome, schizophrenic mayhem. Many of the songs feel like they are five songs in one, as if they were created by a genius child with ADD. It is said that each song was composed by all band members but as most fans already know, some members are more equal than others (Hetfield). But this may explain the turning on a dime in direction of the riffs. Somehow after several listens, each song comes together. Songs go in many directions, reset themselves (like in Cyanide) and then finish leaving you wanting more (even though most are more than seven minutes long). There is a kind of low tech mixing, rough and grungy, which must be on purpose (it is kind of like Maiden's first album), that gives you instant feedback that you are not listening to any Metallica album of old, although you hear riffs that could have been written at any time in their career. Rick Rubin has once again done a wonderful job! As many of you know, he is the man who brought Reign in Blood to the planet. Hammett is unleashed and sounds better than ever (again I hear a little Maiden influence showing up, which I don't really recall in the past)! Ulrich has laid down some of his best skin bashing ever and you won't be able to stop "air drumming." Several songs have the drums in front and the guitars follow beautifully. Hetfield has written some great, catchy, Black Album like lyrics that you will find yourself singing / screaming to. Favorites for me are The Day That Never Comes (Hammett sounds awesome!) and All Nightmare Long (great head banging tune). But there really isn't a weak song on the record in my opinion. You will want to purchase the entire album not just download a few songs. And this comes from a guy who usually only downloads three or four songs of any give album. This album will require many more listens to appreciate (it is not nearly as accessible to the masses as The Black Album) as each hidden goodie manifest itself in our consciousness, much like Reign in Blood. I have a hunch that it will reveal its greatness to fans and the masses in the long run.Free Music Review: gladly give it a 5 rating, GLADLY!
Hit: 5 Stars
Finally, Metallica is BACK! Yeah!
The thrash metal geniuses of the 80's have come ROARING back with this fantastic release, after a nearly 19 year wait! Yes my friends, it was 1989 when Metallica released their last "true" thrash/speed metal album, and for a bunch of musicians approaching 50 years old (I would assume so anyway) you can't expect anything better than this. You really can't!
In 1989, it was the first day of second grade for me, and the thoughts of And Justice for All were brand spankin' new. On the night before the first day of school, I threw up 8 times all over my house, because of a bad batch of corn, and combined with my nervous fears with the first day of school approaching, you can BET I wasn't going through happy times. But you know, with the release of And Justice for All, everything was all right in the end. I had Metallica in my life to help me with my childhood problems. Of course I would soon have more problems, and Metallica choosing to go a more commercial route wasn't exactly making my life easier!
I've waited ALL this time for Metallica to make me feel alright again, and they finally did it. It took until 2008, but hey, it finally happened. My second grade teacher would be proud (nah not really, she didn't like kids much, let alone hard rock music).
Anyway, the PERFECT way to start an album is right here folks- "That Was Just Your Life". THAT is a perfect Metallica song. Thrashy guitar riffs, speedy guitar solo, exciting and memorable vocals... this is exactly why we loved Metallica back in the 80's. EXACTLY! Probably not *quite* as good as the best stuff from Master of Puppets, but hey, not much IS at that level of quality anyway!
One thing I want to mention is how Death Magnetic is probably the best Metallica album for melodic guitar solos. Seriously, I can remember them easily, in nearly every song, because you can practically sing along with them! Great job!
The guitar riffs are fantastic. In fact, "Suicide and Redemption" is 10 whole MINUTES of guitar riffs changing and shifting around, and it's really good. Where was THIS Metallica all this time? THIS is the band we've wanted for 19 years! Don't tell me otherwise!
"The Unforgiven III" is pretty decent, with some pretty good vocals making it a glorious gem. Not as good as the other "Unforgivens" from the past, but a nice continuation.
I LOVE the vocals on "All Nightmare Long". Great song, that one is. The guitar playing at the end of "End of the Line" will absolutely rock your melodic little world. Oh yes it will!
Overall, THIS album is proof that Metallica still has, and always had, lots of talent. For the band to come back and release something THIS heavy, and THIS memorable... they deserve a lot of credit.
Free Music Review: Metal album of the year
Hit: 5 Stars
Turn the dial back to 1991 for a minute. That's the year Metallica's hit "Enter Sandman" and Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" both stormed on to the charts.
It was a turning point for rock music.
The former track marked the high point of popularity for a band that had dominated the metal scene for much of the previous decade with epic albums shot through with equal measure of dark lyrics and face-melting musicianship.
The latter song defined a just-budding decade and launched a million garage bands who hoped that a surplus of angst and flannel would make up for their meager repertoire of guitar chords.
Within one year, Cobain's catchy hooks and stripped-down act seemed to make the brooding extravagance of Metallica and other metal bands irrelevant.
The rest of the decade saw Metallica struggle to define itself and its direction. Although "St. Anger" was released in 2003, the album shared more in common with its lackluster predecessors from the 90s, "Load" and "Reload". The musical malaise of the 90s had carried over into the new millennium.
Fast forward to 2008. "Death Magnetic" hits shelves in September and the cosmos are set right again.
Under the mystic direction of production druid Rick Rubin, the band has crafted 10 songs that harken back to their glory days, when fans threw the horns to epic tracks like "And Justic For All", "Master of Puppets" and "Blackened".
This is also one of those rare cases of an album not having any bad songs. None. Even "Unforgiven III", dismissed by many critics as "unnecessary", would more than hold its own as a standout hit track on a lesser album.
There are, of course, genuine standouts, starting with the opening trio of songs -- "That Was Just Your Life", "The End of the Line" and "Broken, Beat and Scarred" -- that form an intro that must surely rank as one of the best ever.
Other tracks of note include "The Day That Never Comes", "All Nightmare Long", "Cyanide" and "Judas Kiss".
It's clear that Rubin succeeded in drawing out the best in each band member. Singer/guitarist James Hetfield's urgent snarl is in full force; Kirk Hammett's intricate noodling proves he's still one of the finest lead guitarists out there; Lars Ulrich's dual bass drums are like twin howitzers blasting away at your eardrums; and Robert Trujillo proves his mettle by serving up meaty basslines that bind the songs like steel bands.
One of my favorite one-sentence summaries of the album was given by a DJ on Seattle's KISW: "It's an album that punches you in the face repeatedly, and I mean that in a good way."
This is an amazing album that instantly revives old-school Metallica and proves Tenacious D's memorable adage: You can't kill the metal!
Free Music Review: Hands down Metallica's best album in 20 years
Hit: 5 Stars
Metal masters Metallica's brand new, spanking new, album entitled Death Magnetic is a must own and a return to the band's 1983-93 years.
In the 17 years since the release of Metallica's self titled masterpiece (a/k/a The Black Album), the band (singer/guitarist James Hetfield, drummer Lars Ulrich, lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and former bass player Jason Newsted) along with producer Bob Rock slowly but surely changed Metallica's sound from a great metal band (from 1983-93) into a corporate grunge rock band with the atrocities that were Load and Reload in 1996 and 1997 (I didn't count Live Binge and Purge, Garage Inc and S&M which were all good IMHO) and borderlining nu metal in 2003 with St Anger (which had Kirk Hammett's guitar solos absent). After St Anger, I was convinced Metallica were done (despite the addition of bass player Robert Trujillo, a great player).
However, my view changed when I heard Bob Rock was gone as producer and not coming back and the band hired master producer Rick Rubin (famed for his work with Slayer, The Beastie Boys, The Red Hot chili Peppers, AC/DC and Neil Diamond amongst others) and the band were going back to their roots and also standard tuning for the first time since the live 1993 CD/DVD set Live S**t Binge and Purge and Hammett's lead work is back with a vengeance on Death Magnetic.
The opening "That Was Just Your Life" is a great opener which reminds me of classic Metallica album openers like "Fight Fire With Fire", "Battery" and "Blackened". Next is "The End of the Line which is another great winner. We follow with another great piece out of "Broken, Beaten and Scarred". Next is the single "The Day That Never Comes" which reminds me of "Fade to Black", "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" and "One" with the quiet first half and the fast paced second half. "All Nightmare Long" follows and is another great rocker.
"Cyanide" is the second half starter and is another excellent rocker that not would have sounded out of place on the first four albums. "The Unforgiven III" follows and has horns and strings reminiscent of Ennio Morricone's "spaghetti western" film score work but is my favorite of the three "Unforgiven" parts and the guitar work here is excellent. "The Judas Kiss" is next and is a fast paced number which is superb. "Suicide and Redemption" follows and is the band's first true instrumental since "To Live Is to Die" and a great piece of music (hard to top "The Call of Ktulu" and "Orion" however). We end with "My Apocalypse" which is reminiscent to classic album closers like "Dyer's Eve" and "Damage Inc".
Death Magnetic is IMHO the best Metallica album since And Justice For All and is proof Metallica is not dead yet.
HUGELY RECOMMENDED!