There will be a new Metallica album in August 2007.
Produced by Rick Rubin (yeah, that guy) the band have so far written around 15 tracks. Recording will start early January.
Am interested to find out just what everyone here thinks of this. I’d guess that most wouldn’t be interested seeing how bad St Anger was…
But is there anyone amongst you who still holds out hope…?
St. Anger was definitely crap, but Metallica started losing me with Load and ReLoad. If they could create something as compelling as …And Justice For All again, I’d definitely be interested.
1002
after hearing their “the new song” and “the other new song” live soundboard recordings, all i can say is “god help us”.
St. Anger was definitely crap, but Metallica started losing me with Load and ReLoad. If they could create something as compelling as …And Justice For All again, I’d definitely be interested.
1002
Exactly the same with me. Justice was a great album, but I doubt we’ll hear anything like that again. Doesn’t bother me, as I guess I’ve been over them for more than a decade now.
So the Metallica deathwatch enters a new phase…
Wake me up when it’s over.
Ditto Guns and Poses.
YAWN
i’m not a Metalicca/G’n’R fan either. but damn. YAWN. ya twit.
I find it hilarious that people consistently flame Metallica whenever their name is mentioned as of late, yet applaud bands like Slayer who make the same album over and over and over. At least Metallica experimented with change at some point in their career.
The Black Album was a logical progression on from …And Justice For All (an album which I regard fairly highly…even though I am NOT a fan of thrash metal, which I think speaks volumes for Metallica btw).Justice was a bleak, bitter album full of loss and resentment. The Black Album was Metallica coming into the new decade and into the light - an antidote, it would seem, to all their previous suffering. It was natural that this album was to be lighter in tone and more ‘accessible’.
And yet what happens? The fans slag it because it didn’t sound like Master Of Puppets. Which is pretty dire, since thrash metal was a stale, outdated genre at the time. The band were hungry for change, willing to bring in outside influences and try out new ideas that they previously would have scoffed at (HELLO Bob Rock). All of this makes sense. If it’s not your cup of tea - so be it but it’s pretty tiring to hear the same old accusations levelled at the band time and time again (ie ‘they sold out’).
Load/Reload blew chunks in my opinion. A definite mistep by a once great band. Both were bland, generic and lacking anything of real interest musically. It seemed like they couldn’t make their minds who they wanted to be (Nick Cave or ALice In Chains??). Most of the songs present here sounded like they’d be more at home in a new car advert - such was their tepid, conforming to modern rock standards formula. I’m not ashamed to admit that - which is why I thought that St Anger (while certainly far from being anything resembling a classic album) was a step in the right direction. I believe they still have potential and Rick Rubin may just be the one to wrench it out of them.
Time will tell…
If anyone can pull this off, Rick Rubin can.
Actually I agree with almost everyone in this post so far. I really am not interested in Metallica after the Justice album. Black was ok, but Load/Reload and S&M were utter crap. St. Anger brought back a little bit of fury but was poorly executed.
And I have a lot of faith in Rubin. He has come out with a lot of great albums and influenced a lot of bands to do what is best for themselves and their sound. If anyone can do it he can.
I am not expecting another Justice or Master or even something as purely wondros as Kill Em All or Ride The Lightning. I just want some good music that I don’t have to completely slag since it is supposed to be “great” just because the moniker of “Metallica” is on it.
I am glad they branched out and tried other things but some bands really should just stay the same (hence Slayer is still popular with the 13th incarnation of their first album). Jst my 2 pence worth.
Peace!
Krowe
I always thought Metallica was extremely overrated, even back in the days when everybody still worshipped them. In my opinion there were loads of much better thrash metal bands out there and Metallica became so popular not because they were particularly talented but because they were in the right place and at the right time. With this said, I also, like Peligro, thought that St. Anger was a step in the right direction, if for no other reason then at least for ripping off Bathory’s “Requiem” in terms of production. Metallica is way too much of an iconic band to really get away with experimenting though. Slayer might not be a particularly brave band but at least they are smart enough to reap the rewards of being an icon in the scene. Metallica dont want to do this and this makes all the metalheads hate them but since their songwriting tends to be ok, the radio crowd eats it up.
Time will tell what this new album will be like. I thought Rick Rubin did a pretty bad job on the new Slayer album (made it sound as if it was recorded i the 80s, a far cry from the great dirty and aggro production of God Hates Us All) so I’m not hoping for much.
I always thought Metallica was extremely overrated, even back in the days when everybody still worshipped them
I always thought that about Slayer.
In my opinion there were loads of much better thrash metal bands out there and Metallica became so popular not because they were particularly talented but because they were in the right place and at the right time.
Loads of better thrash bands in the 80’s?? Like who? …And Justice… was light years ahead of anything in the genre at the time. Until Meshuggah came along there was nothing as technically proficient or as advanced musically in terms of thrash metal. Anthrax, Megadeth, Testament, Overkill???..these bands were a joke. Was I missing something??
OK. Maybe Sepultura could have challenged them. But not in '88. In 92 yes, but not in '88.
Metallica is way too much of an iconic band to really get away with experimenting though.
A bold statement. They grow as people - and their music grows with them. It matures…new influences begin to creep in - like Nick Cave for instance.
Slayer might not be a particularly brave band but at least they are smart enough to reap the rewards of being an icon in the scene.
The scene? What scene? You mean the ‘metal’ scene? I’d still consider Metallica to be a ‘metal’ band. And metal itself has changed dramatically over the years - so I’d expect no less from Metallica. Slayer are boring, safe and pedestrian. War! Death! Religion! Yawn! Gimme something I cansink my teeth into - not just widdly diddly guitar solos and laboured, relentless yelling.
Metallica dont want to do this and this makes all the metalheads hate them but since their songwriting tends to be ok, the radio crowd eats it up.
But they made it big on the strength of their past efforts. It wasn’t Load that made them huge. And it certainly wasn’t St Anger - which didn’t have any huge hit singles that I can remember.
And I STILL do not believe the black album was a ‘sellout’. The second half of that album is as good as or better than anything they had done up till that point (though as I said - shame about Enter Sandman).
Time will tell what this new album will be like.
The two new songs (‘Death Is Not The End’ and ‘Pick The Bone’) are OK. Nothing special just OK. Apparently Kirk Hammett was overheard in a bar in LA talking about the new material and said that a couple of the tracks they are working on employ the use of sampling - which could go either way. 'Cos in all fairness - when Metallica miss they really MISS!!
I thought Rick Rubin did a pretty bad job on the new Slayer album (made it sound as if it was recorded i the 80s, a far cry from the great dirty and aggro production of God Hates Us All) so I’m not hoping for much.
Yeah, Rubin is a bit hit and miss. But I like what he did with the first two Danzig albums.
I agree: …And Justice For All was just an awesome album, especially for it’s time. I mean there are still metal bands who can’t even go near that musically, almost 20 years later. The album was ‘sophisticated’ for the genre.
It doesn’t sound dated and the guitar work on the album was just something else - they didn’t bombard you with power chords as most did back then and now even. The lyrics too were not your usual thrash metal lyrics. I think it’s a great studio album - definitely on the top 10 of my list. As Peligro stated, who was up there with Metallica’s Justice, both musically and lyrically for that genre?
I haven’t paid attention to them after the Black album but I didn’t think that was a bad album. I didn’t think tracks like ‘My Friend of Misery’ and ‘The God That Failed’ were bad at all. The tracks like Enter Sandman was the work of Bob Rock and it’s evident in one of those documentaries that showed them working on the album.
But I’m happy for them, that they made it to where they are today. No matter what they release, they will always sell out anywhere in the world. They started in a garage and it took them almost a decade to even get good radio play. Sure they changed their style of music and appearance (why did people care about this??) but who wouldn’t over a 25 year period?
If you want Master of Puppets over and over again, there are many bands that still cater to that sound, all these years later.
Loads of better thrash bands in the 80’s?? Like who? …And Justice… was light years ahead of anything in the genre at the time. Until Meshuggah came along there was nothing as technically proficient or as advanced musically in terms of thrash metal. Anthrax, Megadeth, Testament, Overkill???..these bands were a joke. Was I missing something??
OK. Maybe Sepultura could have challenged them. But not in '88. In 92 yes, but not in '88.
Ok. Now I’m scared. I actually agree with Peligro 100% here. Therehas got to be something wrong with that.
Peace!
krowe
In my opinion there were loads of much better thrash metal bands out there and Metallica became so popular not because they were particularly talented but because they were in the right place and at the right time.
In the right place at the right time? As someone else said, it took them about 6 or 7 years before they strted to get real airplay. To me that sounds like perseverence not luck.
And as far as ‘better’ thrash bands go, around that time I was a fan of some of the Eurpean stuff like Sodom and Kreator which I thought defined ‘thrash metal’ alot better than Metallica, who I had always found to be slightly more ‘heavy metal’ than thrash.
Metallica were probably the most epic band of that genre. And I’m glad they branched out and tried new things - even though the results were mixed to say the least. Load is…ok, but Reload is appallingly bad for a band held in such high regard.
Unforgiven…2?!?!?!?!?! Oh dear.
there were rumors that they might reissue “justice” again with totally remixing it so the bass would be brought up (as we know you cant fuckin hear it on the album at all for whatever reason). i sure hope they’d do that…
Good on the remastering of Justice for the bass levels. I thought it was a cruel joke on Jason New Kid. But the overall album sound does need the bass levels pumped up.
I heard that same thing about why there’s no bass on Justice… Kind of a crappy way to razz the new guy.
who knows why they did that, i mean, the $5.98 ep garage days revisited had plenty of bass.
[reply]
Loads of better thrash bands in the 80’s?? Like who? …And Justice… was light years ahead of anything in the genre at the time. Until Meshuggah came along there was nothing as technically proficient or as advanced musically in terms of thrash metal. Anthrax, Megadeth, Testament, Overkill???..these bands were a joke. Was I missing something??
OK. Maybe Sepultura could have challenged them. But not in '88. In 92 yes, but not in '88.
Ok. Now I’m scared. I actually agree with Peligro 100% here. Therehas got to be something wrong with that.
Peace!
krowe[/reply]
Hey, where did you get to btw? I long for a good ‘battle’ here now and then, but tis just not the same without my old sparring partner.
And who would ever have believed it would take Metallica to finally bring us together??!?!
That, my friend, is scary!!
I guess I’m just more of a metal fan than many people here since I always though Slayer’s “Reign In Blood” kicks the ass of anything Metallica ever recorded and thrash metal for me is not about technical prowess (who the fuck cares about a musicians finesse? give me some good riffs instead) but about aggression, speed, attitude etc. Anyway, even in 88 Metallica was far from being the most ‘sophisticated’ thrash out there, with bands like Watchtower and Dark Angel already playing what nowadays is referred to as technical thrash.
…And Justive For All is a terribly boring album and I can never sit through it all the way without skipping something. I therefore completely dont see what you people like about this album.
[reply]I guess I’m just more of a metal fan than many people here since I always though Slayer’s “Reign In Blood” kicks the ass of anything Metallica ever recorded and thrash metal for me is not about technical prowess (who the fuck cares about a musicians finesse? give me some good riffs instead) but about aggression, speed, attitude etc. [/quote]
I don’t think there is a typical thrash sound. It’s not just about the aggression or speed. I thnk that’s more hardcore (ie DRI or Bad Brains or something).
I disagree with what you said about Reign In Blood. It hasn’t aged well and seems trite and silly compared to what’s out there now. …And Justice was far more menacing in terms of lyrical subject and tone. Reign has a cartoonish quality which makes it seem less believable.
Anyway, I’m kinda holding out for the new album. The two new songs weren’t that bad. There’s still hope.
I don’t like this new bassist though. He just doesn’t seem ‘Metallica’ enough.