METALLICA

PAGE UPDATED IN 2022

Reviewed:
- No Life 'Til Leather (1982, demo)
- Kill 'Em All (1983)
- Ride the Lightning (1984)
- Master of Puppets (1986)
- The $5.98 EP: Garage Days Re-Revisited (1987, EP)
- ...And Justice for All (1988)
- Metallica (1991)
- Load (1996)
- Until it Sleeps (1996, single)
- Reload (1997)
- Garage Inc. (1998)
- S&M (1999, live album)
- St. Anger (2003)
- Some Kind of Monster (2004)
- Death Magnetic (2008)

- Six Feet Down Under (2010, EP)
- Live at Grimey's (2010, live album)
- Lou Reed and Metallica: Lulu (2011, collaboration album)
- Beyond Magnetic (2012, EP)
- Through the Never (2013, live album)
- Hardwired...to Self Destruct (2016)

- 72 Seasons (2023)


NO LIFE 'TIL LEATHER (DEMO)          1982

No I don't own one of the actual, original pressings, just some random bootleg that I found on eBay, from Bulgaria or somewhere random. The jewel case packaging is cheap and simplistic, but the printing on the disc looks okay I guess. All I cared about was actually having my own copy of No Life 'til Leather with some form of printed packaging, and that's what I got. Anyway, this demo is legendary. Probably one of metal's most famous demos ever, in all fairness. It's not the roots of thrash per say, more like the beginning of thrash. In fact, all songs on the demo can be found on their following 1983 debut (Kill 'Em All), albeit in early state. All the main riffs were in place, though 'Seek and Destroy' is drastically shorter here than on Kill 'Em All. And did I mention the line-up? Obviously James Hetfield (vocals/rhythm guitar) and Lars Ulrich (drums) were on board, but Dave Mustaine (lead guitar/backing vocals) and Ron McGovney (bass) were still around for the recording of No Life 'til Leather. Love him or hate him, Mustaine's contribution to early Metallica is (or was) hugely significant. Not only did he co-write most of these songs, if not all, you can actually hear his voice over James' at times. I don't think I'd go so far as to say I actually like these demos more than the finished products on the debut record, but it is really cool to hear the double vocals when they are present. In fact, 'The Four Horsemen' is still 'The Mechanix' - entirely Mustaine penned version of the song which later appeared on Megadeth's debut, Killing is my Business...and Business is Good!. Musically, I always preferred 'Mechanix' to 'Four Horseman' purely for the fact it is played, much, much faster, but the lyrics are total nonsense; full of sexual innuendos involving automotive mechanical engineering. 

Is this a must-have? Well, it is if you can find a decent bootleg copy for a reasonable price, especially if you're a) a die-hard Metallica fan and b) interested in hearing thrash's very beginnings, pre-KIll 'Em All, Show No Mercy etc. The debut album clears up the production and improves on certain other aspects of the songs, naturally, but it is pretty damn cool to actually hear Dave Mustaine's voice on these Metallica oldies. 

Adam's rating: 9/10

KILL 'EM ALL          1983          (Vertigo)

- Standouts: All good, 'Seek & Destroy' is overplayed but not calling it a standout just seems wrong. 

Metallica - the band metalheads love to hate, yet almost every metalhead simultaneously loves at least a handful of their records all the same. Me personally, I've had my ups and downs with Metallica. A lot of their stuff I love, but their discography is far from perfect. One album I do still love to this day, is Kill 'Em All. All the songs that appeared on the No Life 'Til Leather demo also appear on this debut, and Ron McGovney was replaced by Cliff Burton while Dave Mustaine was replaced by Kirk Hammett. Let's be honest, most fans likely consider this to be the classic lineup. I don't think I've ever heard anybody criticise Cliff as a bass player, and Kirk was the better fit for Metallica even if I consider Mustaine to be the better guitar player of the two (and at least Megadeth let Dave do his own thing). In terms of the music, this is primitive thrash metal alright, but it's only primitive by today's standards 'cos it was one of the first of it's kind. The only other previous albums that were as extreme as this one that I can think of are Venom's Welcome to Hell and Black Metal, from '81 and '82. Naturally, Kill 'Em All set the benchmark for thrash and we soon had debut albums from Slayer and Anthrax not too long after. 

Metallica were a gateway band for me. No surprise there. I've been listening to them since I was thirteen, but in the past four or five years, I've barely listened to them. Some songs here and there, yes, but I haven't actually sat down and listened to any Metallica record in full for a very long time - so I was looking forward to redoing this page. Anyhow, the thirty year old me still digs Kill 'Em All like the thirteen year old me did. James isn't exactly thinking long and hard about his lyrics, and his vocals are unhinged and screechy - this is the sound of an immature Metallica - but it's also the sound of a young, dumb and energetic Metallica! And the actual music still rips! You really can't go wrong with the crazy introductory 'Hit the Lights'. I've always loved how it starts with a shit ton of distorted guitars and Lars just pounding away at his kit before the thrashing begins. Sorta reminds me of how 'Speed King' starts on Deep Purple In Rock. 

Depending on my mood, I'll still take Mustaine's 'Mechanix' over 'The Four Horsemen' - and vice versa. What Metallica did after Dave was gone was re-write Mustaine's silly lyrics for (slightly) less stupid ones, slow down the tempo and extend the song by adding more riffs and new parts. The result is still a great song alright. Slightly proggy even - a foreshadowing to later works? 'Motorbreath' is much more simplistic by comparison, but is a fun and catchy little thrasher. Same with 'Jump in the Fire', which actually features a surprising amount of groove in it's riffs. And I love Cliff Burton's bass solo '(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth' - his bass is so distorted, and the way he plays the notes almost makes it sound like a guitar solo. It's the perfect introduction to the fastest song on here, 'Whiplash'. This is the essence of thrash, what the genre is all about in it's purest form. Razor-sharp riffs, lyrics about goin' nuts at metal concerts, blazing guitar solos - it's all here! Speaking of guitar solos, Kirk Hammett pulls off some really good shit throughout this record. Not at all surprising when you consider he was one of Joe Satriani's pupils prior to his joining of Metallica. 'Phantom Lord' is one of my favourites. It's another full-speed thrasher with a melodic break in the middle that is just so damn cool. Again, shows the band's diversity even at such an early stage in their career. 'No Remorse' has one of the best opening riffs to any Metallica track while 'Metal Militia' is an appropriately blistering finale.

This is a classic album. Nearly every song still manages to be great to this day. But I originally gave it a 9.5/10. I just redid my Annihilator page, and I don't think I like Kill 'Em All more than I do Alice in Hell if we're talkin' thrash. That album has always been very important to me, so I think I was going a little overboard with my 9.5 Kill 'Em All rating. As good as the songs are, I've never liked the production and mix on this one. It's not the worst-sounding Metallica album, but the guitar tones aren't quite as nasty as I'd like them to be. The drums have this slightly 'soft' texture, and forgive me for saying this, but 'Seek & Destroy' actually bores me a little these days. I've heard it a billion times (probably because it's arguably the most popular song from this album) and I always thought it needed speeding up, somewhat. The song is nearly seven minutes long and I never understood why. It probably doesn't help that this was one of the first metal songs I learned to play on guitar many, many moons ago and burned myself out on those catchy riffs. And at over fifty minutes, the album as a whole is a little too long for my tastes. Unless you're doing something very creative I often just get tired of non-stop thrashing after the forty-five minute mark. 

That said, this is an extremely important record to metal in general, and I'd still say it's up there as one of my favourites from this band. Yeah, they'd get smarter on coming records (and also dumber on others too...), but Kill 'Em All is a prime example of what thrash metal represents at it's bare-bones.

Adam's rating: 9.3/10

RIDE THE LIGHTNING          1984          (Vertigo)

- Standouts: All, but then what did you expect? 

This is my favourite Metallica album. Not just because it was one of the first proper metal albums I ever heard at age thirteen, but because I find that the songwriting balances out everything that was great about this band in the first place to the correct levels. What I mean by that is, when this thing thrashes, it thrashes hard. When it tries to simply be heavy, it really is heavy. When it wants to be proggy or mellow, it does things well enough that it isn't lame. In short, Ride the Lightning's tracks are more-or-less excellent, but chances are you already knew that. I love the way 'Fight Fire With Fire' starts off with that happy little acoustic introduction, before exploding into the raging thrasher it is. Much of the title track is more of a mid-tempo affair, although it does speed up when it needs to. Every riff is spot-on, Kirk's solo is infinitely memorable, James' vocal arrangements and lyrics are metal to the core... what more do you want? The heaviest track on here is 'For Whom the Bell Tolls'. It's slower, with riffs that Tony Iommi would've killed for back in the 70's. The chorus is oddly catchy too, and Cliff Burton adds some unforgettable bass melody parts to the main riffage. Absolute classic stuff. 

The band recorded their first ever ballad with 'Fade to Black' - and what a song! Plenty of later ballads Metallica penned manage to piss me off, but this one is sublime. The mellower bits are great, but the song also adds plenty of heavy transitions to remind the listener that they're still listening to Metallica. I don't have much to say about 'Trapped Under Ice' except the fact it's an underrated, speeding thrash piece that deserves more attention. 'Escape' doesn't get enough credit either. Yeah, it's mid-tempo not as heavy as the previous numbers, but it paces this record out nicely. I will admit that the riffs on this one are slightly less inspired, but whatever. I dig it. 'Creeping Death' on the other hand, is an absolute epic metal monster of a tune. Especially that slower "Die! By my hand!" bit around four minutes in! On top of the songs, the production here is much stronger than Kill 'Em All's. Everything just feels so much bigger and more expansive this time, and this totally does the songs the justice they deserve. The fact there's eight songs as opposed to ten makes this is a much more refined, streamlined album than Kill 'Em All.

The only real downside for me is 'The Call of Ktulu'. It's not that it's a poor instrumental or anything like that - the soloing is outstanding - but it is still an instrumental (albeit a heavy, metallic one), and the longest song on the whole record at nearly nine minutes playtime. Most people tend to label 'Escape' as the weakest track, but for me it's easily 'Call of Ktulu'. That said, 'Ktulu' hardly spoils Ride the Lightning, it's just that some days I can stop listening after 'Creeping Death' and still feel satisfied without hearing it.

Yeah, I guess I'd have to throw this up there with the greatest metal albums of all time. It's not the best, nor would I call it a 'masterpiece', but as far as thrash metal goes it comes close. Not every song is perfect - as much as I love 'Escape', it's still kinda janky at times. And like I said, 'Call of Ktulu' isn't always a song I can be arsed to sit through. Next to a lot of the competition of the time, this album doesn't have the unintentional goofiness that, say, Exodus' Bonded by Blood, Slayer's Show No Mercy or Anthrax's Fistful of Metal had. It sounds much more accomplished than Kill 'Em All too, despite that record still being a classic and only released one year prior. I have zero clue if this is true or not, but I reckon albums like Ride the Lightning actually helped more critics take metal seriously. If that is true, you've gotta respect the Metallica lads for that.

Adam's rating: 9.6/10

MASTER OF PUPPETS          1986          (Vertigo)

- Standouts: Everything, but you can't deny how overplayed this album is!

Most overrated metal album of all time? Most overplayed metal album of all time? Master of Puppets could quite easily qualify for either of those statements, but to a lot of people it could easily qualify as the best metal album of all time. I find it to be overplayed... not necessarily overrated because I get why people love it so much (I did too at one time), but I must admit, I do hear these songs a little too often. Obviously if you don't associate yourself with the rock or metal scene at all, then you probably won't ever hear these songs, but when you attend rock and metal concerts, festivals as often as I do, you can't always escape Master of Puppets. Even when you go to rock-themed bars and pubs you're almost guaranteed to hear the song 'Master of Puppets' at some point during your night out. There's a rock-themed pub in my town that I used to regularly be boozing in when I was in my late teens-mid twenties, and someone would always stick on either 'Battery', 'The Thing That Should Not Be', 'Master of Puppets' or 'Welcome Home (Sanitarium)' from this record (or all four for that matter) on the jukebox, along with 'Enter Sandman', 'Sad But True' and that cover of 'Whiskey in the Jar' they did. Hell, I still go in there for a pint from time to time and I'm surprised if I'm in there for more than three hours and don't hear 'Master of Puppets'. Walking around the Bloodstock Open Air arena I'll probably hear one of the rides blasting this album all day 24/7, or trekking through the campsites of Download festival there's bound to be people listening to this thing through a bluetooth speaker. Tune into Planet Rock on DAB radio and look... now playing, fuckin' 'Master of Puppets'!

It's true, I'm bored of this record. But it's not Metallica's fault.

This album is like a slightly-more concentrated Ride the Lightning. The songs are still great even if they are overplayed. 'Battery' is essentially 'Fight Fire With Fire' part two - it's the fastest song on the album (like 'Fight Fire With Fire' was on RtL) and even comes with an acoustic intro... like 'Fight Fire With Fire'. 'The Thing That Should Not Be' is the slow, heavy counterpart to 'For Whom the Bell Tolls'. Is it better? I dunno, it's not better or worse... just more overplayed! 'Welcome Home (Sanitarium)' is Master of Puppets' answer to 'Fade to Black'. 'Orion' is another eight minute-plus instrumental, just like another instrumental I know ('The Call of Ktulu', in case you couldn't figure that out). Burton's bass tones on 'Orion' are killer, I'd like to add. All fine songs!

The three tracks I'm not quite as burned out on are 'Disposable Heroes', 'Leper Messiah' and 'Damage, Inc.'. 'Disposable Heroes' is still the raging slab of meaty thrash metal that it always was. Lengthy too, a prelude to what was to come on the next album? 'Leper Messiah' is slower and heavier - maybe slightly less exciting than any of the previous tracks, but like I said, at least I'm not entirely fed up with hearing it yet. As for 'Damage, Inc.' - this one kicks ass, like 'Disposable Heroes'. Nice and upfront, no-bullshit thrash to end the record on.

How do I even rate this album?! At heart, I know it's as good as Ride the Lightning, yet I almost never listen to it anymore because I've heard it a billion times without even having to physically play it myself! 

Erm, 9.4/10 - that'll do. I mean, if I'd only just discovered Master of Puppets none of this bitching would be relevant. I honestly believe if the situation reversed and Ride the Lightning was the album getting all the airplay, then MoP would be my favourite. And obviously I can't deny this record's importance. 'Course, I probably won't listen to it in full again (by choice) until I re-review it in another five years time, but we'll gloss over that.

You probably already know this story, but in 1986 Metallica also lost Cliff Burton when the tour bus crashed in Sweden. RIP.

Adam's rating: 9.4/10


THE $5.98 EP: GARAGE DAYS RE-REVISITED          1987          (Vertigo)
Okay, well this EP was actually included on the second disc of Garage Inc., so I've actually been hearing these songs for years, but in 2018 it was remastered and reissued to CD, finally. Yeah I know, I didn't exactly need a copy, but it looks cool and makes for a nice collectors disc. Plus, the original vinyl release really is a collector's item these days. Good luck finding an affordable copy. Anyhow, the 6 tracks on the EP are all covers of bands that either influenced them in some way, or are simply just tributes. You've got the obligatory Diamond Head number ('Helpless'), Killing Joke ('The Wait'), Budgie ('Crash Course in Brain Surgery'), Misfits ('Last Caress/Green Hell') and the underrated NWOBHM band Holocaust ('The Small Hours'). I've always liked this thing from start to finish. It's just the band rockin' out and having fun, and the production is actually decent too, unlike something else that would come shortly afterward...
Adam's rating: 8/10

...AND JUSTICE FOR ALL          1988          (Vertigo)

- Standouts: Basically everything, again.

This is about as smart and creative as Metallica ever got in terms of the songwriting. I wouldn't even describe ...And Justice for All purely as a 'thrash album'. It's more like prog metal with the thrashy overtones of Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets. In general, the songs are all pretty long and I'd argue that some of the best stuff they ever recorded is on here. Opener 'Blackened' immediately displays the band cramming in as many heavy riffs and tempo changes as possible, but the good news is that they struck gold with each and every segment of this track. Shoving as much material into once song is all well and good so long as none of it is throwaway shite. Fortunately, none of this track sucks, and things only get better on the near-ten minute epic title track. The song '...And Justice for All' is one of my all-time favourite tracks. I'm quite often on the fence with deliberately long songs - they have to be consistent to be good, but this one is stuffed full of top-quality metal that it really doesn't feel like a nine minute-plus tune. It's over before you know it. I also really like 'Eye of the Beholder'. Despite being one of this record's singles, I feel it actually deserves more attention. The chuggy, groove-based nature of the riffs in this track are very infectious.

'One' is the massive song that gave them their first music video, and easily the most talked-about, most recognised track from ...And Justice for All. You know it already - it's a fine ballad with enough melodic, clean sections as well as enough heavy parts to satisfy the metalheads. There's nothing I can say about it that hasn't already been said. On the other hand, 'Harvester of Sorrow' used to be my least favourite track on this album, and I'm not really sure why. It's grown on me over the years. Yeah, it's not what you'd call a thrasher, but the chugging riffs are heavy as hell and the simplicity of this song (next to the majority of the songs here) makes it a standout for me these days. Makes for a good live anthem, if you ask me. Even 'The Shortest Straw', a song which is rarely spoken of, gets my vote. Rock-solid proggy metal with plenty of thrashy elements thrown in for good measure.

The album manages to keep it's momentum flowing on the groovy riff-monster that is 'The Frayed Ends of Sanity', with it's ever-changing time signatures and Wizard of Oz-inspired introduction. Such a cool tune. And I'd probably say that my favourite instrumental would be 'To Live is to Die' next to 'Orion' and 'The Call of Ktulu'. There's something about this number's structure that doesn't so obviously sound like an instrumental, as strange as that seems. To me it sounds as if James could've easily sang over it, but he doesn't - and I like it for that reason. To wrap things up, the band end on a shorter - and by shorter, I mean five minutes - thrashy piece, 'Dyers Eve'. Not a bad way to break up the potential monotony of cocking about with prog.

No matter how good the songs are however, you just cannot look past the famously botched production of this record. What were they thinking?! Sure, the guitar tones are nice enough. However, Jason Newsted replaced the deceased Cliff Burton on bass, so James and Lars did their very best to make sure you couldn't hear Jason's fretwork whatsoever. This was some sort of bullshit hazing ritual to make Jason feel as uncomfortable as possible, and frankly, Mr. Hetfield and Mr. Ulrich should've acted like fucking adults and produced this thing properly. Of course, ask them why they turned down the bass and they claim they did it 'cos their 'hearing was shot' after rigorous touring - total horseshit. Jason says it was deliberately done to belittle him, and even one of the engineers backed him up and blamed Lars for the whole thing. All this means that the album sounds incredibly thin, dry and 'tinny'. It honestly sounds like a twenty-first century Rick Rubin-produced album (*bleh*!).

It really is a shame about the production, because most of what's here musically is better than what you heard on Master of Puppets in my opinion. Maybe even Ride the Lightning too, although I'll never actually admit this. Still, despite the production flaws, I've gotten used to the way ...And Justice for All sounds to the point where I barely even think about Jason's bass (or lack thereof) anymore. The thought usually comes into my head once or twice during the first few minutes of the album, then it rarely re-enters. Of course, you can wave goodbye to proggy Metallica for quite some time now. Things are about to take a new musical course, for better or worse... well, we all know it was for the worse even if album sales spoke differently...

Adam's rating: 9.4/10

METALLICA          1991         (Vertigo)

- Standouts: 'Enter Sandman', 'Sad But True', 'Holier than Thou', 'The Unforgiven', 'Wherever I May Roam', 'Don't Tread On Me', 'Through the Never', 'Nothing Else Matters'

This is an overrated record alright, there I said it. Metallica aka the Black Album sold a shit ton of records, brought them new legions of fans, all because they watered down their sound, stopped thrashing so hard and the fact James even took singing lessons to brush up on his vocal style. Thing is, I get it though. I don't think any of the guys were clever enough to outsmart themselves with a record more intricate than ...And Justice for All, so they went the other way and focused on writing hooky heavy metal tunes as well as hiring producer Bob Rock to sharpen up the sound. And it worked, as the sales proved.

But if we're talkin' about the music itself, I can hardly call this 'my favourite Metallica album'. I consider it to be overrated because there's a hell of a lot of people out there that do consider this to be the band's finest work. I grew up a metalhead, so it's rather predictable that I think the best material this band ever wrote span across the first four records. Still, the fact I think this album is overrated doesn't actually mean I think it's bad. In fact, I reckon about half of the songs on here are excellent. 'Enter Sandman' is in the top three most overplayed Metallica tunes of all time that needs no musical description. I never need to hear it again - but it's still really good whichever way you look at it. 'Sad But True' - yeah, this one's pretty overplayed too, but James' vocal arrangements are brilliant, and the song is actually really darn heavy. Kid Rock may have ruined it a bit with 'American Badass', but we'll gloss over that. Also, I've always thought they killed it on track three, 'Holier than Thou'. They're not thrashing like they were in '86 here, but it still manages to kick your ass in a different sort of way. Those riffs are massive, chunky, heavy-duty affairs.

Yep, I also really like 'The Unforgiven'. It's certainly my favourite of the eventual trilogy of 'Unforgiven' tracks. Again, 'The Unforgiven' is a ballad that they really pull off well. For the most part I think Metallica have always been good at ballads, which is something I don't get to say very often about a metal band. Like, I recently re-did my Annihilator page and some of their ballads are absolutely fucking embarrassing. Unlike Metallica, who've got 'Fade to Black', 'Welcome Home (Sanitarium)', 'One', 'Until It Sleeps' and 'The Unforgiven' to brag about. They've also got 'Wherever I May Roam'. Holy shit does this song rule! It's gotta be in my top five Metallica tracks, surely?! It definitely has my favourite Hammett solo that's for sure. Everything about this song is awesome - the riffs, the vocal arrangements, the moody, Middle Eastern-tinged intro... this is one you play loud no matter what the situation. Even 'yer Nan gets a kick out of this one. Probably. As for 'Don't Tread on Me', this is another cool number. Maybe a little overly simplistic, but the riff is catchy as hell and the song in general is still one of the heavier one's on the album. 

'Through the Never' is about as fast as they get on the record. It's not blisteringly quick, but it does still sorta thrash! It gets my approval either way, 'cos it's still a great tune regardless. Predictably, so does 'Nothing Else Matters'. This is the second ballad - I don't enjoy it as much as I do 'The Unforgiven', and it certainly gets a little too much radio airplay, but yet again, it's overplayed because it's good. Some lovely, finger-picked guitar playing throughout - in fact, if you were looking to learn some finger pickin' guitar techniques, this is a great track to learn. There's not a lot of heavy parts to it, but it's dark, brooding and doesn't reek of pop in any way, shape or form. The remaining four tracks don't stack up to the rest in my opinion, but they're all still pretty solid overall - except for 'My Friend of Misery', which bores me. 'Of Wolf and Man' is a typical 90's mid-tempo Metallica number. Memorable enough, with some heaviness, but nothing special. 'The God That Failed' is basically the same kind of affair. Harmless, but definitely weaker than any of the first eight tracks. 'The Struggle Within' is probably my favourite of these filler songs, 'cos at least it does kinda have something in common with early Metallica, in that it's one of the faster tracks on this record.

Metallica are insanely popular, and this is the album that all the metal purists point their finger towards as to why that is. Many of 'em label it 'sellout' material. Hell, I used to do that when I was in my mid-to-late teens (the peak of my hardcore metal obsession). Thing is, even though they were watering down their sound - especially compared to Justice - to me, streamlining the music is a better phrase than simply 'dumbing it down'. And yeah, James took up singing lessons - but can you imagine how much worse these songs would have sounded if he still sounded like he did on the first four albums?! True, his voice has pretty much always sounded like it does on the Black Album since he took those lessons. He does tend to have this quirk where goes "AAA!!" at the end of a lot of his words, e.g. "...gone insane, but the memory remains-AAA!!". No? Maybe it's just me who hears this?! Anyhow, the addition of Bob Rock as producer also worked well in their favour for this album, 'cos it sounds much richer, much more textured than Master of Puppets. And obviously it sounds a trillion times better than ...And Justice for All in this respect too.

More importantly, eight out of twelve songs here are just really fucking good and accessible metal songs in my opinion. However, with those four filler numbers at the end, I'd have probably given this thing a 9/10. Without them, this record would still be over forty minutes long, and that'd suit me just fine. As it stands, this is largely a very strong album, albeit in need of some condensing. Overrated, yes, but also over-panned.

Adam's rating: 8.9/10

LOAD          1996          (Vertigo)

- Standouts: 'Ain't My Bitch', '2x4', 'The House Jack Built', 'Until It Sleeps', 'King Nothing', 'Hero of the Day', 'Wasting My Hate', 'Ronnie', 'The Outlaw Torn'

Whether or not you liked the Black Album, it was still a classic. Load on the other hand, is an arguably even more controversial record by comparison. If you thought the boys were taking the piss by stripping-down their songs on the last album, well now they're throwing in hard rock, blues, alternative and grunge influences into the songs! They're also giving you fourteen tracks, meaning this album is nearly eighty fucking minutes long!! Back in the good ol' days, that'd be considered double album length! Oh, just to annoy the elitist metalhead fanbase side of things, they also cut their hair around this time. Fair enough really, they were all well into their thirties at this point. All those photos in the CD booklet of them posing like male models on the other hand, still look silly to this day (Kirk looked more like Lenny Kravitz around this time...). But whatever.

Honestly, for the most part I like Load. It wasn't exactly my cup of tea when I heard it in school, but it's grown on me over the years. It's too fucking long, I can't exactly disagree with that. But despite all the toying with newer sounds, I still wouldn't say they were selling out. Yeah, yeah - some people out there must think I'm being daft by saying that, but if anything Load is more experimental than any of their past albums, and not in a poppy, mainstream kind of way. Take a song like the moody 'The House Jack Built' - there's all kinds of weird stuff going on, from that strange vocal-guitar solo thing, the bluesy nature of the riffs and the oddly-catchy chorus ("the higher you are, the further you fall..."). Yet it still retains some sort of metallic edge, which is what you want. And the foreboding 'Until It Sleeps' has some definite 90's alternative/grunge vibes, but it is yet another great ballad on Metallica's long list of, erm, great ballads! 

'King Nothing' was chosen as one of the singles and I can see why. The bass riff is to die for, the chorus is simple enough and sticks with you, the vocal arrangements are great... what a fine track! It's more of an alternative metal song than it is a straight-up heavy metaller, but that's no bad thing. It kind of irks me sometimes that there's people out there who think Metallica can't do anything well except thrash. James Hetfield went from tuneless shrieking to actually singing and they wrote an entire record of catchy songs on the Black Album. I'd also argue that a large proportion of their best thrash riffs were written by an ex-member of the band who never even recorded an album with Metallica - Dave Mustaine! Uh, anyway, 'King Nothing' - a very good track. 'Hero of the Day' is certainly sitting on the ballad spectrum; one half of this song manages to be quite pretty, but it does build up to be quite a heavy song eventually. The picked guitar lines are pleasant enough that I remember learning to play this song on my guitar some years ago. I kinda like 'Cure' too - built around some catchy, heavy, bluesy riffage, this one breaks up the pace of the album rather nicely. 

Some of the tracks aren't especially 'experimental', but are just decent anyway. I've always liked opener 'Ain't My Bitch'. It's a fine, fun slice of heavy metal/hard rock with little in the way of screwin' around with new influences. The hooks are great, the riffs are solid - just a great tune. '2 X 4' is really cool too - this is quite a heavy number with a shit ton of groove in the riffs. 'Wasting My Hate' is an upbeat, punky track and one of the more fun songs on this album. And 'Ronnie' is good too. There's a whiff of funk rock with some of the riffs, and you might call me crazy, but I can actually hear a bit of David Coverdale/Glenn Hughes-era Deep Purple in it (i.e. the Burn album)! For me, that certainly is a cool thing! I must admit that I'm already tired by the time the atmospheric nine minute-plus closer 'The Outlaw Torn' comes on, but this is another extremely solid epic in it's own right. James' singing on this one is among his best ever. This is a song that I think would go down well live, but they pretty much ignore anything from Load full-stop in the live setting, which is a shame.

It's impossible to overlook the fact there's fourteen songs on here however. It was never gonna be a case of 'all killer, no filler', no sir. 'Bleeding Me' is unnecessarily long at eight minutes. It's not like it's a proggy, ...And Justice for All kind of song either, it's a slow, plodding, tired and frankly quite boring song. Kirk's guitar solo is nice, I'll give it that - but if it largely bores me then it's just not a very good song, end of. 'Poor Twisted Me' also suffers from sounding tired, with a definite lack of energy. I quite like the bluesy nature of the riffs again, but this definitely ain't no standout. And 'Mama Said'... meh, it's not really bad, just a little too experimental, even for this record. It's essentially an acoustic, country-based ballad (!!) that I could do without. At least it isn't completely embarrassing. I think if they'd done something like this a few years prior, it could quite easily have been, but there's a maturity to Load that I think almost gives them a free pass to write songs outside of the box. 'Thorn Within', for whatever reason, doesn't really work for me either. I like some of the heavier parts, but it feels like we've heard it all before, for some reason.

Like the predecessor, I may have given a Load a higher score if they'd left out a few songs and cut the overall length back by twenty or so minutes. On the plus side, even if there are far too many tracks on here (and not all of them are that good), I don't think any of them are actually bad. The one's I do like, I really like, and I still consider the whole package to be great. I get why there's a lot of people out there that don't like this thing, because this is an album that even if you consider the Black Album to be one of their best, you still might not get on with Load. It's a very strange record by comparison, but like I said in the beginning, it's really grown on me throughout my adulthood. Some metal bands just aren't good at diversifying - I can think of some horrible records where a band experimented and failed miserably (e.g. Megadeth's Risk, Judas Priest's Turbo, Saxon's Destiny... and some people would argue Black Sabbath's Never Say Die!, but I kinda like some of the stuff on that one...) but Metallica to me were mature enough to pull it off properly. 

Adam's rating: 8.1/10

UNTIL IT SLEEPS          1996           (Vertigo)

'Until it Sleeps' was a big hit for the band, from the Load album. The single features some fucking terrible industrial techno 'Herman Melville Remix', apparently done by Moby. I don't know why the band felt it was necessary to feature this, they were probably just trolling the fans like they did with the Lou Reed collaboration in 2011. There's also a live song, 'Kill/Ride Medley', a combination of parts from 'The Four Horseman', 'Ride the Lightning', 'No Remorse', 'Hit the Lights', 'Seek & Destroy' and 'Fight Fire With Fire'. I almost never pick up singles, but I found this for two quid in the local record store and it was in an actual jewel case for once, not one of those crappy thin cases most singles come in.

RELOAD          1997          (Vertigo)

- Standouts: 'Fuel', 'Devil's Dance', 'Carpe Diem Baby', 'Prince Charming', 'Low Man's Lyric'

I'm one of those weirdos that actually really digs most of what Load had to offer. It took time, but as an adult I can appreciate those songs. Surely then, it's cleverly-titled follow-up, Reload, has gotta be good too, no? Well yeah, it's not really terrible as such, but the quality of the songs this time around are much less consistent in my opinion. The majority of them were written during the Load sessions; in fact, the initial idea was to release a double album, but given that Reload is only about three or so minutes shorter than it's predecessor, I'm glad they didn't do that. Who the fuck wants to sit through almost one hundred and sixty minutes of mid-90's Metallica?! Even if you sandwiched Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets into a double album, it still wouldn't work.

Naturally, the whole vibe is very similar to the last record. And the good songs on here can once again be very good. You can't tell me 'Fuel' isn't awesome! It starts off with James screaming "GIMME FUE, GIMME FAE, GIMME DABAJABAZAAA - OOOOOOOOOO!" (roughly translated: "Give me fuel, give me fire, give me that which I desire - ooooo!") before launching into a hectic slab of fun speed metal, with great riffs and surprisingly catchy hooks throughout! 'Fuel' is accessible Metallica at their best. And I very much like 'Devil's Dance' as well - cool, stompin' riffs, a whole 'lotta groove... good stuff. 'Carpe Diem Baby', despite the stupid title, is a strong number too. It's largely slow and sleazy stuff, but each and every element of this track is memorable that it stands out among the 90's Metallica catalogue. 

Other tracks on here that I like include 'Bad Seed'. Can't really give a specific reason why, it's just decent. Nice and heavy, driving rhythm - gets my foot 'tappin. 'Where the Wild Things Are' is far removed from what you'd call 'metal', treading more into the alternative rock/grunge side of things - but I enjoy it. It's more weird and twisted than usual, but still heavy in a different sense whilst retaining enough hooks and melodies. Works for me. The rocker 'Prince Charming' gets the tempo flowing again - good, groovin' riffs. Not all that heavy as such, but they're still rockin' out on it, and it's definitely full of energy. Also, 'Low Man's Lyric' is by far the better ballad of the two on here (the other I'll talk about soon...). Dunno if I'd call it a genuine classic Metallica ballad, but it's a fine acoustic piece that's dripping with atmosphere. 'Attitude' is a nice and simple number that I like for the same reasons as 'Bad Seed'. 'Fixxxer' ain't a bad way to end things on either. It's not a truly great song (nowhere near the finale that is 'The Outlaw Torn'), but it's still a decent, heavy blues-focused cut with more of that unmistakeable groove Metallica had around this period.

There's a few songs on here that I'm either on the fence with, or simply do not enjoy. I've always thought 'The Memory Remains' was a bit silly. The quick spoken-word intro to 'Fuel' is kinda silly too, but somehow it worked on that track. But when 'The Memory Remains' kicks off with James over-exaggerating the lyric "Fortune fame, mirror vain, gone insaaaaane, but the memoreee remainsssss!", I kinda cringe. I guess I do sorta like the almost psychedelic nature of this tune, but I really hate that Marianne Faithfull guest vocal solo. She's sounding particularly tuneless, old and cranky on here. I just can't dig it. And I could do without 'The Unforgiven II'. Aside from sharing some melodies similar to the vocal arrangements in the original 'Unforgiven', this supposed sequel comes nowhere near the class of the first one. I'll admit that it isn't exactly awful, just more generic and cootie-cutter than usual. It's a bang-average alternative rock ballad. 

'Better than You' somehow won the 'best metal performance' Grammy or some such bullshit, despite barely even qualifying as metal in the first place. Metallica are a critics' band, that can be the only reason why they won. In truth, 'Better than You' is listenable, straightforward hard rock at most, with some simple riffage and a mildly catchy chorus. Certainly not bad, but Metallica can do so much better than this. I guess 'Slither' is mildy better - I especially like the groovy riffs and vocal arrangements of the verses, but that "See you crawlin'!" lyric manages to turn me off this one a little. The rest of the song I quite like, but I can't overlook that annoying ditty in the song.

I really thought I'd be too generous giving Reload a 7/10 at first, but given that I do actually like nine of the thirteen tracks on here, that's more than enough enjoyment for me to consider this a solid record. Given how fucking long this album is, that's still a sizable chunk of goodness to digest. Thing is, even a lot of the good songs on here aren't quite up to the same standards as what you heard on Load, and certainly light years away from the quality of the Black Album or any of their 80's outputs. There's a definite sense of autopilot songwriting going on here, and I wouldn't be surprised if many of these songs are one's that never made it to Load, albeit with some fine-tuning here and there. It's like they've taken what was originally a mediocre song and made it simply 'good' but not 'great'. That said, there's still a portion of genuinely great tracks on here, namely 'Fuel', 'Low Man's Lyric' and 'Prince Charming'. 

Maybe this one will grow on me more again over time. I hope it does.

Adam's rating: 7/10

GARAGE INC.          1998           (Vertigo)

- Standouts: 'It's Electric', 'Sabbra Cadabra', Turn the Page', 'Mercyful Fate', 'Astronomy'

A covers album that doesn't suck? Well, I can think of a few here and there that are okay I suppose, but this one is pretty solid all-round. See, it's two CD's - the first disc is an eleven-track set of newly recorded covers. The second is a collection of old cover song recordings, including the entire Garage Days Re-Revisited EP as well as a bunch of B-sides and odd recordings, plus a Motorhead tribute from 1996. The first disc is the main draw, because I suppose most die hard Metallica fans already had most of the stuff from the second. That said, until 2018 The $5.98 EP - Garage Days Re-Revisited was out of print.

I do quite like the Discharge covers, 'Free Speech for the Dumb' and 'The More I See'. They're nowhere near as fast as the frantic hardcore of the originals, but still raw and abrasive, and much beefier here. It's no surprise that they do Diamond Head justice either, with 'It's Electric' - a classic New Wave of British Heavy Metal number. Given that Diamond Head are one of Metallica's biggest influences, they've been paying tribute to 'em since their formation. Black Sabbath have been covered a billion times by just about every metal band on the planet, but I guess 'Sabbra Cadabra' is a less predictable song of theirs to cover. Hell, the Metallica lads actually start jammin' 'A National Acrobat' about half-way through, and it works rather well. Both these tracks were originally from 1973's Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. Their rendition of Bob Seger's 'Turn the Page' is actually pretty good too (somehow). The way it's played on Garage Inc. - classic rock-ish, and ballady - almost makes it seem like it could have come off Load. The lengthy Mercyful Fate medley too, is solid. Obviously King Diamond and Mercyful Fate are legends in the heavy metal world; I think it's probably quite easy for Metallica to pull off classic metal covers quite well, with them being a metal band as well. This is as old-school as Metallica have sounded since Kill 'Em All! 'Astronomy' - a classic Blue Oyster Cult cut - also manages to function competently as a Metallica song. It's only been in the past couple of years that I've become a BOC fan, so I actually appreciate this cover more now than I did all those years ago when I first picked up Garage Inc..

'Whiskey in the Jar' actually still gets a lot of radio airplay to this day. In fact, I hear Metallica's version being played more than I do the Thin Lizzy one (if you want the full authentic Irish experience however, listen to the Dubliners' take on it...). I used to hate the Metallica version, the reason being because my Dad loves Thin Lizzy (as do I), and I grew up hearing up them on a regular basis - and Phil Lynott singing 'Whiskey in the Jar' is one of my Dad's favourites. There's a lot of emotion and melody in that Lizzy version - Metallica's rendition is much goofier, detuned, and James goes overboard when he sings "Mush rain dum a doo dum a daaa! Whack for my daddy-o, there's whiskey in the jar-o-AAH!" in his usual, post-...And Justice for All singing tone. In recent years however, this version has become something of a joke among me and one of my best mates - yeah, it's stupid and doesn't sound genuine when Metallica touch it - but it is fun! And it kinda sounds like they were having fun recording it! If I want to actually jam along and feel some sort of connection, I'll stick on the Thin Lizzy version. But if I'm drunk and trying to have a good time, the Metallica version does the job.

Obviously there's some stuff on this disc that I'm not so keen on. There always is with covers albums. I like the Misfits, but I don't especially like the version of 'Die, Die My Darling' on here. Meh, James and co. trying to mimic Danzig, Doyle and Jerry Only just ain't cuttin' it for me. The Nick Cave cover, 'Loverman' is okay I guess, but I just think this track is too artsy for a band like Metallica. The heavier parts work, but the moodier bits sound off. As much as like Lynyrd Skynyrd, I really don't wanna hear Metallica covering their ballad 'Tuesday's Gone'. That song works for Skynyrd because it's a southern rock song, and Skynyrd are from the south. It has that southern rock twang written all over it, so when a Californian metal band formed in LA and based in San Francisco cover it, it just loses it's legitimacy. It's not the worst thing I've ever heard - it's actually better than you'd expect it to be - it just doesn't roll off the tongue the way I'd like it to.

As for the rest of the stuff in the package, i.e. disc two - well the Garage Days Re-Revisited I've already spoken about, but the Budgie cover (severely underrated first-wave heavy metal band), 'Breadfan' is cool, and the Queen cover, 'Stone Cold Crazy' is awesome in particular. The Motorhead live covers are fun too. I can't really be bothered to talk about the second disc as it's a compilation - so I'll just say that it's a decent set of bonus content. Honestly, I'm working my way through re-doing this page right now, and I've been upping almost all my original ratings. A 7.7/10 may not look like such an impressive score, but for a covers album, it's actually a really good rating by my standards. This is one of the few covers CD's in my collection that has a sizable number of tracks on it that I still listen to fairly often, so I totally recommend Garage Inc.. It's no masterpiece - I don't think a covers album can ever be that - but it is a fun package.

Adam's rating: 7.7/10

S&M         1999          (Vertigo)

A lot of fans love this live album, and the whole concept behind it. I don't. Well, not really. But I will say that I was way too harsh about it at first. In my original review (if you can even call it a 'review') I ranted like an angry teenager and pretty much wrote S&M off as an overblown, pretentious live record, and even ended it on 'Fuck S&M'. I remember hearing this album back in school, hating it, but not actually picking up a copy of my own until I started this blog. I think I'd erased S&M from my mind, until I got 'round to assessing every Metallica record and realising I didn't actually have this one in my collection. So I bought a cheap used copy for the purpose of reviewing it. Anyway, here I am listening to it again, some five years later. 

So, this is Metallica doing a gig in Berkeley, California, with the San Francisco Symphony orchestra backing them up. On paper that does still sound pretentious, but I kinda get why they did it these days. They were already fucking huge by this point, and had been for years. Throughout the 90's they'd shifted away from the thrash and were writing more mature songs, so it was probably fun for the band to do a one-off project like this, and also interesting for whatever fans actually managed to attend these limited availability-shows. 

But does it actually work? Well, on some tracks I do think the added classical orchestration does add more depth and texture to the original songs. It doesn't necessarily make them better, but it can still work in a way that's nice on the ears. Opening with the haunting instrumental 'The Call of Ktulu' was a good idea; all those added strings make it sound like some sort of dramatic movie score, which is cool. And I actually quite enjoy the sounds of the orchestra on some of the Load and Reload numbers. The classical guys manage to make 'Hero of the Day' sound much prettier than normal. The ballad 'Until It Sleeps' sounds great too, much more majestic than before. It also works on 'The Outlaw Torn', and, up to a point, 'One'. The orchestra probably do 'The Memory Remains' justice too, but I was never a fan of that one in the first place, so I still don't enjoy it on S&M either. 

What still doesn't work in my opinion, are the old-school numbers. I just don't see how having an orchestra try to play along to 'Master of Puppets' can't not sound terrible! 'Battery' sounds ridiculous. Even 'Fuel' (which isn't quite what I'd call 'thrash', but is still fast) falls flat on it's face here. 'For Whom the Bell Tolls' is one of the heaviest Metallica songs ever; here it's had all it's heaviness stripped away because of the strings! Same can be said for 'The Thing That Should Not Be', and also 'Sad But True', which is just far too heavy a song in the first place for an orchestra to be involved in. James kind of adjusts his voice, taking away from a lot of the harshness of the original recordings to suit the music better here, so I guess that's a good thing?

Giving this a 2/10 was going way overboard. What an idiot I was. It's a 5.5 from me now, because I'd say I actually enjoy just over fifty percent of this recording. I think if they'd just stuck to Load/Reload songs as well as any of the mellower ballads and just forgotten about the older, more aggressive stuff then I'd probably like S&M from start to finish. Why they didn't play 'The Unforgiven' (or even 'The Unforgiven II' for that matter...) is baffling, but whatever. I guess fans expect to hear 'Master of Puppets' in the setlist, which is fair enough really. I also think if they'd written a piece of music specifically alongside an orchestra, then that could have possibly worked too. Deep Purple did that in 1969 with the Concerto for Group and Orchestra, but somehow I don't think Lars Ulrich or James Hetfield come anywhere near the intelligence of Jon Lord (RIP), who wrote all the symphonies for that record. Sorry lads! Still, given my original opinion, the fact I actually ended up getting some kind of enjoyment with more than half of what S&M has to offer was a nice enough surprise. 

In 2020 they released S&M2, which I deliberately avoided. I'm actually considering buying myself a copy now. 

Adam's rating: 5.5/10

ST. ANGER          2003         (Vertigo)

- Standouts: I'll let you decide. 

Well, this is one of the most criticised metal albums of all time. It's practically a meme at this point. Looking on Wikipedia however, apparently it has a Metacritic score of 65/100, which is nowhere near as low as people would have you believe. In my own experience, most people I've spoken to about this album is that they consider St. Anger to be Metallica's nadir, and that it's just a bad record. And I'm even talking about Metallica fans here. Me personally, I used to fuckin' hate it. Today, I sort of dislike it. I get why I used to hate it and why a lot of other people do too.

There's a lot of drama behind St. Anger, with James and Lars falling out constantly, James entering rehab in 2001 for alcoholism and the band hiring a therapist to help set 'em straight etc., all this was recorded for the 2004 Some Kind of Monster documentary. Either way, the internal struggles within the band kinda reflects on the music within St. Anger. They essentially went back to basics, opting for a garage jam band sound and approach to songwriting, and this is where the problems come from. Hell, if you're a Metallica fan (which you probably are), you already know the issues, but I'm gonna list 'em anyway, because they're essentially facts, not just opinions:

1. The first and most obvious issue that a billion people have already pointed out, is Lars' drum sound. Jeez! There's no snares on his kit, and therefore it sounds as if he's hitting pots and pans non-stop for the entire duration of the record! I mean, when was this decision ever gonna work? Doesn't matter if you're going for a garage band approach, the drumming on this record sucks, and I don't think I'll ever think of a reason to defend and justify Lars' decision to remove the snares. 
2. There's no guitar solos on here, which is baffling. So apparently garage bands never solo, or even pull off any guitar licks according to Metallica. I've jammed metal riffs with other people, and even I and other guys have come up with improvised solos and leads - and I'm not a professional musician. I mean, what exactly is Kirk's contribution to this album then?
3. The lyrics are terrible, and extremely goofy at times. The chorus to 'Frantic' literally goes "Frantic tic tic tic tic tic tic TOCK!!", there's a repeating line in 'Dirty Window' that goes "Projector, protector, rejector, infector, projector...", and finally, at the end of 'All Within My Hands' (the final track on the album), James starts screaming "KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL!!" in various different tones of voice for what feels like an eternity. It's literally how this album ends.
4. The album is seventy-five fucking minutes long. That's seventy-five minutes of endless clanging drums, laughable lyrics and very few melodies to speak of. 
5. Jason Newsted left the band in 2001, and producer Bob Rock actually plays bass on St. Anger. Not really an issue, the problem stems from the fact Bob was essentially a fourth member of the band at this point and was integral to why this album is the way it is in the first place. He encouraged the style. Once the album was completed, the band hired Robert Trujillo for bass duties.

Yes, these are genuine issues that plague St. Anger. Over the years however, I feel that I can reassess some of them, up to a point. The whole garage band, back to basics thing is actually quite admirable given the direction of the past few albums. There's nothing pretentious about St. Anger. And because it's so raw and abrasive, it's actually one of the heavier Metallica albums. I agree that many of the songs are too long and are difficult to really sit down and discuss individually, but there's shit loads of heavy, detuned riffs on here that I like; some actually kick ass, like 'Some Kind of Monster' for example. And even if the lyrics are terrible, the vocal arrangements are generally not bad (save for the chorus in 'Frantic', and the end of 'All Within My Hands' of course). I like the way James sings a lot of the lines in songs like 'Shoot Me Again', 'My World', 'Some Kind of Monster' - even the title track. He also sounds much more angry than usual - probably the most aggressive he's sung since the 80's, only you can decipher everything he actually says nowadays.

Like I said though, the riffs can be great, and sometimes full of groove. There's probably more fun riffs on here than on Load and Reload combined. 'My World' is such a dumb song lyrically (and obviously I can't forget about Lars' drum tones...), but I like everything else about it. Same with the bipolar 'Sweet Amber'. And the intensity is back. This is a pretty fierce record, easily the angriest Metallica album. You really can't argue that this album is the stuff off sellouts - it's not. It's like they were trying to undo all the popularity they had with the critics and didn't want any radio airplay. I respect that. And as for the crappy lyrics, honestly, I'm not all that bothered anymore. As I've grown older, I've come to realise that a lot of metal music I love contains shitty lyrics (not all though, of course), but when you're a teenager you think edgy stuff is cool as fuck. Annihilator are one of my favourite bands, but Christ, have you heard some of their lyrics?! Doesn't mean I don't still love 'em! I feel like with metal, I can justify terrible lyrics more than I can, say, prog rock.

Despite the positive things I actually have to say about this one, it's still a mediocre record on the whole. I can listen to St. Anger in small doses, but sitting through it in one go is a chore. The drums are still irritating after a few tracks, and the lack of any proper lead guitar work still bugs me to no end. That said, I really don't hate this album like some people do. A lot of these tracks have a ton of potential with some reworking, and I can think of many metal albums that I consider to be worse (ever heard Machine Head's Supercharger?).

The worst Metallica album? Probably. The worst metal album of all time? Hardly.

Adam's rating: 5/10

SOME KIND OF MONSTER         2004          (Elektra)

Not too sure if this CD qualifies as a single or EP, but either way it's worth owning. It obviously has the St. Anger album version of 'Some Kind of Monster' on it, which definitely ain't the selling point of this disc. Nope, the live performances ('The Four Horsemen', 'Damage Inc.', 'Leper Messiah', 'Motorbreath', 'Ride the Lightning' and 'Hit the Lights') which were recorded in 2003 at the Bataclan in Paris are why you should pick this thing up. Tons of energy, lots of rawness and plenty of fun. It's just a shame the mixing could've used some tampering with, as the drums kind of overpower the guitars. Still, good stuff. There's also a 'Some Kind of Monster' edit, which is about half as long as the original, and cleans up the production and clanging drums. The result is an all-round improvement - if only the entire St. Anger record had been produced this way.
Adam's rating: 7.3/10

DEATH MAGNETIC          2008         (Vertigo)

- Standouts: 'That Was Just Your Life', 'The End of the Line', 'Broken, Beat and Scarred', 'The Day That Never Comes', 'All Nightmare Long', 'Cyanide', 'The Judas Kiss', 'My Apocalypse'

Metallica returning to their thrash roots?! For real?! Well, yeah. I mean, no, but sort of yeah! It honestly depends what you mean by 'thrash roots'. They're certainly thrashing at times again on Death Magnetic, but I wouldn't necessarily say it sounds like the first three 'Tallica records. This came out in 2008, Master of Puppets in '86 - that's twenty-two years apart (more weird to me is the fact it's now been fourteen fucking years since 2008! I vividly remember buying this album on release...), Cliff Burton's been long gone and the Mustaine riffs ran out all those years ago. Fortunately, this record proves that the boys don't have to sound exactly like they did in the 80's to make a solid, thrashy album. What you're getting on here is a cocktail of the speed and ferocity of the early works with the more mature values of albums such as the self-titled as well as the occasional progginess of ...And Justice for All. And of course, James never tried to revert to his pre-Black Album vocal chords and therefore sounds just like he has done since the early 90's, i.e. much more audible and more emphasis on actually 'singing'.

In terms of the songs, it's pretty much all good stuff! The album opens with 'That Was Just Your Life', a slow-building thrasher jam-packed full of speedy, but groovy riffage, memorable vocal arrangements and a lengthy, seven-minute run-time. But it's one of those songs that is consistently enjoyable that it's play-time just flies by. 'The End of the Line' too, is full of energy, but has a surprising amount of groove in it's riffs. It also has a mellow break towards the end that reminds me of the Load days. But importantly, it works and adds more depth to this track. 'Broken, Beat & Scarred' is admittedly more mid-tempo, but by golly it's a good 'un. The riffage on it is extremely tight and as metallic as you'd want it to be. There's nothing poppy about it at all.

'The Day That Never Comes' is a very strong ballad. Maybe it sits a little too close to 'Fade to Black' in it's composition, but it's great either way. Soulful, powerful for the first half, whilst the second half kicks ass (particularly Kirk's soloing) and is a major highlight for this album. The band goes all-out on 'All Nightmare Long' too - this is the thrashiest thing the band had recorded since the 80's, so it goes without saying that this track is awesome throughout it's eight-minute duration. I really enjoy 'Cyanide' too - in terms of hooks, this is the most fun track on the album. Really great vocal arrangements and groove-laden riffs make this one of more memorable songs here. And 'The Judas Kiss' is really damn good too. All the chunky, palm-muted riffs you could ever want being jammed down your throat for exactly eight minutes! 'My Apocalypse' is another speedy number that is possibly the most old-school sounding track on this record.

I'm not so keen on 'The Unforgiven III' (why do I feel like we're due an 'Unforgiven IV' at some point in the future?). Meh, I mean... I'd say it's probably better than 'II' in that I like the moody guitar parts and (oddly) some of the orchestration - in fact, it's a pretty good song on it's own, it just feels out of place with the rest of the songs and seems to negatively affect the flow of this record for me. Also, 'Suicide & Redemption' has some cool riffs at times, but the whole thing is a near ten-minute instrumental! Honestly, a lot of the music on here would have been utilised better within a vocal song. In general, this instrumental kind of meanders between being good and mediocre. I don't blame the band for wanting to do an instrumental once again, but this one just doesn't quite cut it for me. On the plus side (and on a side note), the packaging is really cool for this one. The CD booklet has a 3D-effect cut-out of a grave and coffin, which gets progressively smaller on each page. The lyrics are printed inside, but the grave cuts out a lot of them - but it gives the whole thing more character. I don't own any other CD's quite like this one. 

What certainly isn't cool though, is the production. Why oh why did they insist on getting that beardy hobo-looking cunt Rick Rubin on board to produce this thing?! I hate this guys work from the 2000's onward, and he's one of the reasons for the whole 'loudness war' disease that plagues albums such as this in the first place. Like ...And Justice for All, the bass is barely audible on here (only this time it's not really the band's fault) and Lars' drum snare is far too obnoxious and overpowering. Luckily the album doesn't have the same issues as the drums on St. Anger, but they're still too loud and in general Death Magnetic suffers in the low and mid-range department, sonically. I'd still say the production is ever-so-slightly above average that I can deal with it, but it is hugely disappointing given how good the songs mostly are on here. 

So, very strong album then. You might even call it a 'return to form', although I hate using that term. Yeah the production isn't great, and a couple of the songs aren't perfect, but the bulk of this album is largely superb. It's just a shame that some of these issues could have quite easily been resolved with some extra elbow grease. I reckon we could've gotten the best since ...And Justice for All if that were the case. Still, for what it's worth, Death Magnetic is still as great as I thought it was when it first hit the shelves in '08. I saw them live, touring for this album in 2009. That was great too.

Adam's rating: 8.5/10


SIX FEET DOWN UNDER (EP)          2010          (Universal)

This live EP was only released in small quantities to Australian and New Zealand audiences, but is not difficult to find online elsewhere. It's finding it for a reasonable price that's difficult. I recently bagged a copy for £13 on Ebay, which I felt was okay considering other prices I've seen it go for. I remember this thing back in the day, but I only bought my copy not so long after 2023's 72 Seasons was released, and was looking back at the Metallica discography to try and find anything I was missing in my own collection. So yeah, this CD makes a nice addition to my Metallica space.

As for the music, you're getting eight songs in total, all of which were recorded throughout various concerts in Australia, and you're getting 'Eye of the Beholder' and '...And Justice for All' (both Melbourne, 1989), 'Through the Never' (Perth, 1993), 'The Unforgiven' (Melbourne, 1993), 'Low Man's Lyric (Acoustic)' and 'Devil's Dance' (both Perth, 1998), 'Frantic' (Sydney, 2004) and 'Fight Fire with Fire' (Brisbane, 2004). The tracklisting is interesting to say the least; everyone takes the piss out of St. Anger, but it's a record that fascinates me for better or worse, and having any live material from that album is a good thing in my books - case in point, 'Frantic'. Also, 'Fight Fire with Fire' is a song you almost never hear live, yet it's one of the nastiest, most hard-hitting songs from the legendary Ride the Lightning! Go figure! I also welcome almost anything from Reload, 'cos once again, it's an album people don't talk about all that much and I like to have to more stuff from lesser albums since I'm weird like that. Oh, and who doesn't wanna hear the band playing through Justice cuts on the tour from the same album?

Yep, cool EP then. Maybe not quite as cool as the Live at Grimey's disc they put out the same year (reviewed below), but certainly worth tracking down for Metallica fanboys like myself. The sound quality can be a little ropey and borderline-bootleg at times, but the raw energy of the band is captured very well here.

Adam's rating: 8/10

LIVE AT GRIMEY'S          2010          (Warner Bros.)

This live disc gets you up close and personal with Metallica - it was recorded in 2008 at The Basement in Nashville. Yep, this is Metallica performing well into their career in a small club venue in front of a crowd of roughly 175 people, and not a stadium or arena. That reason alone was enough for me go out and find a copy of this CD myself. Speaking of which, like the Six Feet Down Under live EP, Live at Grimey's also seems to be quite pricey these days. If you live in the UK, you'll find it on Discogs for prices of around £15 - which isn't too bad for a collector's disc - but with shipping on top, you're looking at minimum £30 if you're lucky. Makes me glad I bought my copy ten plus years ago. Still, even if you're not willing to pay stupid prices for a physical copy, it's on YouTube (but not Spotify, because a lot of the lesser official Metallica releases aren't for some reason) and you absolutely should be hearing it for yourself. The setlist consists of just 9 tracks in total, but it's 58 minutes well spent. Fifty-eight minutes of Metallica in an almost party-like atmosphere, with James giving plenty of little vocal quips between and during the songs. It's Metallica in a format most of us aren't able to witness. Needless to say, I'm jealous of anyone who was lucky enough to be at this gig.

The setlist itself is awesome. Very old-school, with more songs from Kill 'Em All than anything else (surprisingly). In fact, the only post-80's number that made the set here is 'Fuel', but I always thought that tune slotted in nicely among the oldies. Oh, there's also 'Sad But True', but the mid-tempo nature of this one breaks up the pacing rather well. Despite the party vibes of the venue, the performances here are still pretty tight and not what you'd call loose or sloppy - which is what you want of course. 'For Whom the Bell Tolls' even extends into the band jamming on 'The Frayed Ends of Sanity'. Cool shit. And the sound quality is top-notch. Raw, but certainly not treading into bootleg territory.

The 9/10 score might seem a bit too generous for such a small, humble live release, but I've always wanted to see any of my favourite arena bands in the club setting at least once in my lifetime - so for me, it's great to have this. I mean, it helps that I enjoy the hell out of it too. Sometimes I just want something simple and straight to the point when it comes to live albums - for example, I don't wanna hear S&M every time I feel like listening to a live Metallica album! And the Live Shit: Binge & Purge thing is more of a box set than anything else.

It's pukka, this.

Adam's rating: 9/10

LOU REED AND METALLICA - LULU           2011          (Vertigo)

- Standouts: What standouts? 

This is the single most unintentionally hilarious record I've ever heard in my life. But it's also one of the most confusing works I can think of. I genuinely do not know if Lou Reed and the boys in Metallica were trying to create some kind of art rock masterpiece or if they were actually playing us all and deliberately trying to be rubbish. For all I know, Lou Reed could be a genius on this record and I'm simply too dumb to understand the brilliance of Lulu. As it stands however, I wouldn't argue against anyone claiming it to be one of the worst albums ever made by not one, but two respectable musical acts. The fact Lou Reed even collaborated with Metallica of all bands, is confusing enough. Nobody saw that coming when this thing was first announced. In fact, I didn't actually own a copy of Lulu until around 2014 (I think). I deliberately avoided it for a few years because I heard 'The View' when it first released, and thought it was both one of the funniest and worst songs ever written. But the completist in me eventually gave in and bought a used copy, so here I am reviewing it for a second time. 

This overblown double album (!) is apparently based on two German plays by Frank Wedekind, but you wouldn't know it unless you were already familiar with this guy. Lyrically, the whole album is a jumbled mess of nonsensical spoken-word drivel; Lou sounds like Abe Simpson, babbling like a withered, senile old man for a full eighty-seven fucking minutes. Here's a selection of quotes taken straight from some of the tracks on this album (if you can even call them 'songs'...):

• "If I waggle my ass like a dark prostitute would you think less of me?"
• "I will swallow your sharpest cutter, like a coloured man's dick"
• "I open the sticks, sticky legs I bear, and then insert a fist, an arm"
• "I'd drop to my knees in a second, to salivate in your thighs"
• "To be dry and spermless like a girl!"
• "As long as you can raise that little doggie face, to a cold hearted pussy, you could have a taste"
• "The smell of your armpit, the taste of your vulva and everything on it"
• "I want you on the floor, and in a coffin your soul shaking"

As I said, Lou had either completely lost his mind at this point, or he was literally the biggest poetic genius of modern times with those lyrics. And as for Metallica, I mean, they mostly play simple, drop-D riffs throughout - riffs that would never have made it onto an actual Metallica record. James does his best to provide backing vocals, singing in his angrier style, and coming out with such classic quotes as "I AM THE TABLE!!!!" (which was a meme for a while, and rightly so), "SMALL TOWN GIRL!" and "WHY WON'T YOU CHEAT ON MEEE!". As for the rest of the band members, there's barely any decent grooves on here for Kirk to actually solo over, and Lars' drumming is kind of like a chaotic mess at times.

So, the music is fucking terrible then, but what stops it being one of the worst albums of all time, ever, is the fact I do often find it to be absolutely hilarious - especially tracks like 'Brandenburg Gate', 'Pumping Blood', 'Iced Honey', 'Cheat On Me' and of course, 'The View'. I've lost count of the amount of times I've played certain tracks from this album around some of my friends, and they've all cracked up at the lyrics and the way Lou delivers them, and the occasional quips James comes out with. I still play tracks from this album when drunk and with others sometimes, and it almost always provides some cheap laughs. For those reasons alone, I'm not even sure I can label this one of my most hated albums from a band I actually like.

I'd also like to add that I have nothing against Lou Reed when discussing of the bulk of his other works. I'm not exactly a fan even if I do like a handful of his songs, but I respect his work with the Velvet Underground, and albums such as Transformer. It's just that Lulu really is bizarre whichever way you look at it. If anyone else had written those lyrics, it'd still be funny. As it happens, Lulu was his final studio album before his death in 2013. RIP Lou!   

Adam's rating: 2/10 (not quite a 1/10 due to it's hilarity)

BEYOND MAGNETIC           2012          (Warner Bros.)

A four-track EP composed of tracks that were recorded during the Death Magnetic sessions. I remember when this was originally announced, it was released as a digital download exclusive to iTunes, but was then released on CD not long after. I only remember this because back in the days when I used an iPod Classic, Beyond Magnetic was one of the only things I ever bought on iTunes. Then of course, I picked up the CD when it mysteriously appeared on Amazon a few weeks later.

Anyhow, if you liked Death Magnetic - which I certainly did - then there's absolutely no reason for you to be avoiding this EP. What it is, is more of the same. 'Hate Train' is a solid slice of speedy metal with some nice and melodic vocal arrangements when necessary. I will admit the "Hate is a train!" line is pretty dumb, especially when the lyrics on Death Magnetic were much less stupid than the lyrical matter prior on St. Anger, but musically 'Hate Train' sits firmly in line with the rest of the songs on the album it was left off from. 'Just a Bullet Away' is a very heavy number, full of rock-solid mid-tempo riffage. It's a pretty long haul for a song of this nature, but after four minutes, the band go off into a melodic jam comparable to that of the melodic parts of 'Master of Puppets', to keep things interesting. 'Hell and Back' is comparable to that of 'Cyanide' from DM, in that it's a bit hookier and more plodding in tempo, but certainly not in a bad way. I will admit that I prefer 'Cyanide' to this track, but either way this is still a decent song with repeated listens. The last and longest track on here is 'Rebel of Babylon', which starts off with a slow-building introduction, but soon picks up with energy. When it does get going after the initial first minute, it might be the fastest track on the EP, but it still has some very memorable hooks throughout in terms of both the riffs and some of the vocal lines. It might be my favourite track on here.

I wouldn't say that any of the songs on here are necessarily better than what Death Magnetic had to offer - I don't think they're necessarily any worse, or even bad enough to have been left off said album. The production is more-or-less identical, which means it obviously isn't perfect, but I can live with it. The 8/10 might seem high for four tracks, but in terms of EP's, this is exactly the kind of thing I like to see regarding them. Studio tracks that were previously unavailable, and recorded during the sessions of an actual album. EP's that are a mix of songs you already got on a full-length LP as well as maybe a couple of live tracks are just lazy. Beyond Magnetic on the other hand, is one of the best EP's in my collection that I can think of.
Adam's rating: 8/10

THROUGH THE NEVER          2013          (Vertigo)

This live album is actually the soundtrack to the Through the Never movie - an actual film with a plot, actors and shit with Metallica performances thrown in between scenes. I've not actually seen it, nor am I particularly interested, but they must have a pretty damn long bucket list - I mean, they've made not one, but TWO movies (Some Kind of Monster and Through the Never), a live album with an orchestra (S&M) and, uh, a collaboration with Lou Reed (Lulu). What next? A collaboration with Elton John? Eminem did it, and it worked for him. Anyhow, this may be the soundtrack to a film of the same name, but it's just another live album at the end of the day. The sticker on the front claims '16 songs from Metallica's entire career recorded live', but there's nothing from Load or St. Anger to be found - not that you care. There's also a lot less Death Magnetic tunes than you'd expect - just one in fact, 'Cyanide'. That's not really a complaint, just an observation. Meh, I dunno, this is alright I guess, but I've probably only listened to it twice and never really felt the need to go back to it. 
Adam's rating: 6/10

HARDWIRED...TO SELF-DESTRUCT         2016          (Blackened)

- Standouts: 'Hardwired', 'Atlas, Rise!', 'Now That We're Dead', 'Moth into Flame', 'Dream No More', 'Halo on Fire', 'ManUNkind', 'Spit Out the Bone'

Well, I've been going through the Metallica catalogue and given the fact I've actually been enjoying and appreciating a lot of these releases even more as the years have passed by, I was quite confident my opinion of Hardwired... to Self-Destruct would still be positive. The only thing I was unsure about, was whether or not I'd still prefer it over Death Magnetic, a record that's only gotten better with time in my opinion. Surprisingly, Hardwired is the first double album in Metallica's career (excluding Lulu, which you'd only consider to be an actual Metallica album if you're one of this band's haters). More surprising is the fact that at seventy-seven minutes long, it's still shorter than Load! But whatever. 

I'm not really the biggest fan of double albums in general; it's difficult to not have at least a handful of filler tracks amongst such a long tracklisting, but in the case of Hardwired, there's only twelve (mostly lengthy) songs in total, so unlike many other bands, they've actually done this whole concept right for once. Putting six tracks on each disc spreads them out more evenly and makes the whole album much less of a slog to sit through, somehow. And speaking of the songs, disc one kicks off with the title track, 'Hardwired'. This is a relatively short, swift, thrashing bit of good fun. The lyrics are crap ("We're so FUCKED! Shit 'outta luck! HARDWIRED TO SELF DESTRUCT!!"), but again, you can sort of excuse them 'cos this is Metallica doing a straight-up no-nonsense thrash song - and it's good! Not one of their best of this kind, but good enough to set the tone for this record. 'Atlas, Rise!' on the other hand, is by far one of the best songs they've written in more recent times. This is easily up there with the best songs you heard on Death Magnetic. It takes hints from the ...And Justice for All school of proggy songwriting, full of memorable riffs and transitions, as well as some fantastic Iron Maiden-esque guitar melodies. If 'Atlas, Rise!' isn't considered a classic cut by this band in a few years time, I'd be flabbergasted. Even the slower, chuggy 'Now That We're Dead' manages to be very good overall, even if it is a step-down from 'Atlas, Rise!'. The simplicity of the riffs, and the memorable vocal arrangements make this track a good 'un for me.

'Moth into Flame' is a delightful slice of speed metal, with some very catchy Hammett guitar leads as well as plenty of meaty, relentless riffage from start to finish. It's not proggy like 'Atlas, Rise!', and actually manages to sit more in line with vintage Metallica. 'Dream No More' gives me Black Album vibes with it's slower, chunkier riffs. This is the heaviest track on the first disc with it's 'Sad But True' styles, although it adds a lot more in the guitar solo department. Again, another rock-solid number. 'Halo on Fire' is possibly my least favourite song on the first disc, but it still left me feeling more than satisfied as the finale to the first half. It goes for a more epic, grandiose kind of style, especially in the last few minutes where it really shines. Overall, disc one is superb.

Disc two begins with 'Confusion', a song that has to be imitating Diamond Head's 'Am I Evil?' during the first minute. The rest of the song sorta delves into autopilot Metallica. It's probably the weakest track on the album so far, but is still alright overall I guess. There's just something quite unspectacular about it that I can't really explain... it's listenable filler! 'ManUNkind' is definitely stronger - it has more groove than any of the previous tracks. More modern metal than old-school thrash, but this doesn't make it any worse for me. It's a standout tune in my books. 'Here Comes Revenge' is a little moodier at times. The darker parts aren't terribly exciting, but when it picks up it's actually a decent song. I suppose you could say it sits more within the proggier side of Metallica. It's not a perfect song, but it manages to rise above filler territory even if it's not one of my favourites on this record.

'Am I Savage?', despite the silly title (another nod to Diamond Head!), is also fairly decent, but not decent enough to be one of Hardwired's major highlights. It's one of the slowest, heaviest tracks on the album with it's at-times doomy riffs, but it's just not quite great! That said, the riff in the middle is great, it's just the song as a whole isn't up to the same standard as what you heard on the first disc. Given that Lemmy passed away at the end of 2015, the band decided to pay tribute to him with 'Murder One'. It's only really in the lyrics department however, because musically this is just Metallica doin' their thing and definitely not trying to rip-off Motorhead. Some of the guitar parts remind me of 'Welcome Home (Sanitarium)', actually. For the most part though, this is mid-paced Metallica in Black Album mode. Not a bad way to honour Lemmy, but still just... not quite great once again! Thankfully 'Spit Out the Bone' is one of the strongest, fastest tracks within the entire package. This is as energetic as the band gets these days.

So, I don't really think any less of Hardwired... to Self-Destruct in the end. However, you've gotta take into account that this is a double album, and the second CD is noticeably weaker than the first. There's not a single track on here that I don't like, but it's definitely less consistent than Death Magnetic. I think songs like 'Atlas, Rise!', 'Moth into Flame', 'Hardwired' and 'Spit Out the Bone' are excellent and easily in the same league as my favourites from DM, but because this is a double album and there are a few tracks that simply don't stand up to the main highlights, the package as a whole just isn't as strong as the 2008 album it's following-up on. That said, I still think this is a great record overall, and one of the other advantages it has over DM is it's production. No more Rick Rubin, which means no horrible compression and the fact the bass tones are actually audible again. 

I own the Deluxe edition, which comes with a third disc. On it is the song 'Lords of Summer', which is a brilliant studio thrasher recorded in 2014 - a track which is frankly as good as a lot of the better material on Hardwired. I would have preferred to have seen it on the finished record over a song like 'Murder One'. There's also some fun cover songs on the bonus CD, including a Ronnie James Dio tribute in the form of a Rainbow medley ('A Light in the Black/Tarot Woman/Stargazer/Kill the King'). There's also a Deep Purple cover, 'When a Blind Man Cries', which honestly wasn't as bad as I was expecting it to be. Deep Purple are literally my favourite band of all time (tied with Sabbath), so I get anxious hearing other people cover their songs, especially masterpieces such as this one! The final cover is one of Iron Maiden's 'Remember Tomorrow'. Again, kinda fun and a cool choice given it's one of the Paul Di'Anno-Maiden numbers. The rest of this CD is a live show of 80's classics recorded in 2016 in California. As far as bonus CD's go in general, this is one of the cooler ones I can think of that I own. 

Adam's rating: 8/10

72 SEASONS          2023         (Blackened)

- Standouts: '72 Seasons', 'Shadows Follow', 'Screaming Suicide', 'Lux AEterna', 'Crown of Barbed Wire', 'Chasing Light', 'If Darkness Had a Son', 'Too Far Gone?', 'Room of Mirrors', 'Inamorata'

I always considered myself a Metallica fan ever since I first heard Ride the Lightning way back in school. However, as a teenager, I definitely jumped on the whole "I hate everything Metallica has done after ...And Justice for All" bandwagon, because I felt like I had to. Elitist metalheads on the internet told me that Load sucks, St. Anger is the worst album ever made and Death Magnetic is a phoney way of trying to recapture their glory days. Okay, St. Anger most certainly is full of problems, but deep down I think I secretly liked most of Metallica's stuff post-Justice, even as a teen - I just chose not to. As an adult, I can appreciate this discography a whole lot more, mostly because I don't give two shits about 'the metalhead code of honour' anymore. Therefore, I was looking forward to hearing the new studio album, 72 Seasons, for myself.

Well, I've just spent the last few days listening to this album in my car going about my daily business, and I think I've formed an opinion of it. On my first listen, I found it to be solid, but difficult to digest due to a lack of diversity throughout the songs. Not to mention the fact this record is just as long as it's predecessor, Hardwired... to Self-Destruct. Like, it is literally exactly seventy-seven minutes long. Only difference is that 72 Seasons is NOT a double album! So yeah, it's another lengthy affair to sit through, and that automatically makes it harder to take in by default. However, if the songs are great and the flow of the album is spot-on, then this isn't necessarily an issue. I'll get back to this later.

As for the tracks, the opening title track is a thrashy number, but not necessarily in the old-school sense. It's Metallica thrashin', but they're thrashin' in more of the Death Magnetic or Hardwired sense - and this is fine. It's a decent opener. I think 'Shadows Follow' is superior though. It's a tad more straightforward structurally and isn't as fast overall, but each and every segment of this track is memorable, and I wanted to repeat it immediately, even on first listen. The chorus is excellent, the riffs are there, and I get Black Album vibes from it overall. The good type of Black Album vibes that is. Also, people always take the piss out of Lars' drumming (including me), but he can still deliver a good solid beat when he has to, which is definitely the case here. 'Screaming Suicide' is another thrashy cut. Simplistic Kirk Hammett guitar leads which seem disappointing at first, but they stick in your head, so that counts for something. In terms of the riffs, it still sounds like 21st century-Metallica doing thrash, but I do get slightly more of an '80s aura from it than I do the title track, which is nice.

One of the best songs on this album is 'Lux AEterna'. Put simply, it rules. Why? Because it actually reminds me of Kill 'Em All, of all things! Not Master of Puppets, not ...And Justice for All, but motherfucking KILL 'EM ALL, baby!! James' vocals obviously don't, because he's way beyond that youthful shrieking he used to do, but musically the riffs tread into 'Hit the Lights' waters, and Kirk's leads and solo come straight 'outta 1983! It's also by and far the shortest tune on the album at just over three minutes, which was totally necessary. Honestly, I really enjoy 'Crown of Barbed Wire' too. It's one of the album's mid-tempo cuts, but riffs are atonal and unconventional. It has this weird style overall, but it's cool - simple as. Meanwhile, 'Chasing Light' has one of my favourite main riffs on the entire record. This track is textbook modern-day Metallica, but that one riff is so cool and groovy that it has to be a standout.

'If Darkness Had a Son' is actually comparable to some of the mid-tempo songwriting traits of ...And Justice for All. It's not really proggy like said album, but there's some riffs here that remind me of the heavier moments from that 1988 classic, which is cool. Not as cool as 'Too Far Gone?' however, which isn't quite as Kill 'Em All-like as 'Lux AEterna', but definitely still reminds me of 'Seek and Destroy' mixed with the more modern stuff from Death Magnetic. We're then treated to another thrashy cut, 'Room of Mirrors'. Not a lot to say about it, it follows a very similar formula to the last couple of albums, and is perfectly serviceable in what it sets out to do. Good stuff. Album closer 'Inamorata' on the other hand, lasts over eleven minutes and I love the gloominess of it all. It's the proggiest track on the album, and the melodies stuck with me even on first listen. Yeah, it gets repetitive towards the end, but I can see this one becoming a live staple in the future. One thing that is also definitely worth mentioning are James' vocals. He particularly shines on 72 Seasons. Of course, since the Black Album his vocal style changed dramatically, so he's still a far cry from the amateurish shouting of his 80's performances, but I wouldn't want that here anyway. 

In terms of criticisms, I don't have any serious issues with this album. 'Sleepwalk My Life Away' is one of my least favourite tracks on the album, but not necessarily because of it's mid-tempo status. It's just a bit pedestrian and by-the-numbers compared to almost anything else on this album. It's not awful of anything - I can easily listen to it without skipping - but it doesn't quite have the catchiness of the Black Album's mid-tempo pace, and would have served better as a bonus track or something in my opinion. Strangely enough, the album's second-weakest number, 'You Must Burn!' follows straight after, and I have basically the same issues with it as I do 'Sleepwalk My Life Away'. However, I will say that 'You Must Burn!' is the better of the two - the slow riffs remind me a lot of the heaviest stuff on the Black Album, like 'Sad But True' and 'Don't Tread on Me'. There's even a moody vocal part in the middle of the song that sounds like it comes from the Load era. Honestly, it's not really the riffs or music itself that makes this track one of the weaker ones for me, it's mainly the fact it lasts an unnecessary seven minutes. Cut it down to five minutes and it'd be genuinely great.

I also spoke of the album's length earlier, and said I'd come back to this later. Well, here I am. Basically, I think they should have just split 72 Seasons across two discs and released it as a double album like they did Hardwired. The numbers are the same across both albums - twelve songs with a total playtime of seventy-seven minutes. But Hardwired had two CD's with six tracks on each, whereas 72 Seasons plays out in one sitting. Luckily I like the bulk of 72 Seasons a lot, but let's be honest, it's not very often you come across metal albums within the forty-minute mark anymore, which is probably my favourite ballpark in terms of album lengths. The lack of any ballads is also rather odd given the overall length. Yes, there's both fast and mid-tempo stuff to sit through here, but every track on the album is heavy. There's zero 'Nothing Else Matters' or 'Unforgiven'-type numbers to found, and I don't know if this bothers me or not. But it's definitely worth mentioning, so there 'ya go.

When it all comes down to it though, this is an extremely competent record. The songs are as good, sometimes better than what you heard on Death Magnetic, and the production is once again very good just like Hardwired. Yeah, it's probably a little too long; some of these tracks could have been filed down in places, but none of them suck. There's a long, long list of awesome riffs to digest here, and James has somehow laid down one of his best vocal performances since the '90s.

I wanted to give 72 Seasons a 9/10 - and I might very well have done that if the whole album clocked under the seventy-minute mark! Still, an 8.9/10 is a very respectable score, and while I still think there's gonna be some fans (if you can even call them 'fans') that'll pick holes with this album and continue to ride the "first four Metallica records are all you need" train, the rest of us will be enjoying the hell out of it.

Adam's rating: 8.9/10