The Mosh Pit 11.23.07: Metallica!
Posted by Dan Haggerty on 11.23.2007
This week the Mosh Pit binge and purges on all things Metallica: We have a complete list of every official release, history and collector notes on the demos, and a review of each LP in the entire catalog! If you ever wanted to know more about Metallica’s music, then step into the Mosh Pit and over-dose on one of metals mightiest bands!
Well, it's the holiday for stuffing yourself, which before ambling up to the computer I did quite successfully today (I write this part last, go figure). I hope you had a great holiday and got to feed your face as well. For those of you not from America, then I still hope it was a cool day for you and please go to a buffet this weekend and load up!
Speaking of stuffing yourself, Thanksgiving segues into the concept of the column this week: Binge and purge. Something I've wanted to do is offer a one stop full assault of a bands catalog. Not a full on history with all the crazy stories, controversy, and other clap-trap you can get on a band, but just a hard look at all the music and list all the little releases. Be it singles, EP's, live albums, or box sets; I wanted to list it all with a few collector notes so anyone who likes the band can get ideas for other stuff they might like to pick up; a sort of collector's column for fans by a fan. In addition, since were talking a lot of music for most bands, I'm going to provide a review for each of the band's major release. So prepare for the ultimate in self indulgence, a total binge and purge on all musical things by Metallica.
Final note, no Set List or Forgotten Classic review this week, since the following column effectively does all of that and more. I promise the feature will be back for next week!
The Entire Official Catalog of Releases For Metallica
It's all here – Binge and purge baby. After this well get to the meat and potatoes of the column.
Ron McGovney's '82 Garage Demo Demo, 1982
Power Metal demo Demo, 1982
No Life 'til Leather Demo, 1982
Metal Up Your Ass Demo, 1982
Horsemen Of The Apocalypse Demo, 1983
Megaforce demo Demo, 1983
Kill 'Em All Full-length, 1983
Ride the Lightning Demo, 1983
Jump in the Fire Single, 1984
Ride the Lightning Full-length, 1984
Creeping Death EP, 1984
Whiplash EP, 1985
Master of Puppets demo Demo, 1985
Master of Puppets Single, 1986
Master of Puppets Full-length, 1986
Cliff 'Em All! Video/VHS, 1987
And Justice for All Demo, 1987
Garage Days Re-Revisited EP, 1987
One Single, 1988
Eye of the Beholder Single, 1988
...And Justice for All Full-length, 1988
Harvester of Sorrow Single, 1988
One EP, 1989
One (demo) Single, 1989
Welcome Home (Sanitarium) Single, 1989
2 of One Video/VHS, 1989
The Good, the Bad and the Live Boxed set, 1990
Enter Sandman Single, 1991
The Unforgiven Single, 1991
Metallica Full-length, 1991
A year and a half... Video/VHS, 1992
Live at Wembley Stadium EP, 1992
Nothing Else Matters Single, 1992
Sad But True Single Single, 1992
Wherever I May Roam Single, 1992
15 Pieces Of Live Shit promo EP, 1993
Enter sandman / One Single, 1993
Sad But True (4-track single) Single, 1993
Sad But True Single, 1993
Live Shit: Binge and Purge Boxed set, 1993
One (live) Single, 1994
Until It Sleeps Video/VHS, 1996
Mandatory Metallica EP, 1996
Ain't My Bitch promo Single, 1996
Until it Sleeps: Part I Single, 1996
Until it Sleeps: Part II Single, 1996
Hero of the day Single, 1996
Load Full-length, 1996
King Nothing Single, 1996
Mama Said Single, 1996
Hero Of The Day EP, 1996
Live in London (1996) EP, 1997
Fuel Pt. 2 Single, 1997
The Memory Remains Single, 1997
The Memory Remains (Promo) Single, 1997
The Memory Remains single Single, 1997
The Unforgiven II Single, 1997
Reload Full-length, 1997
Live In London - Antipodean Tour Edition Single, 1998
The Unforgiven II single Single, 1998
Whiskey in the jar -promo Single, 1998
The Memory Remains EP, 1998
Fuel Single, 1998
The Unforgiven II EP, 1998
Mama Said (Japan) Single, 1998
Turn the Page Single, 1998
Garage Inc. Best of/Compilation, 1998
Cunning Stunts DVD, 1998
S&M Promo EP, 1999
Master of Puppets (From S&M) Single, 1999
Whiskey in the Jar Single, 1999
Die Die My Darling Single, 1999
No leaf clover Single, 1999
Nothing Else Matters (From S&M) Single, 1999
S&M Live album, 1999
S&M Video/VHS, 1999
Whiskey In The Jar EP, 1999
I Disappear Single 2000
Classic Albums: Metallica DVD, 2001
St. Anger Single 2003
St. Anger Full-length, 2003
St. Anger EP, 2003
Frantic Single 2003
The Unnamed Feeling EP, 2004
The Unnamed Feeling Single, 2004
Some Kind of Monster EP, 2004
Vinyl Box Set Boxed Set 2004
Live in San Diego DVD, 2005
Some Kind of Monster DVD, 2005
St. Danger Boxed Set 2005
The Videos 1989-2004 DVD, 2006
Live From Live Earth EP, 2007
In The Beginning :
The date is 1981, and one Lars Ulrich and James Hetfield formed a band (unnamed at this point) after securing a track on a compilation called Metal Massacre from Metal Blades. Actually, Lars had gotten the appearance then found Hetfield who was playing with another band called Leather Charm. They both recorded a remake of a Leather Charm song for Metal Massacre know as "Hit The Lights", and the first steps on the path to thrash stardom was made.
New band members were needed, and Hetfield recruited his roommate Ron McGovney (after teaching him how to play bass). Factoid for you Metallica fans, Ron McGovney had a huge lasting impact on the band over one simple thing – He designed the bands now famous logo. Additions were held for a lead guitarist, and Dave Mustaine (currently with a band called Panic) was quickly hired to fill the slot. Actually, the guys were so impressed with Dave's warm-up and equipment that they hired him on the spot. From here, it was time to perform live and record demos:
Demos
Collector notes, history, and a little trivia
Ron McGovney's '82 Garage Demo
Release Date:March 14, 1982 Line Up: James Hetfield, Dave Mustaine, Ron McGovney, Lars Ulrich History: Named because, well in was recorded in McGovney's Garage! The band wasn't just claiming "Garage Days Re-revisited" later on because it sounded cool. Never officially released, it did find circulation within the live circuit the band was working. Besides the two original songs, "Hit The Lights" and "Jump In The Fire", there was an additional six cover songs. As you can see from the track listing, many of these were brought back later in future "Garage" albums.
Tracks:
Hit The Lights 4:19
Jump In The Fire 4:25
Killing Time (Sweet Savage cover) 2:36
Let It Loose (Sweet Savage cover) 3:10
Sucking My Love (Diamond Head cover) 6:43
The Prince (Diamond Head cover) 5:00
Am I Evil? (Diamond Head cover) 7:43
Helpless (Diamond Head cover) 6:13
Power Metal Demo
Release Date:April 4, 1982 Line Up: James Hetfield, Dave Mustaine, Ron McGovney, and Lars Ulrich History: this demo was not officially released. It was later given the name "Power Metal" because that name appeared on the bands business card during the same period. The Mechanix was the first song written by Dave Mustaine, and would later be renamed "The Four Horseman" along with keeping its original name for Mustaine's first Megadeth album. "Motorbreath" was written by Hetfield. Also, "Hit The Lights" was updated from the original released on Metal Massacre.
Tracks:
Hit The Lights 4:18
Jump In The Fire 3:55
The Mechanix 4:47
Motorbreath 3:23
No Life 'Til Leather
Release Date: July, 1982 Line Up: James Hetfield, Dave Mustaine, Ron McGovney, and Lars Ulrich History: The most famous of the demo's with Dave Mustaine, this also served as the blueprint of Kill ‘Em All save the name change of "The Mechanix" to "The Four Horseman" and the additions of "(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth", "Whiplash", and "No Remorse". Important collectors note here, as two unofficial bootlegs exist of this demo. The first is titled Metallica—Bay Area Thrashers, a 'live' demo that in reality is the No Life 'Til Leather demo with crowd sounds added from video "Cliff 'Em All". A second is titled Metallica—In the Beginning... Live, which is exactly like the other bootleg with a name change.
Track Listing:
Hit the Lights 4:19
The Mechanix 4:28
Motorbreath 3:18
Seek & Destroy 4:55
Metal Militia 5:17
Jump in the Fire 3:51
Phantom Lord 3:33
Since I've actually heard this one, you get a review! This is the only official demo I've hunted down.
Review: What can be said, this is a demo. It's interesting to hear these songs raw and unpolished from their final recording (if that can be said of Kill ‘Em All), but the real treat is to hear Mustaine perform with the band. To my ear, the early versions on songs like "Seek and Destroy" chug a little more, hinting at the direction of the bands sophomore album, and the bands roots in NWOBHM shine through a little more. Not necessarily better then what ended up on Kill ‘Em All, just different and interesting. The production is not the best, for obvious reasons, but that's to be expected from demos. Listening to Dave rip through the solos on "Hit The Lights" is worth the price of admission.
The Mosh Pit Rating: 7/10 (Fun, but really it's only a collectors item)
Metal Up Your Ass
Release Date:Recorded live November 29, 1982 Line Up: James Hetfield, Dave Mustaine, Ron McGovney, and Lars Ulrich
History: Recorded live in San Francisco, the performance features all of the bands previous (seven) original songs, plus two new ones (these would later appear on the Megaforce Demo), and two cover songs from Diamond Head. Only "Am I Evil" made it onto the demo as the tape ran out before "The Prince" could finish. The name "Metal Up Your Ass" was the bands working title for their first official release, but when the time came to record it the record company convinced them to change it to Kill ‘Em All. Important historical and trivia note, the support band at the show this was recorded at was Exodus. Why is this important? Because Exodus's guitarist was Kirk Hammett…
Tracks:
Hit The Lights 4:15
The Mechanix 4:28
Phantom Lord 4:59
Jump In The Fire 4:40
Motorbreath 3:05
No Remorse 6:23
Seek & Destroy 6:51
Whiplash 4:08
Am I Evil? 7:50
Metal Militia 5:11
Horsemen of the Apocalypse
Release Date: Early 1983 (Sorry, to date I haven't been able to find the accurate date) Line Up: James Hetfield, Dave Mustaine, Ron McGovney, and Lars Ulrich History: The band finally gets it's live recording of "The Prince", and offers up two new tracks as well. It's interesting to note that these are early versions of the songs that would appear on Ride the lightning, which were recorded (or is it re-recorded) for that album after the input of future bassist Cliff Burton. Some people have claimed this to be a bootleg, but due to the new content it is generally recognized as official.
Tracks:
Fight Fire with Fire 4:44
Ride the Lightning 6:37
The Prince (live)
The Megaforce Demo
Sorry – No picture available!
Release Date: March 16, 1983 Line Up: James Hetfield, Dave Mustaine, Cliff Burton, and Lars Ulrich History: Recorded with the two new songs first performed live on the Metal Up Your Ass demo, this was done for signing to, you guessed it, Megaforce. Of interest historically, between this demo and the previous one the band saw the group Trauma perform at a gig and was impressed with bassist Cliff Burton, whom they immediately tried to recruit due to McGovney's departure from the band. Burton agreed, and this also put into motion this demo as their new bassist needed an "Introduction" to the label.
After recording this demo, the band would travel to New York to perform live and record their first album, but in route Ulrich and Hetfield had decided Dave Mustaine's behavior (aggressive and out of control), thanks to drug and alcohol use had become too much and unceremoniously fired him with a bus ticket back to California. Morale of the story, angry drunks shouldn't party with happy drunks. Actually, angry drunks just shouldn't party. Don't feel bad for Dave folks, he's admitted he was out of control in those days, plus he did go on to do damn well for himself. Plus he still gets residuals off the songs he co-wrote.
With a lead guitarist opening, the band contacted Kirk Hammett who flew immediately to New York to perform and record with the band and the rest is history. But for you metal collectors and trivia buffs, this little two track demo has one piece of historical goodness: It is the only recording of Cliff Burton and Dave Mustaine playing together.
Tracks:
Whiplash - 4:12
No Remorse - 5:38
Review of the Full Releases :
Kill ‘Em All
Release Date: July 25, 1983 Line Up: James Hetfield , Kirk Hammett, Lars Ulrich , and Cliff Burton.
Review: And here it is, the debut album that, while a thrash album, is more a call to arms. The metal underground was coming to rape and pillage all that was safe and normal in the music kingdom. Raw, destructive, a rough ride of high-speed riffs, this took the burgeoning thrash scene and gave it a voice – A new world order of violence and aggression at neck-break speed. Arena bands offered to come to your house and bring drinks to party with you, leave your house trashed, and hit on your sister. This beast promised to wreck your house, use the remains for a bomb-fire, drink all of your alcohol, get sick in your back-seat, and get your sister knocked-up.
There is some really great pure thrash on here. "Hit the Lights" rips and the solo work just destroys. "The Four Horseman" redefined the idea of epic and married it to thrash. "Jump in the Fire" welds thrash to hooky-riffs, a blue print for the future. "Phantom Lord" and "Seek and Destroy" repeat the pattern to skull frying affect, with the latter becoming a live staple. Like I said, this is raw and bristling with almost un-channeled energy, being a text book example of pure thrash. This will hit casual metal fans like a cheese grater across the face, but for any pure thrash fan this is the staple of the genre.
Speaking of pure thrash fans, I'm sure my rating will rankle a few nerves. While the songs that work, work on an amazing level, a few average tracks and a dud (sorry, Cliff's bass solo just doesn't work well for me), does not a 9 or 10 make.
The Mosh Pit Rating: 8.5/10
Ride The Lightning
Release Date: April 15, 1984 Line Up: James Hetfield , Kirk Hammett, Lars Ulrich , and Cliff Burton.
Review: While the debut was a call to arms, the sophomore effort actually raises the double barrel shrapnel launcher and begins the revolution full force. Where Kill ‘Em All was a full on assault of raw speed, Ride The Lightning delivers in your face, neck-wrecking riff after riff, but also slows it down a bit at times to deliver sharpened thrash riffs that command headbanging. Oh, this has speed (see "Fight Fire With Fire" for appendage ripping speed), but knows in artistic fashion when to bend thrash to the higher order of riff delivery – Population Headbangville: You. There is even the now infamous ballad "Fade to Black" to put the exclamation mark on the idea, with its slowed down heavy build, which honestly is very good but not the fanfare it's given, that is till the song breaks out into solo work, the guys turning the ballad concept on its ear and drpppng the jaw on all of us long haired partiers back in the day. The methodical instrumental of "Call of Katulu" and the crunchy face pounder of "Ride the Lightning" showing what thrash could ultimately accomplish when beaten into anarchy with purpose.
Black Sabbath was a point in metal history, with the invention of the fundamental sound. The second historical turning point would happen half a decade latter with Judas Priest, whose twin lead assault and stainless steal sharpening of raw metal redefined (refined) the genre. The third is this CD. It again took all that was heavy metal, launched it into the stratosphere to only return as a weapon of mass destruction. Metal and music was forever changed, pushed to the next level; this is definitely one of my Top 10 metal albums of all time.
The Mosh Pit Rating: 10/10
Master Of Puppets
Release Date: February 21, 1986 Line Up: James Hetfield , Kirk Hammett, Lars Ulrich , and Cliff Burton. This would also be the last album with Burton, who tragically died on September 27, 1986 in Europe on a leg of the Damage Inc tour. He was thrown from the bus window during an accident on icy roads. Creepy side note, he had switched sleeping bunks with Hammett several hours before the accident.
Review: And here we are, the most popular of all that is Metallica. Considered by many to be the best of the band's catalog, and by a good chunk of the population, the greatest metal album ever made. I hate to buck the status quo, because while I do love this album I also think it takes second place to Ride the Lightning. In fact, I refer to this as Ride the Lightning v2.0. Why? Well, let's look at the track "themes" for both albums:
1. Opening speed scorcher
2. Title track
3. Methodical cruncher
4. Ballad that cranks up at the end
5. Side 2 opener: Killer thrash-neckbreaker
6. Crunchy riff monster
7 and 8. Here is were the band switches the instrument from last to second to last, then closes Master with another speed-wreck banger.
So Master copies Ride until the last two tracks, where the band does change the theme (for the better actually). This may be nit-picking, and I'm sure I'll get many a howling fan saying the band was just improving on a winning idea to make the greatest album ever, but I can't shake the image of the band following a formula – Even if it was to polish things up, make some great crunchy riffs, and in effect delver a scorching album that thrashed the simple conventions of what a metal band should be. Ride the Lightning deserves more props than what it gets for breaking ground is all I'm saying, for its originality plus winning the tie breaker for the edgier (read not as polished) sound.
With that out of the way, let's discuss the good, for there is still a whole lot of good in what I still consider to be a Top 25 all time metal album (that sounds like a great column idea). This record takes the essence of Ride the Lightning and shines them with better production, sharpens the edges of the leads, and fattens the riffs, all into a weapon of concussive proportions. "Battery" is simply one of the best speed monsters ever scorched into vinyl, only to be out down on the speed meter by album closer "Damage Inc". The title track, while a little lengthy, will make you and your unborn children headbang. Yes, it's that good. "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" is the ballad that again rips at the end, it combines haunting lyrics and atmosphere into thrashes answer to a Steven King mental-bender nightmare. "Disposable Heroes" delivers you into the war torn front lines of shred, and props need to go out to instrumental "Orion", which is also a bit to lengthy but makes up for it in style and atmosphere.
So don't let my initial grandstanding on Ride The Lightning degrade this album, for it is many shades of awesome. There is a reason it's held in such high regard by the general population, and you may very well find yourself agreeing with them. My only contention is that this loses the tie breaker to the previous album, but that's no loss when you consider the bands first four albums are all jewels in the crown of kings.
The Mosh Pit Rating: 10/10
…And Justice For All
Release Date: August 25, 1988 Line Up: James Hetfield , Kirk Hammett, Lars Ulrich , and Jason Newsted.
Review: Oh, it is so tempting to call this "Ride the Lightning v3.0". Again, we have 8 tracks that follow the same fundamental pattern – Opening speed/thrasher, title track, crunchy riff monster, ballad (leads into dazzling solo instrumental), and all the way to the album closing speed monster. But this is also very different; the band moving away from their previous sound enough to create another album all together, the simple track formula a welcome help for the Metallica fan to navigate this cold and complex platter of metal massacre.
The first thing that knocks you upside your head in the production, or more accurately the lack there of; it's as if the band wanted to immortalize the early NWOBHW recording values, or even the black and white era Blue Oyster Cult sound. This is further enhanced by the second thing that you notice - The lack of bass. It's there, only pushed back into the mix to appear nonexistent. The net result is an album that comes across cold and clinical, like the sanitized steel in a surgeon's room. Stark and jarring, it may take a bit to swallow for the metal fan who is use to traditional fare, but trust me when I say this album is worth the time to digest. After all these years, I still return to this album and its reveals a little more to me, like some giant progressive riddle of the ages. The production might be cold, but the lack of it leaves you alone with the music, with music being forced to carry the show. Thankfully, the music is written and performed to bare the test of such scrutiny and delivers on its end of the deal.
And the music is thrash, but more. It is a riff monster, that almost chugs doomy in parts, but in reality is totally progressive in structure. It's as if the guys had that faze every artist goes through where they want to prove their ability, so the write a non-commercial intricate album to prove themselves. Despite the thrash bent (or perhaps again proving what thrash could do), this thing rumbles through textures and turns over complex riffs and song structures, each song a long distance haul of musical madness. Only two songs come in under six minutes, with two breaking nine minutes and two more passing seven. You could accuse the band of pure musical and metal masturbation with the lengths they go, but it all is wrapped into songs that flow well thanks to good writing, leaving you believing that this was the only way these stories could be told. Thus we have a winner. But don't feel bad if this becomes exhausting for you, even the band passes on this material live due to the complexity and concentration needed to play it, only doing the songs as a medley.
"Blackened" is the thrash anchor while "Dyers Eve" is arguably the fastest (and greatest) pure speed metal song the band has ever done. "One" is your token ballad and break out hit thanks to the creepy video that introduced the band to casual fans. "The Frayed Ends Of Sanity" crunches and rips, collecting the ends of your sanity, simply an awesome face battering machine. Special note goes to instrumental "To Live Is To Die", which is the bands tribute song to Cliff Burton. Nice touch, and good song, but I still can't figure out why a tribute song to a great bass player doesn't have any notable bass work on it. Maybe it's me, but you would think the instrument would have been highlighted more.
The Mosh Pit Rating: 9/10
Metallica (The Black Album)
Release Date: August 13, 1991 Line Up: James Hetfield , Kirk Hammett, Lars Ulrich , and Jason Newsted.
Review: The highest selling Metallica album of all time, and I'm left scratching my head trying to figure out why. As a play off of the cover with a nod to the Beatles (and probably a smirk at Spinal Tap), this is also called the "Black Album". Nothing groundbreaking or grandiose here to even suggest a comparison however; the album sounding like the band stopped moving forward as ground breakers, instead going back to their earlier work to cannibalize the ideas, slow them down, file of the edges enough to hide the serial numbers, with enough hooks and production shine to gloss up the whole spread into a smooth radio friendly bag of "Why?"
When I'm in a good mood, I think of this album as a recast of the Metallica catalog into a kid-sister friendly chug-fest that, much like the over the top progressive feast of Justice, the band had to try once to get it out of their system. When I'm a bit more surely, I refer to the as "Ride the Lightning's Dumb Little Brother". Why? Because the riffs were done on the previous album; listen to "Creeping Death" then "Enter Sandman" and you'll understand. The only difference is that the later is slowed down with a little re-write and polished for mainstream hooky-ness. Still like the song, however. The doom-like crunch riff sells that kind of song to me, and I would play it more if not for the fact the radio KILLED it back in the day.
This is the story of the album. Older and better ideas are recast simpler, a little "chuggier", but unfortunately less complex and filling, all to be more accessible (i.e. they made the same riffs dumber). The worst offenders being the two ballads, which rips-off "Fade To Black" acoustically, but slower and without the epic sense of life, and then to add insult they fail to deliver a solo guitar pay-off. Ugh.
OK – On with the good. "Enter Sandman" Still crunches, even if destroyed by media overload, "Holier Than Thou" is a nifty ripper (relative to this album) that riffs and smarts, "Of Wolf and Man" chugs with fun, and the "Struggle Within" is the dark horse of the album. So in the end, despite my critique of the albums faults, it still is a decent album. A few great tunes, some above average tracks and some non-offensive filler, along with a couple of ballad duds and we have a generous 7.
The Mosh Pit Rating: 7/10
Live Shit – Binge and Purge
Release Date: October 26, 1993 Line Up: James Hetfield , Kirk Hammett, Lars Ulrich , and Jason Newsted.
Review: I'm sure you guessed were the binge and purge theme came from! This is it, the ultimate live collection. Not just Metallica, but for any band. Yes, there are some live albums that are better, but you can't beat the total package of this monster. What you get is over nine hours of live music between the CDs and the videos. Binge and purge is right. I've had this thing since it came out and have yet to even try and absorb it all at once. Even the 3-CD live show is an amazing time commitment.
The concert itself is quite good, and well worth the price tag. As this was recorded during the tour for the "Black Album" you get a literal smorgasbord of great songs from the first five albums, or basically all the great songs the band has done, period. The Justice songs are sadly a medley due to the bands desire to rip through them fast and in one sitting, due to the complexity. And the tease for "Am I Evil" gets to me, because I love that song and I wish they just would have played the damn thing, but otherwise I can find little fault. "Seek and Destroy" is an 18 minute monstrosity, but it soes something I like in a live album – be different. In this case, there is a lot of crowd feed back and interaction from Hetfield. The crowd chanting along is cool also.
Good production, which means there is enough production to make the sound good but not kill the feel of a live show, along with enough variety in the songs plus a few extras insure this is an excellent live album. Now I wish I had the time to listen to it straight through!
The Mosh Pit Rating: 8/10
Load
Release Date:June 4, 1996 Line Up: James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett, Lars Ulrich , and Jason Newsted.
Review: This was the moment the Metallica bandwagon got lighter, as many fans started bailing out the backdoor, heading for the hills and back to the metal underground to see bands that actually played metal. Metallica continuing down the road to a star-struck city called success, new hair-cuts, earrings, and even fur-coats as if to say "We were always Hollywood!"
That aside, what we are given is nothing more that a decent hard rock album. The metal has left the building, but the cries of alternative and such ring hollow. This is nothing more than blues infused hard rock with a few other textures thrown in. If this would have been any other band, it would have been better received. But Metallica fans wanted "The Black Album II" while hardcore fans still waited in limbo for "Master of Puppets II", and they didn't get it. It would have been more palatable if the band would have said "We always wanted to do a blues/rock album and pay tribute to other bands". People would have forgiven that, but the sudden "We're better than you" tone of the boys spoke volumes.
The good news is that in all honesty, this is at least more innovative than the self titled album, the band actually trying to pour some energy into these tracks versus borrowing from the past. "Ain't My Bitch" and "King Nothing" are fine dirty hard rockers, and "Bleeding Me" is a great song. The solo work on it is one of Hammett's best since Justice. In fact, it's the best soloing Hammett has done since then also. Even the ballads are better representations of what a ballad should be.
So you have one great song, a handful of good tunes, and the rest is above average to filler range. Like I said, not a bad hard rock album, just totally unworthy of the potential this band has (or had).
The Mosh Pit Rating: 7/10
Reload
Release Date:November 18, 1997 Line Up: James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett, Lars Ulrich , and Jason Newsted. This would be the last official new album with Newsted, who departed in 2001.
Review: The dreaded B-Sides album. Well, actually such things are a lot of fun for fans of a band, and those who love to collect odds and ends from the artists they love. But the problem here is that this was treated more like a full release. A fact inforced thanks to the fact they released singles from it. Further, the "B-Sides" (can you really call them that in a world without 45's now?) are from only one recoding session: Load. I guess the Garage Days Re-Revisited handled the early stuff, even if they were covers. Then again, that EP craps on Metallica in the 90's from a great height, so who am I to argue about Metallica covers in the 80's.
The album is what it is, the second string stuff from Load; exactly what we didn't want. "Fuel" rocks hard and I have to believe it was new – Otherwise it's a shame it didn't make the last album. "Better than You" along with "Prince Charming" are pretty cool also, but everything starts were Load's filler tracks ended. I'm sure you may disagree with me on a few tracks, but the net result will be the same: One great track, a couple decent tracks, the rest is filler. Oh, and the ballad sucks. I said the ballads on Load were more innovative than the self-titled LP, not that they were that good, and certainly not worth another take that didn't make the first round. Hell, "The Unforgiven II" isn't even worth enough effort to get a real name.
The Mosh Pit Rating: 5/10
S&M
Release Date:November 23, 1999 Line Up: James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett, Lars Ulrich , and Jason Newsted.
Review: The live album with the symphony. Great idea, average execution. As modern symphonic power metal groups show, this combo can work damn well. IF… and there always a "If" in these situations – If the music is designed upfront for the symphony. The problem with this album is that the classical instrumentation is just shoe-horned into the existing songs. The symphony spends half the record coming across as an odd background component to classic Metallica, and if seems pointless. More curiosity than "You got to check this out".
Some songs word well, like the opening Good, Bad, and Ugly classic "The Ecstasy of Gold" (Which was written for these instruments), and "Call Of Ktulu" surprising works great. "No Leaf Clover" was written for this recording, and to works along with the subtle re-write of "Hero Of The Day". Everything else fades into average and this just end up being background music. Whe nthis album works, it's great, othrwise it's average.
On a fun note, either the symphony is mixed poorly into the back, or the band was just that much louder at the show. Probably the former, but I can't shake the image of the classical players getting blown away by Metallica playing "Battery" live.
The Mosh Pit Rating: 6.5/10
St. Anger
Release Date:June 5, 2003 Line Up: James Hetfield , Kirk Hammett, Lars Ulrich , and Bob Rock (Yes – The producer played bass on this)
Wow, where to begin. Metallica returns after a long hiatus due to band issues, lawsuits with Napster, rehab, and losing a bass player to give the fans… This? This is the return to form? More like the total binge of the 90's crashing in one vile purge, a one-hour putrid mess called St. Anger. Sure this is the hardest thing the band has put out in years, but crappy production, out of tune instruments, and barking vocals set all dispassionately to the key of "What the fuck" does not a good album make. Let's see if I can put my finger on the problem.
The music is nothing innovative. If you can manage to filter through the noise, what you have is any song from Load set to instruments designed to be loud and out of tune. Take away any genuine instrumentation and performance ability, add intentionally bad production, and there you go. Set the soundtrack to lyrics reflective of the bands rock-bottom internal and personal issues (i.e. borderline emo) and it becomes painful. At least Load was a hard rock album, and succeeded at its mission to be that, but this just regurgitates those ideas through everything that was wrong with metal-core, then makes it worse in the name of something new. Would it have killed them to put one riff in here? But wait, there is more that is wrong…
Poor Hammett - He's a lead guitarist with no leads. No riffs and few melodies. This is just a cycle of plunked power cords that even the beginner punk band could stamp out. Drunk. Where are the solos? Out of everything from the 90's you adopted into this train wreck, one had to be the brilliant idea of cutting the solos. It's the solo work (along with the great driving riffs) that made you guys! Hammett must have been bored off of his ass playing these songs, all set to lyrics regarding everyone else's personal issues. I hope the dude in the sweater spent some time with him after recording this.
Oh god, the lyrics. We have gone from "Mater of puppets I'm pulling your strings, twisting your mind and smashing your dreams" to "Chase the rabbit, fetch the stick, she rolls me over, 'till I'm sick". What – The – Fuck !
Still, in a twisted sort of way, there is some semblance of respect I'll give the guys for having the balls to put out such a monkey butt ugly record. As per my "binge and purge" crack earlier, this can almost be viewed as a necessary step in the band vomiting out all of the binging, and hopefully we'll get something respectable out of the next album. Then again, maybe thats just more hype from the machine. After all, these are the guys who let the producer play bass on this thing.
Still, I can't help but think I'm missing something. One more thing that is wrong about this travesty of music. I can't put my finger on it. It must be something so subtle that I'm just not a good enough reviewer to put it into words. Maybe you, the reader can help me out.
CLONK!
The Mosh Pit Rating: 3/10
Notable Extras :
Creeping Death EP
Review: Basically a single for "Creeping Death" along with two covers, "Am I Evil" and "Blitzkrieg". Am I Evil is ten shades of awesome, and if it wasn't already on Garage Inc. then I would recommend this album for that song. As it is, this EP has three trackes that can be found on major releases, so it's only real value is that it's collectible. Cover kicks ass though, and bonus points if you hunt down the picture disc with this cover on it!
Garage Days Re-Revisited
Review: The band does all covers of punk and New Wave of British Heavy Metal Bands (NWOBHM). What is great is that Metallica in the 80's picked some damn fine songs to cover and put their imprint on:
1. Helpless (Diamond Head cover) 06:36
2. The Small Hours (Holocaust cover) 06:39
3. The Wait (Killing Joke cover) 04:55
4. Crash Course in Brain Surgery (Budgie cover)
5. Last Caress/Green Hell (Misfits cover)
This little gem was highly collectible until the release of Garage Inc., which reissued all of these great tunes. It's only real value now is again for the collector. On a side note, many people wonder about the title. The original "Garage" album was the McGovney demo. The "Garage Days Revisited" is the Creeping Death EP due to the reissues. That is why this is the "Re-Revisited" album. I told you we would binge and purge on trivia!
Garage Inc.
Review: All of the covers the band has done all lovingly re-wrapped into one compilation. Plus you get other rarities like the Motorhead covers, And that is one disc, and honestly the disc that makes this 2-CD set worth picturing alone. "Am I Evil" is worth the price alone, but all the covers the band did back in the 80's smoke. Disc 2 is more hit or miss, with some songs not working (Seger and Lynyrd Skinyr songs) while the Blue Oyster Cult and Thin Lizzy covers coming of real well. They go back to the Misfits and Diamond Head so the disc turns out well enough. I've rated it, but really it's more like Disc 1 is a 6.5 and Disc 2 is a 9.5
The Mosh Pit Rating: 8/10
Tales from the Pit Reader Feedback, what's on your playlist, and the great gigs you've seen.
I have lots of feedback from my column lat week on Gene Simmons, but I'm running dangerously low on the space the big guys want us to use in our column. I'll post them next week. Seedless to say I was happily surprised to see such total agreement from all of you. I thought for sure at least one rank and file KissTM Army member would have taken me to task. Good indication just how bad the man has alienated his fans. Either that or hardcore KissTM fans just don't read my column. I mean, how many dudes do you see in KissTM make-up in a mosh pit…
Final Thoughts
It's been real. Now you be real and go listen to your favorite bands, even if some punk columnist dumps on your favorite album. Binge and purge on it, and if someone complains, then raise the fist of rock and tell them Dan said ‘Hi'.
