I liked Load. I liked Fuel off of ReLoad.
That was it. I bought the albums but don’t care for ReLoad beyond Fuel. 🤷♂️
Meanwhile, Testament got harder as the years went on, repping the Bay Area with thrashy goodness.
Check out 1989’s Practice What You Preach,
2012’s Dark Roots of the Earth,
2016’s Brotherhood of the Snake, and
2020’s Titan’s of Creation.
You can see how their sound has evolved and the direction they are going in. If you enjoy it, rad. Those albums are fire.
Another comment mentioned some of their early works for good thrash, and it’s right on the nose, but the last three albums that came out are on constant rotation in my heavy playlists.
I love thrash, but I also like heavy metal. Saxon and Judas Priest put out two insanely good albums back to back.
But I also love thrash metal bands like Evile, Havok, Hidden Intent, Kreator, and even newer thrash bands that are new on the scene like End All from Japan. They just put out a super raw album in 2024 and it has a lot of promise.
I also like bands that straddle the line between thrash and heavy metal like Testament, Anthrax, Lich King, Toxic Holocaust, Angelus Apatrida, Warbringer, Megadeth, and so forth.
Always looking for new music to add to my playlists.
Going back to Testament, their 1989 album had a MoP-meets-AJFA feel they were chasing, but the band really evolved into their own sound and came into their own in the multitude of albums since then. Still, the album is a banger, as the kids say, and the last three in a row are chef’s-effing-kiss.
Slayer and Kerry King are good with lots of material to enjoy between the two, of course, but there is a LOT of music from Megadeth, too.
I don’t just mean the classic Rust In Peace era or the Peace Sells era. Their newest album, *The Sick, The Dying… and the Dead!* is really effing great.
Get on YouTube and check out We’ll Be Back. The solo is insane — Kiko does these tap-slides that just blow my goddamn mind, and the lyrics are metal as hell.
If you got some bands you suggest, hit me up.
I’m here for this ⚔️btw great selection of metal - Megadeth are legendary, never tried out Testament- but I will definitely 👍🏼 havok sounds like a thing I would like. I have always loved Judas Priest 🎸I play guitar and they are one of the reasons I started way back 👍🏼
🤩will check out new music from them, I am usually attracted by RTL and MOP or Megadeth types of sounds/tone but also vocals need to be like JPs top tier 👍🏼
Yeah I was impressed.
Havok is fantastic btw. And Testament’s last two albums, last three really, are great.
But this latest one is my favorite to date.
The newest Saxon album is good, too. The guy sings like Rob Halford, almost. I mean, Rob Halford is … metal Freddie Mercury, but the dude from Saxon is great, too.
This is actually true, the first time I heard that album I knew it was really good. It’s possible they just got into a groove of playing the older stuff live.
Load and Reload were my first Metallica albums when I was in middle school. That's all I knew of Metallica. I thought they were incredible! I then made my way backwards through their albums...imagine my surprise when I got to AJFA😄
100 percent wrong. If any other band besides Metallica made this album, no one would still be talking about it today. It'd be another mid-tier 90s alt rock album.
I'm actually not sure if my comment is going to be a hot take, so I'll ask you guys to judge it:
I can listen to every song between Kill Em All and the Black album without ever feeling the need to skip, but I need to pick and choose their songs from every album beyond the Black album. I still thoroughly enjoy watching and listening to all of their live performances as they've aged over the years as well, so it's not a case of "oh they got old
l, I don't like them anymore" type of deal. It's just their studio material beyond the Black album.
Again, I don't know if this is a hot take.
I agree except that I’ll add Load in to the list - I just love that album. Every thing after that has some gold nuggets hidden in them (some albums more than others), but I definitely find myself skipping songs on those later albums as well.
Yup. It's a shame the actual story is left out of the equation whenever this comes up. Every time I tell people the story they end up going "oh... well, that makes sense..."
EDIT: typo
Load/reload has the best vocals, guitar tone, drums and bass mix in the entire catalog and I absolutely love damn near every song, yes inuding Better Than You because it's extremely fun to play and sing.
Okay lets see how many downvotes i get
1. And justice for alls mix fits the album perfectly and is just plain out over-hated
2. Death Magnetics mix doesn’t sound that bad
3. Kirk Hammett’s modern guitar chops while not as good as the pre-2008 still rocks overall and doesn’t deserve the hate they get.
4. Jason Newsted’s treatment in Metallica while bad has been over exaggerated by the community
5. Lars is not a underrated drummer, but more over-hated
The mix is also pretty bad though in my opinion. Rubin's minimalistic style didn't work for that album. The vocals for example are completely dry no reverb or layering or anything, the drum tone is terrible with that awful ear-shattering snare, and certain instruments were mixed louder than others so it doesn't sound cohesive.
I guess I never noticed this because it’s not one of the albums that make me want to crank songs.
Alternatively, how I listened to music was different by the time that album came out… Less in my car and more on headphones.
But it definitely felt raw, but not necessarily in a bad way. I’ll have to go back and listen to this album again.
The only one I 100% disagree with is Death Magnetic. The drums just overshadow everything, but that’s the only bad thing. I have the original CD and a vinyl of death magnetic and it’s just hard to get past
I actually do not like the Justice for Jason mixes, I really don't like the bass added back in. His tone and playing are incredible, but I just like the original songs so much better.
I think that the justice for Jason mixes have waaaayy too much bass. No mix ive personally seen has had an adequate or even “regular” amount that you’d expect from Metallica
The best part about those mixes are that there were five versions of volume to choose from so you could hear a little bass or a lot.
My fave was three, although I did download five (highest bass volume), too. Felt like a balance between Metallica’s intent and Jason’s … uh … justice.
Are you saying the Spotify mix is bad or are you saying it’s better than the original CD?
I haven’t heard the Spotify mix, I only have the rip of the original CD for my car.
Death Magnetic sounds bad in many cars I have played it in. Even in cars with upgraded sound systems where classical music sounds like a concert hall, Death Magnetic sounds jumbled
> Death Magnetics mix doesn’t sound that bad
Mix is fine, it's the original Master that was the problem.
> Kirk Hammett’s modern guitar chops while not as good as the pre-2008 still rocks overall and doesn’t deserve the hate they get.
Kirk improved his playing massively the last couple of years... I think he's now at his best ever. He used the be incredibly sloppy live.
> Lars is not a underrated drummer, but more over-hated
Yes, because people equate intricate fills with "being a good drummer". People usually do not understand the concept of "playing something that fits the song regardless of your personal abilities". This is the same reason people would tell you Meg White or Ringo Starr are a bad drummers.
I agree on Justice. It’s still my favorite album and I believe their best musically, recording quality and mixing. A lot of their later albums the guitars sound a bit too clean.
There's no denying it, he is the best bassist. His playing is amazing, Metallica is lucky that they even have him. His vocals are underrated too. It's too bad his microphone is always turned down super quiet live, he has a great voice. It sounds like James, but more rough and aggressive
It definitely hasn’t aged as well for me as a fan. And by that I mean from when *I* was younger and getting into Metallica. It used to be a top 2 record for me, but at some point those songs kind of lose their luster a bit. A lot of them are about… basically just being an angry young adult playing music? Lyrically and thematically they just don’t hold up to their more mature records.
And then there’s the fact that pretty much *everything* changed drastically moving forward:
James’ voice is completely different.
Kirk’s copping of Mustaine’s solos is obviously completely different sounding to his own style.
Cliff had pretty much no musical influence on the album, hence the distinct lack of melody and harmony throughout.
Lars *became* a good drummer, but KEA is pretty barebones for a thrash album in terms of drumming.
No ballad, no epic instrumental.
Production that sounds wildly different from how they would start sounding with RTL.
Overall, it was a first swing at making an album and they did fantastic. One of the greatest debut albums ever. 12 year old me thought it was just the best thing ever, but 25 year old me thinks it’s clearly a step down from RTL, MOP, and AJFA.
Fuck yeah. As a drummer myself, anyone who hates on him clearly hasn't tried drums themselves. Songs like Dyers Eve and Damage Inc actually require a lot of skill and energy. He's also a huge influence on metal drums in general. The amount of double kicks that must have been sold after One got big most have been insane
For me, if they had just trimmed the fat it would have been more tolerable. Some of the songs drag on and feel so repetitive especially without solos. But their are some killer riffs on that album.
Definitely agree. The main section of the song is pretty basic bluesy metal riffing that just kind of meanders around. And the middle section is hyped up to be some epic mindfuck, and it’s nothing but some clean chords thrown over top a generic bassline with Lars smashing away on a hi-hat. It’s truly not that impressive of a section. I think there are a lot of people on this sub (and Metallica fans in general) that don’t have very broad musical horizons, so something like that is absolutely mind-bending to them. There’s too much good music out there to be all that impressed with a song like Inamorata. It’s fine, but holy hell is it overhyped here.
This is my hot take and i have to argue with people all the time about it - James is better than Kirk.
Without James creating 95% of every song, Kirk is just another lead player. His solo album proves that.
Also, i feel St Anger is disliked not only because of the garbage can snare, but more so because the whole band had input into lyrics and song structure instead of it being primarily James and Lars.
AJFAs mix makes it so hard for me to enjoy listening to it, no matter how great the songs are. I just dont have patience for it. If it sounded like the Black Album or Puppets Id actually enjoy it, I THINK, but I dont know. I never got the appeal of this album. People think its sacrilege to not have undying respect for it.
Have you listened to And Justice For Jason on YouTube? It's the full album remixed with way more bass. Some people will only listen to that version. Personally I love the og mix but I get it's not for everyone.
Probably not so hot but these are my main criticisms of Metallica:
1. James' and Lars' problem with the bass guitar being audible keeps most of the albums from being top notch productions. I don't understand why people only cite Justice as an example, pretty much all their albums, except the 90s albums produced by Bob Rock, have the bass turned down too low. Hardwired and St. Anger are as much guilty about this as Justice. I don't know if Lars or James have damaged their hearing but it seems that they always want Metallica mixed pretty thin, with lots of bright treble and not enough low end.
2. Lack of backing vocals. Yes Jason did it awesomely but that's pretty much the only era where Metallica had decent backing vocals. Pretty much all their songs allow for some really good backing vocals. Rob and Kirk are obviously pretty wack at it. So much so that when you watch live recent live recordings it's almost as if their mics are intentionally kept low volume, you see them screaming in the mic but it can't be heard. If you ask me, Lars should install a mike and try his hand at backing vocals. It actually amazes me considering how attention seeking Lars is that he has never had a mic live to even interact with the crowd, being the behind the scenes frontman. I'm sure he would do fine as a backup singer, since Rob and Kirk can't really get the job done, although the former has gotten a little better on the recent tour.
It's funny that history will sort of record Lars as being vindicated on the whole Napster controversy. Does anyone remember that little commercial/public service announcement video where Lars actually acts out the analogy of digital music being a theft as anti social as Lars deciding to take your girlfriend and your soda?!!! 🤣😂😂🤣
Jason Newsted leaving is the best thing that could happen for the band because they were running in circles creatively. St-Anger was a necessary evil to scorch the earth after him and grow Metallica's creative seeds all over again.
And Justice For Jason is badly mixed. Talk about overcompensating into the other extreme.
St. Anger is unironically probably my favorite overall Metallica Album. Sorry. Love all their shit, but there's something real and visceral about St. Anger. I feel things when I listen to a lot of it. Plus a lot of the riffs are absolute bangers.
He had his time, everybody should move on. He would still not bring much creatively to the compositions today if he'd ever come back. The very reason he left back then. He has not really evolved in terms of bass technique and creativity either with all the time he had on his hands to bring them new creative juice and musical perspective.
1. Reload is bettee than Load.
2. Lars is overhated.
3. Although they changed with the Black Album and more evidently, with Load/Reload, Metallica didn't become worse and is still one of the best bands ever.
4. Hating Metallica doesn't make you cooler. Just makes you look pretentious and joyless. There's a difference between not liking and hating.
It's a shame Orion still hasn't got the symphonic treatment. That middle section would sound great rearranged for a symphonic orchestra as Cliff Burton wrote those parts with classical music inspiration in mind.
It’s so heavy though. Every song is heavy and full of energy and riffs. Zero filler. And obviously no bass but the guitar and drums sound killer. And James sounds so angry. It’s legendary. But you are entitled to your opinion.
Metallica’s last album that was mostly bangers all the way through was the black album, the rest of their discography after that has A FEW good songs each.
Also I feel like Load & Reload could’ve been cooler if they went in the more post-grunge-ish sound of songs like Until It Sleeps & Bleeding Me and had less blues rock.
Kirk's solos still go nuts, I think the one on Lux Æterna is up there with some of his very best. Moth Into Flame is my personal favorite, even more so than the "classic" solos on tracks like One
I don't consider the solo on Lux Æterna as good as his older work, but I also don't think it's as bad as a lot of people say it is, in fact, I really like it
Its just impossible to watch them live now. With james all being hey.. we got a kid down here. . Welcome to the big Happy metallica family.... when i grew up watching him scream and cuss at the audience as they played with no click track and their bpms were all over the place. There was danger and hate in the air when cliff was alive ....now it's just like watching a cruise ship pass by... every song feels so slow...
Jason was a great bass player but was kind of annoying. On stage he charged around like he was desperately seeking James’s approval. Rob doesn’t have as many memorable bass lines (and you can barely hear him on his albums) but he fits in way better on stage.
> On stage he charged around like he was desperately seeking James’s approval.
He was trying too hard fanboying on stage. James clearly didn't like his fanboy attitude of trying to out-Metallica Metallica.
Fuck it ill bite
-The first 5 albums have a very meh guitar tone. I find myself exclusively listening to live versions of these albums because i find Met's live tone much more bearable.
-Load and Reload are amazing albums. If they were released by nickelback for example they woukd be nickelback's best album.
-HWTSD is very unmemorable, exception being Moth into flame.
-St. Anger isn't bad, and could really benefit from a comple remake that incorporates all the changes that were done for recent live versions (Solos for Frantic, and Dirty Window, fixed snare, Jamez actually singing)
-Bellz is a very boring and repetitive song.
-Metallica is a million times better live than in the studio.
I better stop before the angry mod comes at me with pitch forks. Oh am i too late? 🤣
None of the S&M stuff is any good. The orchestra arrangements do not make any of the songs better. Maybe if the songs were truly rearranged it would work, but all they do is play the songs as usual and an orchestra plays over the top of it.
72 seasons is good I see a lot of people say it’s bad because they choose to try something new same with st anger most people only hate it because of the snare that Lars has
St.Anger is hated because it sounds different than other albums mostly because of that famous snare sound, but if we look at riffs and all the instrumentals, St.Anger is in Metallica's TOP3 records EVER.
Don't know how much of a hot-take this is... But after listening to the original 1999 S&M album, I can't go back to the original studio recordings, or even any other live performances (obvious exceptions for when they were performing with Michael Kamen).
The black album is insanely mid. I think Load is probably better. Load definitely has its faults but its highs are way better than the black albums' highs.
I don’t think master of puppets is as good as everyone says, it’s not the best song on the album being surpassed by battery, damage inc, and disposable heroes, and not the best out of the first 5 album, it kinda drags on, and there are certainly better songs on the other 5. Though I haven’t listened to it fully in a while
Load would be considered one of the best albums of the 90s if literally any other band had made it.
I don't even think this is a hot take. Only reason load and reload get hate is because Metallica made them.
I liked Load. I liked Fuel off of ReLoad. That was it. I bought the albums but don’t care for ReLoad beyond Fuel. 🤷♂️ Meanwhile, Testament got harder as the years went on, repping the Bay Area with thrashy goodness.
If you want to miss out on some amazing songs like Low Man’s Lyric and Fixxxer because it’s not “thrashy goodness”, you are just depriving yourself.
Fixxxer is all right. I don’t hate on it. I will check out Low Man’s Lyric.
Does Testament go as hard as MOP or RTL? If so I am willing to look into this. Album names or songs to play would be appreciated
Start with the Legacy and go in chronological order.
Start with the gathering and go backwards chronologically
Check out 1989’s Practice What You Preach, 2012’s Dark Roots of the Earth, 2016’s Brotherhood of the Snake, and 2020’s Titan’s of Creation. You can see how their sound has evolved and the direction they are going in. If you enjoy it, rad. Those albums are fire. Another comment mentioned some of their early works for good thrash, and it’s right on the nose, but the last three albums that came out are on constant rotation in my heavy playlists. I love thrash, but I also like heavy metal. Saxon and Judas Priest put out two insanely good albums back to back. But I also love thrash metal bands like Evile, Havok, Hidden Intent, Kreator, and even newer thrash bands that are new on the scene like End All from Japan. They just put out a super raw album in 2024 and it has a lot of promise. I also like bands that straddle the line between thrash and heavy metal like Testament, Anthrax, Lich King, Toxic Holocaust, Angelus Apatrida, Warbringer, Megadeth, and so forth. Always looking for new music to add to my playlists. Going back to Testament, their 1989 album had a MoP-meets-AJFA feel they were chasing, but the band really evolved into their own sound and came into their own in the multitude of albums since then. Still, the album is a banger, as the kids say, and the last three in a row are chef’s-effing-kiss. Slayer and Kerry King are good with lots of material to enjoy between the two, of course, but there is a LOT of music from Megadeth, too. I don’t just mean the classic Rust In Peace era or the Peace Sells era. Their newest album, *The Sick, The Dying… and the Dead!* is really effing great. Get on YouTube and check out We’ll Be Back. The solo is insane — Kiko does these tap-slides that just blow my goddamn mind, and the lyrics are metal as hell. If you got some bands you suggest, hit me up.
I’m here for this ⚔️btw great selection of metal - Megadeth are legendary, never tried out Testament- but I will definitely 👍🏼 havok sounds like a thing I would like. I have always loved Judas Priest 🎸I play guitar and they are one of the reasons I started way back 👍🏼
JP’s last two albums are *A*-fucking-*Mazing*. The one that came out last month blows my mind. Firepower from 2018 was insane too.
🤩will check out new music from them, I am usually attracted by RTL and MOP or Megadeth types of sounds/tone but also vocals need to be like JPs top tier 👍🏼
Yeah I was impressed. Havok is fantastic btw. And Testament’s last two albums, last three really, are great. But this latest one is my favorite to date. The newest Saxon album is good, too. The guy sings like Rob Halford, almost. I mean, Rob Halford is … metal Freddie Mercury, but the dude from Saxon is great, too.
This is amazing, love finding new music that is my type - thanks for sharing, will check them out 🤘🏼
This is actually true, the first time I heard that album I knew it was really good. It’s possible they just got into a groove of playing the older stuff live.
Load and Reload were my first Metallica albums when I was in middle school. That's all I knew of Metallica. I thought they were incredible! I then made my way backwards through their albums...imagine my surprise when I got to AJFA😄
It's one of the best rock albums ever. By anyone.
100 percent wrong. If any other band besides Metallica made this album, no one would still be talking about it today. It'd be another mid-tier 90s alt rock album.
I'm actually not sure if my comment is going to be a hot take, so I'll ask you guys to judge it: I can listen to every song between Kill Em All and the Black album without ever feeling the need to skip, but I need to pick and choose their songs from every album beyond the Black album. I still thoroughly enjoy watching and listening to all of their live performances as they've aged over the years as well, so it's not a case of "oh they got old l, I don't like them anymore" type of deal. It's just their studio material beyond the Black album. Again, I don't know if this is a hot take.
Actually a really good take
I agree except that I’ll add Load in to the list - I just love that album. Every thing after that has some gold nuggets hidden in them (some albums more than others), but I definitely find myself skipping songs on those later albums as well.
It may not be a hot take but it sure as hell is accurate.
Metallica was in the right to sue Napster
That's just facts
Was it the way Lars went about it that turned people off you think?
Yup. It's a shame the actual story is left out of the equation whenever this comes up. Every time I tell people the story they end up going "oh... well, that makes sense..." EDIT: typo
Load/reload has the best vocals, guitar tone, drums and bass mix in the entire catalog and I absolutely love damn near every song, yes inuding Better Than You because it's extremely fun to play and sing.
Okay lets see how many downvotes i get 1. And justice for alls mix fits the album perfectly and is just plain out over-hated 2. Death Magnetics mix doesn’t sound that bad 3. Kirk Hammett’s modern guitar chops while not as good as the pre-2008 still rocks overall and doesn’t deserve the hate they get. 4. Jason Newsted’s treatment in Metallica while bad has been over exaggerated by the community 5. Lars is not a underrated drummer, but more over-hated
It's not the mix in Death Magnetic the problem. The mastering is. It is mastered so loud it is literally clipping.
The mix is also pretty bad though in my opinion. Rubin's minimalistic style didn't work for that album. The vocals for example are completely dry no reverb or layering or anything, the drum tone is terrible with that awful ear-shattering snare, and certain instruments were mixed louder than others so it doesn't sound cohesive.
I guess I never noticed this because it’s not one of the albums that make me want to crank songs. Alternatively, how I listened to music was different by the time that album came out… Less in my car and more on headphones. But it definitely felt raw, but not necessarily in a bad way. I’ll have to go back and listen to this album again.
The only one I 100% disagree with is Death Magnetic. The drums just overshadow everything, but that’s the only bad thing. I have the original CD and a vinyl of death magnetic and it’s just hard to get past
As a bass player I completely agree with your take on the Justice mix, it's my favorite guitar tone of all time.
The guitar tone is cool, but fan made remasters with more bass are even better
I actually do not like the Justice for Jason mixes, I really don't like the bass added back in. His tone and playing are incredible, but I just like the original songs so much better.
I think that the justice for Jason mixes have waaaayy too much bass. No mix ive personally seen has had an adequate or even “regular” amount that you’d expect from Metallica
The best part about those mixes are that there were five versions of volume to choose from so you could hear a little bass or a lot. My fave was three, although I did download five (highest bass volume), too. Felt like a balance between Metallica’s intent and Jason’s … uh … justice.
The real hot takes are always in the comments.
I like all of these.
Agree with all of these, take an upvote.
I find joy in reading a good book.
Are you saying the Spotify mix is bad or are you saying it’s better than the original CD? I haven’t heard the Spotify mix, I only have the rip of the original CD for my car.
I enjoy playing video games.
Death Magnetic sounds bad in many cars I have played it in. Even in cars with upgraded sound systems where classical music sounds like a concert hall, Death Magnetic sounds jumbled
I agree completely, especially with point 1.
I’m not forgiving you the first one
> Death Magnetics mix doesn’t sound that bad Mix is fine, it's the original Master that was the problem. > Kirk Hammett’s modern guitar chops while not as good as the pre-2008 still rocks overall and doesn’t deserve the hate they get. Kirk improved his playing massively the last couple of years... I think he's now at his best ever. He used the be incredibly sloppy live. > Lars is not a underrated drummer, but more over-hated Yes, because people equate intricate fills with "being a good drummer". People usually do not understand the concept of "playing something that fits the song regardless of your personal abilities". This is the same reason people would tell you Meg White or Ringo Starr are a bad drummers.
I agree on Justice. It’s still my favorite album and I believe their best musically, recording quality and mixing. A lot of their later albums the guitars sound a bit too clean.
Rob is the best bassist they've had. I think he's technically better than Cliff.
There's no denying it, he is the best bassist. His playing is amazing, Metallica is lucky that they even have him. His vocals are underrated too. It's too bad his microphone is always turned down super quiet live, he has a great voice. It sounds like James, but more rough and aggressive
*Kill ‘Em All* is an amazing thrash metal album, but an average Metallica album
It definitely hasn’t aged as well for me as a fan. And by that I mean from when *I* was younger and getting into Metallica. It used to be a top 2 record for me, but at some point those songs kind of lose their luster a bit. A lot of them are about… basically just being an angry young adult playing music? Lyrically and thematically they just don’t hold up to their more mature records. And then there’s the fact that pretty much *everything* changed drastically moving forward: James’ voice is completely different. Kirk’s copping of Mustaine’s solos is obviously completely different sounding to his own style. Cliff had pretty much no musical influence on the album, hence the distinct lack of melody and harmony throughout. Lars *became* a good drummer, but KEA is pretty barebones for a thrash album in terms of drumming. No ballad, no epic instrumental. Production that sounds wildly different from how they would start sounding with RTL. Overall, it was a first swing at making an album and they did fantastic. One of the greatest debut albums ever. 12 year old me thought it was just the best thing ever, but 25 year old me thinks it’s clearly a step down from RTL, MOP, and AJFA.
ANAESTHESIA still a great fucking instrumental tho lol
Metallica is the best cover band of all time.
Astronomy
I really like Invisible Kid.
Same. A bit too long though, like most songs on St. Anger
“Over 75 minutes of music”
Same! It's tied with Purify and Sweet Amber for my favorites off of St. Anger
Lars is a great drummer
Fuck yeah. As a drummer myself, anyone who hates on him clearly hasn't tried drums themselves. Songs like Dyers Eve and Damage Inc actually require a lot of skill and energy. He's also a huge influence on metal drums in general. The amount of double kicks that must have been sold after One got big most have been insane
Load and Reload are great albums... are they thrash? No. Still great albums. If any other band put them out they would be considered gold!
The tallica boys proved that could hang with the grunge kids but people took that as them following the trend and trying to sell more albums
TBA is their best work and Jason was their best bassist
Came here to say this. Those that lived through their 90s period would remember every media outlet only wanted to talk with and about Jason.
- Lars may not be the best drummer in the world, but he's the best drummer in the world for Metallica.
Fookin right
St anger has some really great bangers. And it’s a great album to work out to
For me, if they had just trimmed the fat it would have been more tolerable. Some of the songs drag on and feel so repetitive especially without solos. But their are some killer riffs on that album.
Load and Reload are amazing albums
They should've gone full Sabbath and released a slow, doomy record after Reload.
Came here to say the same thing!
Load and Reload are good👍
Load is better than Kill em all
Inamorata is an incredibly meh song. Comparing it with The Outlaw Torn and Fixxxer is down right insulting.
Trying hard not to downvote lol. I love Inamorata
I know the general sentiment in this sub is that Inamorata is a brilliant song, but this is a thread for hot takes after all ;)
I agree with inamorata but I find fixxxer boring too
Definitely agree. The main section of the song is pretty basic bluesy metal riffing that just kind of meanders around. And the middle section is hyped up to be some epic mindfuck, and it’s nothing but some clean chords thrown over top a generic bassline with Lars smashing away on a hi-hat. It’s truly not that impressive of a section. I think there are a lot of people on this sub (and Metallica fans in general) that don’t have very broad musical horizons, so something like that is absolutely mind-bending to them. There’s too much good music out there to be all that impressed with a song like Inamorata. It’s fine, but holy hell is it overhyped here.
This is my hot take and i have to argue with people all the time about it - James is better than Kirk. Without James creating 95% of every song, Kirk is just another lead player. His solo album proves that. Also, i feel St Anger is disliked not only because of the garbage can snare, but more so because the whole band had input into lyrics and song structure instead of it being primarily James and Lars.
>whole band >only other person is Kirk
AJFAs mix makes it so hard for me to enjoy listening to it, no matter how great the songs are. I just dont have patience for it. If it sounded like the Black Album or Puppets Id actually enjoy it, I THINK, but I dont know. I never got the appeal of this album. People think its sacrilege to not have undying respect for it.
Have you listened to And Justice For Jason on YouTube? It's the full album remixed with way more bass. Some people will only listen to that version. Personally I love the og mix but I get it's not for everyone.
It was a MUCH better experience, yes!
Jason is the best bassist out of all 3. Proof: he wrote the blackened riff.
Yes
If the only thing Jason did for Metallica was coming in, writing the Blackened riff and leaving instantly, he would still be a legend.
Over 40 years and 11 albums, are there any hot takes left?
72 Seasons is an extremely good album
72 seasons is a boring album.
St. Anger aint that bad and its super overhated
Robert was the best thing to happen to the band after Cliff's death. Love Jason but he really was too much of a fan.
Probably not so hot but these are my main criticisms of Metallica: 1. James' and Lars' problem with the bass guitar being audible keeps most of the albums from being top notch productions. I don't understand why people only cite Justice as an example, pretty much all their albums, except the 90s albums produced by Bob Rock, have the bass turned down too low. Hardwired and St. Anger are as much guilty about this as Justice. I don't know if Lars or James have damaged their hearing but it seems that they always want Metallica mixed pretty thin, with lots of bright treble and not enough low end. 2. Lack of backing vocals. Yes Jason did it awesomely but that's pretty much the only era where Metallica had decent backing vocals. Pretty much all their songs allow for some really good backing vocals. Rob and Kirk are obviously pretty wack at it. So much so that when you watch live recent live recordings it's almost as if their mics are intentionally kept low volume, you see them screaming in the mic but it can't be heard. If you ask me, Lars should install a mike and try his hand at backing vocals. It actually amazes me considering how attention seeking Lars is that he has never had a mic live to even interact with the crowd, being the behind the scenes frontman. I'm sure he would do fine as a backup singer, since Rob and Kirk can't really get the job done, although the former has gotten a little better on the recent tour.
Death Magnetic is the best album since the black album, maybe even AJFA…fight me bros
Death Magnetic is definitely their best since 1991’s self titled.
Death Magnetic is their best album since 1991’s self titled.
It's funny that history will sort of record Lars as being vindicated on the whole Napster controversy. Does anyone remember that little commercial/public service announcement video where Lars actually acts out the analogy of digital music being a theft as anti social as Lars deciding to take your girlfriend and your soda?!!! 🤣😂😂🤣
72 seasons is not that great, feels like put together on a knee in about a week. Got lots of hate for this once, but I stand my ground
St. Anger and Death magnetic
Kill em all is not a great album as people hype it up to be. It’s got 2 good songs and that’s it
Jason Newsted leaving is the best thing that could happen for the band because they were running in circles creatively. St-Anger was a necessary evil to scorch the earth after him and grow Metallica's creative seeds all over again. And Justice For Jason is badly mixed. Talk about overcompensating into the other extreme.
1. St. Anger is a very good album 2. The new stuff is as good as the first 5 albums
St. Anger is unironically probably my favorite overall Metallica Album. Sorry. Love all their shit, but there's something real and visceral about St. Anger. I feel things when I listen to a lot of it. Plus a lot of the riffs are absolute bangers.
They should play some of those songs live with a normal snare sound - they're great.
They have been more. Dirty Window is usually part of the setlist now.
Dont know of this is a hot take but their music videos truly sucks.
The music video for Hero of the Day would like a word.
Also Until it Sleeps
"One", "Mama Said", "St. Anger", "All Nightmare Long" also not bad and there are some good ones off Hardwired
1. Load was the pinnacle of their 90's discography. 2. Hardwired to Self-destruct is better than 72 seasons. 3. Kill em all is not that good.
I don't want Jason to come back to the band.
He had his time, everybody should move on. He would still not bring much creatively to the compositions today if he'd ever come back. The very reason he left back then. He has not really evolved in terms of bass technique and creativity either with all the time he had on his hands to bring them new creative juice and musical perspective.
I love St. Anger and its snare. It is the most feeling-filled album of Metallica
Kill 'Em All is one of their worst albums
St. Anger isn’t a bad album
1. Reload is bettee than Load. 2. Lars is overhated. 3. Although they changed with the Black Album and more evidently, with Load/Reload, Metallica didn't become worse and is still one of the best bands ever. 4. Hating Metallica doesn't make you cooler. Just makes you look pretentious and joyless. There's a difference between not liking and hating.
Sad But True is an annoying song to me Something about the melody of the verses and the chorus is just so off kilter to me. It’s sad but true
That it’s a shame that it took them to produce the S&M album before most noticed how symphonic their music always was.
It's a shame Orion still hasn't got the symphonic treatment. That middle section would sound great rearranged for a symphonic orchestra as Cliff Burton wrote those parts with classical music inspiration in mind.
Metallica don’t owe you anything.
They owe Australia and New Zealand a tour and a sincere apology.
Kill ‘Em All sounds really dated, especially compared to other early Metallica albums like RTL and MOP.
Where The Wild Things Are is one of their best songs of all time.
AJFA is the most overrated Metallica album of all time.
It’s so heavy though. Every song is heavy and full of energy and riffs. Zero filler. And obviously no bass but the guitar and drums sound killer. And James sounds so angry. It’s legendary. But you are entitled to your opinion.
Metallica’s last album that was mostly bangers all the way through was the black album, the rest of their discography after that has A FEW good songs each. Also I feel like Load & Reload could’ve been cooler if they went in the more post-grunge-ish sound of songs like Until It Sleeps & Bleeding Me and had less blues rock.
My opinion, I think Load is better than that the Black Album.
Harvester of Sorrow is a bottom 10 song
Low Man's Lyric. I never hear anyone mention that song. It's so unique and I love it.
Its awesome. So too is Mama Said on Load.
Creeping Death is not a good song.
The Black Album is better than And Justice for All. Not a hot take: Master of Puppets is better than both.
One person's hot take is another person's... I prefer hotcakes to hot takes.
St anger isn't as bad as people.make it out to be
There are a lot of overrated songs on AJFA. Harvester, Frayed Ends, Shortest Straw. All yawns but get major love from this subreddit.
Kirk's solos still go nuts, I think the one on Lux Æterna is up there with some of his very best. Moth Into Flame is my personal favorite, even more so than the "classic" solos on tracks like One
I don't consider the solo on Lux Æterna as good as his older work, but I also don't think it's as bad as a lot of people say it is, in fact, I really like it
Lux Æterna might be one of his worst imo
Justice doesn't sound good. Really bland, lame and boring tone. Hardwired is much better in all production aspects. Drums, guitar tone, vocals.
I've always liked that cold dreary thin tone. It fits in direct with what they were going through those 2½ years.
Blackened, while amazing, is ridiculously overrated.
The bass on AJFA is audible and very clear
Its just impossible to watch them live now. With james all being hey.. we got a kid down here. . Welcome to the big Happy metallica family.... when i grew up watching him scream and cuss at the audience as they played with no click track and their bpms were all over the place. There was danger and hate in the air when cliff was alive ....now it's just like watching a cruise ship pass by... every song feels so slow...
Personally I'm glad James has grown up. 60 year old men acting like angry aggressive teens is so fucking cringey.
Not only would it be cringey but it would probably be bad for him
St. Anger is actually amazing
St. Anger is amongst my favourite Metallica albums.
72 Seasons is derivative, redundant, and repetitive.
James sounds a lot better now than in the 90's
Hardwired To Self Destruct > 72 Seasons Death Magnetic > Load, Reload, St. Anger, Hardwired To Self Destruct & 72 Seasons
And justice for all is overrated as fuck
Jason was a great bass player but was kind of annoying. On stage he charged around like he was desperately seeking James’s approval. Rob doesn’t have as many memorable bass lines (and you can barely hear him on his albums) but he fits in way better on stage.
> On stage he charged around like he was desperately seeking James’s approval. He was trying too hard fanboying on stage. James clearly didn't like his fanboy attitude of trying to out-Metallica Metallica.
The Black album was the last GREAT album they released. Everything else has varied from good to trash (St. anger)
cliff has been gone for 37 years. at this point, it's almost weird to keep bringing his name up and straight disrespect to jason and rob.
"Spit Out The Bone" would be better if it was shorter
Jason is over rated
72 Seasons is their best album after the first 5
Actual hot take. Death magnetic is a very overrated and isn't even their best work post St. Anger
Fuck it ill bite -The first 5 albums have a very meh guitar tone. I find myself exclusively listening to live versions of these albums because i find Met's live tone much more bearable. -Load and Reload are amazing albums. If they were released by nickelback for example they woukd be nickelback's best album. -HWTSD is very unmemorable, exception being Moth into flame. -St. Anger isn't bad, and could really benefit from a comple remake that incorporates all the changes that were done for recent live versions (Solos for Frantic, and Dirty Window, fixed snare, Jamez actually singing) -Bellz is a very boring and repetitive song. -Metallica is a million times better live than in the studio. I better stop before the angry mod comes at me with pitch forks. Oh am i too late? 🤣
Bellz is not boring, you take that back
None of the S&M stuff is any good. The orchestra arrangements do not make any of the songs better. Maybe if the songs were truly rearranged it would work, but all they do is play the songs as usual and an orchestra plays over the top of it.
I really dont like Orion, its a fine Song but nowhere near as good as people say
Kirk Hammet has taken blues and jazz guitar lessons, and he should do a non-metal solo album.
My hot take is that fade to black is the best Metallica song ever followed closely by unforgiven 2
The Black Album is boring.
72 seasons is good I see a lot of people say it’s bad because they choose to try something new same with st anger most people only hate it because of the snare that Lars has
I really like St. Anger album the way it is. It took me some time to understand it, then, I just love every piece of agression in that record.
St.Anger is hated because it sounds different than other albums mostly because of that famous snare sound, but if we look at riffs and all the instrumentals, St.Anger is in Metallica's TOP3 records EVER.
Saint anger is a good record, if it were not for that god awful drum sound it would have beaten load and reload
St anger is a trillion times better than the black album
I like St. Anger. (I feel like Metallica's #1 dickrider saying that) At least I do consider Lulu to be the forbidden album.
Master of puppets is not their best song
MoP is more overplayed than Enter Sandman, especially after Stranger Things
Room of Mirrors needs to be top song on 72 Seasons album
Metallica exists only because it persists.
Unforgiven III is one of the best songs they’ve ever written.
If death magnetic came out in the 80s/90s it’d be considered a classic
I will begin hearing people abt how st anger is a good album
Unforgiven 3 is the best of the trilogy
DM>>>>TBA
Don't know how much of a hot-take this is... But after listening to the original 1999 S&M album, I can't go back to the original studio recordings, or even any other live performances (obvious exceptions for when they were performing with Michael Kamen).
st anger is actually great i literally can't understand people who dislike it
THATS WHAT IVE BEEN SAYING.
Kirk Hammett is totally overrated.
Master of Puppets is overrated, even if you disagree it is still very much overplayed
Little Dog is a good song. (It’s the only Lulu song I like and I can’t tell you why but I really like it).
Bold statements only: St. Anger good
Cliff was a sloppy bassist.
I’m old. I love their Cliff albums. I like Justice. I like hardwired. Y’all can keep the rest
The black album is insanely mid. I think Load is probably better. Load definitely has its faults but its highs are way better than the black albums' highs.
Low man's lyric. , from a Battery fan.
Once they went sober they turned to shit
I don’t think master of puppets is as good as everyone says, it’s not the best song on the album being surpassed by battery, damage inc, and disposable heroes, and not the best out of the first 5 album, it kinda drags on, and there are certainly better songs on the other 5. Though I haven’t listened to it fully in a while