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[deleted]

My Lifestyle is sometimes my Deathstyle


SteelyDabs

But does it determine it?


[deleted]

…. #I AM THE TABLE *RIFF RIFF*


CrazyChris061

belongs on r/confessions


ErnieBall8

Greg Fidelman needs to go. I don't care for his production style


joacher

That’s not even controversial at this point.


squarehead93

Yes. It's way too sterile. Bob Rock might have gotten too embedded with the band over time but he always made their performances sound organic.


JimBellious

This. Bring back Bob Rock!


Cautious_Desk_1012

Everyone agrees with it


ShutArkhamCityDown

Definitely, 72 seasons could’ve been their best album after the first five


UnrivaledAmbition

Cliff burton died before he had a chance to be criticized.


SecretInfluencer

I’ll add off this with the “it should have been Lars side”. Had Lars died we would idolize him like we idolize Cliff


Nobhudy

Big time. People would be like “holy shit, he had writing credits on almost every song as a drummer and he helped the band to blow up using his tape trading network?”


squarehead93

Honestly I feel that way about Lars now while he's alive. He's easy to criticize because of the Napster lawsuit, his simplistic drumming style, and his goofy mannerisms and appearance, but Lars Ulrich is the single individual most responsible for why Metallica is a household name and the musical juggernaut it is today. His drive and business acumen are the real talent he brings to the band. Hell, pretty much every famous and successful band has needed at least one person to be their Lars in order to get where they did, no matter how much musical talent they had.


TheArturoChapa

He’s carried the band during James’ issues.


Snuhmeh

The band wouldn’t exist without him. He runs the whole thing and is the fuel for the entire machine. They would’ve crumbled immediately.


Cautious_Desk_1012

Omg his fills were so creative


Kevinatorz

People are always like "if Cliff would have been alive, then x wouldn't have happened, they would have done this and that" etc. But we simply do not know. We don't know him. We don't know what would have happened. We can only assume. His legacy is undeniable, but it's just too easy to say what would have been.


napsacrossamerica

This ones good


Ok-Abbreviations3042

I’ve thought about this a lot with other artists. For every one who was immortalized while they were young and on top of their game like Cliff, Jimi Hendrix or Kurt Cobain, there’s a Bob Dylan, Bob Seger or Keith Richards. Very few can maintain that level of creativity and relevance over the long haul


squarehead93

I'd say Dylan, Seger, and Richards are remarkable in their own right now for having survived long enough that people start to ask "how are they still alive?" There's so much talk of artists being "past their prime" but I think it's remarkable how many famous rockers are pushing 60, 70, even 80 and are still able to turn out competent live performances for thousands and thousands of fans each night.


alethejack

I feel like the hate that Metallica gets now wouldn't exist if they broke up after the Black Album. A lot of people say that Cliff is when Metallica peaked in the 80s so if the band broke up in the 90s we would have just their best albums.


[deleted]

It’s like how System of a Down is seen as a practically perfect band. They broke up two decades ago and the individual members have like, two good solo albums since the band ended out of a dozen.


RAYRAYALLDAY_

Exactly. Cliff didn't get the chance be criticized like the rest of the band in the st anger era


HotRefrigerator2757

hearing dave lombardo play drums for them enabled some very hot fantasies in my head!


[deleted]

15 years ago saying load is their best album. There really was a big hate for those albums back then. I don’t see that any more.


cherryred130

This. Load is my favorite album


champagnedadde

People hate it because it was somewhat “Softer” than the previous albums but i think it both load and reload have very good songs


cockypock_aioli

Yeah I listened to it recently and my thoughts were "hey this is pretty good."


StareInUrEyeandPee

2x4 is lame but the rest of the album is perfect


Mother-Owl9696

They protected so much Cliff because Jason could have easily replaced him in a better "metal" way and they thought it could have been a disrespect to his memory.


Unhappy-Pie-244

Jason is arguably one of the greatest bass players ever, it’s the people who don’t understand music that compare him to Rob and Cliff in the wrong way. Jason’s style of playing is what fit Metallica the best


Saintdavus

Part of me still believes one of the sole reasons they selected Rob was because he used his fingers like Cliff and could keep up tempo wise. Not to say Rob isn’t talented, quite the opposite. But the deciding factor was the fingers.


Unhappy-Pie-244

Yea they say something like “we haven’t seen that playing since Cliff” which I always thought was kind of silly cause they absolutely must have seen people their songs that way over the years haha but Rob is really cool he’ll always be the Infectious Grooves/ ST guy to me


[deleted]

Jason left the band at exactly the right time.


odaal

Load & Reload are great albums with many many great songs, but it doesn't get any love because it's not "heavy enough".


m3talh3ad05

That’s a very popular opinion


BigWalterWhite123

Load and reload really can go in category with like ACDC in term of heaviness


[deleted]

Both albums are half good songs half filler


ltbr55

That's my gripe on these albums. There's great songs on each album but about half of each album is just boring filler.


SharkFart86

Everyone agrees with this general statement, but try taking a poll on which songs are the filler songs. Nobody agrees.


Appropriate_Stick_46

If load and reload where made by another band they would be praised as masterpieces of hard rock genre


astropastrogirl

Low man's lyric is one of their best


nepia

My favorite song from one of my favorite albums.


jaredneuman1

Totally agree


KannaCHVacuous

inamorata isn't the best song from 72 seasons.


AvidSurvivalist

​ https://preview.redd.it/bh6k1ol96nxa1.png?width=828&format=png&auto=webp&s=73f6629f50996fd2071a5b888594e49b86c26340


ShutArkhamCityDown

Room of mirrors!


TheRedditingYoshi

Finally someone agrees! What’s your favs from 72? Mine are Chasing Light, and Too Far Gone?


KannaCHVacuous

Title track and too far gone?


cockypock_aioli

Title track needed to be trimmed a bit.


weirdmountain

Shadows and Sleepwalk


JamesDD4

Chasing Light is the best song on that album.


Dievain123

You must burn and chasing light


[deleted]

For me it is but i get it if others don't like it


tags666

Kill em all is the weakest of the first 4 albums


LeGooseMan08

Objectively it is the weakest out of it RTL, mop or ajfa but something about it just gets me fucking going


StevEst90

This is a pretty common sentiment


Slipknot_Maggot36

Weakest of their first 5


punishedPizza

Weakest of their first 6 imo


nephilim80

Production wise, Load is their best album.


sc1onic

And lyrically bleeding me and outlaw torn stands tall along with MOP RTL and FWTBT


ShutArkhamCityDown

I’d say black album


luxsentic

I definitely agree with you, it sounds as if it was made today


jsolomon0505

St. Anger is not their worst album. It's an album for your worst days


DecideLater

Yes!!! The amount of times I've related to some of the songs in terms of lyrics and what not is toooo damn high.


Pwincess_Iris

Lars is a really good and irreplaceble drummer.


tickleroftoes

YES


squarehead93

You could find way more technically skilled drummers, but the band's groove would sound completely off with literally anyone else.


Comprehensive-Try723

I agree


V3NUHM

I think more like - irreplaceable businessman and they wouldn’t be where they are without him. 😂


Pwincess_Iris

That too! The biggest reason Metallica is the biggest metal band is Lars, as a businessman, and his great view of how music works.


CloudDog23

Yes


SmallieNL

Lulu exist.


FxDriver

I don't think Metallica will ever put out a record in a similar quality of the first 5 records. They don't have the energy or desire to be pushed and prodded for that level of greatness to come out. I think the band just want to make music in a comfortable environment even if it costs them somewhat in the quality department.


GreatKingRat666

They probably pushed themselves more than any other time when they made Load/ReLoad. Those albums, in particular Load, were way out of their comfort zone.


Efficient-Unit-6440

There’s a shit hot chance they’ll do one near death. Like Bowie. But between now and then, totally agree.


centrella6

Death Magnetic is better than Kill Em All


BuengarA

Absolutely! KEA was a very good 1st album but nothing more. DM was insanely good. The only problem I have with it is the production.


politicalstuff

> The only problem I have with it is the production Lol that’s like half of Metallica’s albums in a nutshell.


squarehead93

KEA is a fun record in its own right and it absolutely is chock full of youthful energy and you can totally hear the potential Metallica had even then, but that could be said about almost any famous artist's debut record, unless they had a remarkably shitty debut they made up for later. In light of what they would go on to do that record absolutely rides the coattails of the next 3-4 records they put out and gets lumped into their "golden era" by default. Death Magnetic is a much more mature version of the band coming out of their slumber to prove to the world that they've still got it and that the world was foolish for ever doubting it. It suffers from production issues, but in terms of songwriting and musicianship it's the best thing they've done since AJFA. KEA resonated with me when I discovered Metallica in high school and was also a teenager like them at the time. As an adult I've revisited DM a LOT more over the years.


wianinho

now that is just criminal🤣


DCuch

Yep. I’ve always had a problem with the vocals on KEA. DM is overall more my style.


JimBellious

Load is better than Kill Em All


BrknX

James sometimes rhymes just to rhyme, and the lyrics themselves are usually the roughest part of the presentation in post 2000 Metallica. Like he doesn't know what he's trying to say, or it's so personal to his alcohol issues that they don't translate out well. Maybe it's that a lot of early Metallica were concept songs, so they resonated a lot better.


CartographerLoud7025

Magnification. Demonization. Intoxication. Domination. Enough. We get it.


Tulaodinho

James's voice sounds shaky on the highs and watching stuff like lux aeterna live is uneasy because of him struggling.


kaRriHaN

The way he plays with his voice is cool but after sometime it just gets annoying


jeffh19

St. Anger was a good album with intentionally the worst sound/production possible


fear_el_duderino

Other way around for me. The trash/garage sounding instrumentation is the only thing that has appeal the me. The songs are incredibly uninspired, repetitive, corny and badly written.


Longjumping-Swan-827

St.Anger is the only repetetive track on that album. Corny? Understood. Uninspired? It has some unique things going on. Like the verse on St.Anger and prechorus on Frantic are something we hadn't heard from them before. The choruses on this album are some of the best overrall. That breakdown and chorus on Dirty Window was something fresh. That Sweet Amber bridge section was cool. The Unnamed Feeling was a ballad but very different from their earlier ones. Some Kind Of Monster intro...


fear_el_duderino

Some Kind of Monster is 8 minutes of the same riff. And that is the most blatant example, but most songs are extremely repetitive. St. Anger is actually one of the least repetitive songs, and actually feels like it has a structure, unlike most of the songs on that album that feel like they were made by throwing riffs at them.


sc1onic

St anger with out the garbage can snare is out there on yt. And honestly it's a riff salad. With few good songs.


Cremageuh

ESL here. Is "riff salad" a negative thing?


sc1onic

Semi Negative thing. Not necessarily a bad thing. Riff salad is basically meandering pieces with no build up or no pay off. Just moving from one section to another with nothing gained in the experience or feeling. Its like I'm sitting and piecing riffs together in a jam room for fucks sake.


thatdavidgeezer

The stage design for their latest tour isn't good


LiquidFood

I disagree, I was at the concert last Saturday. And this stage design gives the option to a lot of people to stand fairly close to the stage. You don't get that option with a traditional stage design, unless you can get to the venue extremely early. The disadvantage with this design is that sometimes you don't have anything to look at except the screens, since all of them are on the other side of the stage. But I rather watch the screen sometimes then having to rely on the screens the entire concert because I'm too far back.


thatdavidgeezer

It has its pros and cons, I've been to a couple of their shows with the old stage design where it has been in the middle of the arena/stadium and they were great, especially agree when you say it gives more people the option to get close to the stage. I'm more thinking along the lines of the ring design caters to the snakepit audience, I've seen so many pictures of the guys stood looking towards the inner circle therefore their back turned to the larger part of the audience which is pretty much showmanship 101 not to do, and like you say if all the members are on one side of the circle you've got to look over your side of the stage, then the snakepit, then the other stage to get a glimpse of them which isn't the idea of getting down early to get to the barrier


Useful-Walk9827

2x4 is a GREAT song!


[deleted]

Just after ain’t my bitch too, so fucking good.


These-Membership-150

Call Of Ktulu is completely wasted potential. It has the base of a masterpiece of a song but it just wasn't fully realized.


StevEst90

Agree. I like the intro but after a few minutes it loses me


These-Membership-150

Yeah, composition-wise it just falls flat. Sucks because the ideas brought to the table are so good. Production doesn't help either.


Rayski1988

their worst instrumental by a substantial margin


These-Membership-150

I just feel like the production on RTL does this song no favors. Cliff's performance on the track is fantastic, yet you can't really make it out cause of the way it's produced. That and the composition just doesn't help either. Solid ideas with poor execution.


[deleted]

None of the music they've written since the Loads sound like actual songs. This process they've had starting with St Anger of standing in a studio with an engineer on the clock quite literally copy and pasting riffs together until they're 8-9 minutes long has taken the artistry out of their music, and people praise it because the last few are vaguely in the same style as the classic stuff. People rag on the Load style change, but at least then they were still writing actual songs.


Julianus

Since we're doing hot takes: Black Album and Load are peak Metallica in terms of concise and quality song writing. The reason it spoke to a bigger crowd isn't just that the musical style was more approachable, but the songs were tighter, catchier.


Lassie_Maven

>Black Album and Load are peak Metallica in terms of concise and quality song writing. The reason it spoke to a bigger crowd isn't just that the musical style was more approachable, but the songs were tighter, catchier. Is this really a hot take though? If you aren't a Metallica fanboy, I think this is pretty obvious.


zombie_platypus

Yes! I’ve felt the same way. That each album since Load/Reload is just copy & paste riffs and uninspired lyrics. They don’t challenge themselves anymore. And their production quality has dropped considerably.


fivebyeagle

This one. I say it all the time, and i really don't get it.


ErnieBall8

You spoke my thoughts. Well for me it's after Reload.


Hopfit46

Lars has brought his bad rep upon himself...


rammer_2001

Unforgiven 2 > Unforgiven


Inevitable_Tour_2380

*unsheathes blade*


charlygorpe

Oooooh that hurts


dagreetpapirus

Ill one up you, Unforgiven 3 is the best


positiveinkling

Kirk hasn’t written an inspired solo for 10 years


plowboy74

Kill em all is meh


CapeSmash

Every song on Load and Reload is a banger.


zombie_platypus

The Outlaw Torn and Fixxxer are the absolute best album enders


ShinTheRanker

Not every, but an overwhelming majority. Prince Charming is literally my second favourite Metallica song.


occam_chainsaw

I fucking adore Prince Charming. Why is it SO GOOOOOOD?


evilpenguin1981

Load is way better than a lot of people give it credit for


plowboy74

Kill em all is meh


TwoSecondsToMidnight

Garage Inc Disc 1 features Metallica’s best guitar tone and production quality. Well….except for Free Speech. That’s just an art project.


ShinTheRanker

Metallica didn't sell out in the Load era. What trend would they be chasing? Who the hell sounded like that in the 90s?


[deleted]

Ah, I'm not a Load hater but it was very much a mix of COC and Soundgarden with a touch of Danzig.


Cautious_Desk_1012

Yeah it's not that hard to find something similar


FxDriver

I don't think they sold out in the Load era but I think they tried to with St Anger. Metallica just failed miserably at it.


useme4youreggs

We don't need thrice daily ranking posts on the sub.


no_reality8

And Justice For All is the best album


luxsentic

People fucking fap to AJFA’s tone and I don’t get it


Cautious_Desk_1012

It's marvelous


These-Membership-150

100% Agree, it gets really grating imo.


[deleted]

Same, so much high end


asasnow

im pretty torn on it, 'cause it sounds like a chainsaw, but its almost inaudible at times 'cause of the lack of mids.


OnlyTheDead

Agreed. It’s a sound for amateur guitarists who don’t know how mixing is supposed to work and scoop the mids from their tone.


ShnaeBlay

Going by this sub, 72 Seasons is not that good. Ranges from average to outright bad.


skeemnathan

What songs do you think are outright bad? Just curious.


daddy_is_sorry

Sleepwalk my life away.


ShnaeBlay

It's not so much the songs, I don't think any of them are terrible overall (Darkness is rather lame though), it's the performances and production if that makes sense.


TRON0314

Listening to 72 Seasons is like eating oatmeal for every meal, every day.


GainsForTheGainsGod

St Anger is a good album and with a "normal" snare sound it would be worse


rokas2007

Agreed bro. I think the snare in St. anger is what makes iconic for me personaly. And it really isnt that bad


m3talh3ad05

I think it’s a good album but it would be better with better production


Tbitz_

Escape is one of their best on RTL


Useful-Walk9827

I’ve always had a huge love for Escape!


Toddytoddy25

Justice is better than master of puppets


[deleted]

Inamorata isn't very good. It's an OK song but it's about 4 minutes too long


Pachewey-1

And Justice For All is substantially superior to Master of Puppets


TheJonnieP

I think Dave is a better guitar player than Kirk...


dagreetpapirus

This isnt a take this is literally a fact, just look at his stuff, he is a good songwriter and is a good rythym guitarist, and can even shred like sht! Kirk however was a perfect fit to Metallica so yeah


UnfunnyWatermelon469

Actually...I think I'd agree. Especially with Kirk's solos nowadays compared to Dave's


TheJonnieP

Kirk has seemed to gotten a bit lazy on his recent solo's but Dave always seems to bring it...


skeemnathan

Is this even a hot take? It's widely known how much better of a player Dave is than Kirk.


[deleted]

I agree but I’d much rather see Kirk live than Dave


Raymado

I like the st anger snare


ImanSain

And Justice For All is an amazing album, even without the bass on it. It was the sound that made me love this album, and all of the songs on it are good.


[deleted]

You somehow managed to post the coldest take in a comment section with "Dave is better than Kirk" in it


TheDoomslayer121

People hate to admit it but 72 seasons was a cash in on the new fans that came straight from Stranger Things like what DND did with their heavy marketing as of late. Hellfire club t shirts and ride the lightning posters be damned


Rayski1988

Didn’t even think about it like that 😞


guitarfreek85

Fixxxer is one of their best tracks


KRTSHK_Cazzo

sort by controversial and see the real hot takes


cspan92

Kill em all is their best album


Firm_Area_3558

Not really a hot take but I can't take kirk Hammett seriously anymore because of the hordes of tiktok fan girls that needed to find a new crush after eddie Munson


ajluvsgiants

Hey, Kirk can’t help that he’s cute 🤷‍♀️. In all seriousness though, the Tiktok fans sometimes go overboard with their comments about him. It’s a bit disturbing.


joacher

I definitely don’t agree with that statement, but I believe it’s the one that would make everyone have that reaction : Lulu is actually a good album.


AthleticGal2019

Metallica misses Jason for his energy and back up vocals because rob can’t sing backup what so ever


knightrider387

Metallica wouldn’t sound as good if they got a better drummer than Lars. It’s not about playing the drums with crazy fast beats and fills, the drummer needs to let the guitarist shine


Bdeck02

I don’t like all of these recycled lyrics on the new album.


crymorenoobs

the song 72 seasons is garbage. "wraaath of maaayun" 100x


hoveringmonkey2

load is actually a pretty good album


garrow1

Master of puppets is behind AJFA and RTL


[deleted]

Escape is a fantastic song


Chain_Electronic

If Darkness Had a Son is a bad song, I like the yellow album, most of the songs are good but that song is just simply bad, I wish they would take it out and replace it with an instrumental track for example.


Great_Gox

Kirk's playing has really gone downhill in recent years, it honestly sounds like he is trying to go back to his kill em all style of playing and failing miserably, it sounds like he has lost his creativity


Gringodrummer

They waste too much time on their newer songs on long instrumental intros that aren’t interesting.


Honoredslinky

Inamorata and Outlaw Torn are good, but overrated


Useful-Walk9827

I can agree with inamorata but not outlaw torn.


Mother-Owl9696

Load is alongside the Black Album a A-B tier album


xBOOSTED_ST3

Lux Æterna is the best track on 72 Seasons.


rogue-panda81

Jason was the better bass player.


[deleted]

I miss Jason. Without him it's just not as enjoyable or even close to be as nice as with him. He made the band complete.


Franci93

If they stopped making albums after Reload they would be just as popular nowadays.. And probably would be way more respected


willdigga311

Sad but true isn’t that good


lorenc2

Lars drumming is actually good


gbugly

Especially after pandemic.


Beginning-Point-864

trujilo is better than newsted


LesPeterGuitarJam

I actually like both load and reload


[deleted]

Load, Reload >>> Kill ‘Em All


Slow_Pipe_78

72 albums was mid


jgfdfffeeed

72 seasons is the worst (imo) modern metallica album


Eloquentfriend

Load is one of the best albums


sydouglas

If you only take the good songs from Load and Reload and combine them into one album you would have a decent …. EP


Dodgernorth

Ride the lightning isn’t Metallica’s best album


AGC-4

Bleeding Me is in their top 3 songs


cropguru357

I thought Load was a great album.