New Metallica!

[Rhythm N. Bliss]

Here:

http://www.metallica.com/index.asp?item=601231

[Darrol]

I am thinking that I might pick it up sometime this week.

My friend is such a big Metallica fan that him and his girlfriend try endlessly to win stuff. So far they both won tickets to Kroq's Weenie Roast earlier this year which had Metallica, she then won the CD early from Kroq and he won tickets to their show out here at The Forum in December.

[SKATE RAT]

ARE THESE GUYS STILL AROUND?THEY SHOULD HAVE STOPED AFTER MASTER OF PUPPETS.

[Darrol]

ARE THESE GUYS STILL AROUND?THEY SHOULD HAVE STOPED AFTER MASTER OF PUPPETS.

They are still around and they are still going strong. They hit a rough spot with St. Anger which many just plain hated but now they have released Death Magnetic which is being said to be just as good as their older stuff.

[SKATE RAT]

i just listened to it and its not. and they hit a rough spot with that stupid black album and have never gotten their stride back.

[angrymatt]

I don't know about the new record as a whole, but I didn't care for the first single.  Saw the video a few weeks ago.

[Rhythm N. Bliss]

I love the Black Album & I even bought LOAD. Garage Days Revisited has my fav track of theirs-LOVERMAN- & many other great covers!
In spite of the drum sound being so obnoxious & there being no guitar solos, St. Anger was the first METAL album to reach Number One in America for a long, long time. One reason for that was it was only 10 bucks with a Bonus DVD!!

I'm glad I can hear Death Magnetic all I want without havin' to buy it.

[MattK]

i just listened to it and its not. and they hit a rough spot with that stupid black album and have never gotten their stride back.

+1
I've given their newer stuff multiple listens, but I really haven't enjoyed much of anything they've recorded since ...And Justice For All.
St Anger is one of the worst albums ever recorded, in my opinion.

[uwe]

I can't say I enjoyed St. Anger - no one probably has -, but I was impressed how ruthlessly non-compromising it was. It was a brave release.

I think Metallica - and I've never been a fan - have forged their path in rock history though none of them is really an outstanding musician. They were never afraid to try something new and brought heavy metal to non-heavy metal audiences without being stuck in a timewarp like the Megadeths and Slayers of this world. They progressed. Not always to places their fans liked, not always to places I liked, but they avoided temptation of rerecording Ride the Lightning, Master Of Puppets, And Justice for All and the Black Album again and again. For that they deserve credit. And I always thought it a nice touch that the guitarist of the most successful all-out heavy metal band is ironically not a shredder at all, but actually quite tasteful, compliments Herr Hammet!

I'll buy their new album just out of curiosity once it is out.

Uwe

PS: And sometimes - only sometimes and possibly I'm the only one to hear this - I hear traces of and nods towards BÖC in their music. As an old BÖC fan that always brings a tear to my eye.

[SKATE RAT]

i wish Slayer was in a time warp. somewhere beetween '86 & '89 would be perfect. their last few records are blahhh blah

[Rhythm N. Bliss]

Fans are complaining about the mix of Metallica's new cd compared to Guitar Hero which sounds much better.

http://www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/blog-death-magnetic-sounds-better-in-guitar-hero-173961

[uwe]

I bought it yesterday and have listened to the first three songs. As a non-Metallica fan I must say: I like it. I hear more Black Albun than And Justice for all in it (which sounded like bad Rush on speed at times). Hetfield's voice is still samey and every word he "sings" is delivered with the same emphasis, but his range has widened just a little and I heard him sing a handful of notes that were unecpected from him. I think the sound of the album is fine, that is just how Metallca sounds and wants to sound, a bit leaden unless they do those fast parts and a bit angular overall with Lars' drums dragging behind. BTW: Nothing that much heralded new bass player played on those first three songs made me listen up, perhaps I even miss Jason Newsted's pick attack sound a little in the mix. Hammet's solos have a tendency to be just part of the music rather than the cream topping, he is certainly not guilty of overplaying, but sometimes, just sometimes I wonder what a more spectacular solo by EvH, Yngwie or Steve Vai would sound like above that Metallica sludge.

Uwe

[Basvarken]

Off topic: does anyone have the new Queen+Paul Rodgers album yet?

[uwe]

I do. It's still an ill-fitting mix IMHO. The fact that they actually call themselves Queen + Paul Rodgers is telling.

Bad Co sometimes sounded dumb, but they also sounded like they didn't notice that they were. When Queen pretends to be Bad Co it's so gayly tongue in cheek (and probably other assorted body parts) that you immediately expect Freddie Mercury prancing out of the speakers shouting "Yes, I'm ready for love, oooh baby I'm a-ready for love, my dear, aren't you too?". But then he doesn't and we're left with Paul Rodgers who within Queen reminds me of Eddie Murphy at a KKK Konvention telling racist jokes. You sort of feel uncomfortable with it.  At least I would, not to mention the Grand Wizard and his hooded entourage.

Queen have a signature sound in everything they do and it is more pop than rock in the studio at least (live they were a different proposition, I know). And Paul Rodgers is just too serious and pour-your-heart-out for pop. There is a reason why Bob Dylan never fronted the Beach Boys with his voice.

The production sounds dated btw. More dated than the posthumous Mercury album they did, Made in Heaven or whatever it was. Quite a few songs try to echo old days. There is a "Crazy little thing called love"-song etc. One song is sung by Taylor and that sounds most natural. (None by May though his signature backing vocals are all over the place - again an ill fit with Rodgers who sounds best by himself and sparsely arranged rather than embedded in a Queen backing vox wall of sound).

The anti-war and -soldiers lyrics (could be either Rodgers or May who were responsible for this, both have similar criminal records) that permeate the CD are mindbendingly cringeworthy. Soldiers "dressed to kill". Ouch. Freddie would have spanked them for that. With a naughty smile.

Buy the Metallica album, it's the more credible effort. Or imagine the Metallica album with Freddy Mercury singing like he actually means all that stuff Hetfield conjures lyrically. And if that seems strange to you, you know what the Queen + Paul Rodgers outing feels like too.

Uwe

[Basvarken]

I'm afraid I have to agree with Uwe that it is not an excellent album.

When I first heard about the collaboration between Queen and Raul Rodgers I was kind of sceptical. But after seeing their live DVD Return Of the Champions I had to change my point of view. Paul Rodgers and Queen fit really wel together. Rodgers was not trying to sing like Freddie. He sang the songs his own way. Which is excellent.
The man can sing the phonebook and still sound good. But that's where it went wrong I think. The songs on the new album just aren't that great.  Like Uwe said: Some of the lyrics make your toes curl in your shoes.
And the eighties production makes QPR sound like Mr.Mister sometimes... 

The DVD that came with the package makes up for the disappointing new album. It's packed with Queen classics...sung by PR