Said in my best Spinal Tap accent: It's a joke really...

The film is interesting and is way more interesting then the music it produced, I have never owned the companion EP, and will eventually buy it just complete my collection but not an essential release.

The movie is interesting, a very good doc into what it was like in the Metallica camp during that time. It also makes me understand the album better. That said, someone should have told Rob Rock the drum sounds blow chunks during the recording sessions.

Watched it once in the theaters, found it interesting, will probably never see it again, although I bought the DVD.

The EP is cool though.

I like the doc, I watch it once in a while.

The movie is really good and I thought the band was very brave (or masochistic) for okaying its release. I don't recall thinking Mustaine looked like "the bad guy" in his scene. Kind of pathetic, maybe, for crying over something so many years in the past, but not a bad guy.

Never bothered listening to the EP.

Never saw it.

The movie is well made, the band were a bunch of whiners at this point. Newsted comes off much more "real" than the others. It is a perfect portrait though of how too much success can blind you to what got you that success in the first place. The fact that they were in the process of recording such a terrible album at the time...kind of proves the point of the whole thing.

The new Album sucks, Justice for all is the best

I believe they must of been eating too much tofu or something ? sheeeeesh !!!!!!!! Major estrogen overdose all the way around.

OK, now that I have some time on my hands, I'll try to defend St. Anger.

The Good - There does seem to be an effort to write more aggressive music than they had written in the previous decade. There is no obvious radio single, like detuned mentioned (I think it was him, anyway. Might have been manny). The album intensity does not let up one bit. Lars did describe it right when he said it was a "punch in the face." There is a lot of promising material on this record as well. "Frantic," "Invisible Kid," "Some Kind Of Monster," and "Sweet Amber" all have some interesting riffs and passages that show that Metallica hadn't lost their ability to create some powerful riffs. The thrash element of Metallica seems to have a bit of an awakening on this album as well. Many of the tracks pick up the tempo and do away with the ballad-like feeling that many of the 90's songs had.

The Bad - The production is raw. A little too raw. The snare drum is a bit of a sticky point, as are the guitars. I like detuned guitars, but not to the point where they sound like mud and like a good crunch the smacks you upside the head. The songs are too long as well. Some of the songs seem to wander quite a bit. If they had edited some of the songs to under five and a half minutes, the songs are automatically twice as good. One of the reasons the songs feel like they drag on is because there are no guitar solos. No guitar solos is not always bad. Sometimes they are forced in and aren't needed at all; however, when you think about Metallica, you think of shred solos that leave young fans in awe (fans that haven't seen Eddie, Randy, Vai, or Mustaine play a solo, mind you. But none the less.).

Overall, considering Jason had just left, James was in rehab, and the band on the verge of disbanding (seriously), this record needed to be made. Had it not, like James has said, Metallica probably wouldn't be around to day. With all that in consideration, does that give them a pass on making a sub-par album? No, but at least they tried and put out an album instead of packing in and breaking up. Sure, in the movie, they seemed like a bunch of whiners, but they didn't quit when they were on the edge of disbanding. It takes a real man to confront his problems and deal with them. Some do it better than others, but at least they dealt with it. It also takes a real man to realize he can't do everything by himself. People would say that "real" men don't need help. Tell that to the numerous that help failed because they didn't ask for help. Those cases far outnumber the successful ones. Believe me, I know.

"They're whiny, pampered rock stars that don't care about the fans," some would say. Oh sure, they don't care about the fans, and yet, for some reason, they tour once a year it seems like at least, they went through rough times and managed to say together when they probably felt like throwing in the towel. But somehow, they don't care about the fans. Bull. Who's you to say that if you had achieved the same success that you wouldn't be different than you are now. "I wouldn't change. I'd still be playing underground metal, even if I were as big as Metallica, Megadeth, and Iron Maiden." Sure, whatever.

Thus ends my rant.

Five years after the ST. ANGER debacle (and I more or less swore off Metallica for life) they returned with 2008's DEATH MAGNETIC. As a confirmed skeptic who was still stung by the previous album, at first I didn't wanna know ANYTHING about this album. My attitude was "Screw 'em, that band is dead to me."

However, my curiosity was piqued after hearing the lead single ("The Day That Never Comes") on the radio a few days before the album's release, to which I reacted "Damn. That actually sounds GOOD." Still, I remained doubtful and didn't plan on throwing any more of my hard earned money into the roaring bonfire known as Metallica Incorporated.

But... once a fanboy, always a fanboy, I guess. Once the album started receiving near-universal positive reviews (some on this very board, from people whose opinions I respect!) I couldn't resist any longer, and while I was at Wal-Mart on a family shopping trip a few weeks after the album release, a copy of the CD found its way into my cart. Even then, I remember thinking "I'd better not regret this." I had already decided that if I were disappointed with this album, I was going to smash the CD with a hammer and send the pieces back to Metallica in individual packages marked "Cash On Delivery."

So anyway... DEATH MAGNETIC didn't blow me away on the first listen but I had to admit (grudgingly) that dammit, it was a pretty decent return to form for the band. I especially liked the JUSTICE vibe of "That Was Just Your Life" and "My Apocalypse," while everything in between sounded pretty good too. Not quite on par with the classics but definitely a step back in the right direction for a band that had spent nearly twenty years wandering in the wilderness. Other strong tracks include "Cyanide" and "All Nightmare Long." If nothing else, Metallilca coughed up an album that I have listened to more times in the past year than I've listened to LOAD, RE-LOAD, or ST. ANGER in the past decade.

Back in January of this year I got the chance to see Metallica live here in New Jersey for the first time since 1992 and I have to say that the new stuff fits right in with the old-school classics they were playing (yes, thankfully they ignored the LOAD, RELOAD and ST ANGER combo in its entirety and stuck to the good stuff!). It was a great show and the combination of that concert and the DEATH MAGNETIC album went a long way towards restoring my faith in what had once been my favorite band. I don't think I'd take a bullet for 'em now like I would've as a teen but they have finally redeemed themselves in my eyes.

DEATH MAGNETIC debuted at #1 on the U.S. Billboard charts (the fifth time in a row they'd done it, setting a record for the most #1 debuts by a single artist) and though the production quality has been the source of much debate (some people love the rawness, others think it sucks or that it was purposely f*cked up during the mastering process by a vengeful recording engineer!), thankfully it sounds better than what they farted out on ST. ANGER.

Don't get me wrong, DEATH MAGNETIC is not a perfect album by any means, but it is the first album of theirs in a very long time that actually SOUNDS LIKE METALLICA to me (if that makes any sense). I can only hope that the next album (whenever it may be) continues to build on the foundation that D.M. has set.

Metallica's return to form!!!!! I love this album and it is the best thing they have done since The Black Album or maybe even Justice!!!! That will be remained to be seen - we need to see how it ages over the next few years. The only song I could do without is "Unforgiven III", which I felt was not needed on the album. If they wanted another song, they should have written another monster metal track. As mentioned many, many times the biggest issue people have with the album is mastering of it. The CD is so loud that Metallica and Rick Rubin have won the "Loudness Wars" For info on the "loudness wars" click here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_wars

It is the loudest CD I think I have ever heard. I had a friend tell me she blew out one of the factory installed speakers in her car when she played the CD.

Other than the terrible mastering job, this album is AWESOME. If you don't the mastering and it hurts your ears, you can always listen to the multiple versions of the Guitar Hero III version of DM. My favorite is the one our own Cliffy did for those that PAID for the cd.

I was able to see Metallica on this tour and they were awesome!!! FF is correct that the DM material fits in well with songs from the first four Metallica CD's.

Here's hoping they continue in this direction on the next release and get a better mastering job done!!!

Aside from production issues, I personally loved it and it was the best album they had made since the self titled album. I thought it was a great return to form and was welcome change from the last few releases. They seemed to be a band that was out to prove something to themselves.

'Death Magnetic' maybe not be 'Master of Puppets redux' but it was best album they could do at this point in their career. What also like about the album it is an honest album, it is not revisit to Metallica's past but it tips its hat to their past while at same time looking forward.

While I have liked 'Load' and did not completely hate 'St. Anger' this was the first album in years that I was not afraid that I would be disappointed.

To me, what lil I have heard with my own ears and what guys in the band have seconded for the most part is that this cd has a cut and past vibe with poor arrangemnents. It would of been kewl if they would of practiced the tunes and set up shop someplace and did it like a set list of a show with no audience. I just can't get into something that doesn't flow right and get into that pplace musuic is supposed to be in. Riffs are good, fast is good, but just because of that on it's own merit never has flown right with me.

Laterz

I really like this album. It's kind of a return to the "not quite thrash but hey, at least it's still metal" era of the band. "Cyanide" is one of the best Metallica songs in years.

As usual when a new Metallica album is out, there have already been written book-length articles by long time fans on how much it is going to suck. Metallica has become the type of band that is popular to hate and rag on, yet they go on selling millions on CD's world wide. I for one have never been one to judge anything before I get to hear it. And 'Death Magnetic' was pre-ordered with an open mind, and an actual hope for improvement. The result, whilst being a mixed affair, delivers for the most part. Yes, this is a return to form for the worlds biggest heavy metal band. James, Lars, Kirk and Robert have tried to capture all of the bands past, and turn it into something of today. Here we get no frills thrash metal, even some stuff reminiscent of material as old as the 'Kill 'em All' days ("My Apocalypse"). We also get some more modern approaches, that would fit nicely on any of the 'Load' albums ("The End Of The Line", "The Day That Never Comes"). The songwriting, and especially the song structure is leaning towards the progressive nature of '...And Justice for All'. Heck there is even some hints of 'St. Anger' ("Cyanide"), if you listen closely. But what you don't get is a 'Master Of Puppets' part 2! And I don't think anyone in their right minds were thinking this, although so many was hoping just that. 'Death Magnetic' is a fresh album, but maybe not as hungry as I had hoped for. Producer legend Rick Rubin (Slayer, System Of A Down etc.) has gone for a more stripped down and naked sound for Metallica. And that suits them very well, and gives the album an overall live feeling. The mix on the other hand is another issue altogether. The already infamous 'Death By Distortion' sound on the album gets a little on my nerves. But I've decided not to let it ruin an otherwise solid album. Besides, I am not one to condone illegal downloading, but the sound on the 'Death Magnetic' CD I already paid for made me not so hesitant to download the better mix taken from the Guitar Hero III game. And I'm trying my best not to get so annoyed about the overkill elements of the album either. You see, the boys have tried, a little too hard I think, to cram every idea they could come up with on this album. So many of the songs start off as one song, but when the song ends you realize that you're almost listening to a different song by now. The first single, "The Day That Never Comes", is a good example of this. The beginning of the song is excellent, and maybe even one of the better slow- to mid-tempo tunes in their carrier. But after 5 minutes of bliss the band ventures into a frantic instrumental thrash metal chaos. As 2 separate entities it would have worked better, in my opinion. And the same kind of genre traveling and mixes can be found in many of the other numbers here as well. Nevertheless I find 'Death Magnetic' to be an honest effort, and I am enjoying the heck out of it.

Killer tracks: That Was Just Your Life, Broken, Beat & Scarred, The Day That Never Comes, All Nightmare Long

I really like Death Magnetic and have been listening to it consistently since it came out. At this point I feel comfortable in ranking it as their best album since And Justice For All - the "black album" is nice but I find I rarely go back to it. My main nitpicks are that End of the Line and Suicide and Redemption, while good songs, don't quite live up to their predecessors considering where they're placed on the album. But All Nightmare Long, That Was Just Your Life, My Apocalypse, and Judas Kiss, and The Day That Never Comes are particular standouts for my tastes and the rest of the songs are pretty solid (although I keep expecting to hear Broken, Beat, and Scarred as a sports arena anthem). Even Unforgiven III has grown on me a bit

It does seem a bit funny to me that when Bob Rock was hired as their producer, they basically started sounding like a different band, and now with him gone they suddenly sound like their old selves again. It's not quite as good as their classic material, but it's a very worthy entry in their catalogue.

Death Magnetic is the only Metallica album since ...And Justice For All that gets regular spins from me to this day. I try to black-out the period from 1991 till about 2008.