Metallica LOAD discussion.

I do remember back in the day preferring RE-LOAD, but who the hell knows. I'll dust 'em both off and see how they stack up. I couldn't tell you when was the last time I listened to either one of 'em.

The fact that I still own them, whereas I jettisoned ST ANGER almost as quickly as I acquired it, tells me that I must've liked 'em at least a little better than that heap of you-know-what.

st.anger rules!

i used to prefer reload but i think it has a few stinkers amongst the gems whereas load is more consitent

A lot of people who defend the Loads claim that they were not following trends. In a way, they were. It was viewed as "wrong" to be anything even slightly resembling "metal" in the mid-90s, so Metallica abandoned metal for a more "rock" sound.

As for the shock, I remember my guitar teacher talking about this two or three years ago. He is a big fan of Metallica's 80s output, and even likes the Black Album, although he admits that he understands why some people would claim they "sold out" with it. He said "I remember when Load first came out. I couldn't wait to hear it. I was in the basement all morning trying to give the sound system extra boost. A friend of mine was just as pumped. He bought the album as soon as the store opened on the day it came out. He arrived at my house, and after lunch, we put it on. We were ecstatic. And then...the excitement died very quickly. We were all like...'What?' I couldn't believe it. It didn't sound anything like we expected. I thought it was going to sound like the Black Album. Then, we looked through the booklet, and it didn't even look like Metallica. Again, I was like...'What'? I didn't like Re-Load either. A couple of songs on the Loads are decent, but that's about it."

As for me, I don't like either album at all. It's not because of the name on the spine of the album. It's not because they aren't metal - I listen to some non-metal stuff here and there - it's because I just don't like them. I decided to give the Loads another chance a couple of years ago, because I hadn't heard anything other than the singles for a while. As sad as it sounds, I actually think that the singles are the best material on the Loads.

Still, on a positive note, I will admit they are better than St. Anger.

i like everything they have ever done but after watching the video for i disappear the other day i have finally senses that they are not really a true metal band anymore as it is a pure radio rock song

Fat Freddy wrote:

All this LOAD talk has got me thinking I should dust that album off and give it a listen. As mentioned earlier, I haven't spun that thing in quite a while.

I'm thinking the same thing. I can't remember the last time I've listened to either one. Maybe giving them a fresh spin will give me a new perspective. Meanwhile, St. Anger will continue to collect dust on the shelf.

TheGooch wrote:

i listened to both albums last week and i really enjoyed them as always.

helli even like st.anger

Same here dood!

I like Load. Good album. Definately not old Metallica like you said Ult. My favorite song is Ronny!!!!!!!!!! "they all fall down"!

TheGooch wrote:

st.anger rules!

Shut the pie-hole! No it doesn't.

I hated it when it was released and still hate it. I stopped supporting Metallica when they released the 1st EP with Jason which we always called "The 5.98 ep". There were 2 decent tracks on it but for the most part it was horrible to me. They turned their back on its fan base so bad by the time they got to Load and Reload.

Money is more important to them than the music, so I let them be. Whatever they do now just don't harness any interest from me!

Lurideath wrote:

I hated it when it was released and still hate it. I stopped supporting Metallica when they released the 1st EP with Jason which we always called "The 5.98 ep". There were 2 decent tracks on it but for the most part it was horrible to me. They turned their back on its fan base so bad by the time they got to Load and Reload.

Money is more important to them than the music, so I let them be. Whatever they do now just don't harness any interest from me!

.... no love for Justice?

I've always been of the opinion that you could take Load and Reload, dump the chaff and get to around 10-12 songs and you would have a pretty strong album. Personal opinion; TOO much filler on each album. I don't have either of them, and probably won't get them. Not gonna buy an album just for a handful of songs, and knowing me I probably wouldn't listen to them very often anyway.

Good album, not a great album, but a good album. When I first picked it up, it was slight let down. I love the first 5, yes, even the black album, but not as much as the first 4. I listne to it from time to time, but not as much as the first 5.

I think it was trendy to dislike METALLICA around this time. The fact is, though, that Load is actually a good CD overall. The music is well-written as a whole, even if at times the songs become "hit or miss." I heard "Until It Sleeps" on the radio leading up to the CD's release, and I thought it was a little strange sounding, but it was a good song. The more I heard it, the more I liked it. I bought the CD new when it hit the stores and liked about half of it..."Ain't My B***h," "Mama Said," "Until It Sleeps," etc.

I think they tried too hard for an image overhaul, though. Perhaps they just tried to be too "different" or something. Like many Metal bands by the mid-90's, the fact that METALLICA cut their hair wasn't that surprising. But what was surprising was the way they started dressing and the overly excessive makeup look and painted fingernails, etc. You could tell in their promo photos just how much they wanted to appear "different." Unfortunately, by '96 they looked like just about every other band at that time...silly, quite frankly. If they would have just cut the hair and wore regular stuff like they did with the black album, I don't think they'd have been talked about in such a bad light like they were. Their new "look" only seemed to magnify the disgust held by longtime fans who had already been growing dissatisfied with them. Still, fashion faux pas aside, their music was still decent.

I never understood releasing back to back albums in '96 & '97 with so much filler material on 'em. I also think that if they would have chosen the best 10 songs combined off both CDs and released that as 1 CD, it would have been a great followup to the black album. METALLICA's songs tend to drag out too long in time. It worked in '86, but by '96 it had become a bad idea. Re-load has some good songs as well. But the 2 combined should have been 1, minus the filler material.

I don't dislike METALLICA like so many of my fellow old-schoolers do. I haven't followed METALLICA for many years now, but I still know that if they wanted to, they could release something that would blow all of our minds. Of course, they won't...but they could as long as Hetfield, Hammett and Ulrich are still there. They're the same guys that were there in '86 when they set the bar for Thrash Metal, ya know? Though, no one has the same mindset at 45 as they do when they are 22, so I don't look for anything genre-defining out them anymore. They could, however, come back and release and great, straight-up hard rock/Metal CD like the black album, though.

Heard it once when it came out for educational purposes, never felt urge to repeat after that.

George wrote:

I think it was trendy to dislike METALLICA around this time.

It still is!

hated it at 1st but since that awful St Anger album came out I now see Load as a 3 star MetallicA. In my opinion The Outlaw Torn is 1 of the best songs they have done along with bleeding me. Other cool songs are Poor Twisted Me which has a 70s ring to it, Aint My smurfette, 2x4 (when its live), King Nothing, Until it Sleeps but overrall its isnt as good as its predecessors but 1000 times better than St Anger. I reckon the album had the same problem as the black album everything being too overproduced and polished if it was produced by their previous producer than it would sound better

I was quite different as I was 12 when the album came out and wanted ANYTHING Metallica (a friend got me hooked with the previous albums). I loved this album for quite a while, now its just good memories. I guess it just comes down to if the metal fan can stomach listening to a former metal band play a rock n roll album. Some just simply cannot.

Eyesore wrote:

TheGooch wrote:

st.anger rules!

Shut the pie-hole! No it doesn't.

Eyesore is the guy who's stuck up for Trixter and Extreme around here in the past. So if he won't stick up for St. Anger then it's GOTTA be bad...

But seriously folks, as I said the other day, reading this thread has prompted me to dust off LOAD today for the first time in who-knows-how-long, and thus far my opinion is "Meh, it's OK for a '90s rock album."

Fat Freddy wrote:

Eyesore wrote:

TheGooch wrote:

st.anger rules!

Shut the pie-hole! No it doesn't.

Eyesore is the guy who's stuck up for Trixter and Extreme around here in the past. So if he won't stick up for St. Anger then it's GOTTA be bad...

I am a pretty forgiving listener due to my broad tastes in music, but St. Anger is just 99% crap. There are some really cool parts, and some almost decent songs, but overall the album is just bad music. And that's just the songs; let's not even mention the horrendous sound quality of all the instruments and James's flat, out of tune vocals.

I give it a spin every now and then hoping I will like it more than I actually do. But, the same thing always happens. I get to my favorite song on the album (Bleeding Me) and I lose interest after that.

I brought the pair of Loads into work with me to give them a spin. After not hearing either one for who-knows-how-long, I still stick with my previous post. They aren't entirely bad rock albums. They just aren't Metallica albums.

Give me fuel, give me fire, give me that which I desire! UHH!!!

Eyesore wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

Eyesore wrote:

TheGooch wrote:

st.anger rules!

Shut the pie-hole! No it doesn't.

Eyesore is the guy who's stuck up for Trixter and Extreme around here in the past. So if he won't stick up for St. Anger then it's GOTTA be bad...

I am a pretty forgiving listener due to my broad tastes in music, but St. Anger is just 99% crap. There are some really cool parts, and some almost decent songs, but overall the album is just bad music. And that's just the songs; let's not even mention the horrendous sound quality of all the instruments and James's flat, out of tune vocals.

I've always like St. Anger (flinches)
It was a decent album with alot of good songs
Compared to their previous albums it pales in comparison but i still don't know why it gets such bad reviews from people?

Anyways feel free to want to tear me apart but thats just what i think
(as for Load I thought it was a half-decent album)

ultmetal wrote:

Give me fuel, give me fire, give me that which I desire! UHH!!!

That's what I'm talking about. James singing those lyrics. Rhyming fire & desire? That sounds like the first thing they tell you NOT to do in Songwriting 101. I'm surprised that a song on St. Anger didn't start out "Roses are red, violets are blue..."