Let's Keep This Simple: Favorite Song Off Death Magnetic

Compare it to Metallica's other instrumentals and I think it's clear. Maybe they did write it as a song, but I tend to think the band writes in segments now and then later starts patching them together in ProTools to see what will fit. If you watched the Fly-on-the-Wall clips they were releasing you can see them doing that very thing—moving solos, extending riffs, moving bridges, etc. It's not too hard to make that small leap and see a group of guys coming in with a bunch of riffs, listening to them, and trying to figure out which would match up best with what.

Not saying a song can't be written this way, it's very unnatural. And I think it shows. Most of the songs transition abruptly. There's hardly any natural shifts, two pieces that just meld together seemlessly. The worst example is "Broken, Beat & Scarred," at about the 1:00. Kick ass riff, but what a weird transition.

The only really "great" Metallica instrumental is Orion. The others all have their moments but most of them contain a few good ideas padded out to extreme lengths.

Of course my views on this have changed over the years, I've spent the past decade listening to 90% instrumental music so I've become rather snobbish in that area.

i would argue that To Live is to Die is a very good song

TheGooch wrote:

i would argue that To Live is to Die is a very good song

...and it's about 4 minutes too long.

Eyesore wrote:

Compare it to Metallica's other instrumentals and I think it's clear. Maybe they did write it as a song, but I tend to think the band writes in segments now and then later starts patching them together in ProTools to see what will fit. If you watched the Fly-on-the-Wall clips they were releasing you can see them doing that very thing—moving solos, extending riffs, moving bridges, etc. It's not too hard to make that small leap and see a group of guys coming in with a bunch of riffs, listening to them, and trying to figure out which would match up best with what.

Not saying a song can't be written this way, it's very unnatural. And I think it shows. Most of the songs transition abruptly. There's hardly any natural shifts, two pieces that just meld together seemlessly. The worst example is "Broken, Beat & Scarred," at about the 1:00. Kick ass riff, but what a weird transition.

I see what your saying.. but i dont think it sounds bad at all, honestly i was scared to buy the album in the first place, then they played the entire thing on monday night metal. the reason i bought it was because of suicide and redemption, i guess because it felt like they did something more like theyre "core albums" Ride the Lightning-MOP-AJ4all. it may not be comparable to those albums as far as quality and heart, but a valiant effort none the less.
i know what you mean about the unnatural part though it does show...in DM..

what are some other good instrumentals? from other bands? i dig that more than sh&^% lyrics F%&^$%^ up awesome music>!

metal revived wrote:

what are some other good instrumentals? from other bands? i dig that more than sh&^% lyrics F%&^$%^ up awesome music>!

http://www.heartofmetal.net/heart-of-metal-f1/favorite-instrumental-songs-t3642.htm?highlight=metal+instrumental

Just saw the new video and pretty good. The shots of the band playing silhouetted in the desert sky look awesome IMO.

metal revived wrote:

what are some other good instrumentals? from other bands? i dig that more than sh&^% lyrics F%&^$%^ up awesome music>!

One of my favorites has always been, Merciless Onslaught, by Metal Church off of their S/T album. Peace.

Eyesore wrote:

Compare it to Metallica's other instrumentals and I think it's clear. Maybe they did write it as a song, but I tend to think the band writes in segments now and then later starts patching them together in ProTools to see what will fit. If you watched the Fly-on-the-Wall clips they were releasing you can see them doing that very thing—moving solos, extending riffs, moving bridges, etc. It's not too hard to make that small leap and see a group of guys coming in with a bunch of riffs, listening to them, and trying to figure out which would match up best with what.

Not saying a song can't be written this way, it's very unnatural. And I think it shows. Most of the songs transition abruptly. There's hardly any natural shifts, two pieces that just meld together seemlessly. The worst example is "Broken, Beat & Scarred," at about the 1:00. Kick ass riff, but what a weird transition.

Good point. There seems to be a lot of staccato or unnatural changes and transitions on this album (as well as on their previous effort) and does have that "cut and paste" feel to it. It doesn't sound bad to me, and I am not trying to come off as slamming the DM cuz I really like it, but, I guess I have just accepted this to be Metallica's new style.
They did say, in some pre release interviews, that they had all contributed on this album and brought stuff in with them instead of making it up as they went along like on St. Anger. That's what I have heard/read, so it I don't know if it's entirely true. Peace.

Maybe people are expecting too much? This is a band that just came from the edge of the suckiness precipice and managed to turn it around. Give 'em at least another album to get back to their fighting weight.

Welcome to the board, metal revived

Thanks for the suggestions ima try to find that stuff this weekend.

As for DM i have listned to it at work...many a time since radio completly blows... im still sticking with all nightmare long... the energy there is... kick a** at work..

Work can deal with Metallica but they all hide when SlaYer comes out!:bangyerhead:

metal revived wrote:

Thanks for the suggestions ima try to find that stuff this weekend.

As for DM i have listned to it at work...many a time since radio completly blows... im still sticking with all nightmare long... the energy there is... kick a** at work..

Work can deal with Metallica but they all hide when SlaYer comes out!:bangyerhead:

Most people, unless they are metalheads, run for the hills when Slayer is on.

spectrefate wrote:

Maybe people are expecting too much? This is a band that just came from the edge of the suckiness precipice and managed to turn it around. Give 'em at least another album to get back to their fighting weight.

I don't know that expecting a band with so many classics to put something together properly is too much. I think expecting something akin to those early classics is. But a cohesive album that feels like a band being honest isn't too much to ask. Nor is expecting something that has better than shoddy, mediocre production. These guys have been around for so long it's almost hard to expect less. Even after the St. Anger debacle.

But hey, I like the album a lot. It's grown on me quite a bit. I'd still rank it as their second worse, but it's light years away from St. Anger. It's still quite a good album.

DenimAndLeather wrote:

Welcome to the board, metal revived

thanks for the welcome man, new to the whole forum thing...

metal revived wrote:

DenimAndLeather wrote:

Welcome to the board, metal revived

thanks for the welcome man, new to the whole forum thing...

When eyesore gets lippy, just tell him to shut up, and you'll be fine.

DenimAndLeather wrote:

metal revived wrote:

DenimAndLeather wrote:

Welcome to the board, metal revived

thanks for the welcome man, new to the whole forum thing...

When eyesore gets lippy, just tell him to shut up, and you'll be fine.

very true

the end of the line, catchiest song for me. I love listening to the first 3 songs, best off the album