TheCunningStunt

Maybe after The Black Album their relevence in music has gone but they're at the point where they don't need to be in a band, they could quite happily put down the guitars and drums and not make another record, so why don't they? because they enjoy what they do. St. Anger was undoubtidly, for me anyway, one of the worst albums of the decade but they tried something, as you said, the "garage" sound and it didn't pay off, but at least they tried something and I believe that the latest record is excellent and it's a return to form from them.

TheBig3

yeah this is the logical response. I think its greedy, short-sighted, and foolish to demand of 40-year olds, the sounds they made when they were 20, with different members.

Albums are static. You can go listen to them again and again. If you self-identify with a band and you don't like the direction their going in, thats your issue. I tend to go with artists who's artisitc outlook is similar to what I'd do if I could paint/play guitar/act. Even if they bomb, I still find it entertaining at least.

Metallica like what their doing, and if they make another "Kill 'em all" I know I'll be bored. The assertion of a receeding amount of respect is curious, why would you lose respect for them? I'm guessing maybe you meant another word because what no one should respect is them doing whatever their childish fans scream at them to do.

I don't particularly agreee with the high art/coke days where Hammett and Ulrich wanted to reinvent the band like U2 did, but theres a reason I'm not in Metallica

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Janszoon

Do they? Didn't they have to hire a mediator during the recording of St. Anger because they hate each other so much? That doesn't sound like people who enjoy what they do.

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TheBig3

its a tough call. I hate Adidasss and I still come here, right?

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Janszoon

Well in your case it's obvious that you're just doing it for the money.

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Hesher

I just think that the Black Album was sort of the final chapter in the life of Metallica before they began to make big changes in terms of their sound, their production, their lineup, their relationships with each other and etc. I think after that it became a different band that should have been something other than Metallica, which I daresay would have been healthier for them musicially/creatively if they mixed it up with some other musicians. It's almost at the point where you have to identify yourself as an "old" fan or a "new" fan, because the demographic of people who listen to Metallica's modern music as opposed to the kind of people who would have gone to see them play songs off Kill 'Em All is radically different. I didn't expect "new groundbreaking innovative stuff", although that's how high the bar is set for other musicians... I just didn't expect albums like Load to be attributed to the Metallica of Ride The Lightning days. IMO, it sounds like Theory of a Deadman covering Venom or something ridiculous.

I fail to understand how it's greedy or short-sighted "to demand of 40-year olds, the sounds they made when they were 20, with different members"... Many bands are perfectly capable of that, and I think it's an indication of Metallica's limitations as musicians that they apparently aren't capable of that (in your estimation). I'm also kind of offended to be called "greedy". But it's irrelevant, because I don't expect them to make music like they did in their 20s - that was the problem with Death Magnetic, to me. It sounds exactly like 40-year-old Metallica covering 20-year-old Metallica, which is not what I expect from a band with 20 years experience. To use Josh Homme as an example again, he's been making music in bands for 20 years and if anything he's become a better and more creative musician than he was in Kyuss (as much as I goddamn love Kyuss and hate Era Vulgaris). I have no doubt that he will keep making amazing music until he dies, because that's who he is, and he doesn't need billions in merchandising or blanketing radio play to do it either. Another example would be Bolt Thrower... Around since 1986, releasing nine albums in that time with their final one, Those Once Loyal, released in 2005. Again, 20 years later, great music at least as good as their first album (if not better), and in this case, they are going on an indefinite recording haitus as they feel they have released "the perfect Bolt Thrower album" and don't have to keep creating in that vein. In comparison, Metallica kicked ass from 1981 to 1990 (nine years) and released only five studio albums in that time before starting to suck hard - much less improving in the areas of creativity or technical skill. I don't think artists should pander to their fans in the slightest, but there is a difference between releasing material that is a departure from previous works and releasing material that is technically less complex, less creative, rather derivative, and bland and naming it the same in the hope that the brand identity will carry a shiitty record.

Metallica died to me after 1991, and nothing made that more clear than attending their recent show at GM Place on the Death Magnetic tour. It was fun to sing along and watch the pyrotechnics, but the performance and new tunes were lacklustre (Lamb of God put them to shame), not to mention how 1 in 10 of people attending were wearing shirts they hadn't bought at the show or the day before. Real metal fans know where the good stuff is, and it wasn't there that day. No amount of discussion is going to dissuade me otherwise.

TheCunningStunt

I can see what you're saying, The Black Album was the last piece of real genius that has come out of them however I don't see why you have to identify yourself as a old fan or a new fan, I listen to ...And Justice For All, Master of Puppets and indeed their new album, so what kind of fan would I be classed as? I just class myself as a Metallica fan. I don't understand why people say they don't like the band anymore because they aren't as good as they once were. The music they produced, we can listen to that for years to come but people - due to the controversy and them "selling out" etc. people decide to not appreciate the great music they made, I think I'll always love The Black Album. I'll be more than happy if they make the next album anywhere near as good as Death Magnetic.