Metallica! Rick Rubin! Death Magnetic! September 16 (-ish)!

the guitars sound like shit and the solos are retarded, so i don't think metal fans would have liked it at any time

If I didn't know better, I'd say that you had it out for this record.

Cosmo's point about the vulnerability is a good one. I think the reason that the Death Angel and Testament records were so damn good is because they are still writing about world events and things that piss them off externally, as opposed to the more internal route that Metallica took. Another difference is that those bands weren't as massively successful as Metallica, so they don't try nearly as hard to live up to their reputations as Metallica do.

give it a year and yall will too xpost

I felt similar about the last Iron Maiden record, Rox.

sorry if i'm coming off as just a hater, but i worry that any appraisal of this record in any way favorably comparing it to MOP or any of the other older metallica albums is so missing the point of what made those albums great, which was GREAT songs and GREAT guitar sound/creative playing. these things are missing 100% from this record. there is not a trace of that here. and those qualities, while they exist in the past, are what made metallica monstrous and to be feared and huge and awesome, and they are worth standing up for, IMO.

of course there are other differences: energy, verve and some other abstractions, etc, but these are the ones that i'd say this album is completely devoid of

I don't think anyone here (except maybe Phil) is arguing that Death Magnetic is nearly as good as Master of Puppets! This lemon is just a lot closer to lemonade than anything they've put out since The Black Album.

>any appraisal of this record in any way favorably comparing it to MOP or any of the other older metallica albums is so missing the point of what made those albums great, which was GREAT songs and GREAT guitar sound/creative playing. these things are missing 100% from this record. there is not a trace of that here.

I'm not arguing that this is as good as MOP; what I'm arguing is that this album combines the strengths they exhibited on that album and Justice with the best aspects of the very flawed Load and ReLoad.

In direct response to roxy, I like the guitar sound on this record a lot. I like Kirk Hammett's solos on this record a lot.

I wouldn't describe Hammett's soloing as retarded, but it certainly is ludicrous. Which is as it should be.

the thing they used to have over other bands was that shit was so catchy, even if it was a 10 min instrumental. now they're thrashy again but almost the whole album was in one ear out the other (not like i'm walking around with a walkman and a cassette 94/7 like young me did with master of puppets, but still).

I'm not even saying it's as good as Justice, which quite honestly was phoned-in on the rebound from Cliff's death and two years without a proper album release. (Hell, it even sounds like it was recorded from a telephone in some parts.)

I just wonder if any of you would've bitched in 1989 about Steel Wheels not being as good as Let It Bleed or Some Girls.

justice is amazing and probably my favorite metallica album for real

...And Justice For All: 20 Years Later

Justice is arguably the most well-written Metallica album, Puppets is easily the most well executed.

lars sounds like he doesn't give a fuck on the new one (in a bad way)

at least they fixed that godawful snare

But they broke their bass drum instead.

^^^^^^^^^

every metal band has clicky bass drums these days!

"that dates it to THIS PERIOD"

TS: Death Magnetic vs Divine Intervention - which is the better "our classic album part 2"

?

I'll take this album over Divine Intervention, easily. Clucky kicks and all.

(It's weird, I find myself nowhere near as obsessive about kick drum sounds as other metal fans)

and justice for all has the trebliest, most attack-heavy bass drums of all time but it works.

Divine Intervention is my least favorite Bostaph-era Slayer album. (I'm a big fan of Diabolus In Musica, an album I think is sorely underrated.)

I'm not obsessive about kick drums. They are just egregiously distracting on this album. Did they really need to put them so high in the mix?

sonically it pretty much sounds like shit overall.

but like i guess i'm at the point where i sort of EXPECT big major label rock records to sound like shit.

Divine Intervention shoots loads of cum all over Death Magnetic from a large height. D.I. is one of the most underrated Slayer albums and is easily in their Top 3.

..........It is what it is........
― Pleasant Plains, Monday, September 15, 2008 3:44 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I'm not obsessive about kick drums. They are just egregiously distracting on this album. Did they really need to put them so high in the mix?

Rubin did that on South of Heaven. I like it.

Divine Intervention shoots loads of cum all over Death Magnetic from a large height.

what an odd metaphor.

ok, i am really fucking shocked that i am digging this at all.

the production is totally ass but the riffs are decent and the songs flow well together in context. not classic by any means, but not bad.

there was nothing that made me cringe (even the ballad works ok in the context of the album), which has to count for something i guess.

Wanna hear me defend Death Magnetic (and take shots at Ryan Schreiber and Cosmo Lee)? Click here to download an MP3 of my appearance on WNYC's "Soundcheck" from this afternoon.

The bit about Pitchfork writers being seen as the kids who were pantsed in school by the metal kids was terrific, Phil. And good move questioning why Pitchfork would even bother reviewing this album. That's what bothered me five years ago...not that St. Anger wasn't deserving of a negative review, but that they had absolutely no business reviewing it.

Wow, "Unforgiven III" does sound like "Creep".

It also sounded a little like "Friction" by Television.

Faintly embarrassing on Jools Holland tonight, specially James and Kirk's synchronised gurning.

And while we're on the subject of Jools Holland, who the fuck was that girl with a flat cap for hair? She was RUBBISH.

this album is surprisingly good!

lyrics are the weak point though

The bit about Pitchfork writers being seen as the kids who were pantsed in school by the metal kids was terrific, Phil. And good move questioning why Pitchfork would even bother reviewing this album. That's what bothered me five years ago...not that St. Anger wasn't deserving of a negative review, but that they had absolutely no business reviewing it.

Cosmo Lee is a metal kid.

Yeah, we know that, but as far as the metal community's perception of Pitchfork, the overwhelming majority believes otherwise. Check other message boards, Pitchfork is absolutely reviled. I'm actually constantly defending P-Fork, but it's like talking to a brick wall.

James yodels.

Is "My Apocalypse" the fastest song they've ever done?? Goddamn, that songs rocks!

Talk about brickwall, has anyone read this:

http://www.metalsucks.net/?p=7485

Basically it states that before mastering every single track was brickwalled already in the final mix. Making the final master a disaster.

Adding even more intrigue, the folks at Guitar Hero made their own (apparently superior) mix, a flac recording of which just appeared on the torrent sites a few hours ago. Very interested in hearing it...

hmmm hetfield's crooning is at odds with the riffs and structure of these songs, but musically we get some interesting bits cropping up from time to time. vocals and lyrics are bad, and the drumming lacks creativity and flair, but these elements are to be expected and i can take solace in the fact that the album at least sounds inspired from time to time.

compared with metallica's 80s output, this obviously doesn't measure up and we shouldn't expect it to. by any standards it's probably a below-average album, but the fact that it's such a comprehensive step-up from the inexplicably bad st. anger is a point of merit. having seen 'some kind of monster', i was convinced that the band had lost all concept of its fans, its origins, and its very reason for existing. the fact that james, lars and co. seem to be consciously trying to reignite some spark and amend previous missteps is commendable.

commendable, like a deadbeat dad finally paying half his child support.