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

I heard the GHIII version, and it's quite good. The dynamic range is easier on the ears and there's a variety in sound quality that makes it a lot more appealing to listen to.

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

― REIGN IN FUDGE (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ), Wednesday, September 17, 2008 1:49 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

heh, pretty much!

Stuff I agree with, so far:

This lemon is just a lot closer to lemonade than anything they've put out since The Black Album.

I like Kirk Hammett's solos on this record a lot.

for all its anger and speed on occasion, the album plays out pretty sluggishly.

Cosmo Lee is a metal kid.

musically we get some interesting bits cropping up from time to time.

vocals and lyrics are bad, and the drumming lacks creativity and flair

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

Favorite track so far, by far: "Suicide & Redemption," which has no words. Guitars in the otherwise boring "The Day That Never Comes" are good, too. And Hetfield's singing sounds kind of beautiful whenever he goes up to his higher register to recite the title line of the otherwise useless "All Nightmare Long." (I'm still trying to make sense of the rest, but not expecting much.)

Funniest (though not necessarily most entertaining) part of "Suicide & Redemption": The part toward the beginning that always reminds me of "Earache My Eye" by Cheech & Chong.

Cosmo Lee rules.

Musically, I'm all over it. Lyrically...ugh. "What don't kill us makes us more strong" just makes me cringe every time I hear it. My vague theory is that it's because James is actually singing now, so he draws more attention to himself and the lyrics. Or something. But I'm just overjoyed that there's extended wailing-Kirk solos, big meaty long songs with awesome tempo changes...like they're finally not afraid of just being Metallica again. It ain't always pretty, but damn it's a relief.

"cosmo"

metal kids don't write for pitchfork.

DEATH TO POSERS

IF YOU ARE A FALSE DONT ENTRY

>:[

so, 'death magnetic' too loud = it sucks?

wsj (sí, wall street journal) asks

it's just tedious to listen to compared with the dynamic range of the GHIII version

the interactive section on the WSJ link should have compared the Death Magnetic with Master of Puppets or Ride the Lightning, not ...And Justice for All.

as to be expected, lars likes the new album loud.

Metallica’s drummer, the usually quiet and demure Lars Ulrich, has spoken out on the controversy surrounding the mix of the band’s new album, ‘Death Magnetic’.

lolz

I'm pretty much done with this album now.

that good huh ?

It's not bad at all, and if I was fifteen I've no doubt I'd be wallowing in it for many months to come. But now I've checked out what they're up to quite thoroughly, I'll go back to the old stuff thanks.

i've actually been listening to the track 'broken, beat & scarred' quite a bit recently. totally intrigued by that riff in the verse, and it's got a great groove.
pretty much worn out by the rest of it, and i still haven't made it through the whole album, mainly due to the fact that most of the songs are so obviously overlong and follow such lazy structures.

just listened to this again...

man...i keep wondering why i never want to listen to this, and this time the overcompression and horrid digital recording quality is just screaming at me...even at low volumes it's just ridiculously shrill and aggravating on a sonic level. zero bass as well.

ladies and gentlemen, rick rubin!

omfg this video

Slightly better quality

yeah thanks for the video metallica, better luck next time on the music

Was all the more awesome because I saw it on the treadmill TV at the Y.

Face facts. Metallica has not made a good album since Justice. Taking out every worthwhile aspect of your music does not constitute maturity.

IAWDC*

(*I AGREE WITH DIS CHALLOPS)

man...i keep wondering why i never want to listen to this, and this time the overcompression and horrid digital recording quality is just screaming at me...even at low volumes it's just ridiculously shrill and aggravating on a sonic level. zero bass as well.

a similar charge could be leveled at "...And Justice for All" though. I actually prefer the production on this one to that one.

a year on and it's still shite

roxy totally otm on this thread

What, you expected it to get good all of the sudden? Is there some kind of "time release" music technology, like a vitamin?

no, i just hope those who gushed over it on release will now admit it's shite.

i really think we're at the point where it's impossible to make like a big budget "name brand" major label rock record that is actually good. they all just sound like shit now

Mastodon kinda did it but even then it doesn't hold a candle to their first couple of albums.
If Torche and Baroness become a name brand it could be possible. I think Qotsa's best days are sadly behind them though, even if i liked their recent albums, they just werent as great as preceded it.

but that would probably be better on its own thread

yeah yr right, nu metallica would suck a dong even if they did that shit in robert pollard's basement or the most expensive studio in the world

all bands run out of steam. Some quit and some shit over their legacy cuz it makes them money and still sell out stadiums. Some fans put up with it because they still mainly play the old songs live.

and if one truly awful album is followed by a "decentish" album then it's regarded as a "return to form".

"Mastodon kinda did it but even then it doesn't hold a candle to their first couple of albums."

I disagree with this. I think their new one is much better than Remission, and its up there with Leviathan. I think these guys are getting better.

anyway i still reckon you should start a separate thread and paste those posts on it.
xp

best major label rock albums of the decade

i just hope those who gushed over it on release will now admit it's shite

No such luck, bud. I was listening to it yesterday. I still like it a lot. And when I saw them in February, the new songs went over huge with the crowd. I expect the same thing to happen when I see them in a couple of weeks at MSG.

I still like this too, my only two complaints being the horrible compression and the "what don't kill you make you more strong" chorus lyric.

the horrible compression

Yeah, I will admit I don't actually play the physical CD; I downloaded the Guitar Hero version and that's what's in my iPod - that, and the audio of the Newark show I was at, purchased from their website.

'What, you expected it to get good all of the sudden? Is there some kind of "time release" music technology, like a vitamin?'

There's a natural tendency to embrace vilified crap years later. I can't think of a counterexample (initially thought of as crap, remains crap). Is there one?

There's a lot of crap that starts out crap and remains crap.

I mean remains thought of as crap. I'm sure a lot of crap was initially correctly identified, but the years tend to make people second guess that correct assumption. People are just too forgiving!

How about most, if not all, of Mick Jagger's solo work? I think that's the epitome of crap.

I bet there's at least one person on ILM who will make a spirited defence of Mick Jagger's solo work.

I can't think of a counterexample (initially thought of as crap, remains crap). Is there one?

St. Anger?

I still think this album's pretty good.

"love is a four-letter word"