Life After Some Kind of Monster
I'm kinda late chiming in on this, but the new Metallica single has been available online for while now. I streamed it for the first time the other day over here. I wasn't in town for the secret show at The Basement, but I've since heard from multiple sources that the new stuff is suppose to be a return to form, namely ...And Justice for All-era Metallica.
From what I had been told, most of the songs on the new album cross the six-minute mark. The first single, "The Day that Never Comes," clocks in at just under eight minutes. The first half definitely sounds like it could've been written in the Black Album days, but as uncool as it might be to admit it, the second half of the song fucking rules. There are unexpected turns and sudden shifts, and Hammet and Hetfield get as close as they've gotten to shredding in over a decade. Sure, the lyrics are mostly stupid ("love is a four letter word here in this prison") but the lyrics have always been dumb. As lame as Metallica have gotten and as big as those turds called Load, Reload and St. Anger might be, nothing changes the fact that they made Master of Puppets. I never anticipated getting my hopes up for a new Metallica record, but the more I listen to this song, the more it kinda rips.
Here's some YouTube stuff from the Basement show. I was hoping I would find footage of other new songs:
Here's another new one that's also surprisingly not terrible.
Comments
There was a great article about this in the Times the other day:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/31/arts/music/31ratl.html?scp=2&sq=metallica&st=cse
Posted 09/03/2008 at 09:31:42 AMyea, this is sorta awesome, especially the end movement. i can't help but to hear phrasing that they've worn out like the mid section.....unforgiven. the beginning of the end section....one. and yes, they did make master of puppets, the best american metal album....ever.
Posted 09/03/2008 at 11:42:25 AMgod bless cliff burton.
Still doesn't sound like "old" Metallica, but upon initial listen....me likey. And at least the snare doesn't sound like a trash can lid this time....
Posted 09/03/2008 at 01:07:32 PMI'll admit that this new track is infinitely better then anything off St. Anger, but still that isn't saying much. It's almost a little to late for Metallica to reclaim their artistic glory. It kinda reminds me of a Malcolm X quote; "You don't stick a knife in a man's back nine inches and then pull it out six inches and say you're making progress."
Posted 09/03/2008 at 01:18:25 PM"It kinda reminds me of a Malcolm X quote; "You don't stick a knife in a man's back nine inches and then pull it out six inches and say you're making progress.""
You do if you are a metal band... and what does Malcolm X have to do with making music? At any rate, I need to get back to listening to the accidental sneak preview of the best metal album of the decade.
Posted 09/03/2008 at 01:32:35 PMbingham, bingham, bingham! greatest american metal album ever?? aren't you forgetting vincebus eruptum?!
Posted 09/03/2008 at 04:03:45 PMor Reign In Blood?
Posted 09/03/2008 at 05:03:03 PMDillon,Dillon, Dillon. Who told you Blue Cheer was metal. don't you work at a record store?
Posted 09/03/2008 at 06:29:22 PMBlue Cheer would probably be proto-metal in record store parlance.
Posted 09/03/2008 at 06:58:49 PMMetallica fell off in the nineties trying to compete with the "alternative" movement.They've obviously realized that none of their music beyond the Justice album stood the test of time.Gold you make an excellent point!Metallica has already blew it and just because they did a show at Grimey's doesn't make them hardcore metal again.
Posted 09/04/2008 at 09:26:28 AMThey need to invite Mustaine back.
Posted 09/04/2008 at 09:43:20 AMYeah, since they made some shitty albums, no one should say they like any new Metallica music, even if it's good.
Posted 09/04/2008 at 09:58:52 AMIs it really good? Or just a more solid effort after nearly 2 decades of lowering our standards of what they're capable of? ...And Justice For All came out 20 years ago, it's unbelievable that it's taken them that long to try and remove their heads from their asses and realize that the style they carved out in the 80's is timeless. They spent the 90's so afraid of falling out of fashion that they never reached a generation of kids that grew up then. Pretty much anyone I know under the age of 25 only knows Metallica as shitty plodding wash-ups, and not the metal gods that they were in the Headbanger's Ball days. I'm not saying their new music should be given a chance, my comment was made as joke. I do think, however, that while this new album might be a huge step in the right direction, I am skeptical that there will be anything that truely stacks up to "Blackened", and frankly I've grown quite an affinity for the shitty Metallica. I love to hate it. And I doubt that this new album is going to entertain me as much as Some Kind of Monster did.
Posted 09/04/2008 at 12:27:03 PMWell being an old-school Metallica fan I can say this new shit is fucking weak."Love is a four letter word never spoken here",are these motherfuckers serious?They need to retire with the millions that they made doing Mtv bullshit and forget about music,fuckin go out with some dignity for god sakes.Ryan god help you man!
Posted 09/04/2008 at 12:53:28 PM