Full confession right up front… before starting this blog post I don’t think I’ve listened to either of these albums all the way through. Some of you are probably saying, “how can that be? It’s METALLICA! If you’re such a thrash metal fan and have caught the band live a number of times how can you NOT have listened to either in full?” Well… you’ve kinda hit the nail on the head with that “thrash metal” comment because neither album fits that description, plus… well… both albums have always left this fan scratching his head fifteen or so years down the road (well, maybe not as much as St. Anger but that’s a post for another time). So let’s get into it, shall we?
A little back history with my relationship with Metallica… somewhere back in 1985/1986 or so I’d caught “For Whom The Bell Tolls” on a local metal radio show, dug the tune, and thought “hey, that’s pretty good. These guys seem to be getting a bit of attention in the metal mags too so why don’t we buy this Ride The Lightning and see how the rest sounds?” At the time I was in college so I sauntered over to the local record store, grabbed the LP, put it on, and… DID NOT GET IT. Too aggressive, too abrasive, and not quite what I was expecting. Not long thereafter I caught the band open for Ozzy Osbourne in front of a rabid crowd and still didn’t get it. It wasn’t until my brother bought Master Of Puppets that it finally grabbed me after consecutive plays. That aggression and raw power finally sunk in and from there Metallica was one of my bands; one that felt more real and more in tune with my young self than some of the crap that was on MTV and radio at the time.
By the time Load came out in 1996 my love for the band had taken a minor hit based on the style changes found on Metallica (aka “The Black Album”), which was pretty much their “coming out party” to basic rockheads due to a more streamlined, more “rock” sound rather than the unrelenting thrash of old that appealed to me in the first place. In some ways it was a bit of a novelty to me that I could appreciate but in the end I missed that relentless aggression that gave me that swift kick in the pants. So when five years down the road word got out of a new Metallica album I was quite excited yet anxiously hoping for a return to form. So what did I think of Load once I got it? Disappointed to say the least.
What is it about Load (and Reload for that matter, but we’ll get to it shortly) that is so polarizing to Metallica fans? I can certainly understand how the album brought in the new blood that dug heavy riff rock and if either of these two are your favorite Metallica album I’m not going to knock you for it. However, as for me it was not quite the Metallica I wanted to hear. As a whole the album is filled with a lot of interesting ideas but nothing quite lives up to anything from their previous material- certainly the flip side of the coin from their first four releases although the two are somewhat aligned stylistically with much of the Black Album while adding a few detours into southern rock and alternative metal. That said, some of the chances work surprisingly well: lead single “Until It Sleeps” was such an oddball on first listen; a bit of cowboy goth rock crooned by James Hetfield that has its satisfyingly heavy moments like “Enter Sandman” did on the previous album that, bundled together, make it a winner. Toss in other Black Album nods like the mighty heft of “King Nothing” (great bassline from Jason Newsted) and the solid crunch of “Ain’t My Bitch” then counter them with the swagger of “Poor Twisted Me”, bluesy bruiser in “Bleeding Me” (some great playing from Hetfield and Kirk Hammett), and the riffy swing of “Wasting My Hate” and you’ve got the makings of a really good album; maybe not on par with the first four but an adventurous step not too far removed from their self titled record. No face melting thrash here; no, just southern fried riff rock akin to what Corrosion of Conformity was doing around the same timeframe with more bluesy twists.
As for the remainder of the album- well, it’s an odd melange of sounds that just don’t quite live up to the rest of the album. “2×4” and “The House Jack Built” fall just short; the former has a cool Sabbath meets ZZ Top vibe yet with some odd vocal moments that knock it down a peg and the latter gets a little too alternative in spots and not quite convincing enough to stand up with the rest of the album. Plus there are some cuts are brave experiments stretching into other genres that have never really worked for me at all (“Mama Said”, “Ronnie”, “Torn Within”). Fortunately the album ends on a good note with the lurching, understated menace of “The Outlaw Torn”, sounding a bit like Dio-era Sabbath wrestling with Nick Cave at a Lynyrd Skynrd concert via a cut that seems to blend the best of the experimental sounds with Hetfield’s newer, more emotive vocals compared to the harsh bark of old. All in all huge thumbs up to the man for stretching into uncharted territory and adding to the Metallica soundscape.
At one time I thought I liked Reload more than Load, but… well, now you know my preference! Although both albums were originally set to be one double album, the band decided to release Load then work on fine tuning the rest of the material to be released the following year. Reload‘s debut single was “The Memory Remains”, a cut falling into that Southern rock/Sabbath sludgehole that is akin to material from the last album but throws a giant hanging curveball via guest vocalist Marianne Faithfull’s endearingly croaked “la las” near the end of the song (a charming earworm if there ever was one). Unfortunately, that “sludge” drags this album down a notch in comparison to its predecessor. Songs like “Carpe Diem Baby”, “Fixxxer”, “The Unforgiven II”, and “Slither”, seem ride that tempo a little too hard, not really breaking out into more familiar riffy territory yet staying in tepid groove territory with very few hooks that don’t quite work. Counter to that, the songs that kick things up a notch are the real winners on this disc: “Bad Seed”, while not pushing the needle too far, has a bit more stomp ‘n snarl in the riff and vocal department; and “Attitude”, “Better Than You”, and “Prince Charming” are sides of the same coin- again, heavy riffs featuring some confident Hetfield singing that comes close in spots to his approach on debut album Kill ‘Em All. Still, the mightiest of them all on this album (and arguably the best tune between Load and Reload) is “Fuel”; a barnburner of a cut that kicks down the door from the get go- Hetfield in commanding roar o’er top a rumbling, nasty riff that pushes the song ever forward with the rest of the band having nary a moment to catch up. Throw in a few more crunchers like this and I’d be apt to change my thoughts on this disc, but unfortunately that was not the case as Reload falls a shade short of its predecessor.
Tell you what… maybe they shoulda combined the best of both worlds and put out one disc. Now THIS is what I’m talking about! Arranged for maximum ferocity 🙂
- Fuel
- Ain’t My Bitch
- Prince Charming
- King Nothing
- Bleeding Me
- Until It Sleeps
- Devil’s Dance
- Wasting My Hate
- Poor Twisted Me
- Attitude
- Better Than You
- Bad Seed
- The Outlaw Torn
Call it… ReReLoaded?
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