They've been doing it forever. Check out the recently-released-for-the-first-time grainy video of a Battery performance in Japan in 1986. They did it then.
I remember thinking it had become excessive during the Death Magnetic tour cycle, when they created a special intro just for... My Apocalypse, i believe. Lol.
I guess they do it to keep the show's momentum going whilst giving themselves enough time to change guitars/take a piss/get a drink?
Well, I was at the Glasgow show last night and though the staging and performance were excellent the sound was terrible. If you are a fan of bass drums you would have been happy as that was the dominant sound throughout the concert. The two guitars were pretty indistinguishable from each other, mixed too low and I don't know what Robert Trujillo was doing most of the night as his bass was MIA. The drums were actually louder than the vocals. I went with 3 other people who all had similar issues with the sound and my friend said that if he didn't know the set started with the song 'Hardwired' he would have had no idea what they were playing. I saw Iron Maiden at the same venue a few months ago and their show started out a bit rough, but after the 3rd song they seemed to fix the sound issues and it was OK, but last night was a real disappointment.
I agree. I saw the boys a lot from the late 80's to late 90's. At this point, I would see them again if it worked out and was convenient for me, but if that doesn't happen, I would have no regrets. Plus the set lists were much better, arguably, when there were fewer albums to draw from
I had to post this. Kirk absolutely kills it on the solo (at 2.35). I haven't heard him play that fluidly in ages. There's another video they put up of them playing Battery from a few days later and even though it's more wah wah covered you can still see he's playing at a high level.
I'm so bummed Here Comes Revenge still hasn't been played live. What the heck. It's one of the most kick-ass songs on the album.
I was considering going to the local show (would be first time I saw them in 20+ years) but my God what a fiasco it is to simply get tickets. I got pre-sale codes, Citi codes.... whatever happened to just campin' out in front of the video store? Damn. With taxes I'm looking at $301 for two tickets. I'm not sure I can justify this expense. I might have to sit this one out.
Totally agree that getting tickets to a big concert in 2018 is a big expense & pain in the balls. That said, the “show” with the effects & all the trimmings, scaled down to “in the round” at an arena, makes this a hell of an event from ANY seat. There are $65 seats. Or, hold out on StubHub til last minute. Hate to see you miss.
with Hardwired in our soundsystems and ears for quite some time now ... .. how does it compare to Death Magnetic?
Unfortunately I can't do the $65 seats at this particular arena because they are very high and steeply inclined and I suffer from vertigo when I'm up there.
Light years better. I wasn't impressed with Death Mag at all, to be honest. Hardwired is easily their best album since the 80's. IMO.
I think if you kept disc one the same and added Spit out the Bone to it you'd have either the third or fourth best Metallica album. I don't hate any of the other songs on disc 2 but they sort of seem to be too good to be shelved but not quite good enough in comparison to disc one or Spit out the Bone. Hardwired seems like they spent a lot of time sequencing the first disc so it goes strength to strength where the second disc seems like the extras but they put SotB in the final slot to bookend things. Either way Hardwired is a better album than Death Magnetic.
Death Magnetic is a great album with brickwalled compression which makes it now unlistenable for me unfortunately. Hardwired is an even better album with excellent sound quality that rewards repeated listens. Hardwired is best album since Justice IMO.
Try the last digital high definition remaster of Death Magnetic -- it's still pretty hot, but not brick walled to the extent the original was. I enjoy it! I believe it's available at the MetStore now.
Locked & loaded. I start out thinking that I’m actually a part of Metallica’s crew, & that I’ll go to damn near every show. So ......I ended up w tickets to two shows: Boise (flight n hotel booked) & Portland (home.) Add the show last summer & I’m grateful for it all. Can’t wait for Hardwired.........in the round!!
Very late to the party but I just discovered this album. It actually sounds like Metallica should. I had written them off, just ordered the vinyl, nice DR and good price. Should sound good on my system.
I do like both, but Hardwired is better. I first had my doubts about it, and figured it was gonna be a lackluster release upon hearing the title track alone, but was greatly impressed with what I heard when the rest of the album was released. So much that I decided to buy the CD on release day. Sure it is still a compressed, fatiguing listen. But is much better sonically when compared to the all out "ear-obliterating" Death Magnetic.
I think I like it about the same. Which means I love it. I stand by my original thoughts about Hardwired, which is that it's the album they should've done instead of the Black Album. It's better in every single way. More simplistic than the one before it, but the riffs are just more solid on Hardwired. It seems to be very NWOBHM influenced to my ears. I listened to the Turin Italy show from 2/10/18 today. Incredible. I've been a fan for 35 years now and I think they are at the top of their game right now in terms of live shows. Well... that may be a slight exaggeration. I think they are putting on the best live shows they've done in 31 years.
So now I'm thinking I should go, price be damned, I'll pay the $160, but by time the Citi Visa, Spotify and Live Nation pre-sale people get their picks I don't think they'll be any adequate seats left for poor ol' me when I log in on March 2nd. The system is rigged, dammit!
