Old school Metallica fans and Hardwired...To Self-Destruct

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by dennis1077, Dec 3, 2016.

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  1. dennis1077

    dennis1077 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    I'm an old school Metallica fan. I grew up loving the first four Metallica albums. When the Black Album came out I hated it. Things only got worse with Load. In my speed metal obsessed, teenage brain, I took it personal. It felt like Metallica flat out abandoned metal.

    When I first heard the "Hardwired" single.....I ended up liking it a lot. The rest of the album wasn't as heavy, but I genuinely liked most of it (still a few songs that just don't do it for me). It feels weird to say this...but I'm a Metallica fan again. My review of the album came out so weird. I was saying positive things about a band I was VERY critical of for over 20 years.

    Hardwired…to Self-Destruct: Reconciling with Metallica – Green and Black Music »

    I'm wondering what other old school fans think about the new Metallica album. Has Hardwired...To Self-Destruct won back any other fans that disavowed Metallica in the nineties?
     
  2. Deuce66

    Deuce66 Senior Member

    Location:
    Canada
    I'm in the old school category, my first exposure to Metallica was Metal Massacre 1 followed by Kill Em All and so on. I think the new album for the most part is fantastic, a nice varied collection of songs that do justice to the Metallica of old (KEA to Black). It certainly re-kindled my enthusiasm for the band and they certainly seem to be more focused and tighter as a live unit also, I hope they can maintain that energy and focus on their upcoming tour.
     
  3. spaulding

    spaulding Hoi Polloi

    Location:
    The Windy City
    Old school fan Metallica here -
    my interest was rekindled with Death Magnetic -
    there is a good album in the midst of all that bloat.

    I feel the same way about Hardwired -
    there is a good album in all that bloat.

    Edit these lp's down to 45 minutes each and you've got two classic Metallica releases.
     
  4. Django

    Django Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dublin, Ireland
    Absolutely love Metallica's 80s music. Pretty much the pinnacle of metal IMHO.
    But I've been underwhelmed with everything they've released in the last 25 years.
    I've heard some of htsd, it sounds okay. In mind they can never reach the standard of the 80s albums, but to be honest my interest in metal had waned by the early 90s, and never returned. Still love the old stuff but struggle to be interested in newer metal. My loss I guess.
     
  5. MikeVielhaber

    MikeVielhaber Forum Resident

    Location:
    Memphis, TN
    And yet none of their "classic" albums (none of their albums period) are under 45 minutes. Ride the Lightning is the closest at 47 minutes. All others are over 50.
     
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  6. dennis1077

    dennis1077 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    I agree with the 45 minute sentiment. Just because you can cram 80 minutes of music on a CD doesn't mean you should. Albums were more focused when bands were limited by what fits on 2 sides of vinyl.
     
  7. spaulding

    spaulding Hoi Polloi

    Location:
    The Windy City
    Oh I know - give me some scissors and I'll edit those as well!
    But just a snip.
    Maybe one song.

    These last two we could cut in half.
    Hardwired as it should be:

    Side 1:
    Hardwired
    Atlas, Rise!
    Halo On Fire

    Side 2:
    Moth Into Flame
    Now That We're Dead
    Spit Out The Bone

    That's about 38 minutes. Perfect. But could add 'Confusion' and album would still be good.
     
  8. dennis1077

    dennis1077 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    I have a feeling the tour is going to be epic. The bonus live tracks were full of energy and that was from performing in a tiny record store! The fact that the setlist was pulled from the first two records kind of shows where their heads are at. Hopefully we get lots of deep cuts from the early days.
     
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  9. dmiller458

    dmiller458 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Midland, Michigan
    I always wonder what that means. What are they supposed to do for you? Take you in the backroom and give you a low lob?
     
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  10. gudnoyez

    gudnoyez Forum Resident

    Location:
    Iowa
    I like the old Metallica as well as the new one, I can go back and listen to the first four for the thrash era or I can listen to the new stuff depending on the mood I'm in. I'm really enjoying the new one.
     
  11. kippenhok

    kippenhok Forum Resident

    Edit the Load/Reload songs down to about 50 mins and you've got another classic Metallica release.
     
  12. 3Dman

    3Dman The Adventure Begins

    Location:
    MI
    I feel exactly the same way. I try a new metal album about once a year or so just to see if anything can grab me, and not much does. True Widow is probably the closest, and they're stoner/shoegazey metal.
    That being said, I am probably going to pick up this new Metallica as I like what I've heard. It can qualify for my yearly metal tryout.
     
    Arkay_East likes this.
  13. SizzleVonSizzleton

    SizzleVonSizzleton The Last Yeti

    I'm inclined to think you're not going to get that. The set list you're referring to was pulled from the first two records because of the release of the box sets for Kill 'em All and Ride the Lightning. Now they're going out to promote a new record that is being very well reviewed so I would guess they'll feature it generously. And then we presume the next step is the release the box sets from Master and Justice so I don't think a set list will heavily feature the first two albums any more than usual.
     
    Larry L likes this.
  14. eyeCalypso

    eyeCalypso Forum Resident

    Location:
    Colorado, USA
    I like the 80's stuff, thought the black album was good but totally different, and been completely let down and embarrassed ever since. I won't let myself get a stffy ever again over Metallica and have no interest in listening to this new album.
     
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  15. Opeth

    Opeth Forum Resident

    Location:
    NH
    Master of Puppets is what started my rabid music love. From there I discovered everything I love today. Black album was good soundtrack to High School but it's such a boring album now I never want to hear it.

    I too felt like they were a different band in the 90s but the new album is a smoker! I love it and can't get enough of it. I think it fits neatly after the first 4.5 albums and I can gladly ignore the rest.
     
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  16. Zoot Marimba

    Zoot Marimba And I’m The Critic Of The Group

    Location:
    Savannah, Georgia
    Cirst thing I heard was the 90s stuff, which was underwhelming at best. Then I heard Masters and I was like "this renders everything after the 80s obsolete".
    Going into this album, I was beyond caring about new Metallica, because as another user put it, they are now the George Lucas of metal:too insulated, too set in their ways, too many yesmen around them, and that doesn't exactly lead to great creativity.
    So when I heard the first single, I was thinking that kt was pretty good, other than the lyrics. Then I heard Moths to Flame, and I was like "holy s***, this is awesome". And Atlas Rise was good, had a surprisingly good solo, considering how lazy and interchangeable the solos became in later years.
    Aftrr hearing the album, I can say that Spit.out the Bone, Dream No More, Halos on Fire, and Now That We're Dead are all very solid tracks, and most of Disc Two is disposable. Though still plagued by a lot of the problems that plague most new Metallica, it is still much closer to a great album(or even a good one) than anything else from the past 25 years.
     
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  17. PopularChuck

    PopularChuck Senior Member

    Location:
    Bay Area
    Master of Puppets was THE album that introduced me to thrash / extreme metal. I was a senior in high school when it came out, and I cannot overstate the influence that album had in shaping my musical tastes to this day. Each of Metallica's first four albums is a straight-up classic and a milestone in the evolution of extreme metal. And I'll give them credit for the so-called Black Album, which although not as strong as the first four is as close to mainstream as extreme metal ever got. After that, it's all down hill. The latest album is, frankly, boring. I really wanted to like it, because I really want the once great and powerful Metallica. I listened to each track and heard nothing innovative, nothing interesting, nothing to suggest Metallica has anything new to say. It wasn't bad, but neither was it very good. Meh-tallica. Or, as a friend and fellow metal fan put it, Enter Blandman. It's a safe album.

    Granted, my musical tastes have evolved well past anything Metallica ever did to include bands like SubRosa, Messa, Harakiri for the Sky, Myrkur, and the like. So there's that. But I also come back to a point Steve Wilson made in "The Sound of Muzak" --

    The music of rebellion / Makes you want to rage
    But it's made by millionaires / Who are nearly twice your age


    Metal is almost by definition music of youth, of anger, by and for those who feel marginalized, forgotten, and/or ignored. I don't think four multi-millionaires in their 50s can make any real claim to that. Call me cynical, but I suspect the new album is little more than an excuse for a monster tour that will be 90 percent music from the first five albums.
     
  18. shelflife

    shelflife Forum Resident

    Location:
    Florida
    The music may be loud and somewhat fast, but that doesn't automatically make it good. I found it rather dull, to be honest.

    The lyrics and vocals are flat out awful. James' vocals just don't work for the music they're trying to make.
     
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  19. Django

    Django Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dublin, Ireland
    His voice has been in dicline for along time now. Just time and aging. It happens most singers.
    This is the classic Hetfield vocal sound for me.

     
  20. bamaaudio

    bamaaudio Forum Resident

    Location:
    US
    The old albums stand on their own and were a product of their time. Pretty much any attempt to replicate that period probably won't turn out well, especially from a group of 50+ year old road warriors. I think the Black album was a solid transition and so were the Load/Reload albums compared to the previous effort. St. Anger, however, was a failed nu-metal bandwagon jump. Death Magnetic's still kind of solid but isn't aging as well with time. I think Hardwired pretty much gets everything right that they've been trying to do post-1991. It also seems that the new album has a "balance" that just wasn't there with previous recordings. I like the pacing and the songwriting is arguably a little more memorable and focused as well. Not to mention the vocals breathe and don't sound forced on most tracks --- Hetfield sounds more relaxed and rested than he has in years. It's hard to describe it other than to say it sounds like they're just having fun on this record and that's certainly a good sign.
     
    Last edited: Dec 4, 2016
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  21. tim185

    tim185 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Australia
    Vocals kill on the new album. Easily the best James has sounded since 1991. By far.
     
  22. dennis1077

    dennis1077 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    A few songs remind me of Load and Reload. I'm just not a fan of that era.
     
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  23. The Slipperman

    The Slipperman Forum Resident

    Master of Puppets was my introduction to speed metal so I used to have a lot of goodwill for Metallica back in the day. Like many, I consider the first four albums classics and the black album to be sellout material and then ignored Metallica all the way until Death Magnetic, when I heard a couple of songs on satellite radio which I found surprsingly good and I enjoy most of Death Magnetic. Megadeth followed a similar pattern of a great first four albums and then selling out although in their case I made a mistake. For instance, I think Youthanasia is a really good album that I ignored back when it came out.

    Back to topic, I heard most of Hardwired... when it was on satellite radio all Thanksgiving week and I don't like what I've heard. I was going to purchase it but hearing that has put me off of it.
     
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  24. Deuce66

    Deuce66 Senior Member

    Location:
    Canada
    I would add Confusion and Dream No More and you have a perfect Metallica album that stands up to the classics. The rest of the songs would make great b-sides, if Lords of Summer was different lyrically I would consider it for inclusion on the main album.
     
    SizzleVonSizzleton likes this.
  25. 3Dman

    3Dman The Adventure Begins

    Location:
    MI
    That's what's doing it for me. I haven't been able to handle his singing for a while. I pretty much liked Death Magnetic musically but the vocals not so much.
     
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