Music: New Metallica Album "Hardwired...To Self-Destruct" out November 18

[forsbergavs32]

My ranking so far.

Dream No More
Moth Into Flame
Hardwired
ManUNkind
Here Comes Revenge
Atlas Rise
Spit out the Bone
Now That We're Dead
Halo on Fire
Confusion
Murder One
Am I Savage?

 

[OmniSens]

So much headbanging... So little chance the repeat button had.

LOVING IT!!

Moth into Flame is dangerously good. Been listening to it for over a month now. Atlas is pretty kick ass too

 

[ACC1224]

Heard they're playing the Opera House in Toronto next week, venue holds 950.
Good luck getting tickets.

I'm guessing this is a tour warm up?

 

[Caeldan]

It will never happen, but I'd love it if they did an instrumental album and just said **** it to lyrics. James was never a great singer, but age is just making it worse and worse for him.

Listened to this album, then followed up with S&M for the wife as she hadn't heard that one before, her response was that they should do more symphony shows

 

[Hammettf2b]

I can't stop listening to Halo on Fire. Such a groovy song.

 

[Hippasus]

Listend to the album twice. Opinion: It's slightly better than Death Magnetic and has a few highs, but overall it's a really good EP/Live Disc.

On to individual songs; I like Hardwired despite the "silly" lyrics, Atlas is probably the best track on the album, Moth is good, Halo is mostly good it reminds me of what Pantera would probably sound like now if they were making a ballad, and Spit Out The Bone..that song doesn't have a lot of heart (it's almost like "hey we're gonna play fast because we have to play a fast song, Lars does his double bass drum thing he's been doing for thirty years) but it has a good tempo and Trujillo has a nice little fuzz bass part...let him do more.

Now That We're Dead is interesting..it has moments, the drum part is weird, those toms sounds like a giant spider is crawling towards the listener.

Disc 2 really dragged down the album. Most of it is boring and doesn't do anything. There are also parts where they use the same musical themes or repertoire they've been doing for 20-25 years. First track goes into the Am I Evil rhythm immediately. Many riffs on disc 2 or riffs just because they're heavy and don't add much to the tracks.

Lords Of Summer is very good as it's included on the Deluxe Addition.

Kirk Hammet barely plays on this album and when he does, it's a rehash of a solo he did 25 years ago.

So it has it's moments and it seems like Fidelman was agreeable to work with, but the next time the band decides to make an album let Trujillo write or at least collaborate more on the tracks. You have a top-3 funk/rock bass player in the world, use him and don't ave hm sound like a watered down Newsted which he does on this record, and let Hammett play a little more. Also go back to songs with dynamics and time signature changes. They should work with someone like Brendan O'Brien or Matt Bayles who will really add more to the arrangements.

If the guy is in Metallica, he has got to be playing for Metallica. His background should be irrelevent. If it conflicts with the style of the band at present, he shouldn't have joined in the first place. Funk and Metallica just don't mix.

 

[kingsholygrail]

Listened to this album, then followed up with S&M for the wife as she hadn't heard that one before, her response was that they should do more symphony shows

I would like another S&M. Imagine Orion with a symphony? Damn.

 

[PBandJ]

I can't stop playing Now that We're Dead and Dream No More. Fantastic songs.

 

[Caeldan]

I would like another S&M. Imagine Orion with a symphony? Damn.

One can dream, right?
I don't even know the backstory on what inspired that show/album. But would be cool if they ever decided to make it a thing again.

 

[kingsholygrail]

The live songs were okay at best, kinda bad at worst, especially since the crowd seemed drowned out in the recordings so you'd have lyrics gaps where they're having the crowd contribute and I'm barely hearing them. That or the crowd was really awful, but I highly doubt that for a Metallica concert.

 

[Andy]

Having listened to it on repeat for a few days now, I really do think Metallica missed out on an opportunity to make a bigger statement with this album by simply cutting some songs and going for an 8 track disc, similar to Ride and Master.

Hardwired
Atlas
Dead
Moth
Dream
Halo
ManUNkind (or whatever song you liked from Disc 2 that wasn't spit)
Spit

Confusion, Revenge, Murder, Savage could have been released as a b-side disc like Beyond Magnetic.

I think the first 5 songs on Disc Two hold back the album from receiving greater acclaim.

Obviously, they will never match the brilliance of their first 5 albums, but a shorter track list would have easily put in the debate of "best album since the Black Album". I said debate, because I still think Load has enough brilliant songs to drown out the fillers. Though, in an ideal world, Load and Reload would have been 1 album of two discs of 6-7 songs:

Disc 1
Fuel
Memory Remains
Devil's Dance
Unforgiven II
Carpe Diem
Low Man's Lyric
Fixxxer

Disc 2
Aint my *****
The House that Jack Built
Until it Sleeps
King Nothing
Hero of the Day
Bleeding Me
Outlaw Torn

 

[Roo Returns]

If the guy is in Metallica, he has got to be playing for Metallica. His background should be irrelevent. If it conflicts with the style of the band at present, he shouldn't have joined in the first place. Funk and Metallica just don't mix.

Hippasus I didn't bring up funk to say Trujillo should turn Metallica into Infectious Grooves or even his work with ST, it was solely for his technical ability. Cliff Burton had bass solos and more free reign, even Newsted did all kinds of interesting stuff on Garage Days before his playing became heavily audited by Hetfield and Ulrich. Listen to him on the first Flotsam and Jetsam record.

Plenty of metal bands have interesting bass players. Elefson's work in Megadeth, Myung in Dream Theater, Billy Sheehan, Steve Digiorgio, even Colin Marston who is a lot lesser known. I think letting Trujillo write and do more cool things can only help Metallica stylistically, because it's obvious the simple thing is very limiting to even the casual fan given the response of the new album (disc 2 was mostly repetitive).

 

[Hivemind]

Enterring a thread and seeing Colin Marston referred to as "a lot lesser known" is a good way to remind myself how far removed my musical bubble is from mainstream metal.

I'd say Marston is pretty well known in most metal circles, and even more so after he joined Gorguts in 2009. Not to mention all the engineering/mastering credits he gets. I feels like half of the East Coast (and almost all of New York) has turned to him for recording help at some point.

 

[Roo Returns]

Enterring a thread and seeing Colin Marston referred to as "a lot lesser known" is a good way to remind myself how far removed my musical bubble is from mainstream metal.

I'd say Marston is pretty well known in most metal circles, and even more so after he joined Gorguts in 2009. Not to mention all the engineering/mastering credits he gets. I feels like half of the East Coast (and almost all of New York) has turned to him for recording help at some point.

Haha, just by being on this board/thread we're more educated than 95% of the American public musically. He is known to metal circles but if you say his name compared to Flea, Jaco, Claypool, Bootsy to 99% of bass players and even to metal fans who don't go outside of mainstream metal, he doesn't have any commercial recognition.

Also good call on the whole East and West Coast thing. I never knew how different music is/was to the coasts until I spent extended time in Cali. Sometimes I hear a song out there and it doesn't make its way to the East Coast until 5-6 months later. I'm sure underground metal is even tougher.

 

[Ozz]

Finally listened to it a couple times, I enjoy it. Like most the 1st disc seems to be better, but the 2nd isn't bad at all really. Better than most of Load, what I heard of Reload, and the couple I sadly couldn't help but hear from St. Anger (shudder). I liked Death Magnetic and, as others have stated again, this is a step further in the same "proper" direction overall. I can overlook duds for the better songs, though it is always nice to have a short album that just flat out rips.


Regarding interesting bassists in metal, Battlecross is one of my thrash favorites and their bassist can really rip it up. He has a couple lead licks and a solo here and there, but mostly he just goes nuts behind the main riffs and it's awesome. Trujillo "could" easily do something like that without making it feel like they were changing up the formula or making the songs completely/mostly bass-driven.

 

[Roo Returns]

Regarding interesting bassists in metal, Battlecross is one of my thrash favorites and their bassist can really rip it up. He has a couple lead licks and a solo here and there, but mostly he just goes nuts behind the main riffs and it's awesome. Trujillo "could" easily do something like that without making it feel like they were changing up the formula or making the songs completely/mostly bass-driven.

Bingo! Listen to any of Burton's basslines from the first three albums and Newsted on Garage Days. All kinds of little fun improv and lines here and there without overshadowing the song.

 

[SJSharksfan39]

I would like another S&M. Imagine Orion with a symphony? Damn.

The fact that they didn't do Orion or Fade to Black with the Symphony still makes me sad. Those two on the album would have probably made it their best live album to date.

 

[Lost Horizons]

the last two minutes of Halo on Fire sound like a Cult outake

 

[Hivemind]

Haha, just by being on this board/thread we're more educated than 95% of the American public musically. He is known to metal circles but if you say his name compared to Flea, Jaco, Claypool, Bootsy to 99% of bass players and even to metal fans who don't go outside of mainstream metal, he doesn't have any commercial recognition.

Also good call on the whole East and West Coast thing. I never knew how different music is/was to the coasts until I spent extended time in Cali. Sometimes I hear a song out there and it doesn't make its way to the East Coast until 5-6 months later. I'm sure underground metal is even tougher.

Underground metal is so intertwined with the internet that it tends to spread quickly. There are still plenty of bands with more local or regional followings, but I don't think that's unique to any particular genre.

 

[Lost Horizons]

Also the version of Lords of Summer is different then the one previously released . It's shorter by about 1:10 and it's a bit better

 

[SJSharksfan39]

I just bought the album an the opening Riff to Now that We're Dead was incredible.

I've only listened to a few songs but I'm hearing the same thing here as I heard on Death Magnetic. These songs might be unnecessarily too long. Still a pretty good album though so far.

 

[v-man]

The fact that they didn't do Orion or Fade to Black with the Symphony still makes me sad. Those two on the album would have probably made it their best live album to date.

I remember reading an article years ago where Hetfield mentioned that they tried them, as well as Unforgiven, but they surprisingly didn't work well with the orchestration, which is why they were left out. I suppose a new composer might be able to get a different result though.

 

[SJSharksfan39]

I remember reading an article years ago where Hetfield mentioned that they tried them, as well as Unforgiven, but they surprisingly didn't work well with the orchestration, which is why they were left out. I suppose a new composer might be able to get a different result though.

Interesting. A song like Fade to Black was screaming for an orchestral accompaniment, at least that's what I thought the first time I heard it.

 

[beowulf]

Interesting. A song like Fade to Black was screaming for an orchestral accompaniment, at least that's what I thought the first time I heard it.

Metallica back then would not have done something like that. They have evolved so much over time and become more open to different sounds and styles which is what has allowed them to put together a live performance with a symphony.

 

[Lost Horizons]