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Hardwired...to Self Destruct - New Metallica album - Live concert on Metallica.com
- Thread starter Horseress
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Inceptional
Member
Been listening all day and it's definitely their best since the black album. That's gotta say something. The first disc is great all the way through. It's the second that disappoints but is completely redeemed by Spit out the Bone, one of their best songs of all time.
If they had just made this a 9 song album and ditched songs 9, 10, and 11, we'd have a solid 9/10. But because of the filler I gotta go 8/10. Still amazing and the best and hardest Metallica album in over 20 years and puts their last couple records to shame.
If they had just made this a 9 song album and ditched songs 9, 10, and 11, we'd have a solid 9/10. But because of the filler I gotta go 8/10. Still amazing and the best and hardest Metallica album in over 20 years and puts their last couple records to shame.
OrbitalBeard
Member
Wait....there are people in this thread who prefer Death Magnetic to this?!?
What????
DM is decent. This album is significantly better.
Though, to be fair, I actually like a fair bit of Metallica's 90's output and a decent number of tracks on this record recall that era. Though certainly not the entire album. It's actually a really, really nice mix of different styles throughout Metallica's history.
What????
DM is decent. This album is significantly better.
Though, to be fair, I actually like a fair bit of Metallica's 90's output and a decent number of tracks on this record recall that era. Though certainly not the entire album. It's actually a really, really nice mix of different styles throughout Metallica's history.
Killer Queen
Banned
I've got a friend that feels the same way. I can understand why but I say they're about equal, just different.
OrbitalBeard
Member
I don't think they're even close, but hey, opinions. I like Death Magnetic but the production really hurts it for me.
GringoSuave89
Banned
Production kills Dm for me. A shame since the album itself is great.
Team Filler
Member
Yeah, I mean I like Death Magnetic enough but I think the gap between that and this is bigger than the one between St. Anger and DM.
Been listening on and off all day today and marking out at how fucking good Spit Out the Bone is, I'd call it a classic track from any of their eras.
Been listening on and off all day today and marking out at how fucking good Spit Out the Bone is, I'd call it a classic track from any of their eras.
To Far Away Times
Member
I'm half way through Spit out the Bone.
Metallica's back.
Metallica's back.
Pancake Mix
Copied someone else's pancake recipe
I can't get over how much more range there is compared to Death Magnetic.
A shame because Death Magnetic had some classics that were buried. Halo On Fire and Spit Out the Bone are great.
Still not sure how I feel about the album overall. I think, mastering aside, I might like Death Magnetic more, but I mean, the band was in its 40's then, not 50's.
A shame because Death Magnetic had some classics that were buried. Halo On Fire and Spit Out the Bone are great.
Still not sure how I feel about the album overall. I think, mastering aside, I might like Death Magnetic more, but I mean, the band was in its 40's then, not 50's.
I really like Death Magnetic, but in my opinion HTSD smashes Death Magnetic up into tiny pieces, jumps in the air, pulls out a ninja sword and cuts all of the little gibs into even smaller pieces, flips onto the ground and catches those particles in a blender, makes a smoothy with them, waits 6 hours, poops and then sends that poop to Dave Mustain's door step and lights it on fire.
Pancake Mix
Copied someone else's pancake recipe
Now, this isn't very metal to talk about, but I don't care... I wonder if there'll be an eighth US Hot Top 40 hit.
Seems unlikely. The Day That Never Comes in 2008 was their first since 1997 anyways. None of the singles this debuted in the hot 100 at all as far as I can tell so that's probably that, though I don't think One did either, it just climbed because of how amazing it was.
Seems unlikely. The Day That Never Comes in 2008 was their first since 1997 anyways. None of the singles this debuted in the hot 100 at all as far as I can tell so that's probably that, though I don't think One did either, it just climbed because of how amazing it was.
To Far Away Times
Member
I actually like a few of the songs on Death Magnetic. I think it had 3 really good ones, but the production values are so fucking bad I just can't do it.
From one of the gold standards in production values with the Black Album to creating a new low point of big budget production values with Death Magnetic.
From one of the gold standards in production values with the Black Album to creating a new low point of big budget production values with Death Magnetic.
OrbitalBeard
Member
I'm not sure I can go that far, even though I think HTSD is a massive improvement over DM.
St. Anger is one of the worst albums ever released, full-stop. It's an absolute embarrassment that a band like Metallica would release something so horrifying. DM at least showed that Metallica can still create something listenable. That alone makes it a monumental leap over St. Anger.
Brian_FETO
Banned
DM has been out since 2008 and Hardwired has been out for -1 days. While that's not to necessarily undermine early impressions, it's a bit early to make sweeping definitive claims
There are elements of Hardwired that are much better than Death Magnetic. The production is obviously infinitely better. They have their heads in the right place and are trying to match their older sound.
At the same time, it is a very samey album. Especially on disc 2. I'm also a bit peeved that they sold it on 3 pre-release tracks in the vein of Justice when the majority of the album is closer to their 90's output
Listening back to Death Magnetic I think you can actually hear a lot of the "St. Angerisms" still there, but they're just used in a context that isn't total shit. The album overall was basically taking what they attempted to do with St. Anger but taking a step back and saying "oh right, we used to actually write good music"
Justice is my favorite album by them. I am tickled by the fact that Hardwired is full of layered chimey harmonies in that vein. Confusion has grown on me and might actually be the song that comes closest to nailing that style, but it is brought down by being like 2 minutes longer than it deserves to be
I don't mind longer songs if the music has a proper story to tell but majority of the tracks here do not warrant 7 minutes runtime.
People saying "Metallica is back" to this album.....if anything this is them settling back into their 1997-1999 selves. St. Anger was them hitting rock bottom and basically making an album out of their frustration. Death Magnetic is an album coming back from hitting musical rock bottom and trying to win back the mindshare of their fanbase (while also probably proving to themselves that they can still do it)
My biggest fear after Death Magnetic was "where can they really go from here besides songs that just sound like B-Sides to this" and Hardwired kind of reinforces that. Only time will tell how the album actually holds up. Personally I don't have any real need to go back to Death Magnetic but I still believe that was the near perfect album for them to make at that time
cryptosporidium
Member
Xhamster changed their logo to metallica font in support of the album. I know this because of scientific research
To Far Away Times
Member
So... uh, is Lars going to try to play Spit Out the Bone live?
Brian_FETO
Banned
They've attempted Dyer's Eve in recent years, if he can stumble through that he can manage
Killer Queen
Banned
I feel you on the production, that's why it doesn't get much play from me. But I feel like Death Magnetic excels where HTSD is weak and HTSD excels where DM is weak.
I like that Death Magnetic is progressive and the songs take interesting twists and turns, the problem here is, after a point it gets to be too much.
Whereas HTSD excels at having strong riffs to base whole songs around and it never meanders like Death Magnetic, but the problem I feel here is that they've pulled back too much at times and songs end up feeling very bare-bones for Metallica. Murder One is one such example, I feel ManUnKind could've used something like that too. There's nothing wrong with having a few straight forward songs and theres nothing wrong with straightforward songs in general but I feel like they might've done it too much here. Combine that with the long song lengths and it can make things feel like they're trodding along. These issues aren't HTSD exclusive but they're a bit prominent here, though not to the extent of AJFA
This isn't me knocking it, but if i had any criticisms for this album it would be the above, I do really enjoy it and I like every song to some degree and I'm considering buying the special edition of the album to have it and its contents framed (Because that's how much I love it) but it's not without a few slights.
Death Magnetic would've been perfect had they calmed down a little and had some HTSD production.
There's also the difference in direction between the two albums where one is more progressive and the other is more groove oriented. DM is calculated and efficient while HTSD feels and because of this its hard for me to pit either against each other. Like picking a favorite child, they're different but you like them equally.
OrbitalBeard
Member
I really don't think it's too early, at least for me. I've listened to DM many times and it has never really grabbed me (though I certainly don't think it's a bad record or anything...I do like it). HTSD won me over on my first listen and my positive feelings have only grown stronger with subsequent spins.
I have no doubt that HTSD is the better album in my eyes. What I'm not sure about yet is where it lands on the list compared to Metallica's overall discography, though I think it'll end up near the top for me.
So if I'm going by how many songs on a given album I've rated 5 Stars. Then Hardwired and Master of Puppets are tied as my favorite Metallica records. That may change over time, but eh, right now I'm in love this album. Though I'm still not feeling ManUNkind or Murder One as much as the rest.
The songs in DM are more dynamic/faster on average but the riffs in this new album are more memorable. And the new album is more varied despite some of the songs having much fewer passages. The vocals/lyrics and melodies are way better in Hardwired.
I like both a lot. They've found a way to create a weird hybrid style in this last decade that's pretty fun (especially for a not very fast guitarist). I recommend people picking up DM on iTunes as they've gotten rid of the clipping (still sounds dry though)
EDIT: Gen X I too think highly of All Nightmare Long.
I like both a lot. They've found a way to create a weird hybrid style in this last decade that's pretty fun (especially for a not very fast guitarist). I recommend people picking up DM on iTunes as they've gotten rid of the clipping (still sounds dry though)
EDIT: Gen X I too think highly of All Nightmare Long.
Killer Queen
Banned
These are my thoughts aswel
I LOVE All Nightmare Long. One of my favorite songs, no doubt.
buttery fistful
Member
the last two minutes of Halo on Fire gives me chills. i love how kirk slowly ramps up the solo until he lets his fingers fly
Brian_FETO
Banned
All Nightmare Long was the song that got a lot of hyped when DM launched and honestly I never really understood why. I think it's the chorus that irks me
Still, I'd say that song is better than most of Hardwired
Still, I'd say that song is better than most of Hardwired
Death Magnetic to me (for better or worse) sounds like a more modern, relevant album. Hardwired is rooted in the 90s and sounds dated for it
I agree with this.
Death Metalist
Member
Hetfield's vocals though throughout the majority of the album, whew lad.
OrbitalBeard
Member
I think my opinion of DM would be much higher if they went back and re-recorded the entire album.
HF2014
Member
Yesh those 4 are great. Give seriously some other try to Here Comes Revenge. Black allbum feeling. If this song was release when Black was released, it would have been my fav song. The drum, chorus, eveything in this song is awesome. https://metallica.com/videos/31775/here-comes-revenge
And the video is awesome!
Mike Double U
Banned
Ready to listen to this sometime this weekend.
Slightly Off Topic: Has there been a remaster for Death Magnetic that fixed the dynamic range yet?
Slightly Off Topic: Has there been a remaster for Death Magnetic that fixed the dynamic range yet?
BulletBees
Member
I seem to remember someone took the stems from the Guitar Hero Metallica DLC release and put them together some time ago and they sound MUCH better.
IIRC the version of Death Magnetic available on their website and through iTunes have been remastered so that they don't clip.
I really like that track also.
Username1198
Member
Jesus you guys weren't kidding about spit out the bone whew I'm sweatin
Randy Solo
Member
So I just finished listening to the album for the third time since yesterday, and I gotta say it's hard work. The album definitely drags, and could've had 3 or 4 songs culled. Some songs are unnecessarily long and repetitive as well, which doesn't help.
I'm also not hearing many of the comparisons to 80's Metallica, with the exception of the occasional AJFA flourish. For some reason this album reminds me of disc 1 of Garage Inc. I'm also getting some Newsted vibes. 'Now that we're dead' sounds to me like it would fit on Newsteds 'Heavy Metal' album. Maybe I'm crazy but I'm not sure why nobody has mentioned this yet.
I'm also disappointed in Kirk. I know he had issues with losing his phone during recording etc.. but this album is telling me that he just doesn't have anything else interesting left to say with his guitar. There isn't a single solo here that I look forward to hearing. They are usually my most anticipated sections.
There are still great moments on this album for sure. My favourite songs so far are definitely Spit out the bone, atlas rise, and moth into flame. I like the way Halo on fire goes out at the end, but I'm not enjoying the song up to that point just yet. Obviously I'll keep listening to see if any more tracks grab me, but so far I'm not really feeling it.
I'm also not hearing many of the comparisons to 80's Metallica, with the exception of the occasional AJFA flourish. For some reason this album reminds me of disc 1 of Garage Inc. I'm also getting some Newsted vibes. 'Now that we're dead' sounds to me like it would fit on Newsteds 'Heavy Metal' album. Maybe I'm crazy but I'm not sure why nobody has mentioned this yet.
I'm also disappointed in Kirk. I know he had issues with losing his phone during recording etc.. but this album is telling me that he just doesn't have anything else interesting left to say with his guitar. There isn't a single solo here that I look forward to hearing. They are usually my most anticipated sections.
There are still great moments on this album for sure. My favourite songs so far are definitely Spit out the bone, atlas rise, and moth into flame. I like the way Halo on fire goes out at the end, but I'm not enjoying the song up to that point just yet. Obviously I'll keep listening to see if any more tracks grab me, but so far I'm not really feeling it.
You're not alone. All Nightmare Long is fucking awesome
NameGenerated
Who paid you to grab Dr. Pavel?
It's funny how many more dislikes the black metal video has than any other song. Still don't know what to think of it.
Doesn't help that ManUNkind is easily the worst song on the album.
Doesn't help that ManUNkind is easily the worst song on the album.
SmackCrackleNPop
Member
All Nightmare Long is a classic. The breakdown at the end sold me on DM
OrbitalBeard
Member
No way. It's an early contender for one of my favorites on the album and it's definitely my second favorite track on the second disc.
And the video is awesome.
It's amazing how subjective music is. ManUNKind is a major highlight for me.
On the flip side the only track I dislike is Here Comes Revenge and it seems to be a hit with most. Can't get over that repetitive chorus.
As a big Metallica fan, I can say this (double) album mostly delivers. It's not quite as good as I hoped for after the first 3 singles, but still a great addition to Metallica catalog. There's 2 songs that are the true highlights of the album, Moth Into Flame and Spit Out the Bone, easily top 15 Metallica songs throughout their all songs since Kill'em All. Then there's lots of very good songs that make the album good as a whole: Hardwired, Atlas, Rise!, Now That We're Dead, Halo on Fire (the top song of the very good ones) and Confusion.
The problem comes with the 2nd disk with the following average songs (could be considered as fillers): Here Comes Revenge and Murder One. Dream No More is top of the average songs (found on disk 1) and biggest problem with Am I Savage? and ManUnKind which both suck ass.
Ok, I've only had couple of listens to those worst songs, so there's a chance that they grow on me, but at the moment I have no desire to really listen to them more either. The good ones I've listened to lots of times, the first singles dozens of times. All in all 7 good to excellent songs out of 12 is pretty good for any band, but I can't help but be a bit disappointed that the rest weren't that good, after waiting 8 years for the new album. But I'll definately enjoy the good ones for tens of years to come that's for sure.
The problem comes with the 2nd disk with the following average songs (could be considered as fillers): Here Comes Revenge and Murder One. Dream No More is top of the average songs (found on disk 1) and biggest problem with Am I Savage? and ManUnKind which both suck ass.
Ok, I've only had couple of listens to those worst songs, so there's a chance that they grow on me, but at the moment I have no desire to really listen to them more either. The good ones I've listened to lots of times, the first singles dozens of times. All in all 7 good to excellent songs out of 12 is pretty good for any band, but I can't help but be a bit disappointed that the rest weren't that good, after waiting 8 years for the new album. But I'll definately enjoy the good ones for tens of years to come that's for sure.
CaviarMeths
Member
Listened to it today on Spotify.
I guess it just isn't for me. I guess it's because they've been around for so long and they managed to make their brand synonymous with heavy metal music, but it's weird how Metallica can just throw out a bog-standard metal album every 5-10 years and make the world wet their pants over it. It's not bad. It's actually pretty decent with a couple of fantastic songs. It's just virtually indistinguishable from any other decent thrash album in the last 20 years.
I guess it just isn't for me. I guess it's because they've been around for so long and they managed to make their brand synonymous with heavy metal music, but it's weird how Metallica can just throw out a bog-standard metal album every 5-10 years and make the world wet their pants over it. It's not bad. It's actually pretty decent with a couple of fantastic songs. It's just virtually indistinguishable from any other decent thrash album in the last 20 years.
You sure you listened to the same album we did? I mean, HTSD isn't even a thrash metal album to begin with, there's only two songs that are thrash metal, the rest are far from anything like that. The best part is that there's all kind of different style on the album, it's almost like they went through their whole career in this one album.
James voice when he sings "Spit out the Bone" is really something else. I'll have to pick up the deluxe edition tomorrow as I had no idea about a third disc and I haven't heard those covers.
I only mentioned it as there are a lot of negative posts in here about DMs quality and hardly any mentioned the few outstanding tracks. It's great to know I'm not alone.
I only mentioned it as there are a lot of negative posts in here about DMs quality and hardly any mentioned the few outstanding tracks. It's great to know I'm not alone.
Airola
Member
But that alone doesn't mean anything.
There are tons of bands doing the very same thing. I've heard so many times bands say "yeah, this new album has something from all our previous albums" and the end result can be anything.
It's not enough that we can say "oh, this song sounds like that older song, and that song sounds like this older song." Personally, as I saw people saying how Spit Out the Bone could be on Master of Puppets and is like Battery or Disposable Heroes or Damage Inc or [insert any of the greater Metallica thrash tracks here] I was very disappointed when I finally heard the track. It's not enough that you can make the connection by comparing the speed. The riffs on that track are nowhere near the classics. Hell, there are much better riffs in St. Anger and Death Magnetic.
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