This gonna be a long post......<deep breath>
I'm into much heavier stuff nowadays, but I was a massive Metallica nut for quite a while, and they were definitely a huge influence in my growth as a guitar player. At one point, I could play pretty much
every single Metallica song, rhythm or lead all the way through. Not exaggerating, either.
First off, I will say that James Hetfield IS Metallica. He's the guy who writes the memory-cementing riffs, he has a great sense of melody and he can sing and play simultaneously as good as anyone I've ever seen. I think Kirk Hammett is a decent lead guitarist, but he falls into the same rut over and over again. The bassist hasn't been important since Cliff Burton. And I just hate Lars so much that I couldn't begin to give him credit even if he deserves some. Hetfield is simply a rhythm guitar GOD and its this that I think really made Metallica so great.
My first Metallica album was the Black album. Despite being a bit softer and more commercial, I still feel it was one of their strongest albums in terms of great songwriting. I honest dont even like 'Enter Sandman' and a couple other of the popular songs, but songs like 'Dont Tread on Me', 'The God that Failed' and 'Dont Tread on Me' are seriously awesome.
Then I heard 'Fade to Black' on the radio one day. I pretty much immediately went out and got Ride the Lightning, which became glued in my CD player for about a month(again, not exaggerating). I still think that one song is possibly one of the top 10 greatest songs ever written, and its impact on me as a musician and a music-lover cant be overstated. I can still listen to the beginning of that song and get goose-bumps. The rest of the CD is decent, but other than 'Call of Cthulu' and 'Creeping Death', I think its an overrated Metallica album. It was also super annoying that the whole thing somehow was mixed at about a 1/4 note above standard tuning, which made playing along with it and sounding right very hard!
My next album was 'Kill em All'. You can definitely tell its a very rough Metallica at this stage with a much bigger punk-style influence than you'd hear from their other stuff. 'The Four Horsemen' is my favorite track by far. 'Motorbreath' was also pretty great(I'd love to see a proper modern punk band cover this song). Aside from their newest stuff, its still probably my least favorite Metallica album.
Onto Master of Puppets. First off, I'm not a fan of the title track. I dont get what makes it great other than the middle part of the song when it gets melodic. But there's a LOT on the rest of the CD that is great. Of course, 'Orion' is easily one of the best Metallica songs ever. While the guitars are amazing in the song, its only because Cliff's bass melody really set the tone and influence. 'Welcome Home(Sanitarium)' is another obvious classic. 'Battery' and 'Damage Inc' are two other [brutal]standouts.
And Justice for All. My favorite. Its flawed, of course. Like people have said, you cant hear the bass. The songs are all incredibly long, overly complex and drawn out(not a single song has any vocals before 1:00 for instance!). Kirk's leads weren't very good and didn't sound all that great either(I think he used a Strat for much of the lead work on this CD, which was a BAD choice). But its the riffs and the heaviness(I love the mid-scooped guitar tone) and the bleak themes that really make this CD into something great. And really, every song on this album is great. My favorites are 'Harvester of Sorrow', 'Eye of the Beholder', 'Dyers Eve' and 'To Live is to Die'. Great songs.
And so we reach 'new' Metallica. First off, I actually really like Load. This is coming from somebody who has moved on to much heavier stuff than Metallica, too. I didn't like the direction they moved in, but judged on its own merits, I think Load was a pretty great album. Very well-written, some good riffs, and probably the height of Hetfield as a vocalist. Some of the popular stuff was garbage, especially 'King Nothing', but there was some real gems. 'Bleeding Me' is possibly one of the best Metallica songs ever and 'The Thorn Within' is pretty epic.
Reload was just more of the same, so I felt the album title was apt. I think 'The Memory Remains', 'The Unforgiven II' and 'Carpe Diem Baby' were all pretty good songs. Nothing super great, but something I wouldn't complain seeing in a playlist, ya know?
But then there was St.Anger and Death Magnetic. Trash. Absolute TRASH. I cant believe how bad they are. I'm not a close-minded music guy, but I cant understand how they ever wrote this stuff and thought it was a good idea to release it. St.Anger especially has to be one of the worst produced/mixed albums by a big-money band in history. I know they did it on purpose, but it only works when the songs are decent, which they aren't even close. Metallica past their prime is an understatement.
I dont really listen to them that much anymore, but I still love this band due to their role in my becoming a proper musician and fan of heavy music. I think I'm gonna put on 'Dyers Eve'.
