Blindkarevik
Grimlock
Rock... Paper... Straight-edge!
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Posts: 14,343
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Post by Blindkarevik on Sept 3, 2008 16:13:07 GMT -5
Listening to the album right now.
Not bad.
Metallica is long done with creating classics... you'll never hear another "Battery" you'll never hear another "Ride The Lightning"... you'll never even hear another "Sad But True"... if you can come to that realization, this is a good album.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Sept 3, 2008 17:04:53 GMT -5
Right, after the first full listen, here's my thoughts.
A seriously poor start. 'That Was Just Your Life' sounded like a Metallica wannabe group that just happened to have James Hetfield on vocals. 'The End of the Line' and 'Broken, Beat & Scarred' did nothing to change my opinion on that.
Having already heard 'The Day That Never Comes' and not being too keen on it, I was pleasantly surprised to find that some bits had grown on me. Only one or two hooks though, I still don't really like the song. 'All Nightmare Long' was 8 minutes of nothing.
'Cyanide' marks a vast improvement from the first half of the album, and this is coming from someone who didn't like it the first couple of listens. The studio does it wonders, and it seems to be a bit more refined. 'The Unforgiven III' is again like a Metallica wannabe, but decent. 'The Judas Kiss' is quite good, but overly long for what it is.
'Suicide & Redemption' is a 10 minute instrumental that achieves nothing. It wasn't even until halfway through this song that I paid the bass any attention - Trujillo suffering the same fate as Newsted on '...And Justice For All'? And finally, 'My Apocalypse'. Well, I don't like it. It was better this listen out than first, but the solo is awful, it sounds like it was pasted on from an '...And Justice' demo and polished up a little.
So my overall first impression was fairly poor. I'm probably being harsh on it because it's Metallica and it should be better than it is, because if it was anyone else then this would be a perfectly acceptable metal album. But it's not. It's Metallica. And it sounds like a band who want to be Metallica, not Metallica themselves.
I will give plus points to the production, which is terrific. This is the best they've ever sounded, it's just a shame the material doesn't reflect that. And it's better than 'St. Anger'. Although let's be honest, anything they could've done here would have been.
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Post by Silent Brad on Sept 3, 2008 17:06:15 GMT -5
OH
MY
GOD
I listened to it last night and I have to say that it's just as good as TBA, if not better. I still have to let it sink in. It's too much to intake at once. So many awesome riffs. This album more then compensates for St. Anger.
That Was Just Your Life is an amazing album opener. Sets the tone for the album perfectly in my opinion. Very catchy chorus.
Nice to see some of The New Song in The End Of The Line. The solo could have been a little better, but I love when the song drops out towards then end and the whole bit about "the slave becomes the master".
Broken, Beaten and Scarred is definitely one of the more stand-out tracks on the album. Love it. Should be amazing to hear live.
The Day That Never Comes is a beautiful song. It's almost like One, Sanitarium and Nothing Else Matters had a child. The last 3 minutes or so are just amazing.
Another one of my faves is All Nightmare Long. It's just a beast of a song. 8 minutes of just brutal riffs and an awesome chorus.
Cyanide seems to be a little bit slower on the album then when played live, but that doesn't bug me that much. Bass lines are awesome, but one thing does bug me, the part towards the end where Jame's lets out this big "MMMMMMUAAH". It kinda took me out of the song, but other then that it's awesome.
The Unforgiven III is a beautiful song. The orchestral opening is amazing. Really shows the influence from Ennio Morricone. It's definitely better then 2, but still doesn't top the original.
The Judas Kiss might be my favorite song off this album. The chorus is insane. "Bow Down! Sell Your Soul To Me!". Smurfing awesome.
Glad to see instrumentals back on a Metallica album. Although not very much like the oldschool Metallica instrumental, Suicide and Redemption is an awesome barrage of riffs. And is it just me? or do I hear a bit of The Wait in it?
I've heard people saying that My Apocalypse is the weakest song on the album, but I don't really agree. I can't really pick out a weak song at all, but I totally dig this song. I can't help but get all giddy when I hear the "SPIT IT OUT!". I just absolutely smurfing love it.
Overall, I just love this album so much. It may be Kirk's best work in terms of his solos. Jame's voice sounds as good as ever. Rob's bass work is right up there with Cliff. The only thing I can pick out that's wrong is the drums are a little too loud in a few of the songs and vocals are a little to soft in others, but god damn it, I love this album. Can't wait to actually go get my copy in 9 days.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Sept 3, 2008 17:13:23 GMT -5
Haha, wow, some wildly differing opinions there. I think it all boils down to how you go into the album feeling. If you're expecting it to be poor, you probably won't like it, but if you go into it expecting it to be awesome, you'll probably come out of it feeling that it was.
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Post by Silent Brad on Sept 3, 2008 17:21:08 GMT -5
I agree with you there. I definitely went into the album expecting something great. Ever since I heard Cyanide I had high hopes for the album and in my opinion it delivered.
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babyfootball
Don Corleone
At least as good as Ron Garvin!
Posts: 1,320
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Post by babyfootball on Sept 3, 2008 17:32:08 GMT -5
Im gonna get the album, purely because its 'Tallica, and they're my band- the band that saved my life, really. The Day That Never Comes is fantastic, although the video is pretty lame. Its well structured, builds up to a good, heavy ending, and its nice to see them letting Kirky do what he does best- solos!! Its about time, after what happened on the abomination that was St. Anger. Cyanide is good too, but im still not thoroughly convinced by it. I heard it at Leeds festival a few weeks ago, and even live it seem to drag a little. And even though its longer, The Day That Never Comes seemed like the shorter song, it was THAT good live. Its also nice to hear the production sounding spot on once more- not very suprising saying that Rick Rubin produced it. At the end of the day, people are gonna compare this album to Master Of Puppets, just like they do with every other album since. Quite rightly so- Puppets was just Godly. But the people who do that will just be letting themselves down. Like it or not, Metallica have changed since 1986. That is fact. Whether or not thats a good thing depends on your point of view. But from the songs ive heard from Death Magnetic, this album will be just fine if people just take it as an individual album, and don't try to compare it to the old stuff. What this guy said. I don't quite understand what the people who don't like the songs thus far are expecting...? If they simply tried to recreate one of their classic '80s albums, it wouldn't have worked here in 2008. I think it's awesome that they decided that they'd go back to their roots in terms of their songwriting, as opposed to St. Anger, where they tried to play a "modern," at the time (nu-metal) version of their old style. If it was just a re-hashing of their earlier records, people would've downed on it anyway.
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Post by Voldemar H. "Brak" Guerta on Sept 3, 2008 18:02:32 GMT -5
I need to listen to it more, as it's impossible to have a good judgment on an album after only listening to it once. I think I like it, though, as I definitely don't hate it.
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Post by Tushingham Rimswell on Sept 3, 2008 19:27:21 GMT -5
See my sig for my favourite song off the new album
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Post by Voldemar H. "Brak" Guerta on Sept 4, 2008 6:30:54 GMT -5
Amazon has this for sale/pre-order for $8.99. Seems like a great deal, or is everybody selling it at that price? I'd rather go buy it at Best Buy, but if Amazon has them beat, I guess I'm ordering it online.
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