Finally got to listen through the new record, Death Magnetic – and in a word it is – outstanding.
The groove is back, the feel is back, and the necessity to turn up the volume is back.
Now I won’t go ahead and compare this to any of their albums before St.Anger. IMHO – each record released prior to SA stood on its own merits, and DM is no different. In short, Death Magnetic wipes its ass with St.Anger.
Driving drums, blazing guitar, barking vocals, you name it – the old Metallica is back and have reclaimed the sound which allowed Jethro Tull to beat them at some rinky dink awards show – The way it should be.
It’s hard to overlook the past 20 year roller coaster of Metallica, how they perfected the sound, abandoned the perfected sound, while attacking their loyal fans relentlessly for spreading the word the same way they did before they were millionaires. Now in 2008, you can not only pay too much for Death Magnetic at your local CD store, you can also get it for a more reasonable price from iTunes.
Hopefully they’ve wised up and this album isn’t just a flash in the pan to silence the critics.
All I know is that when I turn this up I don’t hear the old men in leisure suits that graced the back cover of Load, or that sold us all out with St.Anger. I hear the Metallica that I knew and loved, and has finally come back home.
So like I said before, don’t fuck it up. 🙂
For the most part, I agree. Death Magnetic is, in my opinion, the perfect “comeback” album. Personally, I am pretending that the band hasn’t released an album since “Live Shit”, recorded during the endless touring to support the eponymous album. (You know, the tour which bled them dry of any creativity and energy for the last 15 or so years…)
If one were to take “And Justice For All”, throw in a dash of “Master of Puppets” and the black album, and add 20 years to the component parts, you might come up with “Death Magnetic”.
This is not an album which re-invents the proverbial wheel, but it is a return to form reminiscent of latter-day releases by other greats like Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Megadeth and Exodus. All the pieces are there, and in a way, the band almost plays homage to itself from the other end of their carreer. You won’t find anything new and innovative, but classic era fans will get most of what they expect from a Metallica album, and that is welcome news!