Never stop the bleeding now

[Wisemon]

For over five years, I’ve been waiting for a new Metallica album to wash out the “St. Anger” taste. “Death Magnetic” is better than “St. Anger,” and it’s a good album for any other metal band, but for Metallica, for five years in the making, it’s disappointing.

1. That Was Just Your Life, 10/10: This is one of the fastest seven-minute songs I’ve ever heard, and easily the best song on the album and the best choice for an opener. It has a lot of cool hooks, breakdowns, etc. In making this album, I suspect that the band put more effort into this song than any of the others; that’s what it sounds like.
2. The End of the Line, 5/10: It starts off kind of okay, but then it goes into some bad territory. The whole song has a very sloppy feel to it.
3. Broken, Beat & Scarred, 5/10: This song has the same problem as a “St. Anger” song: It’s a four-minute song stretched to six and a half, very repetitive.
4. The Day That Never Comes, 8/10: There is a lot to like about this song: the opening, the shifts toward the end, the use of a lot of different familiar (circa 1988) elements. It gets marked down for the lyrics though, which as many have mentioned, are kindergartner level.
5. All Nightmare Long, 3/10: “Nightmare” and “Long”: the title tells you what to expect. This song is at about the level of the worst of “St. Anger.” Again, it’s a filler song stretched out way too far.
6. Cyanide, 7/10: This one has a lot of potential to grow on you on repeated listens, but it doesn’t immediately grab you as a standout track.
7. The Unforgiven III, 8/10: You could make an argument that “The Unforgiven II” was as good as the original, but you can’t say that for this sequel. Still, it’s not bad, and it has its moments, especially the bridge, which is about the same melody used for the original, but completely different instrumentally. It’s like the kind of thing you would expect a tribute band to do.
8. The Judas Kiss, 8/10: There are a lot of very catchy pieces to this song. It’s one of those songs that shouldn’t be good, but after you hear it, you think, “That was enjoyable.”
9. Suicide & Redemption, 4/10: As instrumentals go, this is probably Metallica’s worst ever. It’s not creative or shifty enough to stand on its own. Still, considering some of the lyrics on this album, an instrumental wasn’t such a bad idea.
10. My Apocalypse, 7/10: It’s a fast song; you have to give it that, and it’s the only one with a good length for radio without editing. It’s still a little too reminiscent of “St. Anger” in its straight aggressiveness without shifts or builds.

In general, they’re just not putting the same effort into their songs that they used to. It’s not just that there are no radio friendly songs, which isn’t necessarily a problem, it’s that what made Metallica great, the creative and intricate riffs and breakdowns, the decent (for a metal band) lyrics, the epic feel to big songs—it’s all lacking. If this was the attempt to return to “Master of Puppets” glory, as it was advertised months earlier, it’s just not going to happen ever again. As many reviewers have mentioned, the sound quality is also a problem. They just made it too loud. I checked on my Sony Sound Forge, and sure enough, solid blocks of blue, meaning serious sound clipping. Despite these problems, it’s an okay album with some good songs on it.

[Bee]

I'm still buying it. I was gonna be first in line at Best Buy the day it came out, but, Hurricane Ike had other plans.

I really didn't mind the lyrics on The Day That Never Comes, as some people did. Although, I must admit, there isn't a good Lyrics/Song ratio. Not enough singing.

Cyanide was the song that made me say, "I'm buying this album." It's an angry song, good for background music for a fight.

[The Big Bad Rav]

It's great to see Metallica back in form. I use to think St. Anger was great, but as you grow up, things change, and change for the better now.

[blueeyedgabulvo0o]

Well I am afraid to listen to a band that is not willing to go back to what they used to be.. x.x;

[Bee]

Its evolution. They THINK what they're doing is making their sound better, but, it isn't really the case.

I have both Black Album and Kill 'Em All. There is a massive difference between the two. You can tell it almost immediately, what, with Kill 'Em All's first track "Hit The Lights", which is loud, fast-paced and angry, compared to Black's "Enter Sandman" which is much darker and slower(Compared to Hit The Lights, at least.)

[UnknownH]

Well then, sounds like an ok CD then. I hear song #4 on the radio. It sounds pretty good if you just listen to it.

[blueeyedgabulvo0o]

Its evolution. They THINK what they're doing is making their sound better, but, it isn't really the case.

I have both Black Album and Kill 'Em All. There is a massive difference between the two. You can tell it almost immediately, what, with Kill 'Em All's first track "Hit The Lights", which is loud, fast-paced and angry, compared to Black's "Enter Sandman" which is much darker and slower(Compared to Hit The Lights, at least.)

Here is a thing, with a band like this, that has a countless number of listeners and millions upon millions of dollars, it would be nice to see them do something that sounds like the way they were passionate about metal and not just sell out. I hope they understand its killing their muse an art form. I am afraid to even listen to this album but I will when I could find the songs and all.

I agree with your comment, everything in their past was phenominal and you could see their passion on stage, in the recording rooms and at home. I hope they go back to it. x.x;