Summary:As the title implies, the metal band is just as, well, angry as ever on their first new studio album since 'Load' and 'Reload' appeared in 1996 and 1997. Just don't try downloading it for free--then you'll see some real anger.
A ragged, cacophonous, raging beast of an album, it's not the most perfect album Metallica has ever produced, and it's a very bumpy ride for listeners, but the album's handful of high points are thrilling to hear.
While there’s no denying that Metallica have produced a huge – and welcome – blast from the past, it also represents a monolithic slab of noise that stretched over 11 songs and 75 minutes is just too dense and daunting to be truly enjoyable.
What a fucking album! Not only is it quite up to par with most of thier other albums, but its so addicting to listen to@ With all the speed What a fucking album! Not only is it quite up to par with most of thier other albums, but its so addicting to listen to@ With all the speed metal from the 80's, conbined with the bone chilling riffs of the black album to the serene sound of "sweet amber". Metallica definatly unleashed one hell of a beast on this one. I just got back from thier concert yesterday, and they played it so loud and hard that i could barely keep up with the lyrics of "frantic". Awesome job Metallica!…Expand
First, the utter lack of any guitar solos is as disappointing to me as anyone else, but the rest of this album is the finest thing to blugeon First, the utter lack of any guitar solos is as disappointing to me as anyone else, but the rest of this album is the finest thing to blugeon metal fans since...well, since the last good metallica disc. Hetfields lyrics are more mature and profound, which is only upsetting to those who refuse to accept growing up. Lars is a man possessed and I have almost been moved to forget about the loss of Jason. It takes a couple of listens to get a feel for the album and to really appreciate it but once you start to get into it, you realize the relevancy that Metallica personifies. This is unquestionablely better than any of the insipid and uninspired "metal" currently droning over the airwaves. Metallica continues to grow musically without ever losing touch with TRUE fans of the genre. Listen, listen again, listen again and the you won't want to stop. This is adult metal for those who appreciate music beyond "rap-rock". …Expand
Well let me state that my son who is 9 loves this CD. We actually watched the DVD 1st and that said the production on the rehearsals Well let me state that my son who is 9 loves this CD. We actually watched the DVD 1st and that said the production on the rehearsals isn't a far cry from the production on the CD. The songs are great and with some production tweaks could have been awesome. The tinny kettle drum sound (is that the snare?) makes me cringe at times and makes some of the great parts of the CD not so great. I would love to hear Dirty Window without that (can I have the masters so I can remix this CD and make it sound like it should, surely even I could do a better job than Bob Rock does). A few solos wouldn't have hurt either, having watched the DVD first I thought maybe in rehearsal they wern't there but it held true on the CD also. If James had just growled on the whole CD instead of attempting to sing it would have made it even meaner, the one passage on Invisble Kid is awful, good Lord what were they thinking? Stand out tracks: Dirty Window with its killer groove, ditto to My World, Sweet Amber is evil, and the best track by far is The Unamed Feeling which combines the heavy with structure some the other tracks lack, Purify is the most intense track. Eliminate Invisible Kid, shorten Some Kinda Monster, add some solos, get rid of the awful "kettle drum", GRRROOOOOOOOOOOWLL don't sing, and this ranks with their best stuff. …Expand
Being the big Metallica fan that I am, I was one of the first to buy this album. If you go in expecting the old Metallica sound, you will be Being the big Metallica fan that I am, I was one of the first to buy this album. If you go in expecting the old Metallica sound, you will be very disappointed. If you are a newer fan, you will probably enjoy this. I went in there expecting the old sound. And no, I'm not going to start talking about that whole suing business. I'm supposed to be talking about the music. That's what counts. I will admit that the boys have a renewed sense of energy that is refreshing to see after Load and Reload. However, all this energy is not being channeled properly, and comes out sounding like a mess. All this aggression, but nowhere to place it - - and so it is all over the place, with no aim or direction. At least Load (which I liked better) had more sense of melody than this. Despite a few good tracks (Frantic, St. Anger, All Within My Hands), this album goes nowhere with its new sound. A somewhat decent album, if it wasn't Metallica. It sounds more like Metallica doing Nu-Metal, which they shouldn't be trying at all. To see the boys at their finest, go and buy all their albums up to the Black Album, or see them live. This CD certainly does not do their reputation any justice.…Expand
