Reviews: Death Magnetic

by: Metallica






Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0093624986188
Label: Warner Bros.
Manufacturer: Warner Bros.
MPN: 508732
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Warner Bros.
Release Date: September 12, 2008
Studio: Warner Bros.


Rating: - They're back baby
I've been a metallica fan for a long time. I've always been more for thier pre-black album thrash sound but then again i really like the heavy sound of black album as well. After St. Anger i wasn't sure what to expect but, being metallica, i bought the album and stuck it in my car. Once the main riff of "That was just your life" started I thought "Ohhh yeah, this is gonna be good." and i wasn't wrong.

You will hear the trademark sounds of Metallica though out Death Magnetic. It gives us a little bit of everything. You hear a little bit of Justice as well as Puppets but also Black album and St. Anger. Now many Metallica fans were not happy with St. Anger but they have brought the musical exploration they did in that album into this album to give it a modern feel but with all the loveable metallica sound that many felt was lacking in the St. Anger album. Personally, i like it a lot.

This is a good album that is UNDENIABlY metallica. If you like Metallica, be it mainly the black album or all the 80's thrash, chances are you will dig this album. I don't give it five stars because it isn't a masterpiece but it is definately worth putting in your collection.

put it in, crank it up and bang your head.

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Rating: - "Death Magnetic" was just what I hoped for!
I'm a fan of everything Metallica does, including the "Load" and "Reload" albums, and even "St. Anger." While I did enjoy many parts of "St. Anger," I can admit it was easily the group's weakest album. It's biggest problem is that it didn't seem inspired, and at times it felt like the band was just making an album for the sake of making an album. This theory is only strengthened when you see the "Some Kind Of Monster" documentary showing the band in a vulnerable and dysfunctional state while making the album. But the band conquered its demons, went out on a successful tour, and looked confidently into the future.

When it came time to make this record, Metallica knew it was time for a change, and they started with replacing long-time producer Bob Rock with the legendary Rick Rubin. Bob Rock is an amazing producer, but many of Metallica's critics have blamed him for commercializing the sound of the band. Rick Rubin was able to come in and give the band the kick in the butt that they needed (since Bob Rock had become more of a friend than a producer). Rubin told the band to find the hunger and the passion that they had on early albums like "Master Of Puppets." So it became Metallica's goal to find their old drive and spirit without doing what had already been done. I'd say the band did exactly that. "Death Magnetic" stills sounds similar enough to the band's last 4 albums, but it has a lot more attitude and intensity than anything the band has done in 17 years. The band hasn't played this fast or this crazy since the 80's, and while the songs are heavy and riddled with dark lyrics, you get the impression that the band was really having a lot of fun making this album.

The album beings with "That Was Just Your Life," a dark and creepy guitar intro that eventually leads to the band rocking out "And Justice For All" style. James sings fast and the music is intense. The next track is "The End Of The Line," and it's nearly impossible not to play air-guitar along with it. "The Day That Never Comes" might have puzzled a few fans as the first single, since it's mostly a slow jam and everyone kept hearing about how old-school this new Metallica album was supposed to sound. While the song could pass for something from the "Load" era (similar to "Unforgiven II"), it also has a lot in common with "Fade To Black" and "One." Really great tune overall. Then there's "All Nightmare Long," and all I'll say is that this is the best Metallica song in 17 years. It's fast, catchy, and everything I love about the band. "Cyanide" didn't really do much to grab me on the first listen, but later it really began to get stuck in my head. "The Unforgiven III" is easily the weakest song on the album in my opinion, and it's not as good as either of the previous 2 Unforgiven tunes. I like that a piano was used in it to change things up, and it has a cool solo, but otherwise the song doesn't do much for me. "Suicide & Redemption" is an instrumental jam that the band seemed to have fun with. The album closes with "My Apocalypse" and it's probably my 2nd favorite song on here. You can almost imagine this song being on "Kill 'Em All" if James had his old 20-year-old voice and a lot more reverb on the instruments.

In case you're wondering, Kirk Hammett is indeed back to doing guitar solos. In fact, I'd say this is the best guitar work Kirk has done since "The Black Album" if not longer. Lars' snare drum no longer has the tin-can sound either. There have been some complaints that the sound production on this album is bad. Personally, I think people are just running out of things to complain about. When I listen to this album on my iTunes, it sounds louder and fuller than almost anything else that I have. However, I can agree that at times the drums seem to have been mixed a bit louder than they should be. But there's nothing wrong with the sound quality. I can't understand why someone would say that "And Justice For All" is one of the best metal albums ever, and then turn around and say that "Death Magnetic" sucks because of the sound quality. "Justice" was a great album, but THAT was bad sound quality. This album is loud, heavy, and it'll do for you what a Metallica album SHOULD do. Best album of 2008!

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Rating: - Metal album of the year
Turn the dial back to 1991 for a minute. That's the year Metallica's hit "Enter Sandman" and Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" both stormed on to the charts.

It was a turning point for rock music.

The former track marked the high point of popularity for a band that had dominated the metal scene for much of the previous decade with epic albums shot through with equal measure of dark lyrics and face-melting musicianship.

The latter song defined a just-budding decade and launched a million garage bands who hoped that a surplus of angst and flannel would make up for their meager repertoire of guitar chords.

Within one year, Cobain's catchy hooks and stripped-down act seemed to make the brooding extravagance of Metallica and other metal bands irrelevant.

The rest of the decade saw Metallica struggle to define itself and its direction. Although "St. Anger" was released in 2003, the album shared more in common with its lackluster predecessors from the 90s, "Load" and "Reload". The musical malaise of the 90s had carried over into the new millennium.

Fast forward to 2008. "Death Magnetic" hits shelves in September and the cosmos are set right again.

Under the mystic direction of production druid Rick Rubin, the band has crafted 10 songs that harken back to their glory days, when fans threw the horns to epic tracks like "And Justic For All", "Master of Puppets" and "Blackened".

This is also one of those rare cases of an album not having any bad songs. None. Even "Unforgiven III", dismissed by many critics as "unnecessary", would more than hold its own as a standout hit track on a lesser album.

There are, of course, genuine standouts, starting with the opening trio of songs -- "That Was Just Your Life", "The End of the Line" and "Broken, Beat and Scarred" -- that form an intro that must surely rank as one of the best ever.

Other tracks of note include "The Day That Never Comes", "All Nightmare Long", "Cyanide" and "Judas Kiss".

It's clear that Rubin succeeded in drawing out the best in each band member. Singer/guitarist James Hetfield's urgent snarl is in full force; Kirk Hammett's intricate noodling proves he's still one of the finest lead guitarists out there; Lars Ulrich's dual bass drums are like twin howitzers blasting away at your eardrums; and Robert Trujillo proves his mettle by serving up meaty basslines that bind the songs like steel bands.

One of my favorite one-sentence summaries of the album was given by a DJ on Seattle's KISW: "It's an album that punches you in the face repeatedly, and I mean that in a good way."

This is an amazing album that instantly revives old-school Metallica and proves Tenacious D's memorable adage: You can't kill the metal!

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Rating: - Death Magnetic FTW
Ok the title is a bit silly since I don't tend to use FTW at all but having been an on again off again Metallica fan I have to say I would have paid full peice for this set of songs. Really enjoyed the range thay showed on this and I will probably go an pick up again my favorites from the past ...... I'm glad my girlfriend told me it was getting good press....and the fact it was 5 dollars at the time made it hard to pass up - price of a coffee and croissant cant beat that....

Really good worth it id you ever like the band

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Rating: - Metallica Tries to Find Themselves Again
Metallica shows a good amount of progress toward getting back to their roots in this album with good rhythms and decent build ups to the energy they offer but this is still a long way from the true heart of Metallica which exists in the first three albums: Kill `em All, Ride The Lightning and Master of Puppets; all thrash classics.

The first song, "That Was Just Your Life", is the closest this album comes to the original "real" Metallica. The rest of the songs are all just ok. I offer that with some reservation as I do like most of the rhythms but the biggest problem I had with this album is that Kirk is so disconnected from the songs in every lead. Most leads could be recreated by taping a few picks to a mini fan, throwing your fingers across the board in the blues scale and goin' crazy on the wah pedal. I haven't been much of a fan of Kirk's work since he started his constant overuse of the wah and the leads have gotten progressively worse over time. The wah can be a good effect if used in moderation but when overused it's a cover up for a poor connection to the song your creating the lead for. There were probably about 30-45 seconds total between all the songs where there seemed to be a connection between the rhythm and the lead.

I would definitely agree with another reviewer that of all the Metallica albums, "St. Anger" is a definite "no buy", hands-down worst album ever. Metallica has done a lot to sell themselves over the years and they've lost the true thrash band that once was through the process. I keep hoping to find the album that will be the return of that band but I don't see it happening.

Another sore point was the lyrics; less entertaining and more dark than in the past. The rhythms showed a good amount of energy but if the lyrics bring you down, the song loses some of that energy.

My message to Metallica: return to more energetic and/or entertaining lyrics and Kirk needs to take a moment to connect with each song he puts a lead into. The rhythms are ok but a little more energy could be worked into them as well. I'm almost certain none of the newer fans would agree with it but this message comes from someone who grew up with Metallica.

The true die hard Metallica fans will appreciate this album to some extent. The newer fans will appreciate it more so with songs more related to the Black album with Load and Reload being stepping stones. In comparison, this one has less energy than those three but still a strong album.

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