Band: Metallica
Album: Reload
Released: 1997 on E/M
I think this band needs no introduction, but in case you have been living under a rock for most of your life or something, here is a short history: Metallica has been arounds since the early 80's, playing Thrash/Heavy Metal. Their other (older) cd's include (in order): Kill 'em All, Ride The Lightning, Master Of Puppets, ...And Justice For All, The Black Album (self titled), and Load. All of those except Load have been reviewed, and I will probably do it soon anyway. On with the review.
James Hetfield - Guitars/Vocals
Lars Ulrich - Drums
Kirk Hammet - Guitar
Jason Newsted - Bass
Fuel - The first and one of the most well-known songs off of Reload. It appears on various video games and usually on Fuse's 4Play. Starts out with James singing, "Gimme fuel, gimme fire, gimme that which I desire," then kicks in with a fast riff that's really easy to play, along with the rest of the band. The song is about fast driving, so it's perfect for racing, road rage, etc. You could definately beat the hell out of someone to this song. The solo isn't too much to speak of though. Really simple by Metallica standards, really nice though, especially the 3:15 mark. More of a rock song, but very nice to start the cd. 9/10
The Memory Remains - James' voice on the chorus in this song is a little different than usual. It's to explain, but if you listen to it where he sings, "but the memory remains," you'll see what I'm talking about. More grungey or raunchy, something like that. The music, again, is more of a rock tone than metal. But halfway through the song, there is a vocal solo that takes you by surprise. Really simple "na-na-na's" repeated, but it has rythym to it and it sounds Arabic or Eygptian. Another short solo in there, simple again. Then at the end of the song, there's the vocal thing again, only twice as long, and over a gasping guitar as it fades out. It gets kind of annoying sometimes, but it's still really cool. 9/10
Devil's Dance - Now to a more trashy type song. Starts with drums and bass, which remains consistent and the distorted guitars come in. One palm muting, the doing a cool, high pitched riff over it. But when it gets to the singing, it kind of loses the trash feel to it, I think. It goes back to that rock tone of the other songs. Although, his voice sounds a little more trash-like. The lyrics are pretty good in this song though. More thought than "Fuel." The solo goes along the same lines as the others so far. Nothing you'll remember. 7/10
The Unforgiven II - Now, most of you probably remember "The Unforgiven" from The Black Album. The riff is basically the same as the first, just with more distortion. Starts out almost identically. You wouldn't by able to tell until the distorted guitar comes in. Lyrically, one of the best pieces off this album. The music is very quiet and kind of sad, much like the original. This song breaks away from the rock feel that has been set so far. Back to their more heavy metal days, more like songs from The Black Album, or ...And Justice For All. Longer solos and a longer song overall. The best track on the cd, in my opinion. 10/10
Better Than You - Starts out kind of similar to "Devil's Dance." Less trashy sounding though. Not too much to say about this one. There is a longer solo in this one as well, more like their older stuff. The vocal effects in the chorus are cool as well. I personally don't like this song too much, but the solo is nice. The last half of the song has a little more intensity than the first, and it kind of saves the song from being absolutely horrible, if you ask me. 5/10
Slither - I love the name of this song. I was a tad annoyed that Velvet Revolver used the same name for their first single. But that is completely irrelavent. The lyrics in the chorus are pretty nice, as well as the vocal quality. The songs seems similar to the song before. More rock feel again. Simple solo, shorter song. They should have made it a little faster. But even though the solo is pretty simple, it lasts throughout the last half of the song. 7/10
Carpe Diem Baby - Slowly fades in and it's another rock type song, yet again. Similar to the other songs I mentioned before. But the vocals are a little different sounding. Smooth, semi-haunting. Longer solo than the past few songs. I like how the rythym guitar and the lead are intertwined throughout the solo. There's a short riff/solo at the end too. 7/10
Bad Seed - Yet again, similar to the past few songs. Drums to start. One of the shortest songs on the cd. There's some more, nice vocal effects on this tune, and a few times in there, Lars goes crazy on his double bass pedals. Yet again, the solo is similar to the other songs. I don't really like this song as much either. 6/10
Where The Wild Things Are - Slow intro, kind of fading in with an errie guitar riff. Maybe delay effects or something, but it is completely different than anything they've ever done. I was getting kind of tired of hearing similar sounding songs, so this was a definate relief. The whole song is kind of errie and haunting. James' voice here will give you chills. The music fits perfect. When it's not errie, it's metal riffs. His voice goes over those just as well. One of the longest songs off this cd. This song doesn't even need a solo. But it does have a solo. More along the lines of "The Unforgiven II." A little longer than the others. The ending is also quite nice. I love this song. 10/10
Prince Charming - Some of the best lyrics of the album, come from this song. There would be too many little bits that I like to put on the review. So I would suggest looking up the song lyrics. The music is a bit faster than some of the others, which is definately good. It's a more rock type song again, but I think it's better than most of the other ones. 9/10
Low Man's Lyric - Sounds out kind of similar to "Where The Wilds Things Are." Slow, and the such. Not as errie, but Celtic sounding, somewhat. Longest track besides the last one. The guitar stays slow and quite for most of the song. The drums come in in there somewhere. It stands out besides it's way louder than everything else on the song. The drums are nice, but maybe he could have played that in a different part of the song or not as loud. The song is kind of weird. Way different than anything they've ever done, but I don't know if they should've done it. I like it sometimes, but then other times I don't. Nice, long outro. 7/10
Attitude - Another thrashy song. Gets right into it from the start. Not too much to say on this one. Faster one of the bunch. The lyrics aren't anything spectacular, but it's worth a listen or two. The solo is longer than most of them on this cd. Pretty nice. The bridge vocals are pretty cool though. 6/10
Fixxxer - Longest and last track of the cd. An echoed guitar riff to start, gives it an urgent feel. Then the other guitar comes in. Slightly more disturbing lyrics in this song, but it's cool. "Did you hear what father's done? Cut his throat, then we run." The lyrics are better in this one than most of the others. Another long solo, which is good, yet again. It actually lasts for like two minutes. Then there's a drum solo in there too and some vocal effects. Nothing special, but a good way to end the cd. 7/10
Other things:
Compared to their older stuff, this is not better, but it is not horrible. I believe that the solos could have been at least a little...different. This album would definately appeal to people who listen to more straight rock bands. A lot of people think that Load and Reload suck, but if you actually listen to most of it, it isn't incredibly bad. One thing that really annoyed me was the fact that there are very little lyrics in the booklet, like half of each song, if that. Same deal with Load. I do wish that some of the songs were faster, like Kill 'em All, or Ride The Lightning. Oh, well. Another thing that is lacks is bass. On The Black Album there was more bass, along with the others. So I give Reload: 3/5
