Sometimes I wonder when bands reach the level of fame that ones like Metallica have, how much effort and time they put in to developing new song ideas for a potential new album.

Do they just pull from a template or backlog of old riff ideas and work to put a fresh coat of lacquer on it or are these guys sitting in their double-decker tour buses agonizing over new riff ideas or song structures? How much of the love of music still persists? Or do they reach a stage where time and age and money have dulled their approach to the craft? I also imagine that building on a legacy that included 100s of songs just makes it flat out impossible to think of anything remotely fresh.

Album Rating: 2.0 | Sound Off

90% of their budget and songwriting time is spent on getting lars to record something coherent

Album Rating: 4.0

@christ i read a lot of interviews around the time this album dropped (because ofcourse i did) and the idea seemed to be they just wanted to make "a jam album" full of songs with chill fun riffs and i think that's very much what we got here for better or worse



post-black album i think they've tried prob more than most artists at their level to do "different" things after reaching that level. load, st. anger, lulu... it just never turned out well for them. i'd prob point to lulu as the point where the band resigned themselves to the fact that their job is way easier if they just "gave the fans what they wanted" and started doing the bare minimum.



hardwired and this album, while i like both of them to varying degrees, they absolutely exist merely to start a new tour cycle.



lars and kirk are in this until the death... but i've gotten the vibe for a while now that james is pretty much over doing metallica and would happily fuck off to the woods if he could. this album cycle they've heavily decreased their dates, they are playing the shortest sets they've played in over 30 years... its all james

Album Rating: 3.5

James definitely loves touring and has upset his wife and kids with multiple comments about only being happy when he's on the road. That's sorta reflected in "Wherever I May Roam" and "The Unforgiven 3". I just don't think he's been too satisfied with thrash metal and hasn't been since the early 90's. But for whatever reason he holds onto this mantra that 'the band must go on' and any/everything he writes MUST go towards Metallica, while also fitting Metallica's sound. He's mentioned that he'll never do a solo album because 'Metallica is my solo project' but I don't think that's totally honest, it's just what he tells himself. Metallica is James being mandated and checked by Lars's business practicum. So I think he'd be way happier writing a really dark country rock/southern metal album but being chained to Metallica wont let him.



I know Load/Reload has always been painted as a shameless cashgrab, but I always felt some really genuine writing from James's part that's never returned, 'cept for maybe the pure anger in St Anger. Everything since has been him going thru the motions.

Album Rating: 2.7

Album Rating: 2.0 | Sound Off

kinda need metal to dig metal

can't dig metal, ya dig?

Album Rating: 2.5

Well with the touring thing, they're also old now.

Album Rating: 3.5

NoTrap deleted his comment and now he looks speechless or dumbfounded by mine

Album Rating: 3.0

More like 72 seasons of deletion lol amirite

Album Rating: 2.5 | Sound Off

72 seasons of snoozing

Album Rating: 2.0 | Sound Off

WAAAAAAAAKE



UUUUUUUPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!

Album Rating: 3.0

This album is about as tedious as spending 72 years working retail.

Album Rating: 1.5

"Old guy who works at Home Depot" metal fs

"Metallica is James being mandated and checked by Lars's business practicum"

Is lars really this business genius that a lot of people say he is or is that a narrative that has been invented over the years to explain why he wasn't fired years ago? Metallica's success seems to me to be based on those early albums released at the right place at the right time and then mainly the black album. Then the industry and pr just took over and became a lifeforce greater than what they actually are which seems like it has little to do with lars. Honestly, every known "lars decision" seems to be mocked by everyone as being pure stupidity. I feel like they just rode a wave of pr their whole career and lars gets the credit because people can't understand why such a shitty drummer was kept around

Album Rating: 3.5

thats a funny theory

He had a rich daddy. That's the extent of him being business savvy imo

Couple genius lars ideas we have on record... ajfa bass, st anger snare. What a brilliant mind

Album Rating: 2.5 | Sound Off

Find a girl who loves you as much as Eakflander hates Lars

I do hate lars for sure. I'm also a little buzzed so maybe a little more passionate than I usually would be