I wrote a review for Load, Metallica’s much-maligned 1996 album, in my early 20s when I was fairly new to the Vault. Youthful optimism and undeveloped writing skills aside, I was steadfast that the album never deserved the scorn it received and that the fans needed to grow up and realize artists change.

Now, almost 20 years later, I stand by both beliefs.

I was in late middle school/early high school when Load came out and local rock stations would play “Until It Sleeps,” “King Nothing” and “Hero of the Day,” and I wonder if that was part of the reason for the hate the album got. Two of those tracks are slower, near-alternative rockers that definitely fit into modern rock radio in 1996, but they did not represent the album; they did, however, contribute to the notion that Metallica had abandoned its thrash days of the ’80s and become a Southern rock band.

To one extent, that’s true. After four classic thrash albums that were like religion to a lot of guys in that decade, the band changed course with 1991’s self-titled black album, which became a huge seller but changed up the band’s sound. The songs got shorter, less complex, and more radio-friendly. A very long tour followed, followed by a very long break, followed by Load.

What the Master Of Puppets fans noticed was more of the same, and they got pissed. Sellouts, the band was called. Conservative. Dull. Straightforward. Basically what you would expect from a band in its second decade; it’s difficult to find a case in rock where this did not happen with the exception of those perennial juveniles AC/DC. And as much as we want to freeze our heroes in time, the fact is they are artists, and adults, and cannot be expected to churn out the same album year after year.

So I’ve defended Load over the years, and I recognize part of this is related to coming of age at the same time, but part of it is that Metallica had more to offer than just fast riffs and twisty songwriting. The deluxe box set of the album digs into that, and like the others in this series, it is a treat for fans and a slog for anyone else regardless of how you feel about the album.

And when I say dig, I mean it. The music here is spread across 15 CDs, plus a documentary and 128-page book. The album alone is also available on double vinyl (it’s 80 minutes long) if you don’t need the extras, which include a ton of demos, B-sides and lots of live tracks of Metallica favorites both new and old. The total comes to 245 songs.

As for the album proper: After all these years, “Ain’t My Bitch” still hits hard, “King Nothing” and “2x4” are proper midtempo rockers, “Outlaw Torn” is a compelling look at death and “Until it Sleeps” explores interesting themes of James Hetfield’s mother’s battle with cancer and how it conflicted with her Christian Scientist worldview. Yes, it’s too long and drags in the second half, but it also sold five million copies for a reason. I’d say time has been kind and the zealots who sleep with Ride The Lightning under their pillow now have gray hair and back pain, so maybe it’s time to bury this narrative that the only good Metallica is 1982-1989, shall we?

The extras, not surprisingly, are very hit or miss. On one level, it’s fascinating to hear the various riffs being written and developed on one disc, then the various demos and takes using those riffs, to hear how the songs came together (kind of like the Beatles’ Anthology series). There aren’t a lot of vocals yet; there are spots where Hetfield wordlessly sings guide vocals, which gets a little old. But if you just like hearing this band play (as on “Streamline,” which became “Wasting My Hate”), then you’ll enjoy this very much.

Of more interest is the B-sides and rarities disc, a reminder of how much covers were part of this band’s story (a fact later immortalized on Garage Inc.). “Overkill” is pure adrenaline and was even better in concert; “The Outlaw Torn” restores the final minute of the song that was cut off on the original disc; “Until It Sleeps (Herman Melville Mix)” tears the song apart and turns it into am unrecognizable Nine Inch Nails-style raveup; and so forth.

The rest is given over to concerts, which are all excellent. The 1995 Donington Park show in England is probably the best, showing the band getting back into fighting form before they entered the studio to start Load. Other shows and live tracks are from 1996-97 as the band toured to support the album, and if you like a particular song it’s probably here, even multiple times in some cases, and with more emphasis on the older songs than on the current era. It’s almost a defensive move, as if to remind fans that the same band that recorded “The Shortest Straw” also recorded “Bleeding Me.” Two sides of the same coin, and a bit much after a while.

What once was seen as a radical turn can now be seen as a band branching out and exploring. The result is mostly successful, but this is still Metallica, and it’s still great, and this reissue makes the case not only for the construction of an album but in how it’s just as much a part of the band’s legacy as “Creeping Death” and “Enter Sandman.” Again, as with all these deluxe reissues, it’s far too much except for the obsessive, but it’s still a pretty cool ride.

Rating: B

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