Load

Metallica

Elektra Records, 1996

http://www.metallica.com

REVIEW BY: Benjamin Ray

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 03/30/2006

Hell apparently hath no fury like a Metallica fan scorned. This release was doomed from the start as soon as the fans realized Metallica cut their hair and were apparently never returning to the Master Of Puppets era. What they failed to see was the same band that had been there all along.

Load comes five years after the mega-successful Metallica, and retains that album's sound and song length. The group has done away with multi-part epics, incredible solos and the aura of menace that seemed to surround them, but by no means did they mellow out. If anything, Load is heavier and moodier than its predecessor, which often felt like the band was celebrating freedom from the shackles ...And Justice For All had imposed.

The better songs here are the non-hits. "2x4" is a rollicking trip with an excellent guitar solo and several good riffs, as well as the usual octave-bending growl of James Hetfield, who is in fine form throughout the album. "Ain't My Bitch" is a solid opener, a holdover from the last album, and "King Nothing" works a slow Black Sabbath-type riff to great effect, maintaining a beat that manages to be toe-tapping and sludgy at once.my_heart_sings_the_harmony_web_ad_alt_250

"Until It Sleeps" and "Hero of the Day" are the songs that work fans into a tizzy, because they dare to break out of the Metallica mold. Both are heavy pop songs, a bit like Collective Soul meets latter-day Guns 'n' Roses, but both retain the same Metallica attitude that has been there since Kill 'em All, even if the band no longer has the shock of the new.

In fact, that becomes the problem with Load. The album nearly fills 80 minutes, and toward the second half sounds like one long song. Unlike before, the band rarely changes tempos or the approach to songwriting, with the exception the acoustic "Mama Said," which recalls "Nothing Else Matters" without the orchestra.

But "Thorn Within," Cure" and "The House Jack Built," for example, sound very similar to the rest of the album, but lack the hooks. "Ronnie" is a curious aside, ably aping Lynyrd Skynyrd, while "Poor Twisted Me" gleefully updates 70's arena rock a la ZZ Top, albeit with the usual dark outlook of Hetfield. "Bleeding Me" is the first of two epic songs here ("epic" meaning "longer than eight minutes"), a slow burn that builds into an awesome instrumental break before going back into the main section.

The band sounds great and it's obvious the five years off yielded plenty of material. Kirk Hammett, in particular, throws off solo and riff after solo and riff, sometimes cramming too much into one song (as on "The Outlaw Torn," although the closing solo is pretty cool). Hetfield is in fine form too, growling his way over the 14 tracks, while Lars Ulrich and Jason Newsted are top-notch as always.

Load is a lesson in overkill -- pared down by about five songs, this would have been the perfect follow-up to the Black Album. And while it did bring the band back into the limelight, some fans saw this as a cash-in on the current alternative scene. The fact is, Metallica never compromised who they were -- they updated their sound while remaining as hard as ever, and the result is far better than some would have you believe.

Rating: B

User Rating: B


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© 2006 Benjamin Ray and The Daily Vault. All rights reserved. Review or any portion may not be reproduced without written permission. Cover art is the intellectual property of Elektra Records, and is used for informational purposes only.