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Here's your bassy Justice:

I still like the sound of the album, even though it was clearly created through the highest form of douchebaggery. Speaking of which, I have a friend from high school who magically transformed his uber fandom of Van Halen into running their entire fan club organization for the last 20 years or so. He told me he's met many 80s/90s rock stars down in Cabo at their club, but far and away the biggest asshole he's ever had to hang out with there was Lars.

this is the greatest lars ulrich story ever told:

[youtube][/youtube]
i have heard it a zillion times and still laugh my ass off. breuer's impressions alone are worth the listen.

also... so, your friend lived through four vocalists? bet there were some dark times in that fan club.

TC wrote:also... so, your friend lived through four vocalists? bet there were some dark times in that fan club.

Yeah, I remember the official fan mag coming out with "the new Van Halen?" and a pic of DLR with the boys, and that was circa '97. Lots of ups and downs. I don't keep in touch so I'm not sure if he's still heavily involved or not. He started out as a bootlegger and became so big that VH's road manager pulled him aside in Cabo and said "we know who you are and what you're doing, you can either go to jail or you can join the organization." He wisely took the latter option!

How do you make Master of Puppets better? You add the snare sound from St. Anger, of course! [youtube][/youtube]

Hey, so today is the 25th anniversary of the black album. And... I still don't like it.

Hey, a new song:

[youtube][/youtube]

It's short, so it's got that in its favor, but it also doesn't feel fully thought-out.

TC, discuss the drumming.

I kind of like it, as much as I can like Metallica. Bonus points for not running it into the ground till it gets boring like they usually do.

what can i say? lars ran out of ideas years ago. not one fill in that song. but at least he kept his attempts at double-bass to a minimum. i think a couple measures is about what he can tolerate these days, based on live vids i've seen. they went full pizza thrash. props to them for going harder when the easy move would have been to continue their nascar metal run, i guess.

Pizza thrash, that's a new one on me. I think Mustaine still has 'em beat for the nascar metal vote.

darkness wrote:I kind of like it, as much as I can like Metallica. Bonus points for not running it into the ground till it gets boring like they usually do.

Echoes my feelings exactly.

Anyone else listen to the new album? It plays like something they might've released between the Black Album and Load — with a few moshy moments tossed in to keep the heshers from bitching. Too much mid-tempo plodding and Hetfieldian "hey-YEAHS" for my tastes.

The last track, Spit Out the Bone, isn't bad, I guess. Runs at least a minute too long.

Continuing to think out loud:

1) If Death Magnetic was Metallica trying to recapture its '80s heyday, then this is the band looking to recreate its '90s arena rock-star era — right down to the artsy publicity stills that are accompanying most reviews.

2) This album has a lot in common with the most recent Slayer disc: Both are examples of "comfort food" music. Nothing is too bizarre or out of step with the established sound. They're designed for the fans who want the consistency you normally get when you pick up a McDonald's value meal. Are the songs bad? Not really. In Metallica's case, the guys are really pushing hooks and melody like they haven't since the Load days. But the songs just don't stick in your head.

i have it, just can't be bothered to listen. i'm sure i'll check it out at some point, but i think i saw all i needed to see of current state of metallica on fallon.

It's amusing to me that after spending most of this new century running away from their '90s era and image — whether it's embracing nu metal (St. Anger), going retro (Death Magnetic + Big 4 shows), or by simply expunging the Load/Reload songs from their live act — they've now come full circle. Their hearts were always with the big, shiny hard rock sound that made 'em millions.