Will Hetfield stop ruining Metallica?

kenny olav

The downward spiral started with Load/Reload and hopefully hit its end with St. Anger. What I mean is, James Hetfield's overindulgent vocals have ruined Metallica. A few oooohs and yeah-has are fine, but he throws them in everywhere.

I was just listening to the new Garage Days, disc 1 (with Turn the Page, etc.), and Hetfield's vocals on the Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds song Loverman made me physically ill. I still haven't heard the Nick Cave original, and it sounds like it should be a good song, so I need to hear it soon just to get Hetfield's version out of my system. Even on a straightforward song like the Misfits' Die Die My Darling, he can't help but overaccentuate every fucking vowel.

And then St. Anger comes along, and there are some kickass moments on it, but Hetfield's lyrics and vocals are just completely assinine throughout. And for fuck's sake, let Kirk Hammet play - he's been the only saving grace of the band from '96 on.

Dammit, they were genius right up thru to the Black Album. And they've shown they've had some brilliant musical ideas since then, and so I hope the failure of St. Anger has humbled James Hetfield enough for him to bring his voice back down to earth, because it was the blistering, crunching jams and fierce, but steady vocals that made that band soar.

dont_go_on_me

the downward spiral started with the black album IMO.


used to be my favorite band, but now only occassionally do i throw on some ride the lightning, puppets, or justice and rock the fuck out.

pearl jam rules

the sad thing is that st. anger sold like 25 million copies so now they're encouraged to keep making that bullshit. i partially blame myself for buying it the first week it came out...but honestly, no one could have expected how crappy that album would be. i've just gotten used to the fact that metallica will never be the same and i can only listen to their older albums

put in some lamb of god and be reminded of how good metal can still be

barcoach

Kenny Olav wrote:

I was just listening to the new Garage Days, disc 1 (with Turn the Page, etc.), and Hetfield's vocals on the Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds song Loverman made me physically ill. I still haven't heard the Nick Cave original, and it sounds like it should be a good song, so I need to hear it soon just to get Hetfield's version out of my system.

The original Loverman by Cave just kicks ass, is an upbeat rollercoster of energy, lust and passion... and I don't think it has a single "yeah" on it... In fact it's out of one of Cave's best albums, Let Love In, I suggest you rush to the record store and get it, you shouldn't be disapointed.

Concerning Metallica I totally gave up on them after the Black album.

pearljam_addiction

i am in now way a huge fan of Metallica , i like a few songs here and there , i own no albums, but after i saw Some Kind Of Monster, i hate them , i dont know who in their right minds thought of releasing that trainwreck to the public, but he should be shot

lifeless dead

Kenny Olav wrote:

Dammit, they were genius right up thru to the Black Album.

I completly agree, and didn't listen to anything after black either.

tybird

pearl jam rules wrote:

the sad thing is that st. anger sold like 25 million copies

I doubt that 25 million copies of St. Anger were sold, The Black Album maybe. 2.5 million copies is probably more accurate. 25 million copies is something like what "Thriller" has sold in 20+ years.

Cannabis

i liked load and reload, but st.anger was pure crap. i only heard 2 song off it and that was enough. i wouldnt take that album if it was free.

dirt

I recently snagged the vinyl set of their stuff that goes from Kill 'em All thru ...Justice (includes garage revisisited ep and creeping death picture disc). That's all the Metallica I can take -- and I love it! As good as ...Justice is, it still pisses me off that they pretty much mixed Newstead's bass right out of the whole album. If you ask me, that was the beginning of the end right there. There are better ways to pay homage to Cliff Burton than that.

And yeah, Some Kind of Monster dvd is a real laugh.

U-R

if there's any band in the world that could sell anything at all en masse just because it's cover has their name on it, it's metallica. they know this, we all know this, and further more we all know they've lost the plot musically, which begs the question "why do people still buy this shit?"

st. anger was a joke, the lyrics/vocals sounded like they were written and recorded in one afternoon and whoever engineered that album, especially the drums, needs to be taken out and shot.

i can't say the lack of guitar solos was such a bad idea though really. think about it, does kirk hammet really have anything left to prove?? i'd say not

dirt

U-R wrote:

if there's any band in the world that could sell anything at all en masse just because it's cover has their name on it, it's metallica.

What about Kiss?

U-R

dirt wrote:

What about Kiss?

yeah good point. i guess the difference is that kiss were always a blatant cash-hoard from day one, whereas there was a time when metallica were probably the greatest band in the world

mookie blaylock 10

i saw metallica twice on the st. anger tour, once in toronto and once in dublin. they still put on an amazing live show. they played only two songs off st. anger at the shows, opening with battery, master of puppets, harvester of sorrow, and sanitarium...so it was good to hear most of the old stuff at those shows. i saw them on the justice tour and the black tour as well, and those were incredible shows too. personally, i liked a few songs off load and reload, and a few on st. anger, but it's nothing like cover to cover kick ass songs like it used to be. there wasn't a song that sucked up until the black album...and that was enter sandman. i really don't like that song. for me, i see a direct correlation between the band's decline and the introduction of bob rock as producer. i don't want them to make carbon copies of puppets or kill 'em all, but i don't think bob rock really gets it. i wonder what would happen if they got rid of him? would we hear some classic metallica? some better metallica? it would be interesting to see what we would get if bob rock got lost...

Drifting Away

Reload and Load are my Fav Metaliica albums, i too brought st anger, it sits on my shelf after one play and havent touched it again i want my $35 back for that CD!

gtbrown77

mookie blaylock 10 wrote:

i see a direct correlation between the band's decline and the introduction of bob rock as producer. i don't want them to make carbon copies of puppets or kill 'em all, but i don't think bob rock really gets it. i wonder what would happen if they got rid of him? would we hear some classic metallica? some better metallica? it would be interesting to see what we would get if bob rock got lost...

I would agree, and have heard this argument from a lot of people. I think that there was an online petition going around not that long ago petitioning the band to drop Rock as their producer. I haven't heard too much about it in a while though. It could also be argued that when the band lost Cliff, they lost their direction. Of course, maybe it is a combo of the two variables....

pearl jam rules wrote:

put in some lamb of god and be reminded of how good metal can still be

I whole heartedly agree with this statement. I haven't heard metal like L.O.G. in a LONG time!!!

swede

well i think it started to go worse at the black album as others have said...

that being said i still enjoy load and reload, granted i dont play them much but i still think they are good albums, not fantastic as the first 4 from the metallica catalogue but they are good. black is somewhere in between those for me. then st anger - not a great album at all, but i listen to it here n there. its better than a lot of stuff out there.

one thing though is that i dont blame hetfields vocals for their decline - if nething it would be bob rock.. but im not gonna give up on them - and they are my favourite live act i have seen close with ACDC. plus the solos that were added to the st anger songs made them sound a lot better to me.

nehow i love metallica, my second fave band after pearl jam id say. i hope they stick around id love to see them live yet again.

BUENA

Kenny Olav wrote:

The downward spiral started with Load/Reload and hopefully hit its end with St. Anger. What I mean is, James Hetfield's overindulgent vocals have ruined Metallica. A few oooohs and yeah-has are fine, but he throws them in everywhere.

I was just listening to the new Garage Days, disc 1 (with Turn the Page, etc.), and Hetfield's vocals on the Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds song Loverman made me physically ill. I still haven't heard the Nick Cave original, and it sounds like it should be a good song, so I need to hear it soon just to get Hetfield's version out of my system. Even on a straightforward song like the Misfits' Die Die My Darling, he can't help but overaccentuate every fucking vowel.

And then St. Anger comes along, and there are some kickass moments on it, but Hetfield's lyrics and vocals are just completely assinine throughout. And for fuck's sake, let Kirk Hammet play - he's been the only saving grace of the band from '96 on.

Dammit, they were genius right up thru to the Black Album. And they've shown they've had some brilliant musical ideas since then, and so I hope the failure of St. Anger has humbled James Hetfield enough for him to bring his voice back down to earth, because it was the blistering, crunching jams and fierce, but steady vocals that made that band soar.

ummm yeah but you forgot one thing... Like it or not Cliff Burton was the guiding force of that band... since since he was the bass player (traditionally not a leadership role).... When cliff passed away they kind of solidered on through "and justice for all..." with music that sounded like the music of the old metallica. I still argu that that was a lot of left over riffs reworked and the new songs for that album were written with the old metallica vibe.

however when they moved on from that album... now it was a different game...

it doesn't matter who writes the songs it matters how it was interperted (sp?). your different is/was cliff. that's when they changed. they became a different band. deal with it. it's never going back.

Aghost N. Hiding

The first 2 were the best.Cliff Burton was the man,and yes now they do stink...sorry They used to be my fav band in the whole world but it just seemed to get worse and worse.However at there peak..they played one hell of a live show...

pearl jam rules

tybird wrote:

I doubt that 25 million copies of St. Anger were sold, The Black Album maybe. 2.5 million copies is probably more accurate. 25 million copies is something like what "Thriller" has sold in 20+ years.

yeah, i know. i was just using 25 as an exaggeration. i think it sold somewhere around 5 or 6 which is still huge for an aging band like metallica

MetalGod75

Kenny Olav wrote:

The downward spiral started with Load/Reload and hopefully hit its end with St. Anger. What I mean is, James Hetfield's overindulgent vocals have ruined Metallica. A few oooohs and yeah-has are fine, but he throws them in everywhere.

I was just listening to the new Garage Days, disc 1 (with Turn the Page, etc.), and Hetfield's vocals on the Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds song Loverman made me physically ill. I still haven't heard the Nick Cave original, and it sounds like it should be a good song, so I need to hear it soon just to get Hetfield's version out of my system. Even on a straightforward song like the Misfits' Die Die My Darling, he can't help but overaccentuate every fucking vowel.

And then St. Anger comes along, and there are some kickass moments on it, but Hetfield's lyrics and vocals are just completely assinine throughout. And for fuck's sake, let Kirk Hammet play - he's been the only saving grace of the band from '96 on.

Dammit, they were genius right up thru to the Black Album. And they've shown they've had some brilliant musical ideas since then, and so I hope the failure of St. Anger has humbled James Hetfield enough for him to bring his voice back down to earth, because it was the blistering, crunching jams and fierce, but steady vocals that made that band soar.

i totally get what you are on about with Hetfields vox!Its really annoying to me too!!!I wish he'd just roar again like he used to.................

El Riot Actor

they have to allow kirk hammit to play solos again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

El Riot Actor

pearl jam rules wrote:

yeah, i know. i was just using 25 as an exaggeration. i think it sold somewhere around 5 or 6 which is still huge for an aging band like metallica

the Black album has sold about 11 million in the US if not more, so proly about 25 world wide 'cause ofcourse metallica is huge everywhere so maybe it wasnt an exageration.

JSP552003

Drifting Away wrote:

Reload and Load are my Fav Metaliica albums, i too brought st anger, it sits on my shelf after one play and havent touched it again i want my $35 back for that CD!

$35?!??!!?!? wow you did get ripped off....i got mine for $15

shell bell

Just rember that James can only work from Noon untill 4pm and then knowbody can work on the project unless James is there.What a fucking joke!

brain of c

put a fork in 'em, they're done....

El_Kabong

my brother used to be the biggest metallica fan growing up. he even snuck out once to go see them. he's said pretty much the same thing...everythingfrom load sucks and how he was hoping for so much for st anger but it sucked, too. he even brought up the wooooo-ooohhh's and yeah-ha's!

reeferchief

tybird wrote:

I doubt that 25 million copies of St. Anger were sold, The Black Album maybe. 2.5 million copies is probably more accurate. 25 million copies is something like what "Thriller" has sold in 20+ years.

it is about 25 million worlwide went to number 1 in 32 diffrent countries on its first week of release

Binaural

gtbrown77 wrote:

I whole heartedly agree with this statement. I haven't heard metal like L.O.G. in a LONG time!!!

I have to be honest I think Lamb Of God suck more ass than most, they are shit, really really shit. You want Metal, listen to Superjoint Ritual or Mastadon.




PEACE

A Surprise Left

watching "some kind of monster" was an eye-opener and it was really funny (in a really sad) way to see kirk as the only sane one in the band and behaving like some spoilt brat. their music is fantastic (black, load and re-load included) and some of the best metal (with a slight progressive edge) comes from metallica. that said i wish hetfield and ulrich would get over themselves.....

soapyrows

pearl jam rules wrote:

the sad thing is that st. anger sold like 25 million copies so now they're encouraged to keep making that bullshit. i partially blame myself for buying it the first week it came out...but honestly, no one could have expected how crappy that album would be. i've just gotten used to the fact that metallica will never be the same and i can only listen to their older albums

put in some lamb of god and be reminded of how good metal can still be

i agree that album was !BAD! i think the problem with metallica nowadays, is that they just think they're so much better than everyone else, when really, they are far from it

pirate jam

I think the last nail in the coffin was when that deushebag record producer with the slick pony tail, Bob Rock, got his hooks in the band. Their last great record IMO was "And Justice for All".