Re-Load

I am also a guitar player and I have since added both Load and ReLoad to my guitar music collection. I have heard a lot of complaints about how the music is so weak now, and Kirk's guitar playing is just ... . Here is my take on that. From Kill 'em All through And Justice For All, Metallica progressive made their music faster and more complicated. The rhythms got faster and more complex, song structure got more complex, and they were using full barre chords instead of just power chords by And Justice For All. Some of these songs are very challenging to play, but you can only take complexity so far. Starting with the Black album, things are scaled down. Song length is kept under control, and the songs are more focused (like their early work). As for Kirk's guitar work, I think he is better than ever. Being able to use the Wah to acutally get more expressive and vocal solos is a big challenge which he does admirably. Sure he isn't playing pentatonic scales 100 miles an hour all the time, but he finally got that blues/metal blend he has been working at for so long.

Bottom line: Knowing the obsessive perfectionists that they are, I should have known better than to write them off. Anyone who ever says that Metallic has sold out or not given a good effort is just plain wrong. Ask yourself, why would they sell out now, what would they gain. The answer is nothing(You think they need the money?!). The only thing these guys are interested in is making music they enjoy playing. If you don't like their new music, fine, but don't confuse that with selling out. They have never lost sight of who they really make music for, and that is themselves, as it should be.

Stepping off the soap box...

Some of the high points of this album are Fuel, The Memory Remains, Devil's Dance, Carpe Diem Baby, Where The Wild Things Are, Low Man's Lyric, Attitude, and my favorite is Fixxxer. Another great effort from a great band.


stop the whining, PLEASE!   December 6, 1999
Keith Coady (Algona, IA)
95 out of 122 found this review helpful

I would really really like to know just where all these so-called die-hard Metallica came from, did they just appear out of no where? Well, as soon as the band does a couple albums that are radically different from it's previous work, they come running in droves. "Yeah, I was a Metallica fan way back in the San-Fran club days." Well, no one pointed out that for anyone who's been listening that long, they would be about the same age as the band members, and wouldn've matured along with them. The only legitimate complaint about the new Metallica has nothing to do with metal "culture" or musical technicalities. It is simply this, Load and Re-Load were not realy albums that you could get up and swing your hair around to. But people, come on, if you want to swing your hair, they're perpetually on tour and seem to love their old music just a much as the fans do. And there's ten years and four albums worth of hair swinging metal for your enjoyment. If you want that, listen to it, but don't be an idiot by laying down the "sellout" chants. The word means absoulutely nothing. Music "fans" will use the word sellout for any reason, just so long as it's music, and there's something they dislike about it, it's "sold-out." But really, listen to the music and see for yourself. Load came out in 1996 when a lot of people in the music industry were predcting that the techno bands would get big and replace grunge, and although that never really happened, most can remember a few radio hits by acts like Prodigy and the Chemcal Brothers. And what does Metallica do? They go out and make a country-metal album, at a time when everyone was talking techno. Hmmmmmmm, so much for selling-out. And now, everyone is talking rap-metal(Korn, Limp, Rage etc.) and what does Metallica do? They do a classical-metal album. Like I said, the only complaint about Load and Re-Load is the hair swinging factor, but if you buy a lyric sheet for the albums you'll find find theme's a lot more twisted than anything from their thrash days. Like I said, if you want thrash, there's plenty of it to listen to on older CD's, and the band plays an even balance of it on stage, but let people grow up and mature, because if I were James Hetfield and the only legitimate claim I had to anything in my life was that I made people want to swing their hair around, I'd go find a nice dark corner to hide in.


From a [not-so-diehard-crazy] Metallica fan   September 20, 2006
Eimile
5 out of 5 found this review helpful

OK. I'm going to admit it. Reload was the first Metallica album I got. Actually, it was sent to me by my friend in London. After listening to it in my car for a week or so it really grew on me. Low Man's Lyric is probably my favourite Metallica song ever. It strikes deep, tears at the soul. I lost...someone rather dear to me, lost him to heroin. That song was his song, and will forever remind me of him.
Because I liked Reload so much, I bought their Black Album, loved it, then proceeded to ...And Justice For All, and Master Of Puppets. Love them all. Now, I went sort of backwards, but that doesn't make me less of a metal fan, less of a Metallica fan. Yeah, I started late, but whatever.
This is a great album. Take it for what it is, not for what it isn't. I had nothing to compare it with, and maybe that's why I like it so much.
Dammit but you'll never enjoy anything if you compare it to everything else. Reload is a great music album. Thrash metal or not.
Fuel - best song to have blasting in the car
The Unforgiven II - just as good as the I one. has a different feel to it, the real first "change" in this album
Slither - just amuses me for no reason...
Prince Charming - y'want some thrashing metal? here it is
Low Man's Lyric - ...I've already covered this
Attitude - like Fuel, is a good song for the car, and like Slither also amuses me for seemingly no reason...

I've not detailed all the songs, obviously. Listen to it yourself, and TAKE IT FOR WHAT IT IS.


Hate grew to LOVE!   June 22, 2005
R. Lewis
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

This is definately way different from Metallica's earlier stuff, but still I love this album! But not at first. At first I really didn't like it at all, so I left it in my player in my truck and half-way listened to it whenever I drove somewhere. But it wasn't long until I had to bring it in the house so I could listen to it more. Then I had to make a copy to keep in my truck and have the other one in the house. The songs on "Reload" are the kind that tend to grow on you, and will go round and round in your head with enough listenings. And given a chance, you may find yourself liking, or even loving, this album, even if you intially hate it. I have worn out 2 "Reload" cassettes, so I just bought it again on CD.

I have loved Metallica since "Kill 'Em All" and "Ride the Lightning" but I don't really care to listen to their pre-"Black Album" thrashy stuff anymore, save for the "Justice For All" one every now and then. 20 yrs ago in my head-bangin' thrash-around days, I probably wouldn't have liked Reload very much, but now it is my 2nd favorite Metallica album ("S&M" is my favorite). I guess I have progressed in music taste at about the same rate and in the same direction Metallica's sound progressed (except for "St Anger", but that's a whole 'nother reveiw). That is not to say that this is album is "soft", for that it is not-- and even the softer side of Metallica is way heavier than any grunge rock band around.

If you love the Black album, you'll probably like enough songs on Reload to make it worth the money. If you were disappointed by Metallica's change of style on the Black album, this one will probably disappoint you even more. If you kinda liked "Load" you may like "Reload" better, I did.


An excellent album in it's own right.   August 17, 2001
Mete Tanyeri (Somewhere, New Hampshire)
5 out of 6 found this review helpful

Back in their younger days, Metallica played heavy-metal and ushered the heavy-metal genre into a new dimension. Featuring a great cast of band members (who are James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett, Cliff Burton, and Lars Ulrich), these four men created the best three albums ever made, according to some who've come to enjoy Metallica. Unfortunately, Cliff perished in a terrible accident (RIP, oh great bass master...), making the band a three-some. However, the band never quit. They enlisted the aid of one Jason Newstead and continued to make albums that were also awesome.

Reload is no expection. Reload is the sequel to Load, featuring the same style and power that was provided in Load, only it became different. Different because the band was actually cool enough to change their style and try something new for a change. For me, Reload is the one CD that got me hooked into Metallica. Every song never lacks intensity, whether it may be slow or fast. Perhaps the best songs that are deserved to be mentioned would be Attitude, Fuel, Fixxxer, Where The Wild Things Are, Better Than You, and Devil's Dance, because of it's melodic riffs and drums doing a great job. Other songs are also excellent in their own right as well. James's voice fits the atmopshere of the songs (as usual), Kirk's solos are amazing, Lars does a great job with his drum playing, while Jason is filling the void with his bass playing.

When it's all said and done, Metallica will mostly be remembered as a band who never quit and who wanted to be different from the rest. Not caring what anyone else says about them, they still continue to make some of the best music in the world and I'm proud to say that Metallica is doing an excellent job with their music. If people cannot accept the style that Metallica is currently relying on, then you shouldn't listen to this awesome masterpiece. However, if people can accept change and don't mind to listening to something different, then I believe that Reload is worth listening to.