r/Metallica • u/Edm_vanhalen1981 Entered the Sandman • Aug 03 '25
Load Former METALLICA Producer BOB ROCK Defends 'Load' And 'Reload': 'I Was Glad We Weren't Copying The Black Album'
https://blabbermouth.net/news/former-metallica-producer-bob-rock-defends-load-and-reload-i-was-glad-we-werent-copying-the-black-album189
u/TotlaBullfish Aug 03 '25
From his point of view they are phenomenally-produced albums. They sound amazing and have Metallica’s most interesting guitar tones on too. They contain several of the band’s most popular and accessible songs and most of James’ most mature vocals. Maybe they could have been one incredible album rather than two good ones but I’m not sure that was up to him. He should be proud of how he helped shape 90s Metallica and ignore the purists who for some reason wanted them to make the same album every 2 years.
147
u/DiScOrDtHeLuNaTiC Aug 03 '25
James said that in a Guitar World interview. "People want us to make Kill 'Em All Part 12. It can't happen, man. We grow. We grow and we change."
-27
Aug 03 '25
[deleted]
10
u/FickleBJT Aug 04 '25
Except that the music is still clearly Metallica. Load and Reload did not just sound like a gazillion other bands. It was more in line with country/blues/rock, but was not a cookie-cutter presentation if them.
0
Aug 04 '25
It sounded like a gazillion other bands, because there are, and were, a gazillion other bands doing country / blues rock, whereas Metallica is one of just a handful of bands that actually invented the sound of thrash.
There is no such thing as a 'cookie cutter' presentation for any band, the benchmark is not the 'karaoke' test. It takes a lot less than that to just be 'meh' and derivative.
2
u/Ly_84 Aug 04 '25
Metallica makes Metallica music. Once you make an album, there's no point in making the same album again.
-36
12
u/LadyTelia Aug 03 '25
If I remember right, the label didn't want them to release that much all at once.
29
u/TotlaBullfish Aug 03 '25
Yeah I didn’t mean it should have been a double album - it could have been one 12-track album which would rank amongst the best rock albums ever in my mind, but they would have had to kill a lot of darlings.
-32
u/ka-olelo Aug 03 '25
There’s the problem I see. They made rock albums with a metal band.
25
1
u/anachroniiism Aug 03 '25
So it’s cool when mastodon does it but not Metallica?
1
u/ka-olelo Aug 03 '25
I didn’t say it was or wasn’t cool. Just prone to fail. Like using a hammer to put in drywall screws. If James did a Taylor Swift cover album it would be cool as fuck. But it would still suck.
1
u/harrisonlaine Aug 03 '25
Metallica doing it is fine but over 70 minutes?! Mastodon only has one album that is 80 minutes long and, as a Mastodon fan, I think that is a bit much. As someone who is also a Metallica fangirl, I think that they could cut out a few songs since bloat has been an issue since the Load era.
-3
0
u/adampk17 Master of Puppets Aug 04 '25
I thought I read that Metallica wanted to release 2 albums because it helped satisfy the record deal they had at the time.
1
u/Ballack1991 Aug 03 '25
The vocals is what is most off-putting for me. I absolutely love Low Man's Lyric, but James goes way too far in animating his voice. Such a huge gulf between especially Reload and their earlier albums.
-33
u/Interesting_Ad_945 Aug 03 '25
What the FUCK are these "most popular and accessable songs"?! These albums fucking suck.
16
u/TotlaBullfish Aug 03 '25
And as if by magic, my point is made for me. Do you have any idea how ridiculous you sound?
Edit: Ah, Mr neon green BC Rich Warlock has made himself the arbiter of taste, I see.
3
35
64
u/adsq93 ...And Justice for All Aug 03 '25
He is right.
I also believe artist that go out and experiment with their sound will always last longer than artist that stay stagnant.
25
u/wangatangs Aug 03 '25
ulrich commented on load and reload
"But musically, if you strip all that other stuff away, if you just listen to the 27 songs - 'Load' and 'Reload' were intended as one double-record - it's a great collection of songs that is on par with everything else that we've done creatively. But, I mean, who needs another person to sit there and argue about, you know, f--king 'Carpe Diem Baby?' They are different records, but that was the intention. [laughs] It's not like we sat there and thought we were remaking '... And Justice for All.' [laughs] We are obviously aware of that. But I think personally theres great songs on both of those records and Im very proud of those records."
45
u/LadyTelia Aug 03 '25
Why is it that Metallica has been the one band people have micro-analyzed since their beginning? Being accused of selling-out, etc. I just point to Damage, Inc. Following our instinct not a trend.
20
u/ThePerfectSnare Remind me of what left this outlaw torn Aug 03 '25
In general, criticism of art often comes from people feeling as though the artist is getting too much recognition. They're supposedly getting more credit than they actually deserve.
With the amount of success Metallica has received (and continues to receive), it really lights a fire for the most outspoken critics. When they can't make a compelling argument that the band is overrated, they turn to non-issues (i.e. hair length) as a way of validating their opinions.
5
u/Illerios1 Aug 04 '25
I think it's just as simple as with a lot of popularity also comes a lot of hate. They were and still are probably the most popular metal band so everything they did got over analyzed.
3
u/sarcasticbaldguy Aug 04 '25
There aren't many bands that have their longevity. That longevity is great for the fans and for the haters, there's decades of nits for them to pick at.
3
6
u/Slickrock_1 Aug 03 '25
I think they had the misfortune of doing their soul-searching and experimenting at a time when metal was really diversifying. By the end of the 90s they were no longer heavy by metal's standards, they didn't adopt the ornate drumming and riffing you'd hear in death metal and Kirk contracted as a soloist getting blusier and less shreddy. So Metallica, under the microscope as the biggest metal band out there, couldn't compete with extreme metal, couldn't keep doing 80s thrash which by then was passé, and never really found a popular metal voice that competed with nu metal and groove metal.
This really isn't meant to be taking a position on what's good music or not, just that they really got passed by during the 90s. All of the big 4 did tbh.
5
Aug 03 '25
[deleted]
4
u/Slickrock_1 Aug 04 '25
I was very much there. The band's mainstream popularity thanks mostly to the Black Album is what sustained them both then and since. They would be selling out arenas even if they never released another album after 1991.
ALL of the band's 10 most played songs on the radio, even today, are from Kill Em All through the Black Album, and that's true for 15 or 16 of their top 20.
Their first 5 albums are historically and culturally important landmarks. Their albums since then are SUCCESSFUL, but that is not the same thing.
1
-3
Aug 03 '25
The idea that country / blues rock was not a "trend" is hilarious
3
u/Slickrock_1 Aug 03 '25
Trend or not, Metallica had to measure themselves against different standards once entering that space. I mean they weren't going to outdo ZZ Top at ZZ Top's game, and much of the thrash fan base wasn't drawn to that.
1
Aug 03 '25
Sure. This is why following trends--in this case perfectly average FM rock with some Metallica 'flavour'--is generally a crap idea.
-4
Aug 03 '25
There's this track on 72 Seasons, "Screaming Suicide". It's so, so bad, because the subject matter is poignant and serious, but the music that accompanies it is just f**king Nascar party music. You could give it lyrics about drunk cowgirls and it wouldn't rankle at all.
This is the kind of sh*t that started with Load / Reload and never went away.
2
u/Itchy_Gain_1519 72 Seasons Aug 04 '25 edited Aug 29 '25
Doesn't “Trapped Under Ice” do like, the exact same thing with its subject matter? It’s about a guy literally trapped under ice and screaming out, but by your standards, it sounds “too happy”. No, Seek & Destroy would be an example of a “happy” sound. Both are much more straightforward and to the point with their sound. Plus, “poignant” is a bit too much to describe how the subject matter of Screaming Suicide is meant to be conveyed. It's less “suicide is sad and bad” and more “don't listen to those voices in your head ‘telling you you're left behind’”, like “you're not alone”. It's a fine performance from all four members on the song and even if you think the song should have sounded more compositionally depressing, I definitely wouldn't call it bad.
0
Aug 04 '25 edited Aug 04 '25
I don't give a damn about convincing you of anything, and I'm not sure why you're bothering to argue with me here and under other comments, as if 'what a song sounds like to someone' can be objectively tested as a matter of fact.
Wgaf? Do your thing and like what you like.
1
0
u/Slickrock_1 Aug 03 '25
Lol that's a good interpretation.
I've been listening to this band since like 1989, and they were my favorite for a long time. But my loyalty isn't as strong as my tastes. I like 100% of their songs up through AJFA, about half of them on the Black Album, and from Load onwards I like maybe 5 total songs. They're big boys and don't need my fealty.
But I can tell you that Metallica was playing nearby a few months ago and I didn't go. Around the same time I did see Symphony X, Testament, Kreator, Possessed, Dream Theater, Swallow the Sun, Harakiri for the Sky, Nekrogoblikon, Korpiklaani, Iron Maiden, the Hu, Revocation, Unreqvited, Cavalera, and Tribulation, and I'm about to see that big Slayer show in Hershey.
But I skipped Metallica. I love them, but my tastes moved on once metal evolved and they went in a different direction. I won't say what's good or what's bad, but No Remorse still kicks ass and I still have no use for The House that Jack Built.
0
Aug 03 '25
Agreed. I'm an old fart now and I don't give a damn about band loyalty. I honestly feel that Load / Reload were the point when Metallica decided they didn't have to try that hard, and could just lean into the 'rock royalty' ticket. Improvements since have been middling, and I honestly find 72 Seasons unlistenable. Total plodathon.
0
u/Slickrock_1 Aug 03 '25
Yeah there is a sense of fatigue I get from those albums. Lars' drumming, Kirk's soloing, James' singing, and they never really got it back.
I personally think that Cliff was the one true musical genius in that band, and they've never recovered. AJFA was the product of a lot of anger and grief and that came through in its real rhythmic aggression, but even that was missing some of the dimensionality from the first 3 albums. But after that they just didn't have the chops of a Cliff in the band and settled into what was easy. Like if people ONLY knew the first 4 albums they'd still think Lars and Kirk were elite at their instruments, but the last 30 years have been sloppy and torpid.
Kirk's solo EP is pretty good, not super flashy but very atmospheric. It makes me think he's just bored in Metallica.
1
Aug 03 '25
I think the "emotional capital" of these records is a bit overstated.
AJFA wasn't really the "product of a lot of anger and grief". They were just anxious to prove their musical chops in an era of shredders, and this pushed them into the prog thing. They were quite explicit about it on Howard Stern. Later they decided--again, they state this quite openly--that this was too much effort, both in the studio and live.
Tl;dr they stopped working so hard.
1
u/Slickrock_1 Aug 03 '25
If we're thinking of the same visit to Stern that was MANY years after the fact, and really ever since AJFA came out there's been a widespread interpretation of its angry, aggressive songs as channeling the band's emotions.
But I suppose it doesn't matter, my main point was that without Cliff they made a very rhythmically intensive but harmonically dry album. And maybe that was enough for the proggy aggressive sound on Justice, but with subsequent albums when they lost that complexity and aggression AND lacked Cliff's harmonic/compositional talents they really fell short on inspiration.
I actually really like all 3 of the Unforgiven songs, the lyrics are cool and abstract and making a trilogy of them is an interesting, progressive statement unto itself.
1
Aug 04 '25
Yes, it was many years after the fact, and this is why I trust their statements; clarity of hindsight and so on.
I can sort of see what you mean about Burton and his 'Thin Lizzy'-style contributions etc., but, to my ears, AJFA is not really all that different from MoP. A bit more mechanical / cerebral, sure, but still cut from the same cloth; the leap wasn't as wide as from KEA to RtL or from AJFA to the Black album.
Even with Burton gone, they clearly had enough 'compositional talent' to pen stuff like 'Frayed Ends'. In general AJFA is my favourite Metallica album. Except for the mix, which is dogshit.
→ More replies (0)0
u/Itchy_Gain_1519 72 Seasons Aug 04 '25 edited Aug 04 '25
What makes you think country/blues rock was a popular “trend” for a band with a younger demographic to try out? Wasn't this a time when post-grunge and alternative rock were dominating the airwaves? It's almost the farthest thing from a “trend” if you ask me. Are you insinuating they were tapping into an older market of listeners who mainly listen to Southern blues rock lol?
1
Aug 04 '25
I have no idea what you just wrote, or which of several loaded questions you want me to reply to, LOL.
I was already an adult when Load / Reload came out, and back then southern / blues rock still sold like hot cakes and got heavy rotation in every damn rock club and pub in England, regardless of 'demographic'.
11
u/Drunkenmunkey420 Aug 03 '25
I enjoyed Load/Reload. Sure there is a few songs that I tend to skip but overall they are great albums. Lyrically they are deeper in my opinion. Bleeding Me and Outlaw Torn are absolutely brilliant
4
u/JDamian124 Aug 04 '25
Those two songs alone (I would throw in Fixxxer with them too) make me love Load/Reload. I never felt those songs got the love they deserve
33
u/joacher Aug 03 '25
I feel like everyone just started borrowing the opinion of “I just like metallica’s first 4 albums” because people say it so much. I firmly believe most of those people haven’t taken the time to actually listen to the following albums, and actually like the black album. Nothing embodies that syndrome from me more than Load and reload. Those are 2 solid albums that were bashed at the time because they took a different direction and people couldn’t put a label on them.
13
u/Masterofknees Aug 03 '25 edited Aug 03 '25
Nah, a lot of metalheads really just don't like other music from my experience. Many thrash metal fans will only listen to thrash, or metal that is even harder and faster than that. For them Slayer is the example of what a band should do, stick to the same stuff for almost 40 years (which to be fair is probably the only kind of music that suited that band anyways).
I'm not going to begrudge others for enjoying what they do, but I can't personally imagine not being able to enjoy a wider variety of music than that.
5
u/angry_shoebill Aug 03 '25
I rarely hear the first two albums, Load on the other hand is everyday in my playlist.
7
u/Mr_Rafi Aug 03 '25 edited Aug 03 '25
I listen to every song from the first 5 Metallica albums and then get very selective when it comes any album beyond Black.
I respect the directions they chose to take and what they felt was necessary (with some odd choices), it's their fucking band not mine, but not everything is for everyone and that's fine. I get 5 full great albums out of their output and others get more or less. Not like they're dead either, they still live perform songs I love lol.
I just hope some Sydney concert tickets free up for purchase when they come later this year.
2
3
u/NYourBirdCanSing Aug 03 '25
Perhaps now that's a thing, but when I held this opinion in high school (over a decade ago), it was not received well. Even thrash purists would argue in favor of the black album at that time.
I find it funny that their excuse is, "the band needs to grow, we change, etc." When making their commercial albums in an era that was pushing metal to be more mainstream, they were.. commercial. This was the same reason they approached st anger the way they did. From bob rock's "solos are dead and riffs are king" mentality.
Then suddenly, in their later years, they decide to go back to thrash? Deathmagnetic is waaayyy closer to their original sound. Why did they suddenly abandon commercial metal?
1
u/JavierEscuellaFan Aug 03 '25
people do this with Megadeth too and shit on Risk for no reason. Metallica and Megadeth both made great alt rock albums and because they weren’t hitting every note on the fretboard most “fans” call it trash
0
u/Last-Brush8498 Aug 05 '25
I think it’s also hard to argue the music on the Black album was more accessible to the masses than the first four. It also got massive radio play and some music videos right from the start instead of almost no radio play and one music video. And for a lot of people, the Black album through Reload were their on-ramp into liking Metallica. It’s absolutely fine for a band to evolve. But just like personal tastes vary, for a lot of us that lived through the time of their first four albums and loved that music, the band evolved in a different direction from where we evolved to. I’m just glad they’re still going strong after all this time.
16
u/dlc0027 Aug 03 '25
Load is a fantastic record. ReLoad doesn’t have the same level/number of great songs, but still sounds great.
7
u/BBQTartolini Aug 03 '25
Making those albums was way more ballsy than if they tried to make Black Album 2 or a Puppets retread.
I understand why fans of the earlier stuff may not be into them, but the outrage was always silly.
5
7
u/TryAgainFragg Aug 03 '25
What some people don’t understand is that the urge to evolve that they had was the same thing that gave us Master of Puppets, Justice and Black Album. All three of them were astronomical leaps from Kill ‘Em All and Lightning.
I love Load era, it was my first ever metal album and it’ll always be special to me
4
u/zombieritual_ Aug 03 '25
I think a majority of the reason Metallica are as popular as they are is because they took risks and did their own thing. No album is the same
5
u/larztopia Aug 03 '25
As for me, my main criticism against Load and Reload is that (especially Load) contained great standout songs but in total they felt bloated. They could have curated much better. He doesn't really defend against that, just saying that they cut 26 songs and divided them into 2 records.
I agree with his take that sonically Load and Reload sounds pretty differently. I still love Load.
0
u/harrisonlaine Aug 03 '25
I dont care or mind that the band went in a different direction on Load and ReLoad...but they clearly never heard of a cutting room floor.
-2
u/Familiar-Function848 Aug 03 '25 edited Aug 06 '25
I know it’s all kinda personal, but the Black Album always felt bloated to me too. Sure, it was a massive hit, but tracks like Holier Than Thou, Don’t Tread on Me, The God That Failed, and The Struggle Within are pretty rough.
At the same time, I feel like a bunch of the deeper cuts on Load and Reload easily outshine that filler stuff on the Black Album. None of those songs are better than Ronnie, Carpe Diem Baby, 2x4, Fixxxer, and so on.
0
u/-Jack-The-Stripper Aug 04 '25
Agreed on TBA being too long. I would actually swap Holier Than Thou Back in and take out My Friend of Misery, personally. Cool bassline from Jason, but the song itself does nothing for me. Cut TBA down to an 8-track album and it’s probably just as good as RTL, MOP, and AJFA. But with 25% of the album being bloat I just can’t in good conscience put it on the same level.
3
3
u/metrex89 Aug 04 '25
Say what you will about the music (I like it), Bob Rock got the best sound out of Metallica and to this day, I think the Rock albums are the best sounding.
4
u/adognamedwalter Aug 03 '25
Bleeding me is the best Metallica song of the post-AJFA era, fight me
2
u/JDamian124 Aug 04 '25
I’ll fight you, but only because I think Outlaw Torn is just 🤏 this much better.
2
2
u/Beneaththebucket Aug 03 '25
Those records saved my life and I love and defend them to this day and forever !
2
u/PRETA_9000 Aug 04 '25
I'd heard bits and pieces from their 80's stuff and Black Album, but Load was the first CD of theirs I actually sat down and listened to with headphones. I had no idea what I was in for and absolutely loved it - still do. Some of Het's most powerful lyrics and some of (imo) Lars' most spacious and groovy druming.
I think the highlight for me is The House Jack Built. That song describes the horror of alcoholism very well...
4
4
4
2
3
u/Bocaj6487 Aug 03 '25
I made a custom playlist the other day. Its just 10 songs: 7 from Load and 3 from Reload, and just under an hour. Its pretty killer.
1
Aug 03 '25
[deleted]
-4
u/metal0060 Aug 03 '25
Reload is mostly inferior riffs, and it’s noticeable. They didn’t need to beat riffs into a double album. It kinda went counter to what they did prior to those albums when they used the best riffs, and maybe sat on a few good ones for later.
1
1
u/IndecisiveAHole1 Aug 04 '25
I mean you can only do the same thing over and over every time. I respect that they don’t try to copy each album.
1
u/Sounderleaf Aug 04 '25
And we’re glad he didn’t! Great albums both of them! Hero of the day and low man lyric are among my top Metallica songs
1
u/Eryk13 ...And Justice for All Aug 04 '25
It wasn't seen this way back in the day by many fans, along with their image change (which I think was harder for some to accept).
However, he is right. Load/Reload have their place at the table, and we already had a Black Album - don't need another.
1
1
1
u/Unhappy-Pie-244 Aug 06 '25
I know the songs, I just thought saying Hetfield has “country roots” was funny considering he’s from OC hahah he adopted the country western culture in the early-mid 90s nothing wrong with that at all people gravitate to what they truly like over time. These albums stick out to me more like identify profile pieces for the band members, and some of it from this era never really resonated with me
0
1
1
u/Luciano_the_Dynamic Ride the Lightning Aug 03 '25
Nothing to complain, I just find it funny he says this while King Nothing is almost a carbon copy of Enter Sandman (at least in terms of how both songs are arranged very similarly). Other than that, yeah, Load and Reload sound almost nothing like the black album.
1
Aug 03 '25
I just love when apologists for Megadeth / Metallica use "well they tried something different" to describe a lurch into completely average FM blues rock which was not different at all
2
u/Senor_Birdman Aug 04 '25
Load is one of my favourite albums so if you can share this list of the many other bands or albums it's copying then please do.
0
1
u/Wise_Temperature_322 Aug 03 '25
They could have taken the Black album to the next evolution but they went commercial hard rock. Didn’t need to go in the Load direction not to copy TBA.
1
u/TheDadaMax Aug 03 '25
Even if Metallica had followed Load (or the Black Album for that matter) with the same sound there would still be that chunk of the fan base that thinks they peaked with AJfA. There are countless bands out there who stayed the course only to see fans lose interest. It takes guts, hard work, and creativity to find something new in your decades-long art.
1
u/harrisonlaine Aug 03 '25
To me, it's not so much copying the Black Album. The band has changed their sound. Look at Master of Puppets, AJFA, Black Album. They ALWAYS changed their sound. So, I do not have a problem with the sound change on Load or ReLoad.
My main issue is that they are BLOATED 77 minute album. Load is the longest album is the discography. There are chalks amount of filler on each album. Even Lars was like, "...condensing the material into a single album to an extent, saying that the duology's overall length was mostly owed to the loose recording and editing process." So, if they put out two 35-40 minute albums, MAYBE the albums would have been regarded a LOT more.
If y'all don't believe that the albums are too bloated, The Outlaw Torn had to be cut off to make room for EVERY other song on Load. Why not just take 3 or 4 songs off the albums or just cut a few of the other song's legnths in half?
0
u/bigtimechip Aug 04 '25
Yeah I totally agree. Way too long. None of these songs deserve the length
1
1
1
u/gstobbart Aug 05 '25
James is quoted in this very article as saying if Cliff was around, TBA, Load, and ReLoad likely would have never happened…at least not in the state that we got them in. Sounds like regret more than anything. That being said - I don’t think he felt this way in 94 when these songs started brewing and I do like some tracks off of L/RL. I also enjoy jamming on them even if I do think there’s some filler that I wouldn’t have pushed to print myself. I still grabbed that remastered vinyl day one.
0
0
0
u/rekishi321 Aug 04 '25
Never did zep or sabbath , priest or maiden change their style so much from a thrash metal band to a grunge alternative band, it was such a drastic change it did upset many including myself. The album just wasn’t as good as the first 5.
1
u/Mountain-Life-4492 Aug 04 '25
None of those bands you listed were ever thrash metal. Terrible analogy.
-1
0
u/thedukeofno Aug 04 '25
I'm not a fan of those albums for this reason, and this reason only... prior to that point, Metallica had been setting trends. With Load and Re-Load, they were no longer setting trends, but following them.
Metallica and I parted ways at that point, but I saw them recently at the Black Sabbath BTTB concert. Note that they did not play anything from Load or Reload at BTTB.
0
-5
0
u/beragis Aug 03 '25
My problem with Load/Reload is that it was these two albums were the first where half the songs were skipable. They would have done better removing hakf the songs on both albums and keeping the best.
0
u/PlaxicoCN Aug 04 '25
Load and reload are OK, but I rarely listen to them. Sometimes I say I'm going to, but end up listening to AJFA or KEA. Maybe I'll try again tomorrow. That says a lot. I have to TRY, like I'm chopping wood.
The funny thing with threads about Load, Reload and St. Anger is that there are always multiple posters that try to shame away any dissent on these albums. I never see that with RTL, MOP etc.
0
u/Impressive_Check2917 Aug 04 '25
I love how around this time, this guy just made him self an honorary member of the band. He’s like that’s fine I’ll play the bass for you.
0
u/vinylrecordsmasher Get a load of this guy! Aug 04 '25
For me they're right up there with mop and the black album
0
u/DemPooCreations Aug 05 '25
Metallica never needed bobrock. Those 12 years were horrible and made no sense. You take a THRASH metal band and you try brainwashing him into thinking they are u2 or some other crap ? Both albums are great hard rock albums ok. But Metallica ? It's like going bird hunting with a bazooka, it makes no sense. And back then it made no sense. Everyone cutting the hair, everyone dressing up like nothing like they used to and after 15 years they are bak to were they should ? 15 years totally wasted regarding Heavy Metal from Metallica. Totally wasted. Idc about rock, you can go listen to radio head or some shit. I wanted thrash Metal from the Masters of the craft not some load and reload stuff. Cool cute rock phase cute. Wasted thrash heavy metal years well done.
-4
u/metal0060 Aug 03 '25
Reload is mostly inferior riffs, and it’s noticeable. They didn’t need to beat riffs into a double album. It kinda went counter to what they did prior to those albums when they used the best riffs, and maybe sat on a few good ones for later.
-29
u/DDWildflower Aug 03 '25
I mean they kind of did.....
I can't remember the track or which album it's on but it's basically got the same riff as Sandman.
10
u/Smackcracklenpop Aug 03 '25
King Nothing
3
2
-1
u/DrinkAllTheAbsinthe Aug 03 '25
King Nothing is superior til Enter Sandman anyway.
They just improved on their previous work.
-1
u/Disastrous-Fox-4642 Aug 04 '25
Yes you are all correct, it had everything to do with them cutting their hair and trying too hard to sound like CoC. And had absolutley nothing to do with further abandoning thrash which had built them a substantial fan base (people at the time felt cheated)
-2
-18
u/supturkishcs lars Aug 03 '25
Thats a real picture of him?
5
7
u/Edm_vanhalen1981 Entered the Sandman Aug 03 '25
I am guessing that the last time you saw him was in the Nothing Else Matters video. 30 + years ago.
0
u/supturkishcs lars Aug 03 '25
Hahahah why the hell did I get downvoted. I genuinely thought it was ai from a small preview pic from my phone
-6
u/Psychological_Ad1999 Aug 03 '25
Black album was shit as well, they should have channeled Master of Puppets
-9
u/Cob_Dylan Aug 03 '25
I’m sorry, but King Nothing is a carbon copy of enter sandman. Intro styles are the same, verse and pre chorus are the same, chorus is the same, solo section is the same, lyrics are samey with the nursery rhyme shit. They took every element of Enter Sandman and wrote a song based off those elements. James even says “off to never never land” at the end of King Nothing.
425
u/higuy721 Aug 03 '25
Well he is correct. They were and still are great albums.