Redjake

Good news! Metallica has released the first single off their new album "Death Magnetic." Take a listen over at their website:

Metallica.com

"The Day That Never Comes"

I love it. I'm a fan of St. Anger as well, but I realize I'm a minority in that respect. Either way, the solos are back, and I believe Metallica has produced another excellent album, if this first single is any indication of the rest.

Do you like it?

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Halx

If this is a single, I'm not impressed. This is a song that would be buried between the singles of their old albums. I'm not liking it. It feels like they're old guys trying to recall the magic of their youth, but they're too mature to really pull it back. This is "formula metal." They should be doing artsy albums by now.

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mrklixx

IMO the first 4 minutes are a total snorefest, not just because it's slow, but it's boring. I like the last 4 minutes of the song, but the majority of that is instrumental. It really sounds like 2 separate songs that they duct taped together.


Have you seen the "Some Kind Of Monster" documentary? James has turned into a whiny, bitchy old man who can't stay out too late for rehearsal because it's past his bedtime.

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Daniel_

I wasn't totally impressed with StA and I don't think I'll be rushing to the shops for this one.

It's a shame - some of their early stuff was vital and exciting - Lighting was one of the first Metal albums I had, and it still means a lot to me.

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And deep beneath the rolling waves,
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The Echo of a distant time
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ASU2003

I can't find it on Napster (the old one) ...

Wait a second, I can download it off their site?

Reese

The Day That Never Comes reminds me of ...And Justice For All. It's complex but it's kinda generic sounding. mrklixx said it nicely, the first half is a snorefest. The second half is better but still not great. If It wasn't Metallica I doubt I'd give it a second thought I highly doubt the song gets stuck in anyone's head.

Cyanide is a little better. It's got a catchy bass riff but Hetfield's voice is blown. Hearing him basically speak the lyrics is so painful. The vocals really didn't didn't seem to match the instrumental stuff.. Meh.. I'm not an audiophile, I just know it sounds wrong.

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Anxst

This seems really...formulaic. It has no life to it. It feels like this was take 294, and they were just sick to death of this song.

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Redjake

I think it is great. Of course we aren't going to get an exact match to the 80s stuff again, because it's not the 80s. I think people are too harsh on Metallica - they hold them to an unreachable standard. This is good metal and the second half of the song especially seals the deal for me. First half of the song reminds me of Justice and maybe some Black Album mixed together. Second half reminds of me Puppets and Justice. Good stuff all around. Either way, I think we should all be thanking the good lord that it's not Nickelback-esque trash.

*Nikki*

I like it.....a lot. Metallica is my staple, I never get sick of them.

fiatguy85

Old Metallica was great. I just can't get into St. Anger or this...

Reese

At least when if you like a Nickelback song you know in 2 years they'll release another song that sounds exactly like it

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Lasereth

This is absolutely awesome. Of course I think St. Anger is one of (if not No. 1) the best album's they've ever made so my Metallica opinions are the minority. I love their old stuff, hated their 90s stuff and loved St. Anger and forward and now this is just awesome.

QuasiMondo

Maybe it's because I'm comparing it to old tracks like Master of Puppets but it's just not angry enough. I'm certainly not bashing my head into walls rocking out to this like I would to their past stuff.

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Manic_Skafe

It sucks and they still do.

Should've stopped a long time ago.

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Baraka_Guru

Yeah, like 17 years ago.

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Reese

I don't hold Metallica to a higher standard than other bands, but I do have expectations. I'm still holding out for one redeeming song.

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Lasereth

There is no redeeming song for Metallica. Everyone hates them because of their mid-nineties music, their Napster ordeal, and their fuck-off if you don't like us attitude. They could release an album on par with Master of Puppets and people would say "stop copying your old stuff." Or make another And Justice For All and people would say stop trying to relive your past, you're old get over it. Metallica has been outcast by their fans and nothing they can do will reverse it no matter what kind of music they release.

Still liking the new song BTW.
-----Added 25/8/2008 at 11 : 46 : 00-----
It's also funny how there's 9 negative reviews of the song in this thread and only 2 negative answers on the poll. People love to bash Metallica regardless of their music.

Reese

I actually voted "It's OK" because "Horrible! they should have quit 10 years ago" seemed a little too harsh

While I did love Master of Puppets and Ride the lightning, I don't think the quality of those albums of have affected my opinion of their future albums. I can name a few songs off each album that I really like, King Nothing, Fuel and even some of the St. Anger songs were pretty good. I actually liked the drums on that album.

My biggest complaint about the song is that it sounds generic. It doesn't have a signature sound or a quality that lets it stand on it's own. I mean, I can't even remember what the song sounds like and I've listened to it at least 10 times since it was released.

Have you listened to Cyanide yet? They have a live performance on Metallica's site and on Youtube. The quality of the video isn't great but the song trumps The Day That Never Comes.

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Martian

I voted the middle one for the same reason as cybermike.

This is not a strong single. If this is what they're using to represent the new album, I wouldn't hold my breath expecting it to be great. I was actually kind of interested to see what they'd do with Rubins in the booth, but this is just a disappointment.

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Lasereth

Well I've listened to the song 5 times now and I already have the last 5 minutes of it ingrained into my head, particularly the badass drum beats of it. This is my type of music!!

kutulu

I freaking love it and I can't wait till the album comes out. I got a high bitrate file and burned it to a CD so I could listen to it in my car and it made a huge difference.

Frosstbyte

Why did they release the single with awful fucking sound quality?

Metallica was passable through ReLoad, kind of. I maintain that between Load and ReLoad there was one album's worth of good songs. St. Anger was just embarrassing and this doesn't look too much better.

There are ways to age gracefully as a rock star. Metallica has done just about everything they could to make sure they didn't. I'm going to go listen to ...And Justice for All and pretend this never happened.

Redjake

I am liking this more and more. They are playing it on the radio here 24/7. The DJ called this song a "10 lb metal sausage trying to fit in a 9 lb sausage sleeve." AWESOME!!!

Listening to this in the car on the radio while other contemporary metal songs played showed truly how awesome this is, I was head banging like I was in high school again and beating the steering wheel while my wife crouched down in the passenger seat

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kutulu

They posted a second song on their website. WOW.
My Apocalypse

Manic_Skafe

I forgot to vote.

And my gripe with their new stuff stems from the fact that it's so terribly generic and uninspired. It's not about them as people, their past achievements or failures - the music sucks and the crappy quality makes it even less palatable.

This is not the work of seasoned professionals but geriatrics grasping at straws.

Oh, and the second track blows as well.

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Frosstbyte

The second song is a pretty clever re-hashing of three or four other Metallica songs, which I'd dig up if I cared enough (I don't). It's really not horrible stuff and so far it's much better than St. Anger, but it's just not in the same category as any of their earlier stuff.

If I wanted galloping, ripping guitar, I'd listen to Kill 'em All. If I wanted sick guitar solos and melodic riffs, I'd listen to Justice. If I want solid, well-produced shreds, I'd listen to the Black album. This doesn't offer anything new from the band.

Maybe I'm more unreasonable or harsher than Manic, but I hold Metallica to the highest standard, because it, more than any other band, defined my musical tastes. It wasn't the first band whose CD I owned, but Metallica shaped how I think about music and what I like to get from it. I'll still happily listen to their old stuff, but their new songs don't rise to the bar they set for themselves. If you can't do that, in my opinion, tour on your old material if you still want to play, but don't put out tracks just to put out tracks.

And, uh, definitely don't put out a movie in which you all look like whiny, spoiled babies when you're one of the founders of modern heavy metal.
-----Added 26/8/2008 at 04 : 18 : 28-----
Ok, so I was that bored. The main riff sounds an awful lot like Motorbreath and the solo has a few places that sound just like the solo from Master of Puppets.

Blech.

While I'm listening to Metallica, let me just say that I'd do almost anything to be able to go back and time and see them in Mexico City when they recorded Live Shit: Binge and Purge. They were so so so good, and the set list is beyond amazing.

Halx

I reject this new offering.

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Derwood

the 2nd song is way better than the 1st

kutulu

This is the typical bullshit you see from people who don't want to like Metallica anymore. As far as calling the new stuff generic repetitive or recycled, take a look at the tabs from all their albums. It's always the same chords and keys. Very few of their songs were technically challenging. Most of it can be played by a beginning guitar player.

Frosstbyte

I didn't say they needed to revolutionize themselves every album, but those songs don't give me anything new I'd RATHER listen to than their old stuff which sounds similar to the new stuff. If I'm going to listen to songs that sound like those songs, I'm going to listen to their better older songs.

Redjake

I am warming up the second song, but it's not an instant hit with me like the first one was. I don't hate it, and I'll certainly give it many more listens to come up with a final opinion.

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Reese

My Apocalypse isn't bad. Good thrash, still rather listen to an older song for the millionth time.

Are you seriously trying to say I don't want to like Metallica? I want to like Metallica, That's why I own every one of their albums and why I'll probably own Death Magnetic even though I've not really been impressed with the current offerings.

There's always been Metallica songs I've not liked. There's songs on Master of Puppets and Ride the Lightning I didn't like. There just seems to be more and more songs each album that I don't like. I've not said anything bad about the band themselves, only that nothing on this album has impressed me thus far.

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Halx

Bullshit? Dont WANT to like Metallica anymore? After listening to this trash, I fired up some old favorites of theirs and thrashed around a little. That was good metal. This stuff is derivative.

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Sun Tzu

Almost totally ditto. Except Ill be listening to the acoustic version of 4 Horsemen.

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Obtuse

I'm digging the 2 tracks I've heard. I doubt I'll ever consider either of them my favorite Metallica song, but if the rest of the album is at least on par with these 2 tracks, I'll be happy.

Have you seen the "Some Kind Of Monster" documentary? As I recall, the man was skipping out early because he was trying to save his marriage. Did that impact the quality of St Anger? Probably so and that sucks for us, but you can hardly fault the man.

First, and I could be wrong about this, but I'm not entirely sure "The Day That Never Comes" is actually the first single. I think it may just be the first song they started streaming in its entirely on their Web site. Second, I've read a couple of places that the tracks they have been streaming (and the ones floating around for download) are intentionally of lower quality than the ones that will actually be released on 9/12. That is of course just internet rumor at this point, so take it for what it's worth.

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kutulu

It IS bullshit because it is the same crap I've read on blabbermouth.net for the last six years. They tried something different and the fans deserted them. They got labeled Selloutica or Alternica. Now they show that they can still write metal and the critics say they are recycling the old stuff. News flash, AJFA was a rehash of MoP and MoP was a rehash or RtL.:

Track 1: Trashy, not too long
Track 2: Epic song
Track 3: Mid tempo song
Track 4: Ballad

After that they throw in another epic song, the fastest song on the record, and an instrumental.

My only real complaint is Lars. He's gotten really lazy over the last few albums. There is more to the drums than the fucking snare Lars!!! I get that the drums are going to be louder than most bands would make them, it is how most of their stuff is. But damn, I hope the rest of the album has a little more usage of the rest of the drum kit.

Actually, listening to Dyer's Eve right now. He's pretty snare happy in there as well.

Exactly. The guy was going through serious issues. He had alcohol issues, family life issues, and the band was falling apart. I thought it was cool that they let people in to see them work things out.

I think it is the first single. Complaining about the quality of a stream that was INTENTIONALLY given at a low bitrate makes no sense. There are high quality versions floating around. That song sounds amazing in my car.

Frosstbyte

When they tried something new, they did it poorly, so people called them on it. Now they're doing what they've already done, so we're calling them on it.

I will give Metallica every chance in the world, for the reasons I outlined above, but I'm not going to let them get away with anything less than what they're capable of, which is a lot better than this.

You are right, though. Lars has always been the weakest link in the band, though James is starting to sound a little rough around the edges these days, too.

As for my complaints about releasing an intentionally low bit rate sample on your website, there are plenty of bands I like who release CD+ sound quality singles on their website for download, and I don't think I should expect any less. Hell, I'd rather they had a full quality sample than a 2 bit full song. It's shouting out to the world "WE WILL LOSE SO MUCH MONEY IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO PAY FOR THIS SONG ON iTUNES OR BUY THE FULL ALBUM SO HERE'S A SHITTY SAMPLE."

Given their attitude towards downloading music in general, I suppose this should not come as a surprise to me, but it seems awfully petty, cheap and obnoxious to me.

Obtuse

Yeah, I did a little more research and I agree "The Day That Never Comes" is the first single.

You are right about there being higher quality version around too. I found a high quality version of "The Day That Never Comes" and it does sounds really nice, while the version of "My Apocalypse" I have is a low quality one and I can definitely tell the difference.

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Lasereth

I rest my case. So they can't put out new stuff or it's labelled as bad (even though St. Anger was pretty much one of the bravest records that any band could put out) but they can't make music that is similar to their old stuff?

For years people have been saying Metallica sucks because they're nothing like they used to be. They don't rock like they did in the 80s. If only they could make music like they did in the 80s. Now they put out a song that is similar to the 80s except new and you're bashing it anyway? Metallica will never win because people love to hate them.

Frosstbyte

They could also do something completely shocking and do something new that is also good. What an AMAZING concept!

My point isn't that they can't do something good, but that they haven't. That's a major difference, and I'm not at all sure why the attitude seems to be that I'm required to like new stuff because I'm putting them in a ridiculous catch-22 if I don't. This stuff is generic Metallica-sounding metal, which is inferior to their old songs, even if it's worlds beyond St. Anger and is better than the drek some other bands try to pass off as music. Either way, as I've said and will keep saying, it's not different from their old stuff and it's not better than their old stuff, so why would I waste money buying a CD when I will get more enjoyment out of listening to their old, better music?