Metallica's New Album "Death Magnetic" - First Single Released! Do you like it?
 

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?

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.

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. :shakehead:

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

It sucks and they still do.

Should've stopped a long time ago.

Yeah, like 17 years ago.

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.

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. :thumbsup:
-----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.

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.

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.

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!!

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.

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.

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 :)

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

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.

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.

I reject this new offering.

the 2nd song is way better than the 1st

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

I haven't really "bashed" it. I've been as kind as possible when stating my opinions about the songs I've heard thus far. :)

The problem isn't that it's too different or too much of the same. The problem is that when it's the same, It just doesn't hold compare and when it's different, It just can't stand on it's own two feet. If this had been any other band, I still wouldn't like it. If this album was as fucking awesome as some of you guys say, there would be far less complaining. I'm thrilled that people do love it. Good for them but people also liked Star Wars Episode 1. When something is quality, People will acknowledge it. That's why SW:Episode 3 had a better reception than the first two prequels, because it was a much better film. If Metallica ever makes a kickass album the "oh I liked Metallica all along" people will come out in droves.

I don't get why you think there must be something wrong with the people that don't like it. Yeah, It must be we're haters or something because there's no way a normal person could ever dislike something. I envy you guys, At least you have something new to listen to. All us haters have to go listen to something else.

i gave it an okay.......i grew up with ride the lightning,justice........then kinda lost intereset in the "radio" metalica.........but now my son is totally into the new metalica,and learning to play EVERY FUCKING SONG......so i've been hearing it alot lately.


put it this way..........i'm already standing in line for tickets.

Well, you can't make me like it. Sorry.

I just got it and I'm listening to it right now. WOW

I've listened to most of the album so far. It's going to suck playing some of these songs in Guitar Hero..

More like 20 years ago.


I just listened to the entire album, and I just can't fucking believe that this is the same band that made Kill'em All, Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets, and ...And Justice for all. That era of Metallica is without a doubt the 4 best albums ever produced by any group ever. I still listen to at least one of those albums every day. I will never get tired of those albums, but everything after that is complete trash, and this is no different. This album sucks some shit.

When people talk about Metallica's music I don't even consider anything they made after 1988 to be their music.

to each his own. I've like a lot of what i've heard from the new album. Stop holding them to this impossible level of success. They will never make MoP again.

Seriously. I'm convinced half of the people bashing this album only bash it with the past work in mind. On it's own, this album is good. I'm about 10 listens into it and it gets better everytime I hear it. I think this is the best thing they've done in a long, long time. (FWIW, I thought the Black Album was good, not great. Load, Reload and St. Anger pissed me off like so many other people..total rubbish)

I think it's sad that people get so stuck in the past that they can't allow a band to evolve. Music is not stagnant, it evolves.

I've listened to it about 10 times as well start to finish and for me it also gets better every time. The album kicks so much ass. It is just as heavy as anything they have ever done and it brings a new style for them as well.

The album is rifftastic. There are jams, breakdowns, awesome bridges, and great choruses.

The rest of these songs are awesome but The Day That Never Comes is still my favorite. They're definitely growing on me the more I listen to them (just like St. Anger, just not nearly as steep of a listening curve ha ha ha).

This is what I don't get! It's ok for you to hate Load, Reload, and St. Anger even though other people liked them, but when you like an album it's somehow we're the ones bashing an album just because it doesn't compare to some of the absolute best thrash metal of all time. It doesn't have to compare, As proven by Megadeth last year. None of those songs were the next Peace Sells or Hanger 18 but the album is considered their best in years.

Now, I'm sure there are people out there that have ONLY heard singles and assume that EVERYTHNG needs to have the same broad appeal. You can probably let those people listen to something like Blackened or The Thing That Should Not Be and tell them it's a new single and they'd hate it. I'd hold the people on TFP a little higher than that. You like the album and that's awesome. I don't really like it and I'm not alone. The thread title asked "Do you like it?" I didn't know there was a wrong answer.

The album isn't a total loss, but neither was Load, Reload, or St. Anger.. It's just nowhere near the early stuff.

Taking a break from the new stuff and listening to the Black Album. I just don't get what people didn't like about it. It is perfect in its own way. It's not just that the songs are awesome (they are) but everything sounds perfect.

I have listened to 6 of the tracks in full on the album now and this is just some sick, amazing shit. I love it more and more. If being a Metallica whore is wrong, I don't want to be right, because this is just good stuff. Please give these songs a good, full listen at Metallica.com and see if you like them - I think a lot of you will be surprised!!!!!

Metallica.com

A very unique sound!!!!! Catch the end of All Nightmare Long - it's fucking SICK!!!!

I totally forgot that Metallica tickets went on sale this morning. Now there are only nosebleeds (for $55 a pop) left :(

I took a long, hard look at the CD in target the other day (they had it on sale for $10 and I had a gift certificate). I never bought St. Anger, so I no longer have their entire discography and I wasn't quite able to make myself get it.

it's infinity x better than St. Anger. Seriously, $10 (or free, with your gift certificate) is TOTALLY worth it

I haven't listened to the whole album, but have heard several songs on the radio.

My first impression is that it's a huge step up from st. anger. The riffs and drums sound much better overall.

The things I don't really care for are the solos, lyrics and vocals. Jame's voice just sounds shot which he can't really help I suppose, but the lyrics don't seem to flow or give you that vivid imagery that his older songs gave. They just sound like a bunch of 'evil' words thrown together to make them sound hardcore again.

Kirks solos sound rather boring, like he just noodled something in one take and wanked on the wah peddle.

Overall the songs left a bad taste in my mouth, but I hope it will grow on me. I want to enjoy their music again.

I was listening to the whole thing at work last week (iPod) and I think t's good.

Certainly after only a couple of listens I like it more than StA.

IMO, My Apocalypse is their best song post "...And Justice For All"

So.. Like I said, some of the songs would suck to play on guitar hero.. Turns out the Guitar hero versions of the album is better quality than the CD. You just gotta ignore those beeps and blips when you miss a note. One of my original complaints, besides the generic sound of the album was that it was fooking loud. Turns out, The CD is about 10db higher and the compression washed out the dynamic range which means turning the volume up gives a nice, unnerving ROAR. This article Analysis: Metallica's Death Magnetic Sounds Better in Guitar Hero | Listening Post from Wired.com pretty much explains it. If you own the album, do yourself a favor and download the high quality GH rips and hear the difference. You can actually turn the volume up without being blasted with distorted noise.

I figure this would be a good place to ask this question, but I'm kind of new to Metallica and I like this album. By the sounds of it, there are better ones out there, which one in your opinion should I get next? (I'm asking anyone that would like to respond)

Start with Master of Puppets and ...And Justice for All. And then work your way back, and then work your way forward. I don't like much beyond the Metallica album.

Be sure you have time when you first play Master of Puppets. It will probably stop you in your tracks. It's their masterpiece.

Though I must say, I like Justice better for certain tracks. It's just that Puppets was a huge breakthrough in their music.

I d/l'd FLACs of teh GH3 versions last weekend. They are interesting. Like you said, the volume is much lower, this results in less distortion. Also, both of the GH3 versions of teh instrumental are different than the album version. The annoying thing about the GH3 versions is that there isn't a lot of consistency on the volume levels, especially with overdubs. Overall, the album needs to be remastered but I won't hold my breath.

I say start with Ride the Lightning. It blows away everything else they did.

While not overall my favorite album, I would agree that Master of Puppets is without question the album you should start with and then move away from it in both directions. Puppets->Lighting+Justice->Kill 'em All+Black Album->Load->ReLoad->St. Anger->Death Magnetic. If you're like some of us, you might just stop with the third iteration and ignore anything past the Black Album, but as I'm sure you've noticed from this thread, there are a lot of disagreements about the merits of later Metallica.

I love this album. After listening to it a few times through (bought it on itunes) it is already growing on me hardcore. 2 or 3 of the songs are stuck in my head!!