tony bennett ([info]dametonybennett) wrote,
@ 2008-08-19 16:01:00
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metallica
i wrote this five years ago: http://dametonybennett.livejournal.com/31275.html

it's me getting into the "st. anger" hype. i actually thought that that album was going to be the one to bring back the metallica of my youth. i was wrong. WAY wrong. i got tricked by the early talk of thrash beats and aggression. there WERE thrashy beats. it WAS aggressive. but it was HORRIBLE. their worst album by far. everyone laughed at me for having faith. they were right.

but here i am again, and i really think that this time it's going to happen. rick rubin. rick rubin was what they needed. i honestly think rubin's gone and made them realize just what it was that made them who they originally were. that "cyanide" song was very promising. and now, here's a couple of album clips that metallica's released on their website. it's METAL, and it sounds like...jesus, it sounds like '80's metallica.

mms://wm.elektra.com/metallica/metallica_com/2008/riffs/ALittleTasteOfDeath01.asf
mms://wm.elektra.com/metallica/metallica_com/2008/riffs/ALittleTasteOfDeath02.asf

i'm thinking that this has the potential to at least be as good as the black album. if they accomplished that feat, i would be totally thrilled. because as much as the black album was the beginning of the end, it still ruled in places. and it still sounded like metallica.

if james hetfield can muster up some of the old vocal power and stay away from the fat-albert-like "hey hey hey" shit, this could very well be the musical comeback of the decade.

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[info]dirtyknobs
2008-08-20 12:38 am UTC (link)
I'm not sure I could ever really go back to Metallica, aside from their first few albums. For me, they need to be fast, and Hetfield needs to lose the gruff hey hey yeah yeah crap. And write less lame lyrics. Lars needs to play his balls off too. He's turned into one lazy motherfucker. He's never been a really blistering player, but man, he's been shitting all over the place.

Right now, they are completely irrelevant to me, so I one don't care if they fail again, but yeah, it would be nice if they could at least get back into shape. Give me 12 tracks of "Damage Inc." or "Blackened" and I'll be happy.

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[info]dametonybennett
2008-08-20 02:12 am UTC (link)
i completely agree with everything you just said. but, seriously, those clips are very, very intriguing. i just wonder if it's possible that bob rock fucked them up THAT MUCH.

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[info]dametonybennett
2008-08-20 02:17 am UTC (link)
check out this youtube:



even that little clip makes clear that this is easily their best since 1991(!)

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[info]dirtyknobs
2008-08-20 02:24 am UTC (link)
I forgot to say that yeah, those clips do sound promising.

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[info]dug_whatever
2008-08-20 12:17 pm UTC (link)
this makes me happy

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[info]adamlazlo
2008-08-20 05:51 am UTC (link)
It's nice to hear the squelching dual harmony, pitch harmonics, and tasty licks again. I wonder tho if I can get past the image of them over the last 15 years or so. I'll have to hear more, especially the vocals. Rubin likes the vocals to be upfront.

And if they're smart they won't make videos. If they do it should be live concert footage with the FOH mix. Just thinking out loud.

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[info]dametonybennett
2008-08-20 05:33 pm UTC (link)
it seems like the vocals are gonna be the thing that seals the deal one way or the other. the bits i've heard sound like he's not totally yelling old-school, but he's not trying to "sing," either.

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[info]dug_whatever
2008-08-20 12:16 pm UTC (link)
Everything sounds wonderful so far, but I am scared for them. What if they do something lame like have Lars sing most the songs, or go with full instrumentals like that last song that hit the radio?

I will not get my hopes to high again. The album comes out shortly before the Anniversary of my best friends Death, and he was the biggest Metallica fan I knew. I want it to be a tribute (in my own little world), so I have to watch myself here. I plan to rock out to the album, good or bad, in celebration of Nate! And if the album sucks, I will just listen to Master on Repeat.

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[info]dametonybennett
2008-08-20 05:33 pm UTC (link)
first single hits the webz tomorrow...

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[info]mattoafilmscore
2008-08-21 07:08 pm UTC (link)
my thoughts:

metallica writes another 'ride the lightning' because of rick rubin.

who gives a shit?

'ride the lightning 2' would be just as phony and bullshit as a new creed album.

it should bother everyone that they needed some fuckin' producer to get them to write this shit.

it should bother everyone that even if this album does sound like 'old' metallica, the whole thing is completely calculated and created with the sole purpose of sounding like a band they were 20 goddamn years ago. they had to be sat down and have their natural instincts fucked with and fiddled with like a bunch of goddamn grade schoolers... or like some manufactured pop band. i can just see rubin sitting over their shoulders going 'not heavy enough. play something else.' or 'more double bass, dammit! more double bass!"

it should bother everyone that, left to their own devices, they would have continued writing crummy frat guy rock... but it doesn't because people are desperate for these shitheads to do something they haven't been able to do on their own in, what? 20 fuckin' years?

people don't give a crap if new 'old' metallica is insincere and pandery because they're desperate to hear a new version of the shit they listened to when they were 13. i don't understand why people can't just listen to 'puppets', 'justice' or 'kill em all' and be happy.

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[info]dametonybennett
2008-08-21 07:41 pm UTC (link)
hmm.

1)creed always, ALWAYS was the worst band ever. metallica RULED at one point.
2)johnny cash needed rick rubin to make a comeback. why not metallica? some people need to be shaken out of their pampered lameness.
3)nothing wrong with wanting to better your best efforts.
4)i think perhaps bob rock poisoned them, and rubin is the antidote. imagine bob rock's influence: "hey, james: i really like those simple, bluesy riffs you've been playing in rehearsal. you should try following that muse!" easy as that. or, "yeah, fuck the snare! let's get RAW!"
5)rubin's input as a producer is well-known: he comes in, listens, and gives feedback. he barely is ever even around. he's never over anyone's shoulders. which is very simple but also very smart.

you're so used to metallica being uncool that i don't think you could accept it even if they wrote the best metal album in history. me, i'm rooting for them. i always have been. shit, i'm rooting for aretha franklin. i want people to make good music.

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[info]mattoafilmscore
2008-08-21 08:33 pm UTC (link)
1.) doesn't matter. has nothing to do with metallica ruling at one point. it does, however, have everything to do with the album not being sincere in the slightest. anyone that thinks this album wasn't molded and shaped almost single handedly by rubin is fooling themselves. i just can't see hetfield and co. writing a decent thrash album out of the blue. they've been chin-deep in crap for waaaaaaaaaay too long.

2.) i understand what you're saying... but johnny cash didn't need rick rubin to make him sound like johnny cash.

3.) i agree with you there. only problem is i don't think this was a natural progression, nor do i think they're doing this for themselves. i think they're doing it for the fans and for the critics, and while it's admirable, it doesn't make it any less phony and bullshit to me.

4.) bob rock poisoned metallica? fuck yeah... totally agree there... BUT... i also think metallica poisoned metallica. after tasting the sweet success (and the sweet cash) earned from the black album, i'm sure it took very little coaxing to get them to continue down the slippery slope of suckage.

5.) understood. when it comes down to it though, metallica didn't mastermind this album. i really think rick rubin did.

as for the last bit... i don't know. i just don't give a shit about metallica anymore. i moved on to other metal bands that didn't waste 15 years playing watered down blues rock.

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[info]dametonybennett
2008-08-21 09:36 pm UTC (link)
i guess i don't have any issues with someone coming in and harnessing talent. it's what all good producers (or coaches) do. some people can produce themselves, and other people benefit from someone giving them smart direction. i think it's pretty obvious metallica is the latter. and when the direction is poor (bob rock), well, look what happened.

but i'm a fan of rubin. anyone who can successfully direct slayer, the dixie chicks, run dmc, donovan, metallica, and johnny cash is the man.

he's not a molder or shaper, though. his M.O. is he listens and then tells you what he thinks you should do. you then are left to fix the problems on your own. he's not a musician, just a guy with good ears and instincts. and he told them at the beginning: tune your guitars up and try and beat "master of puppets." that's so simple, it's beautiful.

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[info]atlasmts
2008-08-22 01:42 am UTC (link)
i'm gonna have to agree with tony, however, mat has a good point about it not being a natural progression for them. but maybe it is...johnny cash needed rick rubin to make him not sound "country" as we know it today, thus giving him a whole new respect among a wider range of listeners, myself included. in metallica's case, he's pushing them to sound natural again, not necessarily competing with modern hard rock/metal or alternative. hell, even his work with the chili peppers is good for the peppers as far as they're concerned, in how he approaches producing as listening to what works best for the band.

plus, if he really said "try to beat master of puppets" that's what should have been said after the black album rather than try to beat the black album, or in bob rock's case "expand" the black album- go further into alternative pop, blues, etc. that really didn't fit the mold of metallica, which a good producer would have known and not encouraged.

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[info]dametonybennett
2008-08-22 03:47 am UTC (link)
i think rubin's good at pinpointing and highlighting an artist's notable qualities. good for him that he is speaking for all the kids who grew up on metallica when he told them to get their heads out of their asses and stop fucking around, and to get hungry again. guaranteed no one said that to them for many years. all those paycheck earners in their organization surely didn't want to piss in the pool...

regarding bob rock, the guy never produced anything worth a shit. the black album is the only decent thing he ever was associated with, and that was the beginning of the end. he was a fuckup. look at him in "some kind of monster," letting that asshole in the sweaters march around the control room. if i had been the producer, i would've banned that fucker.

rubin's got a laundry list of success, so he can say whatever he wants without fear of losing his paycheck. which is good for spoiled ex-metal gods.

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[info]mattoafilmscore
2008-08-22 02:37 pm UTC (link)
i have a hard time putting my thoughts in to words on this one... i'll do my best...

i guess my biggest problem is that people are assuming they've had their heads up their asses and have been 'fucking around' when the reality more than likely is that they just changed. unfortunately for metallica and their fans, they've changed for the worse (oh god... much worse...)

to me, it would be like someone walking up to you and saying "hey stop fucking around with this stupid pop rock crap and write another dames album..." or someone walking up to me and saying "why the fuck are you playing drums in a crappy instrumental band? you need to do another hangin' midgets (shudder) album..."

with that being said, i will agree that this is the best thing metallica's done in nearly 20 years... which isn't saying much. his voice still sucks it.

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[info]dametonybennett
2008-08-22 05:48 pm UTC (link)
yeah, i'm not too jazzed about the voice. i want to see how he sounds on the non-ballads. at least he's on key, this time.

i think they've changed, yeah, but i also think they were encouraged to change by a shitty, lame producer who didn't really understand what made them cool in the first place. i remember him complaining in "a year and a half in the life of metallica" about there being "too much E" all the time. had he ever heard metallica before?

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[info]mattoafilmscore
2008-08-22 05:52 pm UTC (link)
i remember that part. just watched 'year and a half' a month or two ago.

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