Metallica are they going down hill

[Dan]

Whoa...I disagree that they are going down hill. Yes the mastering on Death Magnetic sucked big time. Download yourself a copy of the Guitar Hero III version that people have ripped and you will be pleasantly surprised, it is a great sounding album! Not as loud, but full sounding (yes you can hear the bass!) and longer versions of tracks like 'Suicide and Redemption' where they don't fade in and out of the track. Brilliant! I can't bear to listen to the cd version, but the GHIII version is great.

I'll admit to being biased against Metallica since those events:

[hemingway]

I've seen them live a few times, most recently on the Death Magnetic tour and I can honestly say they are every bit as good as I'd hoped. Rob Trujillo is a monster (in a good way) and I love what he does.

Exactly!  Some people may think they've gone downhill based on recent album releases, but the live shows have never disappointed every time I've seen them (front row, BTW).  If the live shows began declining in their entertainment value, that would certainly be a sign of the band going downhill.

  they are awsome live. I saw them once in the late 90's for reload tour and it remains one of the best concerts I've been to.

Curiously, they only played two or three songs from reload.

[coonta]

as in they dont sound the sane as they did when they started  i also did like st anger but that beacuse i love thrash and they did a good job could slightly compair it to the work of anthrax and i mean slightly lol

[Delta]

But maybe you have passion for different styles, yet find it hard to make a union of both sound pleasant. Then again, everything that could conceivably be mixed probably has already, from orchestrated Nyan Cat to Dubstep on violin to Beethoven played on floppy drives. And that is just instrumentation. In terms of styles, we have anything from folk metal to techno rap.

[Dan]

I just learned that Metallica is not against music piracy anymore. I'll guess I'll go download Death Magnetic to see if I like it.

[Karla]

I used to be a big fan of metal and Metallica were one of my favourite bands. But then I discovered classical music and found that it could be even more intense and interesting. After hearing about Death Magnetic and the loudness war it seems like I went the right way.

As for selling out, I remember when Metallica boasted that they would never make a music video. Then they made One. But that was OK because it was supposed to be arty and they made a joke about their next video being a typical rock one starting with a sexy woman walking down the street. Then along came Black. If they had shut up about not selling out then in their early days then I think people would have been far more amenable to the idea of them becoming more commercial.

Anyway, with regard them going downhill, just one question, has Metallica done anything as good since For Whom the Bell Tolls or Call of Kthulu?

Have they done anything as good since Enter Sandman?

[coonta]

when they did their s&m orcistra show thats the day i properly fell in love with them who would have known tvey could have combined :D out of tve big4 anthrax is the only one to stay true to its roots tho i still love mrtallica so much i have a tatoo of them on my arm xD

[coonta]

also thats tge sane theme as their best album ride the lightning!!!

[Nude_not_rude]

Dan I cannot believe you are trashing Metallica without even having heard their latest stuff...makes all your earlier comments null and void mate.

Karla, also have you listened to any of their latest stuff or anything since 'Enter Sandman'??? or are you trashing them because it's fun?

Can people please comment on bands that they know, not bands they hear is trendy to slam? Please??????

[Dan]

Dan I cannot believe you are trashing Metallica without even having heard their latest stuff...makes all your earlier comments null and void mate.

I listened to their stuff up to but not including Death Magnetic which was above my sellout tolerance level (due to the loudness war). I still listened to *most* of their album and base my opinion on that.

[Karla]

Karla, also have you listened to any of their latest stuff or anything since 'Enter Sandman'??? or are you trashing them because it's fun?

I wasn't trashing them. I was posing a question for those who had heard their later stuff to ask themselves in order to determine whether they are going downhill.

I did briefly hear some tracks a few years ago but I can't really remember anything about them. I was also postulating as to why people are accusing them so much of selling out.

You could say that Iron Maiden have been going downhill for a long time now for example. As far as I'm concerned it doesn't really get better than Number of the Beast (before my time) or Power Slave. But then you can't really accuse them of selling out, which I think is the main motivation behind the criticism of Metallica. Again, I'm not saying that selling out is a bad thing, just not very popular with the original fans.

[hemingway]

"hotel rooms and motorways life out here is rough, we'll never stop we'll never quit 'cause we're metaillica"

[Nude_not_rude]

Accusing them of selling out is just the tall poppy syndrome raising it's not so sexy head. Metallica are the biggest, most successful metal band of all time, much to Dave Mustaine's disappointment. As to suggest they are not very good is pretty laughable.

As for selling out....

I recall a Hetfield quote from one of those VH1 Behind the Music docos: "People say we sold out...yeah we sold out, we sold out every venue we played."

[Dan]

Accusing them of selling out is just the tall poppy syndrome raising it's not so sexy head.

Participating in the loudness war *is* selling out their artistic integrity. So was their decision they would sue their fans over Napster (which they eventually decided against).

I'm not saying they can't get better but you have to admit they made some sellout decisions.

[Dan]

I just listened to Death Magnetic.

I really didn't like it.

Too bad.