Metallica - where to start?

HalloweenJack

I find myself listening to a lot of Metallica tunes on Youtube so I've twigged I ought to go and buy some of there stuff.

Obviously, they've got loads of stuff so I'm wondering what's the essential Metallica album to start with and where do I go from there?

My favourite tracks at the moment are "One" and "Ride The Lightning".

Diabhal_Glas

Everyones preference is different

I'd buy

Master of Puppets first

Ride the lightning then

And justice for all

but thats probably because Master of Puppets was the first album I ever bought of Metallicas and it BLEW me away :eek:

Jako8

Start with "Ride the Lightning", "Master of Puppets" or "..and Justice for All".

Whichever one you see first, I'm sure you'll get into them pretty fast as they are awesome albums (desite the drums and lack of bass on AFJA).

Gary ITR

Diabhal_Glas wrote: »

Everyones preference is different

I'd buy

Master of Puppets first

Ride the lightning then

And justice for all

but thats probably because Master of Puppets was the first album I ever bought of Metallicas and it BLEW me away :eek:

Agree with this, everyones preference is different. I'd buy

Master of Puppets
Justice
Lightning

in that order

big_show

Buy Master of Puppets, Ride the lightening and Justice... you cant go wrong with any of them.

karlog

the black album

garvielloken

You should pick up Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets and ...And Justice For All. But please for the love of god don't waste any money on St Anger.:D

cournioni

And Justice for All. The rest are fairly average.

GAAman

Diabhal_Glas wrote: »

Everyones preference is different

I'd buy

Master of Puppets first

Ride the lightning then

And justice for all

but thats probably because Master of Puppets was the first album I ever bought of Metallicas and it BLEW me away :eek:

Master of puppets was the first album i ever bought full stop still listen to it regularly and would agree with diabhal there as soon as i saw the op thats what i was gonna write

Puppets
Ride the Lightning
Kill Em All
Justice

All fantastic albums.


The rest are brutal bar a few ok tracks on the Black album.

Ps, there's some good tracks on Garage Days.

senordingdong

Just start at the start.

Then decide what you like.

Gerard.C

Load. Very under-rated. And Death Magnetic is as good an album as anyone has brought out in the last few years.

My favourite is RTL though

cedomination

just steer clear of Load,Reload and St. Anger.

mooman

Ride the Lightning first, then either AJFA or Master of Puppets :cool:

Motley Crue

Every now and again you find someone say they want to get into Metallica, but they're not sure what material to buy, and this is perfectly reasonable considering they've through so many changes

If you want Trash Metal and Metallica means a lot to you seek out 'Kill Em All'

If you want a more commercially tuned album, with songs you will to hear on future shows, and songs that you will instantly recognize I suggest their self titled 1991 album

If you want something a little different I suggest checking out 'Garage Inc' because that's the best thing I can suggest that shows Metallica playing their instruments and being true to themselves...even if its not their songs they're being true to their roots and they are playing like a band

And yes, pick up Death Magnetic at somestage too, because its a great return to form and just captures the energy this band have been lacking for so long

Cool Mo D

Just remember that there are several stages of Metallica:

Thrash: Kill 'em All, Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets, and And Justice for All...
Out of these, Master of Puppets is the best, and there most popular album among fans and critics generally. I personally think that And Justice for All... is quite a bit weaker then the rest, but with a few great tracks, and Kill em All also has a different feel, since it's the debut.

Then comes the self titled Black Album - a good place to start, as it has a good few of there hits, and a different feel to there previous work.

Then come Load and Reload, where they try to go in a more alt rock direction, with a few countrified numbers and stuff. Best left till later.

Then come there more recent albums - St. Anger, and Death Magnetic. Back to having a more metal sound, but not really reaching their previous high standards.

chin_grin

St Anger. Pfffffffffffffffffffffffft hahahahahhhahaahahahahahahaahah!

Malice

Motley Crue and Cool Mo D summed up Metallica pretty well in their posts. Personally I'd recommend Ride The Lightning first but that's personal preference.

Star Bingo

MickShamrock

Master of Puppets.

cedomination

Ride The Lightning or Justice For All first and if you like it get Master Of Puppets.

Gerard.C

Actually, just be a legend and buy St. Anger first, dont mind what other people think about it!!

ride-the-spiral

Buy St. Anger first, it'll make the other albums seem better in the long run.

Catari Jaguar

Can we just have a Metallica super thread sticky??!! Or a Metallica forum? There'll be an 80% drop in R & M posters then I bet :rolleyes:

fuelinjection

Garage Inc. is one that I loved years ago and I still listen to now.
Ok, it is not a polished studio album but that is the point they are just raw and mess around having fun. You don't get bands doing that these days they are far too worried about their fans and sales ... bull****.
Second choice would be Master of Puppets and third would be Metallica (the black album). And Justice for All is a great album but the guitar is very "show off" as Kirk Hammett (lead guiatar player) admitted later - I like it but it is not really a good introduction if you are not a fan of their other albums.

As far as the recent albums go, its hard to out-do the early LOUD stuff but there are some lovely tunes on Reload and Death Magnetic.

GIMME FUEL, GIMME FIRE , GIMME THAT WHICH I DESIRE !!!

Sephiroth_dude

master of puppets
ride the lightning
kill em all
and justice for all

In that order of course

Daftendirekt

Go for either Master of Puppets or And Justice...

Can't go wrong with either of them. Or if you're feeling adventurous, get S&M. It'll introduce you to a wide range of their best stuff from the 80's and 90's, along with some epic orchestration!

stateofflux

I started with 'kill em all' then 'ride the lightning'....if kill em all does'nt blow your doors off id be surprised...a landmark classic knock out punch thrash metal masterpiece.....

HalloweenJack

Ok, so I went to buy a few CD's today and get a feel for them. In the end, I didn't buy any.

Master of Puppets was €22, Death Magnetic was €6.95 and St. Anger was €9.95. They didn't have any others. I wasn't paying €22 for a 25-year-old album with no bonuses on it and I was wary of buying the last two.

This is in the biggest music shop I know in Madrid. It's probably the same size as the Tower Records in Wicklow Street.

Is it easier and cheaper to get their stuff back in Dublin?

bigbadcon

best place to get metallica stuff is napster....only kidding

dasdog

Arise Metal (La Estrella 19, Centro - Universidad) off Gran Via seems to have M.O.P for a tenner. For what its worth I would start with Kill em All and move on until the ego's really kick in with AJFA.

Malice

HalloweenJack wrote: »

Ok, so I went to buy a few CD's today and get a feel for them. In the end, I didn't buy any.

Master of Puppets was €22, Death Magnetic was €6.95 and St. Anger was €9.95. They didn't have any others. I wasn't paying €22 for a 25-year-old album with no bonuses on it and I was wary of buying the last two.

This is in the biggest music shop I know in Madrid. It's probably the same size as the Tower Records in Wicklow Street.

Is it easier and cheaper to get their stuff back in Dublin?

I honestly can't remember the last time I bought a CD from an Irish shop. €22 for Master of Puppets is well and truely pulling the piss.

I've been buying CDs online for years. CDON.com has Master of Puppets for €10 here. EMP Online has it for €17 here.

FearDark

While totally agreeing with these...

Master Of Puppets
Ride The Lightning
Justice For All

And possibly some tracks on Garage Inc.

But why no love for Death Magnetic, I honestly think its the best metal album in years

"The Day That Never Comes"
"All Nightmare Long"
"My Apocalypse"

Great songs...

Max Power1

death magnetic is probably the best metallica album in years... but the best metal album in years? Overexagerating a tad tbh

MetzgerMeister

Whatever you do, do not buy Load, Reload, St. Anger and Garage Inc. until you are really into the rest of the albums. That leaves the following:

Kill Em All
Ride the Lightning
Master of Puppets
...and Justice for All
The Black Album
S & M
Death Magnetic

Start with Puppets and Ride. They are proper classics!

whiterob81

You were saying you liked Ride the Lightning and ONE so I'd recommend getting and Justice for all and Ride the lightning first.

Then you definitely have to get master of puppets. Probably one of my favourite albums ever

After that Kill em all> some classics like seek and destroy there

Then the Black Album. This one has most of the hits

After that, Death Magnetic. And then stop

Only buy S & M if you enjoy the sensation of being on the landing of the stairs in tower between the classical and rock sections. From what I've heard it's pretty cack. Just doesn't work for me

Gerard.C

I really dont like when people say "oh, dont buy Load, Reload and St. Anger". Jesus they're good albums, I dont get the hatred. I realise it's "cool" to slag St. Anger but jesus get over it. Some new fans dont have this narrow minded view of what metallicas music is, they might enjoy these albums. Load in particular is very good. Mama Said and Until it Sleeps in particular are fantastic

Degag

Gerard.C wrote: »

Actually, just be a legend and buy St. Anger first, dont mind what other people think about it!!

ride-the-spiral wrote: »

Buy St. Anger first, it'll make the other albums seem better in the long run.

I actually did this!

It was when St Anger was first released and the title track was being played on some late night music show on tv3, i was actually blown away! I had never been a fan of metal music before then, in fact i was in musical limbo so to speak. I think the pure heavyness of it blew me away, i had never heard something so loud, angry, heavy or forceful in my life. Of course i have since progressed onto better things, but i still have a place in my heart for St. Anger!

Gerard.C

Degag wrote: »

I actually did this!

It was when St Anger was first released and the title track was being played on some late night music show on tv3, i was actually blown away! I had never been a fan of metal music before then, in fact i was in musical limbo so to speak. I think the pure heavyness of it blew me away, i had never heard something so loud, angry, heavy or forceful in my life. Of course i have since progressed onto better things, but i still have a place in my heart for St. Anger!

Thats it exactly. St. Anger mightnt be the best album of all time, but some people have such a snobby attitude towards it, expecting every song to sound like master of puppets or something. Just enjoy it for what it is and we'll all be happier like

Catari Jaguar

I ****ing hate Master of Puppets. It's just a headache.* Din DAN DAN DAN DAN din din din! Bang bang bang, speed....* I hated when they played it in entiriety at RDS. Just untuneful and noisy.

I can't even listen to Damage Inc, Leper Mesiah, Disposable Heroes or the Thing That Should Not Be. They sound like the same song. I have to turn them off after a minute. Actually throw AJFA's Shortest Straw, Frayed Ends and Blackend in with them too as they are the same category.

Battery, Orion & Sanitarium are class (because the guitar/ bass is beautiful and the solos are tops) and obviously Master of Puppets itself is amazing, especially live but the rest is horrible and far too long. Literally, only half the album is bearable to me.

Yea, I'm not cool. Ride the Lightning, I think, is their best album, then Kill Em All. I just do not get the Puppets fascination, maybe it's because hard core Metallica fans insist it's the best so EVERYONE has to agree. It got 26% of the vote on some best Metallica album poll on this forum from 2003.

**** all the "Don't listen to St. Anger, Load, Garage Inc, Reload" ****e on here. Listen to whatever you like. I actually prefer Metallica as a rock band, and think Garage Inc is deadly. One of my favourite albums of all time. ALL their covers beat the originals.

Load was what got me into Metallica initially. And I think I Disappear is a great song. And Fuel too. I think Enter Sandman is the best live song for moshing/ jumping. So there.

Unless you are already into noisy metal, I would suggest listening to the rock stuff first and working backwards because MOP & AJFA are very very heavy and take a lot of getting used to before it even sounds like songs.

(I actually do love heavy, fast albums like Vulgar Display and stuff, I just hate the tinny, hollow sound of MOP/AJFA)

PS. Does anyone else think that they should re-record Hetfield's Vocals on KEA & RTL? His voice wasn't even broken then. The way he says "Whiplash/ Here we Go!" is hilarious! Bless. I think it would serve the albums justice with his macho man voice.

Gerard.C

Lil Kitten wrote: »

I ****ing hate Master of Puppets. It's just a headache.* Din DAN DAN DAN DAN din din din! Bang bang bang, speed....* I hated when they played it in entiriety at RDS. Just untuneful and noisy.

I can't even listen to Damage Inc, Leper Mesiah, Disposable Heroes or the Thing That Should Not Be. They sound like the same song. I have to turn them off after a minute. Actually throw AJFA's Shortest Straw, Frayed Ends and Blackend in with them too as they are the same category.

Battery, Orion & Sanitarium are class (because the guitar/ bass is beautiful and the solos are tops) and obviously Master of Puppets itself is amazing, especially live but the rest is horrible and far too long. Literally, only half the album is bearable to me.

Yea, I'm not cool. Ride the Lightning, I think, is their best album, then Kill Em All. I just do not get the Puppets fascination, maybe it's because hard core Metallica fans insist it's the best so EVERYONE has to agree. It got 26% of the vote on some best Metallica album poll on this forum from 2003.

**** all the "Don't listen to St. Anger, Load, Garage Inc, Reload" ****e on here. Listen to whatever you like. I actually prefer Metallica as a rock band, and think Garage Inc is deadly. One of my favourite albums of all time. ALL their covers beat the originals.

Load was what got me into Metallica initially. And I think I Disappear is a great song. And Fuel too. I think Enter Sandman is the best live song for moshing/ jumping. So there.

Unless you are already into noisy metal, I would suggest listening to the rock stuff first and working backwards because MOP & AJFA are very very heavy and take a lot of getting used to before it even sounds like songs.

(I actually do love heavy, fast albums like Vulgar Display and stuff, I just hate the tinny, hollow sound of MOP/AJFA)

PS. Does anyone else think that they should re-record Hetfield's Vocals on KEA & RTL? His voice wasn't even broken then. The way he says "Whiplash/ Here we Go!" is hilarious! Bless. I think it would serve the albums justice with his macho man voice.

I wouldnt say I hate MOP, but i think its very over-rated. It is kinda repitative, as you say yourself! Good post, you might be in for a backlash here though!

fluke

Gerard.C wrote: »

I really dont like when people say "oh, dont buy Load, Reload and St. Anger". Jesus they're good albums, I dont get the hatred. I realise it's "cool" to slag St. Anger but jesus get over it. Some new fans dont have this narrow minded view of what metallicas music is, they might enjoy these albums. Load in particular is very good. Mama Said and Until it Sleeps in particular are fantastic

Couldn't agree more

Star Bingo

one of the most respected men in metal speaks of some of the least: @ 2:07

and you can take his word for it.

Mental Mickey

Star Bingo wrote: »

one of the most respected men in metal speaks of some of the least: @ 2:07

and you can take his word for it.

Opinions are like a**eholes, everybody has one.

Star Bingo

Mental Mickey wrote: »

Opinions are like a**eholes, everybody has one.

yes but depends if it drops a nugget or scutter

opinions are like metallikur albums too then judging by album sales

Rockee

Star Bingo wrote: »

one of the most respected men in metal speaks of some of the least: @ 2:07

and you can take his word for it.

We can take his word for it? Okkk, so this thread is now over cos his opinion is the gospel?

Mental Mickey

Rockee wrote: »

We can take his word for it? Okkk, so this thread is now over cos his opinion is the gospel?

lol

Motley Crue

Lil Kitten wrote: »

PS. Does anyone else think that they should re-record Hetfield's Vocals on KEA & RTL? His voice wasn't even broken then. The way he says "Whiplash/ Here we Go!" is hilarious! Bless. I think it would serve the albums justice with his macho man voice.

I think this was raised in a Metallica biography book a few years ago and Ulrich and Newstead spoke about the fact that Hetfield refused to re-record these albums around 92/93 because he believed they showed a maturity of a band...and to re-record them would just cheat the fans

Although, if they ever did a traditional GH's album, I would like to see perhaps a bonus disc of studio recorded classics by the current lineup

Kess73

HalloweenJack wrote: »

Ok, so I went to buy a few CD's today and get a feel for them. In the end, I didn't buy any.

Master of Puppets was €22, Death Magnetic was €6.95 and St. Anger was €9.95. They didn't have any others. I wasn't paying €22 for a 25-year-old album with no bonuses on it and I was wary of buying the last two.

This is in the biggest music shop I know in Madrid. It's probably the same size as the Tower Records in Wicklow Street.

Is it easier and cheaper to get their stuff back in Dublin?

Crazy prices.


Just had a quick look on Amazon.co.uk.

For £34.91 you can get Master Of Puppets, Ride The Lightning, And Justice For All, and Metallica (Black Album) and P&P to Ireland is free as it is with all orders over £25.

GrizzlyMan

I would probably Start Here:

metzengerstein

Rockee wrote: »

We can take his word for it? Okkk, so this thread is now over cos his opinion is the gospel?

well said mr walker ,