I think this falls into the same trap as hardwired in that every song feel like it’s never going to f’ing end.
Yeah they could've shaved 3 or 4 minutes of each song!
There is no real structure here its like they just went into the studio and had a jam or the B side of the DM recordings. Very little energy bar Lux Eterna which is the strongest and coincidentally shortest track.
Very disappointed but my expectations were low enough.
Age is no excuse for the quality of material they can put out, Judas Priest and Slayer's last records were excellent. They can't be arsed to put the time into a real quality record which they could if they were pushed and had some cut throat producers. Left to their own devices its pretentious, unforgettable, monotonous stuff. 11 **** mins for Inamorta wtf. Why does every song have to be full of blues riffs?
The positive, James sounds great and the production quality is high.
Everything they're doing on Hardwired and 72 Seasons, they've essentially done before and done better, and when they were much younger men. There are only so many ways to cut together an open E with a Bb, bouncing off a G5 or an A, up to a D and then back to E, maybe with the odd F in there, before it all starts to sound stale and lacking of ideas. I would say 95 percent of the hype for the album is because it's Metallica making it.
Again, not a bad album or anything, just kind of uninspired.
It sounds stock
Bit of a waste of time tbh. Absolutely weird setup, with the lads talking about the songs (that's all on YouTube now too), and people applauding each song when they finished. Some of the videos were quite cool, but they're up on YouTube now too I think
..i was hoping folks would get a bit more for their money, it was too fcuking much!
fcuk yea!
Was a different experience anyway. Can't remember which song it was but the one that just had the black and white lines I was convinced there was some sort of issue with the visuals for the first 60 seconds or so. They said at the end they'd be live streaming to cinemas later in the year, not sure I'd be in a rush for that
Yeah, the video game looking one? Was odd.
They're live streaming a show from the States so it'd be at least midnight before they started in the cinema.
I bought the CD off the member site, it's out for delivery and I've just got a (legit) mail for customs from AnPost. Could've just bought it in a music shop this morning 🙄😅
Haven't actually listened on Spotify yet
Inamorata and Room Of Mirrors are my favourites so far. Bangers
Guitar Youtuber Bradley Hall posted a video called 'Lux Aeterna but the solo doesn't suck'
Guitar World then references this video along with another generally criticising the solo in an interview article with Kirk about the criticism. It reads like Kirk saw the Bradley Hall video, and Kirk's response,
“I was just laughing the whole time,” he says. “I could string together like six or seven three-octave arpeggios in 16th notes, sit there every day and practice it and go, ‘Hey, look what I can do!’ but where am I gonna put it? That won’t work in any Metallica song!
“Arpeggios? Come on! In a guitar solo, mapped out like a lot of people do, four or five chords with a different arpeggio over each one? It sounds like an exercise. I don’t want to listen to exercises and warm-ups every time I hear a song.”
My personal opinion is that the less-musical pentatonic flurry approach works fine in faster thrashy songs like Lux, so long as it doesn't last too long. Bradley plays a lot cleaner with spectacular techniques and more sophisticated melodic ideas, but I don't get any more feeling off it than what Kirk is doing, at the end of the day.
My qualm would only be that it sounds like Kirk is over-doing this approach, but (and this is a big but) Kirk isn't necessarily doing his solos in one take. He may do a bunch of different solos and then it's basically Lars and Greg Fidelman sitting in the control room frankensteining things together. If you've seen any 'making of' footage from Death Magnetic and Hardwired, you may have Lars sitting with Kirk while Kirk is doing his bits, and may be that it's just that style which Lars really likes and so that's what we end up hearing on the record, and therefore informs what Kirk will play live.
Have given it a few listens now and the whole thing is just a bit bland. Not terrible by any stretch but won't be rushing back to listen often. Maybe hearing them live might change my opinion
Having given it a few listens now i think my opinion is the same as many others.
Some decent, if not good songs there. The title track, Screaming Suicide, Shadows Fall, Lux Eterna, Darkness, Inamorta, Room of Mirrors - i all like to varying degrees.
But it all sounds too monotone and one paced. Over produced and structured. There is no real banger like Spit out the Bone on the last album in there.
So while i mostly like it, i’m not sure how often i’ll return to it.
I'm thinking the same. I've given it a few listens now (driving, mowing the lawn, putting down some skirting) and it just doesn't jump out at me. As mentioned, it seems a bit monotonous. At least it is new material and there is room for it to grow on me.
Solid start to the tour
Solid indeed, completely different set list for the second show also.
Other than opening with Orion, there's nothing really unusual about that set. I would have hoped for a deep cut or two. I would also have been happy to not hear "Enter Sandman". I'm sure it'll be back for Saturdays concert :D
Totally! solid perhaps but it is pretty standard really.
The idea of the tour seemed a great opportunity for "deep cuts" but the new album scuppered that.
They used to play for a solid 2 hours now they still play for 2 hours but between tapes,more talkie time and the worthlessly long newer material it's no surprise 20 odd tracks is now 16 seemingly also unless that setlist is incorrect no encore either.
Not necessarily one for encores myself but at a big event like Metallica stadium show kinda essential I'd have thought.
Was rewatching Some Kind of Monster. Did anyone find it really cringey when Phil tried to contribute some lyrics e.g. "rip out your spine" and James et al quietly ignored his suggestion. I can't express it quite well enough so maybe someone else can articulate better as to why it was so cringe.
...id say it was a turning point in their relationship, he clearly stepped over a boundary there, i understand therapists should always challenge clients, but.....
Watched it again a while ago, Bob Rock saying they'd never have a permanent bass player again is another bit that aged badly.
I don't think he meant it that way. He meant that Cliff's death had left a permanent hole, like no matter what bass player filled that role, it would always be as a stand in for Cliff. Newsted brought a new energy but the way he was hazed for 14 years kinda suggested that. Rob has recorded on 3 albums with lots of space in between and I can't shake seeing him as being part of a business rather than a band or the band they once were.
I think when he said that, you could almost hear their minds popping off thinking "hmmm no, just because we're a metal band doesn't mean we're stereotypical angry bikers", they went with completely different and more nuanced lyrics.
I'd consider Orion, Ktulu, Until it Sleeps, Day That Never Comes, Leper Messiah & King Nothing deeper cuts, no?
Also, if i go to a Metallica gig, i want to hear Sandman, MOP, One, etc. Personally i think a perfect setlist is a mix of staples plus your deeper cuts.
Agree though about the length. Up till the last tour, they played 18 songs every night, which was grand. It now seems to be cut to 16 songs..... which just seems a bit short. Guess they are getting older maybe....
Until it Sleeps,King Nothing, Day that Never comes there isn't a hope I'd consider them deep cuts a real stretch they are literally all singles the first two I have at home on CD somewhere and imagine King Nothing is the most played song off 'Load' by some distance ditto for Dtnc.
My definition of a deep cut would be a song that isn't played very often. The songs i mentioned fit that brief for the most part i believe. According to setlist.fm, Until it Sleeps hadn't been played live in 15 years. Leper Messiah, 14 times in the last 13 years. King Nothing & TDTNC get a run out every so often but nothing major. Of course there are other songs that deserve a run out but i think it's a bit harsh to say there were no "deep cuts" last weekend.
Well I'm sorry for going with the actual definition.
But even by your definition had a gander on setlist "King Nothing" has been played over 360 odd times nearly a whole years worth overall of King Nothing on tour, c'mon!
They've well scaled back more than I thought now I look further than I thought only breaking 60 shows once since '09 on the Hardwired tour mostly aveaging 25-30 shows per year otherwise now 2 of those will have to be in the same city for now.
Maybe I'm just coming from a different era forget they're grabbing many younger fans. Black album and MOP got re up 20th tours, the MOP one even came to the RDS. Had the opportunity to see both meself.
Cool to see the likes of Until it Sleeps and Call getting a run out an all but if twas say Frayed Ends or Fixxxer or something then colour me surprised.
The MOP one was unreal.
