In retrospect, were Metallica's Load and Reload good albums?

Cafe Society
1

I know Metallica hardcores hated them for the sudden change in sound and image but honestly…How many times could they do thrash credibly? I feel like they took thrash as far as they could on “Justice”…By the time Load & Reload were recorded these guys were all over 30…Singing songs about doom and death and such would just seem silly. The songs on Load and Reload are heavy, but melodic, and they show a new dimension to the band that one could never have expected to exist. Probably two of the best rock records of the late 90s…Anyone else agree

2

No. Load had 2 good songs (Until It Sleeps and Hero of the Day). The rest of it and Reload were disappointing to the point of nearly sucking.

3

While some people feel that the Black album(self-titled) was the first big step toward sucking, I thought it was a great.

It was these two albums that began to indicate Metallica was becoming less talented as they aged. Death Magnetic was a light dip upward, but most of their other work since 1992 or so has been deeply disappointing.

4

I was a latecomer to Metallica, not paying them much mind until the Black Album came out. I then bought their earlier stuff in reverse order of it’s release. Then Load and Reload when they came out. To this day I prefer Load and Reload to any of their other stuff. Garage Inc would come in third. Go figure.

5

Disagree. Fuel, Devil’s Dance, The Memory Remains, King Nothing are solid too. And even though it’s corny as hell… I kinda like Mama Said too :o

6

The black album was the last good Metallica album for me, albeit a commercial departure from their previous work. It was solid. I can do without anything after that. So no to Load and Re-Load.

7

The black album and …And Justice for All are, IMHO, their best two. Then again, I’ve always been a Jason Newstead fan.

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8

I don’t think they were good records. But, I was done with the band at …And Justice For All, so take it for what it’s worth. I liked Newsted’s bass playing even before he was in Metallica, but you couldn’t really hear it when he played with them. That album sounded really bad when you consider the amount of money that went into making it. The ones after it haven’t really fared better, IMHO. It sounds bad for other reasons than the lack of bass guitar, but that’s the failing that pops out first.

Now we have evidence that the sound on a lot of the later records was due to Hetfield and Ulrich being focused on business and petty squabbles, rather than focusing on the sound of the records. It shows a lot to me.

Could they have kept making thrash records? Absolutely they could. Lots of other bands kept making thrash records, some of them got even heavier. I don’t resent Metallica for trying new things artistically, we all should. But to pretend that they had to evolve ignores things like:

[QUOTE=Angus Young]

I’m sick and tired of people saying that we put out 11 albums that sound exactly the same. In fact, we’ve put out 12 albums that sound exactly the same.

[/QUOTE]