How did your Metallica journey begin? How is it now? Where is it heading?

I was hanging out at a friends house in late '95 or early '96 so I would have been around 11 at the time. He had already gotten me into Bush a month or so before and that was my first taste of rock. Before that I had strictly listened to top 40 country.

I noticed he had a CD from a band in his room with what looked like blurry fire and the cover simply said Metallica - Load. I asked him about it and he popped it in his CD changer and my musical world shook. Sure it's not a lot of Met fans favorite album but holy hell that shit blew my mind at that age.

So a few weeks later, sometime around my birthday, I got my own copy of Load. Then I started working my way back from there over the year. Next I got the Black album. Then I think I got Master, Ride, and then Kill 'Em in that order.

It was the 90's so not everyone had internet and I didn't so the only way for me to find other Metallica albums was in store only. For some insane reason none of the stores near me had a copy of Justice so basically I didn't know it existed until about another year later when a neighbor lent me a tape of it.

It was weird hearing that album for the first time because it sounded so unlike any of the others. it's still my favorite to this day. Of course I eventually added it to my collection.

Then came Reload when it dropped. Loved it of course.

After this I was obsessed with finding more Metallica so after checking at a specialty music shop I found a weird bootleg that mixes The Jump In The Fire EP with Garage Days Re-Revisited. It doesn't even say Metallica on the disc. Instead it reads "Cry Baby" and at the bottom "Ride The Drool." No clue why the hell it was made that way. It's a boot so go figure.

So then of course I picked up Garage Inc. when it dropped and I felt smug that I already knew most of the songs on the second disc. Followed shortly after by S&M of course which I have only now come to truly appreciate. I had the concert on VHS at the time as well.

Now I'm still a big fan but I'll be brutally honest. I don't like pretty much anything after S&M. The MI song was terrible, the Ja Rule collab ridiculous, and then comes St. Anger. I don't even feel like going on about that. I'll sum it up by saying I still hate it and have revisited it many times to see if my opinion has changed. It hasn't.

I was excited for Death Magnetic but upon listening to it did not care for it much. Everyone keeps calling it a return to form but it just sounds bad to me. The songs are too long, the production terrible, lyrics are weak, and riffs pretty bad.

It sounds like a mix between a simplified Justice, Black Album, and Load era material but I find it to be weaker than all of those albums. To sum it up it sounds like a tired rehash of that entire era. I will say that the lead work is fine, the riffs (although weak) are played well, the drums are surprisingly not bad, and bass is fine of course. Still James sounds terrible now. It's been that way for me since 2000. Yet now he sounds even more strained and annoying. I know he's gotten up in age but man it's turning me off something fierce now.

I'm excited for the new album but if it's more DM sound I think I'm done hoping for a new awesome album. I've waited 16 years and have been so far disappointed. In the mean time Megadeth and Anthrax have been putting out mostly solid stuff. So to me age is not an excuse as their contemporaries are still tearing it up. That said I'm a still die hard fan and don't want that to come off too negative. I just don't think I'm going to be able to give a shit about new material again if this one sucks.

I will hold out hope this one last time though. If it doesn't turn out well there is still a great back catalog to enjoy indefinitely.

So yea that's my journey.

/r/Metallica Thread