Modifié 22 avr. 2022 à 11 h 2
Bobcat Ranks All 10 Metallica Studio Albums
An essay by Bobcat205
This little thing is going to be what my ranking system for my Blue Jackets End-Of-Season Report will be based on. The numbers will be in reverse order (the best is 10, the worst is 1), but the names will remain the same. Without further ado, let’s just jump into it, shall we?
10. St. Anger (2003)
Ah yes, the obvious pick. I could just end this at “haha snare drum goes CLANG” but that’s not fun to me. When people review this album, some conveniently forget to mention that it was made and produced at a time when the band was beginning to fall apart. James Hetfield (guitarist and lead singer) had gone into rehab for alcohol, Lars Ulrich (the drummer) was too busy leading a one-man crusade against streaming services to care, and Jason Newsted (former bassist) had left the band entirely. But, with that being said, the album is still really bad. The whole album sounds like a demo. If you gave it a bit more time to refine the mix and make some things sound better (mainly THAT GODDAMN SNARE DRUM) it would be passable. The best song on the album has to be “Frantic”, but that’s not saying a damn thing. It’s not good.
9. Death Magnetic (2008)
There really wasn’t any other place to put this album. I don’t really like it, but at the same time i don’t dislike it either. It’s just… boring. The production is miles better than St. Anger, but it sounds very dry. The writing is closer to their thrash metal origins, but they do that in Hardwired to Self Destruct a lot better. They also show that they’re kinda low on ideas. “The Day That Never Comes” is just a worse version of “The Unforgiven”, and speaking of “The Unforgiven”, they have a third part. “All Nightmare Long” houses Kirk Hammett’s laziest solo ever. It’s a fine solo, it repeats itself a lot, but then i go and listen to the solo from “Ride The Lightning” and i start to feel sad.
8. Load (1996)
I really don’t know what to say about Load. It’s just kinda there. It exists. Out of all the Metallica studio albums, this is definitely one of them. None of the songs really stick out to me. “King Nothing” is the biggest hit off of this album, but it’s kinda meh. I like “Ain’t My B*tch” more. That’s all. It’s just “meh.”
7. Hardwired… To Self Destruct (2016)
The true return to the thrash metal roots. The tone of the guitar is very bland. Not my favorite (we’ll get to my favorite later). It’s very long-winded (the album clocks in at 1 hour, 17 minutes, and 42 seconds. That’s very long), but that is a positive to me. It’s not bad (far from it), but it’s not amazing. Best song on the album goes to “Spit Out the Bone”. Hearing it on the soundtrack to WWE 2K19 was a surprise, to be sure, but a welcome one. All in all, solid and enjoyable.
6. Kill ‘Em All (1983)
When you hear this album, you’re in the presence of the beginning of the beginning of the best genre of metal. SO GET ON YOUR GODDAMN KNEES. All hyperbole aside, this is good. “Whiplash”, “Seek and Destroy” and “Motorbreath” are all permanent mainstays on my music playlist. “Pulling Teeth” sounds absolutely amazing, and really makes me want to pick up bass. There isn’t anything on this album that i would really consider bad: the songs are good, the guitar tone sounds great (but still not my favorite). Moving on...
5. ReLoad (1997)
Load, but with more hits. “Fuel” and “The Memory Remains” are straight bangers, and work really well back-to-back on the album. Other songs that aren’t on my playlist that i like are “Devil’s Dance” and “Better Than You”. Not much to say besides that it’s better than its direct predecessor.
4. …And Justice For All (1988)
This album just makes me sad. The production is historically bad: The biggest offender being the lack of bass. This was the first album after the death of their second bassist Cliff Burton. Their roundabout way of expressing their grief (and hazing the new guy) is completely muting the bass performance of said new guy, Jason Newsted. And it’s so heartbreaking because Jason f*cking killed it. If you listen to the re-mix jobs by various people on YouTube that uses the actual bass, it makes those songs sound complete: “One” sounds amazing with bass (especially the part that everyone loves), “The Shortest Straw” is great with bass, EVERYTHING is great with the bass on this album. Lars, what the hell were you thinking?
3. Master of Puppets (1986)
Some people think that this is the best thing that has ever happened to metal. And those people are wrong. That’s not to say that this album is bad. Far from it, actually. It has its fair share of hits (the title track, “Orion”, “Battery”, etc.) and underrated gems (mainly “The Thing That Should Not Be”). The tone of the guitar is great: the best way i have ever heard it described is “burning.” It’s just that the two albums have more of them/do them better than Master.
2. Ride the Lightning (1984)
FINALLY, I GET TO GUSH ABOUT HOW MUCH I LOVE THE SOUND OF THE GUITAR FROM THIS ALBUM. If i could get the entire discography of Metallica with this guitar tone, i would. It has an eerie, crunchy and over all, frosty sound to it. The album has more hits (the title track, “Fight Fire With Fire”, “For Whom The Bell Tolls”, “Fade to Black”, “Creeping Death”) and houses the most underrated song they’ve ever made: “Trapped Under Ice”. It has the perfect headbanging speed, the solo sounds great, it’s just… GOD IS IT SO GOOD.
1. Metallica/The Black Album (1991)
Finally, we reach the peak of Metallica’s music career. Every song is impeccable. As overplayed as “Enter Sandman” is, it is a great song. “Wherever I May Roam” is going to be my walkup music for baseball next year (if “The Shortest Straw” with extra bass falls through). “Nothing Else Matters” is going to be a song i sing at karaoke night on the regular, “The God That Failed” is woefully underrated: the intro with the bass is bliss to my ears. It really should have gotten a single release. Everything else on the album is amazing. There is a damn good reason why this is the best selling album in Metallica history (over 16 million copies sold!). The only thing that would have made it better is if they stuck with the Ride the Lightning tone. Then it would be absolutely perfect.