The Great Collection Rediscovery

Album: Clockwork Immortality

Previous Last.fm Scrobbles: 94 (10 Tracks)

Old Rating: 5/5

Verdict: Clockwork Immortality is one of those top notch albums that still suffers in my estimations due to it not being the first one I heard from the group who made it, even if objectively it's more polished than the previous album. It's still the middle album of a trilogy of top notch power metal albums from this Japanese band though, who've delivered a consistency rarely heard in any genre through consequtive releases. 

New Rating: No Change

Keeper? Hell yeah.

Album: V

Previous Last.fm Plays: 51 (6 Tracks)

Old Rating: 5/5

Verdict: The only Spock's Beard CD I actually own, although I really should change that (recommendations welcome, although my current inclinations of the Neal Morse era are The Light and Snow, though the latter is hard to get). V is perhaps the most hard rocking Spock's Beard has ever got, despite it also featuring what may just be their most commercial song All on a Sunday, which coincidentally was the first song I heard by them and it put me off going further for years, though I like it more today. However it's the rest of the album which puts this as one of my top prog rock CDs. 

New Rating: No Change.

Keeper? Yeah and I need more Beard. 

Ah yes, a bit of research and it's this one I was at recorded in Manchester. I knew I was at one of them that was recorded. I should buy it really seen as I was there, especially as I have most Transatlantic stuff, certainly all the studio albums anyway.

By the way, if you're looking to check out more Morse era Beard then The Kindness Of Strangers is one of the best IMO.

Album: The Metal Opera Parts 1 & 2

Previous Last.fm Scrobbles: 124 / 42

Old Rating: 5/5 & 4/5

Verdict: Special double entry! I've always preferred the first Metal Opera by a great deal, as evidenced by how much more often I've played it. II really clicked with me a lot more this time around though. These are the only albums I own two copies of as well. Both the originals and the Gold Edition boxset. I really should sell one or the one, but can't decide which to part with.

New Ratings: No Change / 4.5/5

Keeper? Yes, one copy anyway. 

Album: St. Anger

Previous Last.fm Scrobbles: 12

Old Rating: 1.5/5

Verdict: Everyone's favourite album of all time...in some alternate universe anyway. Honestly I enjoyed listening to St. anger again. No, it's not a great album. The drum sound sucking in particular isn't something people exaggerate. But I do think there are far worse albums around. Far more boring ones too. And some so blandly inoffensive that they become offensive. Although it didn't work out as successful as they'd planned, you have to at least hand it to Metallica for having the guts to go into the studio and tell Kirk no soloing. Or maybe you don't. It kinda is a product of it's time with the popular metal being in the solo lite alt/nu metal vein so maybe Metallica were just trying their best to remain relevant in the early 2000s without realising what people really wanted from them was some good old fashioned thrash. At least they got the picture better with Death Magnetic. 

For me, St. Anger is a special album though, because it's the album that was my gateway to metal music. I'd never been exposed to metal before this. The heaviest my taste in music got was probably Nickelback, a group I later discovered is widely derided as a whole and not just for one release like St. Anger is for Metallica (I mean, not everyone loves Load and ReLoad, but I don't think they cop as much flak as St. Anger does). It's an odd album to claim as your gateway album, but for me that actually makes it that bit more special and think perhaps my metal journey is more unique than those who hear earlier Metallica or classic heavy metal like Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden or Judas Priest first. 

I really should scrap my old review of this one and see if I can write a Patrick-esque story review about it. 

New Rating: 3/5 - I did actually enjoy a fair bit of it.

Keeper? Yes.

It's part of my goal for this project currently to relisten to all the more maligned Metallica albums again before doing any of the classics. I haven't listened to Load or ReLoad for over a decade I doubt except the odd track from them. 

I got an -esque named after me!

Load and Re-Load did catch a hell of a backlash when they were released, but I think a lot of people went back and re-evaluated their opinions after this arrived, and decided that while they didn't match the first four albums for intensity, there were still bits and pieces which were pretty good. St. Anger was just a turd sandwich through and through. It probably needed to happen though, as a reality check. And it also resulted in Some Kind Of Monster, which makes uncomfortable, but compelling viewing.

Album: Death Magnetic

Previous Last.fm Scrobbles: 5 (10 Tracks)

Old Rating: 3.5/5

Verdict: Apparently I haven't played this in full in all my years on Last.fm. Not sure why, because it's quite obviously the best Metallica album post-Black Album* and certainly their most thrash metal based release since the 80s. It has one of the same problems as St. Anger - songs maybe slightly too long, but they have improved on that front since that album. It's overall a very solid Metallica release that doesn't manage to shit all over their legacy. 

* This view comes from not heard Hardwired since it was released either and I don't actually own Hardwired.

New Rating: 4/5

Keeper? Yes and I should give it more attention.