METALLICA — Load (review)

METALLICA — Load album cover Album · 1996 · Heavy Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
Pekka
Metallica had changed big time at the turn of the decade, dropping the thrashy epic metal masterpieces for shorter songs with simpler structure and polished sound. Then why was it Load five years later that caused the fan backlash and not the Black Album? It traded some of the heaviness for some extra spit, dirt, blues and emotion, but to these ears the style isn't that much different to justify the slaughter.

Obviously when an album lasts for 14 songs and 79 minutes, there's bound to be stuff that's weaker than the rest. 2x4, Cure, Poor Twisted Me and Ronnie are the slightly sub-par pieces that prevent this from being a five star record, but as my rating shows they aren't an overbearing burden and actually mostly very good, just not as good as the others. At the other end of the spectrum this album contains some absolute gems, including my favourite Metallica track of all time.

The pounding opener Ain't My Bitch, The House Jack Built with its truly insane wah solo, the surprisingly sololess Wasting My Hate and Jason's personal favorite Thorn Within are all solidly crafted heavy metal, as is the heaviest single of the album, King Nothing. Other singles of the album are among the softest Metallica material ever, Until It Sleeps with its make up and whatnot video (probably the biggest reason for the reaction this album got), the partly pop-partly heavy Hero of the Day and the country ballad, yes, a country ballad called Mama Said. Metallica and country ballads must have been a pill tough to swallow for a lot of people, but if they actually listened to the song, they might have noticed that it's a fantastic piece of heartfelt music. One of the highlights of their entire career, James being very sincere about his life.

Both of the so-called album "sides" end with a brilliant song among their finest ever. I remember listening to Bleeding Me as a ten-eleven year old kid and thinking it's the most boring song on the album. Oh how tastes change. Absolutely captivating and emotional, James pouring his heart out. The second "side" and the whole album ends with The Outlaw Torn, which is the song I was talking about earlier. An atmosphere like nothing else on any Metallica album before, great simple riffs, great lyric and vocal work (as on most of the album) and the outro jam... all this makes it my favourite Metallica track.

A natural successor to the Black Album, and in my opinion the better of the two.
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