Death Magnetic

..and a fairly consistant one.
for me whats great about Metallica is that they have never stuck to a tried and tested formula..although they came close on "BLACK,LOAD and RELOAD" and if Bob Rock had stayed on board much longer who knows what we might have got this time!!
Personally their weakest stuff for me was around the Load - Re Load albums when they started to veer down the southern rock trail. I hardly play the "Black" album too , for me i found it got a bit boring after a few listens , and theres a couple of songs on that I can't even listen to now, I missed the progressive song structures that preceded it on "R.T.L , M.O.P and Justice for all". Maybe I am in the minority but personally I didnt mind "St Anger ", Yes some of the songs could have been shortened a bit, yes it could have done with some Kirk Hammett solos and Lars drum sound takes a bit of getting used to, ( although I remember people complaining about the drum sound on Justice back in 88) but i commend them for drastically changing direction again when they could have stuck to the formula that sold them the most records!
Which brings me to this album which i find the best way to describe as being everything that has been good about Metallica wrapped up in one package, sure it's far from perfect, they could have cut it down to 8 songs not 10..I dont think the first 2 songs are their strongest and I find it slightly overlong. a lot of this reminds me of "And Justice for all",mixed in with the "Black" album.The second half of "The day that never comes" harks back to "One" and it's nice to see them attempt another long instrumental and for the most part manage to pull it off."My Apocalypse" is reminiscent of "Damage inc" which is a good thing as it's been a while since they wrote a decent thrashy number. Hopefully James's voice holds out for the next album cos it sounded a bit fragile on Jools Holland the other night, but on this album if they packed it all in tomorrow then at least they left us on a high note.

After the tremendous failure that was St.Anger, it is clear that Metallica have took there time in order to create something special. Although it still fails in comparison to the 80's Metallica, it is still probably the best album since the Black album. The sheer length of the songs show Metallica's commitment to this album and with classic thrash tracks such as 'That was just your life' and 'The Judas Kiss' who can argue otherwise.

On the negative side Hetfields vocals are still arguably a bit dodgy and the some of the riffs seem misplaced, but in all in all im glad to say a great album from a big Metallica fan!!

I am a massive Metallica fan so I am very familiar with all their albums. 'Justice' would probably be their best album if the sound quality wasn't so crap and I think Death Magnetic answers that criticism to a point. The structure of the songs is similar - deliberately so I think - so anybody hoping for a return to the older styles won't be disapointed. Some reviews say the album copies too much from the old material but Metallica get critised for doing something different so they can't win. Track 9 is my favourite and track 10 is the weakest. I did find I had to listen to the album quite a bit to pick up the subtleties of the songs. Overall it's like Justice mixed with Puppets and a bit of everything else mixed in!

Where to begin.
Metallica have had one hell of an illustrious career, starting with the epic thrash albums of Kill 'Em All, Ride The Lightning and Master of Puppets. Then they diversed themselves towards the more heavy rock, radio friendly sound of Metallica, Load and Reload. Since this era it has felt like the world is missing Metallica.
I am extremely pleased to say that this album goes back to their roots and they re-discover the thrash element that made them so appealing back in the 80's. This album feels like the missing link between ...And Justice For All and Metallica.
With songs such as My Apocalypse, Broken, Beat & Scarred and The End Of The Line we can see how much more Metallica still have to offer. Whilst they return to form on the thrash elements, they also pay homage to the heavy rock vibe that made them dominant in the 90's. Unforgiven III starts with a harrowing piano introduction which leads in to a blues influenced riff whilst James Hetfields barks "How can i be lost, when i've got nowhere to go?"
Lyrically Hetfield also returns to form as he regains his role of main song writer rather than having other members input which resulted in St Anger!
Anthemic choruses, absurdly fast solos, roaring riffs and an album that will leave you wanting more from this group soon.

Following the frankly poor St. Anger, Death magnetic marks a definite return to form, far superior to the Load/Reload era and harking back to the glory days of Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets period...fast paced, heavy heavy metal.....and the welcome return of the Hammett solo! All in all a really welcome return from the fathers of thrash...key tracks...Cyanide...The Day That Never Comes and All Nightmare Long!