Tag: Metallica

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Metallica turns the Internet into 13-year-olds.

Love ’em or hate ’em, the mere mentions of “Metallica” turns the series of tubes into two giant 13-year-olds.

Take a look at the comments from Digg and Reddit, Metallica is still hated by many for whatever the reason is. On the other side, some diehard Metallica fans would defend their idols to the death.

It is obvious that Metallica had made some unpopular move in the past. They did the wrong thing for the right reason. Wait a minute, they did the right thing for the wrong reasons. OK, that’s a bit confusing. The point is that Metallica became the enemy when they sued Napster and their own fans (who used Napster to download Metallica songs). The original Napster got shutdown, but the apparent victim of this event was none other than Metallica’s reputations.

Metallica has taken a lot of heat since the release of “Metallica” a.k.a. “The Black Album” in 1991. Sad but true, many Metallica’s haters were not even born in 1991. The ultra-diehard Metallica fans didn’t like the radio-friendly Metallica, they wanted another “Master of Puppets”. Even though “The Black Album” put Metallica and Metal into the mainstream. Metallica gained humongous amount of fans after the release of “The Black Album”, only to be harshly criticized during the Load/ReLoad era. The departure from Metallica’s classic sound brought the band into the court of public opinion whether or not they were being a sell-out. Despite all of the criticism, Metallica still managed to draw the crowds to fill up arena and stadiums only a few bands in the world could.

Fast forward to “St. Anger”. The trash-can-like snare drum sounds, repetitive riffs and lyrics, and the absence of guitar solos, Metallica managed to bust tons of eardrums. Many fans were turned off by “St. Anger” and many would give Metallica one last chance.

“Death Magnetic”, Metallica’s ninth studio album is slated for release in September 2008. Metallica held a special listening party previewing the work in progress in London to select journalists/bloggers (Kerrang, Metal Hammer, The Quietus). Along came another controversy. Apparently, somebody at QPrime demanded the preview/early reviews to be taken down without Metallica’s consent.

Once again, the series of tubes turned into giant 13-year-olds. Comments on sites like Digg and Reddit clearly shows that Metallica is still hated. CNET’s own Don Reisinger who seems to be wearing bright red lipstick, posted some psycho babble about the fiasco by quoting Ars Technica which was quoting a blog that quoted the original source.

After the official statement from Metallica, Ars Technica corrected their article and removed the picture of Cliff Burton which was inappropriately used. Seriously, what Ars Technica did was tasteless and factually wrong. Cliff Burton has nothing to do with whatever Ars Technica wanted to say.

Metallica, one of the greatest band in the history, will grace the music world with “Death Magnetic”. The early reviews have been positive, and many of us are hopeful. Comes September, Metallica will have to prove that they are indeed still the mighty one that brought “Kill ‘Em All” and “Master of Puppets”. Based on what I heard so far, it is indeed the Metallica I remembered. For those who hates Metallica, please put down the keyboard and stop reading anything Metallica-related.

I for one am looking forward to “Death Magnetic” and would call it as I hear it.

Head over to Metallica.com and MissionMetallica.com for more Metallica.

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Metallica: Death Magnetic

Update:
If you’re looking for any leaks of the recording, get in line and head to Mission: Metallica for the next best thing.

The internet most hated band, Metallica has revealed the titled their yet to be finished albums. “Death Magnetic” is the title the band’s new album, a follow up to the 2003 sonic abortion titled “St. Anger”.

Grab some “Death Magnetic” Wallpaper from Metallica.com.

Metallica became the internet most hated band when the ill-advised Lars Ulrich declared war against Napster and its users back in 2000 Under the guidance of Howard King who also represented Dr. Dre and Red Hot Chili Pepper, Ulrich paved the warpath against Napster and its users. Such move became the catalyst to the birth of anti-Metallica movement, solidify the band’s title as internet most hated band.

Metallica once was the mightiest band in the world with seminal records such as “Kill ‘Em All” and “Master of Puppets”, became the end of many jokes. Camp Chaos enjoyed huge success for parodying the Metallica v. Napster fiasco. Metallica seems to have lost their edge, especially after releasing “Load” and “ReLoad” in 1996 and 1997 respectively. Shortly after Napster fiasco, Metallica lost Jason Newsted who had been with the band since 1987. The end of Metallica seemed to be inevitable.

In 2003, Metallica re-emerge with “St. Anger”, dubbed as one of the worst sounding recording ever, especially with the drums. Metallica still managed to draw phenomenally large crowd on their tour all around the world. Metallica stayed in the public eye for the now infamous documentary “Some Kind Of Monster” in 2004. The documentary showed the turmoils within the band’s life. How could the world’s biggest band be in such situation. They couldn’t even write decent songs. Many diehard fans could only hope that the addition of Robert Trujillo would revive Metallica and once again deliver the music to love.

Here we are five years after “St. Anger”, Metallica announced their ninth studio album titled “Death Magnetic”. The first album written and recorded with Robert Trujillo as a member. This time Metallica tapped Rick Rubin as their producer. Yet, once again, Metallica couldn’t stay away from controversy even when the band themselves didn’t do anything. In June 2008, Metallica was accused of bullying some bloggers to take down reviews of their unfinished songs. Upon the news, the internet once again crowned Metallica as their most hated band. Shortly after, the band revealed that they were shocked by this allegation, and found out that the band’s own management, Q-Prime was acting without their consent. As usual, the damage is done. This somehow proves that it is easy to start controversy on the internet. Metallica is yet still the internet most hated band.

Despite of all the negativity, no one would be able to deny the legacy of Metallica. The year 2008 marks the 25 year anniversary to “Kill ‘Em All”, Metallica’s official debut album. This means Metallica is eligible for “Rock and Roll Hall of Fame” starting this year. Unfortunately, they are yet to be nominated to receive the honor.

“Death Magnetic” is tentatively scheduled for release in September 2008. Would Metallica be able to regain the respect they once had? I guess for those who care have to wait until September. So far, the reviews have been good for Metallica. The way it goes right now, we all be treated to a great album from a legendary band named Metallica.