Does anyone care about Metallica anymore ? New concert album...

[introclaus]

I know lots of people have pretty much abandoned Metallica over the past few years, and I wondered if they were going to release anything new, and this came out...... I'm viewing it as maybe my last Metallica purchase ......ever. It's sort of like the last show I'll see of them, so I had to have it .....


....naaah, just kidding (sorry Larry for stealing your rant)
I love Metallica, they are one of the most important bands ever for me, so even though I don’t necessarily love everything they’ve done (Load/Reload, I’m looking at you) I still have all their albums and many of them in multiple versions and formats. Heck, I even saw them twice on their last tour. This new “SM2” album is a continuation or re-do of their by now 20 year old live album with a symphonic orchestra. They’ve added a few new tunes, changed out a few of the older songs, and redid a couple of those from the first “SM” disc. Production is obviously top notch and the band sounds good. It’s a live album, and it’s “classical arrangements” of metal songs, so it’s not something that’s ever gonna change my view on the world or anything like that, but for a fan it’s a nice little thing to have and I like it for what it is. And to be honest, the Load/Reload songs sound better in this arrangement than in their original format.

All right, carry on.

[LarryD]

I know lots of people have pretty much abandoned Metallica over the past few years, and I wondered if they were going to release anything new, and this came out...... I'm viewing it as maybe my last Metallica purchase ......ever. It's sort of like the last show I'll see of them, so I had to have it .....


....naaah, just kidding (sorry Larry for stealing your rant)

****Well now that you brought me into a post that I didn't care to be in - I'll answer your question.

No - I don't care about Metallica and they are irrelevant now.

[introclaus]

No - I don't care about Metallica and they are irrelevant now.

Yeah but I've come to the conclusion that you're not a "metal fan" and never have been. You and I have overlap in certain things we like, but anytime you listen to anything remotely "metal" it's outside your comfort zone. You like music to be neat and tidy, which a lot of the bands who play within the genre of progressive metal are good at - it's called metal, but its really not, and that's what you like about it. The second it becomes more avantgarde than that, or somehow cross-over into other METAL genres you're out.

[LarryD]

Yeah but I've come to the conclusion that you're not a "metal fan" and never have been.

****That's a pretty broad and inaccurate statement. However, in the spirit of the Metallica post, I do like:

Kill em All
Ride the Lightning
The Black Album
Master of Puppets

After that - nothing.

[Mark]

I like a lot of Metallica albums, even ReLoad, but every recording of them live that I've heard makes it seem like they really suck live. James's voice never gels with the music the way it does on a professional album mix, and he always sounds like he's on the verge of being out of breath. For that reason I've never been tempted to pay the sky-high ticket price to actually go to a concert. But, I still like the albums.

[prog_powermetal99]

No - I don't care about Metallica and they are irrelevant now.

Yeah but I've come to the conclusion that you're not a "metal fan" and never have been. You and I have overlap in certain things we like, but anytime you listen to anything remotely "metal" it's outside your comfort zone. You like music to be neat and tidy, which a lot of the bands who play within the genre of progressive metal are good at - it's called metal, but its really not, and that's what you like about it. The second it becomes more avantgarde than that, or somehow cross-over into other METAL genres you're out.

Damn that's harsh claus lol.....
I think you are just messing with Larry, but I can never tell if you are kidding as I didn't see the smiley face in your post

[prog_powermetal99]

I know lots of people have pretty much abandoned Metallica over the past few years, and I wondered if they were going to release anything new, and this came out...... I'm viewing it as maybe my last Metallica purchase ......ever. It's sort of like the last show I'll see of them, so I had to have it .....


....naaah, just kidding (sorry Larry for stealing your rant)
I love Metallica, they are one of the most important bands ever for me, so even though I don’t necessarily love everything they’ve done (Load/Reload, I’m looking at you) I still have all their albums and many of them in multiple versions and formats. Heck, I even saw them twice on their last tour. This new “SM2” album is a continuation or re-do of their by now 20 year old live album with a symphonic orchestra. They’ve added a few new tunes, changed out a few of the older songs, and redid a couple of those from the first “SM” disc. Production is obviously top notch and the band sounds good. It’s a live album, and it’s “classical arrangements” of metal songs, so it’s not something that’s ever gonna change my view on the world or anything like that, but for a fan it’s a nice little thing to have and I like it for what it is. And to be honest, the Load/Reload songs sound better in this arrangement than in their original format.

All right, carry on.

I think the problem I have now with Metallica, and maybe you can chime in on this Claus is Lars when he plays live. .....I have zero problem with the rest of the band members. But when I watch Lars Live, (and this has been going on for the last few years), I just want to scream!.....
Keep in mind I like Lars on the studio stuff and loved his performance on ride the lightning and master of puppets and even the black album.

But when I watch him live, he's just so horrible. As a an ex-drummer myself I use to study his fills and air drum to his stuff(I lived in an apartment), and so I pretty much knew every one of his fills. But when he plays live, he just seems to damn lazy. Lots of the more complex type fills he just completely avoids, or reduces the fill down to the minimum, just enough to carry the beat.

Now there have been a couple of shows there I saw more effort out of him, but many others were just embarrassing. I'm not going to blame it on age as there are plenty of older drummers that are doing(or did) incredibly well (RIP Neil Peart). But that's just one example.

I wanted your take on it Claus, do you think it's laziness? or just his inability to really play some of the songs anymore?

[introclaus]

No - I don't care about Metallica and they are irrelevant now.

Yeah but I've come to the conclusion that you're not a "metal fan" and never have been. You and I have overlap in certain things we like, but anytime you listen to anything remotely "metal" it's outside your comfort zone. You like music to be neat and tidy, which a lot of the bands who play within the genre of progressive metal are good at - it's called metal, but its really not, and that's what you like about it. The second it becomes more avantgarde than that, or somehow cross-over into other METAL genres you're out.

Damn that's harsh claus lol.....
I think you are just messing with Larry, but I can never tell if you are kidding as I didn't see the smiley face in your post

Totally kidding. Larry is my buddy, and I love him dearly. Doesn’t mean I won’t take the piss on him and his poor taste in music.

[introclaus]

I know lots of people have pretty much abandoned Metallica over the past few years, and I wondered if they were going to release anything new, and this came out...... I'm viewing it as maybe my last Metallica purchase ......ever. It's sort of like the last show I'll see of them, so I had to have it .....


....naaah, just kidding (sorry Larry for stealing your rant)
I love Metallica, they are one of the most important bands ever for me, so even though I don’t necessarily love everything they’ve done (Load/Reload, I’m looking at you) I still have all their albums and many of them in multiple versions and formats. Heck, I even saw them twice on their last tour. This new “SM2” album is a continuation or re-do of their by now 20 year old live album with a symphonic orchestra. They’ve added a few new tunes, changed out a few of the older songs, and redid a couple of those from the first “SM” disc. Production is obviously top notch and the band sounds good. It’s a live album, and it’s “classical arrangements” of metal songs, so it’s not something that’s ever gonna change my view on the world or anything like that, but for a fan it’s a nice little thing to have and I like it for what it is. And to be honest, the Load/Reload songs sound better in this arrangement than in their original format.

All right, carry on.

I think the problem I have now with Metallica, and maybe you can chime in on this Claus is Lars when he plays live. .....I have zero problem with the rest of the band members. But when I watch Lars Live, (and this has been going on for the last few years), I just want to scream!.....
Keep in mind I like Lars on the studio stuff and loved his performance on ride the lightning and master of puppets and even the black album.

But when I watch him live, he's just so horrible. As a an ex-drummer myself I use to study his fills and air drum to his stuff(I lived in an apartment), and so I pretty much knew every one of his fills. But when he plays live, he just seems to damn lazy. Lots of the more complex type fills he just completely avoids, or reduces the fill down to the minimum, just enough to carry the beat.

Now there have been a couple of shows there I saw more effort out of him, but many others were just embarrassing. I'm not going to blame it on age as there are plenty of older drummers that are doing(or did) incredibly well (RIP Neil Peart). But that's just one example.

I wanted your take on it Claus, do you think it's laziness? or just his inability to really play some of the songs anymore?

Metallica is one of the greatest live bands in the world in my opinion - there’s a reason they are as big as they are and it’s not just the quality of their (old) albums that brought them there. Yes, Kirk’s wah-was can get annoying, James ain’t the most pitch perfect singer, and Lars is definitely not the tightest drummer, but don’t mistake those flaws for not caring or being lazy. Metallica ain’t a prog band, never was - they came out of the early metal and punk scene which is all about attitude and energy. James is the epitome of a frontman, and Lars is the energizer bunny... I love their live shows but I don’t try to focus on how close (or far from it) they stick to the album versions. At a Dream Theater show i would be pissed off if it wasn’t played correctly, but w Metallica I just want to be entertained and bang that head that doesn’t bang...

[BC]

Yeah but I've come to the conclusion that you're not a "metal fan" and never have been.

****That's a pretty broad and inaccurate statement. However, in the spirit of the Metallica post, I do like:

Kill em All
Ride the Lightning
The Black Album
Master of Puppets

After that - nothing.

No Justice for you?

[LarryD]

Kill em All
Ride the Lightning
The Black Album
Master of Puppets

After that - nothing.
[/quote]

No Justice for you?
[/quote]


***I think I was done after Puppets ....although I know that Justice was super huge for them as in their biggest stage show and breakthrough album for them at the time.... Metallica was never a goto band for me .... but by the time Justice came out in 1988, the Queensryche / Fates Warning / Lethal / Crimson Glory bands and styles had completely drawn me away and I never went back to Metallica except for the occasional spin of the Black album......

[Mardoch]

I mostly don't like thrash, with relatively few exceptions (Megadeth through the mid-90s and Kill 'em All, I think is about it), so...I haven't cared about Metallica in ages.

[Random Axe]

At the risk of Claus bludgeoning me over the head with the poser/non-metal hammer, I've never owned a Metallica album.

Ever.

Same with Iron Maiden, Priest, ACDC.

I simply didn't grow up around it. While my friends were listening to Back In Black I was jamming to Manfred Mann, Chicago, Styx, Toto. I was prog at age nine. I eventually learned when I got into my senior year in high school when I heard an Ozzy song on the radio called I Don't Know. That absolutely blew my mind. That riff, that freakin solo(still my favorite of all time). Then, as irony would have it, I seriously got into Stryper. Those two were my introduction into that world.

This is not a statement on my opinion of Metallica. I find many of their songs enjoyable and I recognize their major influence on today's bands. This is simply a statement on my questionable musical tastes and my earliest influences.

[Nos]

At the risk of Claus bludgeoning me over the head with the poser/non-metal hammer, I've never owned a Metallica album.

Ever.

Same with Iron Maiden, Priest, ACDC.

I simply didn't grow up around it.

I'm the same way, although I do have the black album on my shelf, even if I haven't listened to it in ages.

By the time I was listening to anything remotely heavy, it was already into the "Load" era of Metallica, which is the Blaze and Ripper era of Maiden and Priest, and when all the classic bands were in pronounced lulls. So no, I wasn't getting into any of them at the time I was forming my musical taste. They were uncool in the mainstream, and not present enough to make any impact on me at the time.

Almost all of the bands from the 60s through the 80s are like that for me. I didn't grow up listening to them, and by the time I was giving them a chance, I was already used to a certain approach to music they didn't take. I've tried many times, but I cant' get into Led Zeppelin. They (Plant, mostly) write in a style that doesn't mesh with what I want to hear. It just is what it is.

I do have appreciation for Iron Maiden, but it's mostly the reunion albums I was able to hear as they were coming out. I prefer Bruce's last three solo albums to anything Iron Maiden, actually. As for Metallica, by the time I was trying to listen to their early stuff, it sounded awful compared to what records of the time were like. I still can't put on a "Kill Em All" song without cringing at how terrible the actual sound of it is. It's practically unlistenable to me.

[introclaus]

At the risk of Claus bludgeoning me over the head with the poser/non-metal hammer, I've never owned a Metallica album.

Ever.

Same with Iron Maiden, Priest, ACDC.

I simply didn't grow up around it. While my friends were listening to Back In Black I was jamming to Manfred Mann, Chicago, Styx, Toto. I was prog at age nine. I eventually learned when I got into my senior year in high school when I heard an Ozzy song on the radio called I Don't Know. That absolutely blew my mind. That riff, that freakin solo(still my favorite of all time). Then, as irony would have it, I seriously got into Stryper. Those two were my introduction into that world.

This is not a statement on my opinion of Metallica. I find many of their songs enjoyable and I recognize their major influence on today's bands. This is simply a statement on my questionable musical tastes and my earliest influences.

Oh man...



Honestly, whether you’ve grown up with the music and in that era or not has nothing to do with your taste. My 9 year old son loves metal but he was not around when those bands had their hey-day, yet he still understands and appreciates the music. Yesterday we listened to Judas Priest’ “Painkiller” album and he was singing along to every lyric. Again, this has nothing to do with whether you grew up with it or not. The resident moron (Nos) like to believe so, but don’t take his opinion for anything else than the town fool standing there letting out random noise. The moron says he doesn’t like anything we are talking about here, and he still rambles on about ridiculous reasons about it being because he wasn’t born then, or that it gives him a migraine - lol, what an idiot!

Besides, if you like or don’t like Metallica doesn’t bother me. You like plenty of other music I like so we would have plenty to talk about. Not like the moron who’ve made it abundantly clear he doesn’t like anything we like here.

[Nos]

Honestly, whether you’ve grown up with the music and in that era or not has nothing to do with your taste. My 9 year old son loves metal but he was not around when those bands had their hey-day, yet he still understands and appreciates the music.

Yes and no. While you're right that you can appreciate the music of any era, studies have shown that your taste in music is mostly formed while you're in your teenage years. So your nine year old is more easily attuned to things not of the current time, because he is still developing his musical identity. If, like me, you didn't try to listen to something like thrash until you were already an adult, the likelihood of becoming a fan is lower. It's not impossible by any means, but it will happen less frequently.

By the time I tried to listen to "Painkiller" the first time, I already knew exactly what I wanted out of music, and being shrieked at by Halford was not on the list. That might have been different if I heard those kind of vocals when I was younger, but I didn't, and I have no desire to re-wire my brain to listen to something different, not when I already have music I enjoy.

[introclaus]

Honestly, whether you’ve grown up with the music and in that era or not has nothing to do with your taste. My 9 year old son loves metal but he was not around when those bands had their hey-day, yet he still understands and appreciates the music.

Yes and no. While you're right that you can appreciate the music of any era, studies have shown that your taste in music is mostly formed while you're in your teenage years. So your nine year old is more easily attuned to things not of the current time, because he is still developing his musical identity. If, like me, you didn't try to listen to something like thrash until you were already an adult, the likelihood of becoming a fan is lower. It's not impossible by any means, but it will happen less frequently.

By the time I tried to listen to "Painkiller" the first time, I already knew exactly what I wanted out of music, and being shrieked at by Halford was not on the list. That might have been different if I heard those kind of vocals when I was younger, but I didn't, and I have no desire to re-wire my brain to listen to something different, not when I already have music I enjoy.

As always you don’t know what you’re talking about.

My 9 year old son is smarter than you are and that’s why he gets it and you don’t.

[GaetanL]

S&M 2 concert on Blu-ray is a must have to me. Image, sound, performance, etc. and the best video editing I have ever seen for a concert. The video editing is smart. Nice and useful effects and they don't do it too much. In comparison, Black Sabbath - The Last Supper concert DVD gets my worst video editing award. Some interviews occur while the concert is playing in the background!