DanTravis62
Moderator
Yeah that's exactly why I'm not gonna take your opinion on AJFA vs MOP/RTL seriously tech
Techdeth
RESIDENT ROCK PROFESSOR
I’m dead serious . Lol but I knew you would feel that way . Load and reload are actually really great . They shoukd not abandoned the thrash though . But man all the shit is so good except 72 seasons . It’s cool but I need to listen moreYeah that's exactly why I'm not gonna take your opinion on AJFA vs MOP/RTL seriously tech
SpiderWars
Well-known member
In fairness you did say fight me.
It's all opinion but your opinion stinks. MOP mops the floor with AJFA.
C
Candiria
Well-known member
I’ll also add that I’m in my 30s so it’s not really pure nostalgia for me, my nostalgia stuff is late 90s/early 00s which everyone here basically hates
Same, no nostalgia. These all basically came out before I was born. I didn't get into Metallica until I had gone from Slipknot into death metal. I think I heard early Sepultura first lol. All I had ever heard from them was Black Album/Load/Reload and I had no interest.
Not having AJFA as your top Metallica album is fine, that's a personal preference, but to me shitting on it is crazy talk.
thegame
Well-known member
I’ll say this; Damaged Justice was their best tour, period. No disrespect to Cliff.
RaceU4her
Well-known member
i did things kind of backwards too, i got into hardcore and death metal for a couple years before i got into any of the mainstream metal bands. i knew enter sandman and a coupe black album songs, and Load had been out for a bit and wasnt my thing especially at the time, but i never heard the classic albums, until one day walking through the locker room where the football team had a big ass stereo and someone put on Fight Fire with Fire, i remember hearing those guitars kick in after the clean part with the cymbal catches and being like wtf is this!? i then understood lol
Tone Monster
Well-known member
They used a quad pre, straight from Flemming’s notes.
skoora
Well-known member
I never got to see it in person but the Seattle concert from the Binged box set is F’n amazing. So I don’t doubt it.
Simon Dorn
Well-known member
They don't have a best Album. They are all not very good.
BABMusic
Active member
I also like Load and Reload. In fact, Garage Days Revisited is the last album of theirs that I enjoyed. I tried hard, but just didn't enjoy anything after that.
One thing I found strange about Master of Puppets is that the solo on Leper Messiah, it sounds like a rough take at the beginning of it. I'm surprised they left it that way.
One thing I found strange about Master of Puppets is that the solo on Leper Messiah, it sounds like a rough take at the beginning of it. I'm surprised they left it that way.
ihave27frets
Well-known member
Yep, they saved the best for last. 
DanTravis62
Moderator
Not trying to be offensive, but if you think load is super neat, many people are not going to take your opinion on the big kid metallica albums seriously.
dave74
Well-known member
For me it's a tie between MOP and AJFA.
Kill'm and RTL are both great too but they really peaked in the late 80s IMO.
Kill'm and RTL are both great too but they really peaked in the late 80s IMO.
B
braintheory
Well-known member
AJFA for all is my favorite album of their’s. Yes, there are only 4 or so songs I actually love from beginning to end, but can say the same (or less) about MOP, RTL or really the vast majority of the most legendary albums by any band and at least most songs on it have some ideas there that are cool like the clean beginning of AJFA, even if the song overall doesn’t hold together for me
It’s more about quality than quantity to me anyway. One, Dyers Eve and Blackened have some of the most epic Metallica moments that I’d put above most of their other songs they’ve had. The album also had rhythmically their most interesting work. Soundwise their most distinctive and aggressive. I never liked the guitar sound of RTL honestly. Too bloated in the mids, overly done reverb, just very dated sounding now and not as distinctive
I can agree that their previous albums maybe had fewer weaknesses musically, more consistency in the songs, but I prefer to judge on the greatest strengths rather than weakness since that’s what’s most memorable and for that I feel AJFA is their best. In general I always preferred though to judge by songs individually rather than albums, but that album alone had 3 of some of the best songs they did. I’d take that any day over an album where the best song is 8/10, but none suck
It’s more about quality than quantity to me anyway. One, Dyers Eve and Blackened have some of the most epic Metallica moments that I’d put above most of their other songs they’ve had. The album also had rhythmically their most interesting work. Soundwise their most distinctive and aggressive. I never liked the guitar sound of RTL honestly. Too bloated in the mids, overly done reverb, just very dated sounding now and not as distinctive
I can agree that their previous albums maybe had fewer weaknesses musically, more consistency in the songs, but I prefer to judge on the greatest strengths rather than weakness since that’s what’s most memorable and for that I feel AJFA is their best. In general I always preferred though to judge by songs individually rather than albums, but that album alone had 3 of some of the best songs they did. I’d take that any day over an album where the best song is 8/10, but none suck
BABMusic
Active member
I remember thinking at the time that Load was "okay", but a big departure from the Black album. I wasn't exactly thrilled back then. Fast forward to 2025, and 72 Seasons makes Load and Reload sound like perfect albums by comparison.
DanTravis62
Moderator
I mean, unless you're either
1. a metallica superfan that's going to gobble up whatever crap they toss against the wall no matter what it is
2. a more mainstream music enjoyer that is just dabbling in metal and doesn't really know shit from shinola about it (which is fine BTW)
Most either completely disregard everything after AJFA, or completely disregard everything after the black album - depending on what their definition of selling out/artistic integrity/etc is
I assume you're more of group 2 (whereas tech would be a group 1) which is totally cool and i'm not saying there's anything wrong with that... but at the same time, the early albums are thrash metal records and get judged by thrash metal fans and their standards.
That's what I mean by "not taking your opinion seriously." I don't mean it as a dick move, but imagine if I started telling VBF the finer points of WC Handy and Robert Johnson, because I had heard John Mayer on the radio. Obviously it would be a little eye-rolly to those in the know, right?
BABMusic
Active member
@DanTravis62 I probably fall closer to group 2, but not really a mainstream guy in that I think most mainstream music these days is garbage. I used to play along to all their classic albums (RTL, MOP, AJFA, Black). I still enjoy all those albums a lot. Never a big fan of Kill 'em All though.
The thing is, some Metallica fans say that Kill 'em All was their last great album. Some people say it's MOP. Some say it's Justice. Justice definitely was the peak of their musicianship and possibly their creativity as well. For me, St. Anger was the death of Metallica to me personally. I just never got into the albums after the year 2000, even though I wanted to like them. Load and Reload had some fun songs, but also a lot of bland songs. But at least some of the songs on those albums moved me. Bleeding Me, Fuel, Wild Things Are, Low Man's Lyric, Outlaw Torn -- those were some of the most memorable.
Take my opinion for what it's worth -- I don't claim to be an expert on Metallica in any way. I'm just a fan of their unique sound and songs they had long ago.
The thing is, some Metallica fans say that Kill 'em All was their last great album. Some people say it's MOP. Some say it's Justice. Justice definitely was the peak of their musicianship and possibly their creativity as well. For me, St. Anger was the death of Metallica to me personally. I just never got into the albums after the year 2000, even though I wanted to like them. Load and Reload had some fun songs, but also a lot of bland songs. But at least some of the songs on those albums moved me. Bleeding Me, Fuel, Wild Things Are, Low Man's Lyric, Outlaw Torn -- those were some of the most memorable.
Take my opinion for what it's worth -- I don't claim to be an expert on Metallica in any way. I'm just a fan of their unique sound and songs they had long ago.
Hiwatts-n-Gibsons
Active member
Posts like this should get an auto perma-ban.
Fwiw being able to play the rhythms for songs like Blackened, Dyer's Eve, Battery, Damage Inc., Breadfan, The Prince, and shit like Slayer Jesus Saves, and Fucking Hostile by Pantera was a source of pride for me because of how demanding they are on your picking hand.
BABMusic
Active member
To my ears, there comes a point where a song becomes so fast that it's obnoxious and can't be enjoyed. But also, makes it very difficult to play live. I've rarely seen them play Dyer's Eve live because it's ridiculously fast and tricky. I much prefer songs like Frayed which have very tricky rhythmic parts (see 4:04) inside the middle, but the majority of the song is more accessible to my ears and fingers.