| Product Summary | | Label: Warner/reprise/maverick | | UPC: 00093624986188 | | Release Date: 9/12/2008 | | Buy.com Sku: 208920652 | | Item#: M4DVTL | | Buy.com Sales Rank: 25079 | Format:  CD |
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(C) 2008 E/M Ventures
| Metallica, the world's biggest hard rock band, returns with their ninth studio album Death Magnetic. It is every inch the record they needed to make: a more wisely chosen mentor and first time Metallica-colloborator, Rick Rubin, has them exploding afresh with the straight-up thrash-metal of their late-Eighties heyday
| | Album Notes and Credits |
Notes & Personnel Info |  | Metallica: James Hetfield (vocals, guitar); Kirk Hammett (guitar); Robert Trujillo (bass guitar); Lars Ulrich (drums). | | The world at large got a fly-on-the-wall view of the creation of Metallica's 2003 album, ST. ANGER, via the documentary SOME KIND OF MONSTER, so we know they consciously tried to keep things contemporary at that time by avoiding fleet-fingered solos and eschewing the sound of the "old" Metallica. If that hoary old term "return to form" ever applied to a rock album, though, it's ANGER's follow-up, DEATH MAGNETIC. | | In the five years between the two releases, Metallica seem to have gotten back in touch with the raw power of their classic period, with a little help from legendary producer Rick Rubin. One listen to the 10-minute epic "Suicide & Redemption" with its mix of raw rock ferocity and complex musical development should tell you the old Metallica's back in business. Long tracks with complex structures and intricate, speedy riffs abound. Most appealing for longtime fans may be the return to the frenzied guitar solos of yore. Rubin seems to have assisted the band on a path that successfully combines power, melodicism, and pure, unadulterated metal mania, over a sonic statement that definitively proves there's nothing over-the-hill about middle-aged metal. | | Call Death Magnetic Kirk Hammett's revenge. Famously browbeaten into accepting Lars Ulrich and producers Bob Rock's dictum that guitar solos were "dated" and thereby verboten for 2003's St. Anger -- a fraught recording chronicled on the 2004 documentary Some Kind of Monster -- Metallica's lead guitarist dominates this 2008 sequel, playing with an euphoric fury not heard in years, if not decades. This aesthetic shift isn't because Hammett suddenly rules the band: powerless to add solos to St. Anger, he couldn't reinstate them without the blessing of Ulrich and James Hetfield, the politburo of Metallica. The duo suffered some combination of shame and humility in the wake of the muddled St. Anger and Monster, convincing these two unmovable forces to change direction. They ditched longtime producer Rock -- who'd helmed every album since 1991's breakthrough blockbuster Metallica -- in favor of Rick Rubin, patron saint of all veteran rockers looking to reconnect with their early spark. Rubin may be the go-to producer for wayward superstars but as the producer of Slayer, he's also rooted in thrash, so he understands the core of Metallica's greatness and gently steers them back to basics on Death Magnetic. | | Of course, Metallica's basics are pretty complex: intertwined guitar riffs, frenetic solos, and thunderous double-bass drums stitched together as intricate seven-minute suites. Metallica slowly weaned themselves away from labyrinthine metal during the '90s, tempering their intensity, straightening out riffs, spending nearly as much time exploring detours as driving the main road, all the while losing sight of their identity. This culminated in the confused St. Anger, a transparent and botched attempt at returning to their roots, crippled by the chaos surrounding the departure of bassist Jason Newsted. With all their problems sorted out in public -- including replacing Newsted with Robert Trujillo, who acquiesces to the Metallica custom of being buried far, far in the mix -- the group embraces every gnarled, ugly thing they eschewed in the years since "Metallica." Death Magnetic bounces the band back to the days before Bob Rock, roughly sounding as if it could come after ...And Justice for All. Such a deliberate revival of the glory days can be tricky, as it could make a group seem stuck in the past -- or, just as badly, they can get essential elements wrong -- but Death Magnetic is a resounding success because they hunker down and embrace their core strengths, recognizing that their greatest asset is that nobody else makes noise in the same way as they do. | | That's the pleasure of Death Magnetic: hearing Metallica sound like Metallica again. Individual songs and, especially, Hetfield's lyrics -- less the confessional ballast of St. Anger, more a traditional blend of angst and terror -- are secondary to how the band sounds, how they spit, snarl, and surge, how they seem alive. Metallica isn't replicating moves they made in the '80s, they're reinvigorated by the spirit of their early years, adding shading they've learned in the '90s, whether it's the symphonic tension of "The Unforgiven III" or threading curdled blues licks through the thrash. Listening to the band play, it's hard not to thrill at Metallica's mastery of aggression and escalation. There is no denying that the band is older and settled, no longer fueled by the hunger and testosterone that made their '80s albums so gripping, but on Death Magnetic older doesn't mean less potent. Metallica is still vitally violent and on this terrific album -- a de facto comeback, even if they never really went away -- they're finally acting like they enjoy being a great rock band. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine |
Producer: Rick Rubin |
Engineer: Mike Gillies; Greg Fidelman; Andrew Scheps |
| | Compilation Appearances |
| | Associated Artists and Works | | Plays Metallica by Four Cellos ~ Apocalyptica | | Apocalyptica | | Overload: A Tribute To Metallica ~ Artists, Various | | The Blackest Album ~ Artists, Various | | The Blackest Album 2: Metallica Tribute ~ Artists, Various | | A Metal Tribute To Metallica ~ Artists, Various | | Artists, Various | | Metallic Assault: A Tribute To Metallica ~ Artists, Various | | Total Overload 1 & 2: Tribute To Metallica ~ Artists, Various | | The Blackest Album 3... Tribute To Metallica ~ Artists, Various | | Artists, Various | | Stardust Sisters (The) | | Overload: A Tribute To Metallica ~ Various Artists | | Blackest Album: An Industrial Tribute to Metallica ~ Various Artists | | Blackest Album, Vol. 2: An Industrial Tribute to M ~ Various Artists | | A Metal Tribute To Metallica ~ Various Artists | | Various Artists | | Metallic Assault: A Tribute To Metallica ~ Various Artists | | Total Overload, Vol. 1 & 2: Tribute to Metallica ~ Various Artists | | Various Artists | | Blackest Album, Vol. 3: An Industrial Tribute to M ~ Various Artists | | Various Artists | | The String Quartet Tribute to Metallica ~ Various Artists | | The Blackest Album, Vol. 4: An Industrial Tribute ~ Various Artists | | Metallica: The Ultimate Tribute Album ~ Various Artists | | Various Artists | | Various Artists | | Various Artists | | Various Artists | | Various Artists | | Various Artists | | Various Artists | | Various Artists | | Various Artists | | Various Artists | | Various Artists | | More Maximum [Slipcase] ~ Various Artists | | Various Artists | | And Christmas For All! The Holiday Tribute To Meta ~ Various Artists | | Buddha Lounge Redititions Of Metallica: the Black ~ Various Artists |
| | Technical Info | | Release Date : 09/12/2008 | | Original Release Date : 2008 | | Catalog ID : 508732-2 | | Label : Warner Bros. Records (Record Label) | | Number of Discs : 1 | | Studio/Live : Studio | | Mono/Stereo : Stereo | | SPAR Code : n/a | | UPC : 00093624986188 |
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| | Professional Reviews | | Rolling Stone (pp.109-110)
- 4 stars out of 5 -- "[T]his album is Metallica becoming Metallica again....[T]he spectacular 'All Nightmare Long' -- a thematic sequel of sorts to 'Enter Sandman' -- combines relentless MASTER OF PUPPETS guitars with a BLACK ALBUM-worthy chorus."Rolling Stone (p.89)
- Ranked #9 in Rolling Stone's 50 Best Albums Of 2008 -- "[H]eavy metal's resurrection of the year." Spin (p.96)
- 4 stars out of 5 -- "[T]he album is more of a rebirth, with Metallica exploring the past buy applying what they've learned during their 20 years at the top of the heavy-metal slag heap, which means ingratiating more finesse when they mark their territory." Spin (p.48)
- Ranked #28 in Spin's "40 Best Albums Of 2008" -- "[D]on't look this gift monster in the mouth. It's hungry, and it's teeth are sharp." Entertainment Weekly (p.71)
- "MAGNETIC's tracks are all 6-to-10-minute extravaganzas with seemingly unlimited chordal changeups and tempo shifts." -- Grade: B Kerrang (Magazine)
(p.48)
- "[T]he key ingredient of DEATH MAGNETIC is the skill with which it releases its thunder, its sense of flow, its understanding that power is nothing without control." Kerrang (Magazine)
(p.66)
- Ranked #1 in Kerrang's Best Albums Of The Year 2008 -- "They rediscovered their metal..." Mojo (Publisher)
(p.100)
- 3 stars out of 5 -- "Lead guitarist Kirk Hammett is afforded more shredding space than in recent years, the rhythm guitars thrum like chopper blades....The sound is fantastic...everything crackling, huge and alive." Mojo (Publisher)
(p.64)
- Ranked #45 in Mojo's "The 50 Best Albums Of 2008" -- "A Rick Rubin-produced return to form." Blender (Magazine)
(p.72)
- 4 stars out of 5 -- "Rubin pointed the direction, but credit goes to the band -- which, for the first time on record, includes new bassist Robert Trujillo -- for recapturing their old sound and reconciling it with what followed." |
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| | Bio | | | Metallica It's the sort of story that scriptwriters would get laughed out of conference rooms for entering. The sort of story that illustrates perfect synchronicity between hunger, passion and time. The sort of story that only happens every 30-odd years. And the sort of story that would approximately 500 pages to do it true justice. Metallica. A household name. The 7th biggest selling act in American history. Who'd have thought it when, on October 28th, 1981, drummer Lars Ulrich made guitar player/singer James Hetfield an offer he couldn't refuse: "I've got a track saved for my band on Brian Slagel's new Metal Blade label." The truth is, Lars didn't have a band at that time, but he did that day when James joined him. The two recorded their first track on a cheap recorder with James performing singing duties, rhythm guitar duties and bass guitar duties. Lars dutifully pounded the drums, helped with musical arrangements and acted as manager. Hetfield's friend and housemate Ron McGovney was eventually talked into taking up bass and Dave Mustaine took lead guitar duties. The band adopted the moniker Metallica after a suggestion from Bay Area friend Ron Quintana, and they quickly began gigging in the Los Angeles area opening for bands like Saxon. Eventually recording a fully-fledged demo called No Life Til Leather, Metallica quickly saw the tape whistle around the metal tape-trading underground and become a hot commodity, with San Francisco and New York particularly receptive. Metallica performed 2 shows in San Francisco and found the crowds friendlier and more honest than LA's "there to be seen" mob. They also caught up-and-coming band Trauma, and most importantly their bass player, Cliff Burton. Cliff refused to move to Southern California: it was enough to convince Metallica to relocate to the Bay Area, and Cliff subsequently joined Metallica. In New York, a copy of No Life Til Leather made its way to Jon Zazula's record shop, the aptly named Metal Heaven. Zazula quickly recruited Metallica to come out east to play some shows and record an album. The band made it to New York in a stolen U-Haul. Dave Mustaine, at that point the band's guitarist, was proving to be more problematic than even these loose young chaps could handle. Thus a few weeks after arrival, Mustaine was sent packing, roadie Mark Whitakker suggesting Kirk Hammett from Bay Area thrashers Exodus. Two phone calls and one flight later, on April 1, 1983 Kirk Hammett joined Metallica.
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