Load/ReLoad
After Metallica succeeded with the Black Album, the mainsteam world for them was like bread for the pigeons . The band went forward with new ideas to expand their musical careers. With that, in 1996 and 1997, 5 years had past and they returned with 2 albums and a hell of a different look. Load became the experiment for the band to go where no another thrash band has gone beyond. The albums were not thrash but goes a blues rock tone and the lyrics got more important than any other of the albums. Now, clearly you’re saying that these are the worst albums next to St. Anger or Lulu. But I want to clarify that there not as halfassed as you see them. These two albums are a step to just being different for a while. I listened to these albums back 3 years ago and I enjoyed them, hell I consider them the underdogs of the mid-90’s. When people think about the band doing the worst, fingers point on St. Anger or Lulu. But no one ever brings up Load or ReLoad. Sure they cut their hair, dressed like U2 and had two albums that are not thrash or heavy, they had confidence that they can further go through different ideas that can please the audience with optional opinions.
Load begins with “Ain’t My Bitch” which as you start, you can note how the sound is. The song which is uproaring kickstart talks about not about a bitch but a someone who doesn’t care about the problem. It’s hard rock vibe is good and its not a bad start. “2 X 4” slaps in the southern rock beat and feel like you got into a bar fight. It has that Danzig kind of feel and the lyrics are about someone lookin’ for a fight and that loves a good one. “The House Jack Built” slows down a little and bellows into the blues rock. It talks about alcohol, connecting to Hetfield and how he feel when drinking. “Until It Sleeps” falls to the alternative rock sound, starting with a melancholy riff and prowls with force. The song talks about Jame’s father and his struggle with cancer, giving the listener a caution on how the lyrics are going deep into sadness and anger. The solo by Kirk is probably a mournful and awesome from this album. The song transitions to “King Nothing” The bass line comes in and the hard rock tone kicks in. The lyrics reflect on before what you wish for. It’s one of my favorites on this album and solo is fuckin great as always for Kirk. “Hero of the Day” is a favorite because of its soft tone and its alternative rock feeling. This one is one of the best songs off this album because they don’t have to be heavy. The lyrics are about how people in the media can’t be your heroes but the people around you. Give this a listen and you’ll love it. “Bleeding Me” steps back and takes the album a bit dark. The melancholic riff and slow pace is angst feeling. A song about mental torture that leaves you feeling blue until the the song plays faster pace and unleashes the anger. Another great song. “Cure” goes back to the hard rock. The song talks about how drinking can solve any problem, again reflecting back to Jame’s. Not a bad song. “Poor Twisted Me” goes to blues riff again and talks about how some complains about himself and wants sympathy for it. This song stamps that southern feel and its riff its not bad. “Wasting My Hate” is fast pace, one the underrated ones here. It talks about people making you hate yourself but you say hey fuck you who cares? It’s fast and has the hard rock pumping in. “Mama Said” stands out from any other songs in the album. Theirs no hard rock here, this is pure country and blues, a deep emotional song about Jame’s mother. It’s starts off acoustic then by the chorus it the country taste guitar runs in. Take it or left it, this song is a powerful and one that is question to be one the worst or the best. “Thorn Within” rumbles back to hard rock mixed with a alternative feel. The lyrics speak about someones life and the mistakes that he makes. Jame’s plays the solo which is rare that he does. The chorus has a bluesy feel and its good listen. “Ronnie” kicks in that southern grit with a riff that speaks like Texas. The lyrics have no meaning and its not one the best songs on the album, but it has a great riff that covers it. The 14th and final track “The Outlaw Torn” will forever be my all time favorite on this album. I got addicted to this song for over a year and still love it. Clocking over 10 minutes, the song speaks about losing someone in life and desperately finding a replacement that never comes. The sound has hard rock and some blues and solo by Kirk is at top on the best to listen. Jame’s ends the song with a solo and it fades out, making you feel like “what the hell I wanna listen to the rest!” There is a extended version which finishes it because the record only limited the album to be 74 minutes long, at one of the longest Metallica albums since then.
Now ReLoad is just extra songs that continues the other album. With that saying, this album has some different sounds than the previous. “Fuel” immediately ramps up the album, going fast and slapping everything that was into rock. The song talks about adrenaline and being reved up when driving a car. It’s fast, it gets you pumped and its a great start. “The Memory Remains” is about fame and fortune with hard rock grinding on it. Marianne Faithful does backup vocals singing the “da da da da” parts with a street organ playing around the song. It’s great a but different from anything else. “Devil’s Dance” is a dark and more subtle approach, the lyrics are about how the devil tries to force to follow you. It’s evil and the bass at the beginning is devilish. “The Unforgivin II” is sequel to the previous one. It starts off with horn fading in only the hard rock kicks in than the drums from the first one. It has a more mellow and heavy effect and its more anger and less sorrow than the original. “Better Than You” starts with a clucking sound and than comes in the drums and everything. It’s about someone obessed with fighting and being better than anyone. The solo is great and it sticks out. “Slither” is about apart from the album and feels like they used the Enter Sandman riff. Not bad but not too good. “Carp Deim Baby” is slow and bluesy song that speaks about you only live once and you can’t hide your self, hence the baby term. It’s ok but not a favorite for me. “Bad Seed” takes back the grits and rolls back the hard rock. It talks about the greed of man, refering back to a song on Load. Fast and Heavy? You got it. “Where the Wild Things Are” is not about the book but about a book from H.P. Lovecraft. It’s dark and mysterious; having a grunge sound and vocal style. “Prince Charming” is a another favorite in this album, its fast and the lyrics are awesome, angry and powerful. It’s about someone rejecting their parents. The chorus is nice to sing and fast pace. “Low Man’s Lyric” is another “Mama Said” only darker and more emotional. It’s about man pleading redemption for his actions. It’s a sad song to listen, with its bluesy tone, slow rhythm and the hudry gudry with the violin playing over. It’s neutral choice if you like a bit change. “Attitude” is a shine back to rock and is not as band as I heard. It’s a guy that kills to satisfy. It’s a nice rock song and it pumps you up. “Fixxxer”, The final track on the album, is like hearing “The Outlaw Torn” only with different riff. It’s a about a person who is abused from his father. It’s dark song as the lyrics are and its tone is bit towards it. The solo is satisfying and the longest song off the album. (Being 8 minutes) It’s a grand end the double album.
Overall, these albums are mean’t to be pushed away from the fans so that everyone can listen to the Black Album. But you shouldn’t skip these because you might miss a grand adventure of their experiments. Lars Ulrich wanted to be different than another thrash bands. The albums are not as bad than they sound and shouldn’t be criticize as the album art looks or how they look in the booklet. These albums should be appreciated as just slight direction into what they like. When I first listened to “Mama Said”, immediately I hated it and didn’t want to listen to it. Then I gave the album a listen and it wasn’t bad. Bad? No, its one the best under looked albums from the 90’s. They wanted to reflect to lyrics more and their influence on music. Give them a try and you might enjoy them.
Mind Racing
Have you thought about how you overthink about a situation and you just panicked about it for over a week? That’s what been in my mind for this entire week. I need to do something to get this out.
A Day at the DMV (Part 1)
Today I finally got to do my DMV exam. I got there around 9 o’clock. The line wasn’t long, thank god; but It wan’t until the shit hit the fan. The workers told everyone that the system is down and it would take an hour. So in that hour, I looked back to my handbook and pop some music. A woman fainted right in front of me. I thought she was trying to get across the line, but I saw her go down. She was ok, she just didn’t eat anything and was probably here since 7. So the hour passed and the system got working again and I pay my shit. I go upstairs and take the test. And the test had half the material i studied for. I missed it by half and gave me the new handbook (I had last years) and walked out not only to know I failed it but be pissed because the test has so many vague questions that you have to know. So, round 2 will be on next Thursday. For now, look back at the questions and underline.
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- Juggernaut is a bitch on Wolverine’s Revenge, but I can’t blame it because of its bad controls.
- DMV studies are paying off
- Pantera’s Vulgar Display of Power 20th anniversary released today, the first album I bought when I started getting into the metal genre and beyond.
- My script is coming out well but i still need some retouches on it.
- P.S, the reason why I hate the asian lady at the donut shop is because her attitude is drier than a week old bagel.
I’m thinking about writing a script about a lonesome boy who plans to end himself until something unexpected happens.
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The X Factor
The 90’s became a downturn for the world of heavy metal. Many bands tried to paved their way to be part of the grunge scene, but ultimately failed. Metallica cut their hair and made thrash mainstream. Nirvana and many others controlled the years, but Iron Maiden stayed strong and made an album. Bruce had just left the band and the band needed a new singer and then came forth Blaze Bayley, a baritone singer from Wolfsbane. He was perfect for the time the band’s music took a darker turn. The X Factor is considered their worst effort since No Prayer for the Dying. But I think its more of expression how each of the members felt after Bruce left. No Prayer was a turn back to old school hard rock and Fear of the Dark was trying to be more straight forward rock but with no meaning lyric-wise. The X Factor, however has a darker and longer tone perfect for the time.
The first song “Sign of the Cross”, is a 11 minutes opener, one the longest songs since the recent albums, comes with haunting chants and a hammering start to the album. The lyrics deal with the Inquisition, making the lyrics sound brutal and relentless. The next song, “Lord of the Files” talks about the novel of the same name. It’s a slow beat but its not as half assed i thought it would be. “Man on the Edge” is a fast pace song and one the of singles for the album. The song deals with the film “Falling Down”, which if you haven’t seen, go and check it out! The song though, its not bad and it leaves you feeling extreme. “Fortunes of War” is a dark moody song about how the war has effected a man’s life and its starts slow then picks up and chugs it out like Maiden does. “Look for the Truth” is a favorite that you would like. It about facing and overcoming fear in which ever way in life. The first lines gives it a sad look but as the song starts getting heavy, it makes up the darkness. “The Aftermath” is about the terror of war, which we heard many, many times from Iron Maiden but its a marching force and a mournful type of playing. “Judgement of Heaven” is a favorite of mine. This represents the whole mood of the album and its lyrics tell all. How to figure out how life is. And this song blends it on perfectly. “Blood on the World’s Hands” is another favorite. The intro is just awesome, Steve Harris playing this bass lines sets up the whole song. It takes about the Bosnian War but if you think about more, it speaks more about the world and how violence has become a worldwide virus. The song ends abruptly with “Someone should…” Leaving you a bit in fear. “The Edge of Darkness” speaks about Apocalypse Now, the same film and novel, but is it good? …. Well its good but its not rock ‘n roll. “2 A.M.” is a beautifully depressing song about living on, it gives you a thought that life may be hard but we always fight on. Personally, I play this song when things were rough 2 years ago. Worth a listen. The final song, “The Unbeliever” is a awesome end to the album, not only does it play as fast as the other songs but we hear some awesome solos by each guitarist. Blaze sings as fierce as he is.
Overall, This album isn’t the worst from their whole catalog but if you give it a chance, then it can be deemed as their most underrated album from the 90’s. Blaze shouldn’t be discouraged because of his vocal range because of Bruce would have done it, it wouldn’t fit the way the songs moods are, Blaze was perfect for it because of his deep voice. The X Factor shouldn’t be looked at as the runt of the litter and it should have more respect for the creativity of Steve Harris for playing darker.
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