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I've heard a lot of people on forums complaining lately about how shitty Metallica has gotten.
What they don't seem to understand is that it's not that METALLICA has gotten shitty, it's that they have tried to change with the times and write songs to fit. Saddly, they failed in that aspect. That however does not make them a crumby band, it just means they're terrible song writers. whee

Their musical ability has improved, so has James Hetfield's singing. I still love them and they'll always be my favorite band.

What do you have to say on this matter?

I have to admit that I grew up on Metallica. Not Reload. Not Load. Not their self-titled. I mean ...And Just For All and older (I was 9 or 10 when Justice was released). So I have an obvious fondness for their older work.

That doesn't mean I don't like their self-titled, Load, or Reload, because I do. Their self-titled, though, was a considerable departure from the politically driven lyricism that helped put them on the top to begin with, and I'm sure I'm going to be bashed for being an old-school Metallica fan for saying that, but it's true. If you look at the lyrics for anything prior to their self-titled, a lot of it is very political and very pointed. Compare that to their self-titled, where they start delving into more mundane or self-exploratory themes with their lyrics, and you see why there's a big rift among Metallica fans about why their self-titled album is or is not considered the point at which they "sold out".

They didn't, and haven't, picked up the political them again at all, and I think the quality of their music has suffered for it. You can't thrash to it anymore, and that was part of the appeal with their older stuff. This doesn't mean Metallica, Load, and Reload aren't good, because there are aspects of each that very much stand out, but the aspect of their music that made them stand out is now gone. Many bands now sound like or imitate the sound Metallica has been using since their self-titled, and, as a result, they're now awash in a sea of mediocrity with no outstanding features to their music. All they have now is their name.

Which brings me to their latest efforts, most notably St Anger. I wasn't terribly impressed with Reload (I can only listen to half the songs consistently), but anything after that has been mostly a miss. The talent's still there, I'll admit that, and Hetfield has indeed improved as a singer, but I honestly can not figure out just what the hell they're trying to do with their music anymore. S&M was... tepid and Garage, Inc was even more wildly mixed in quality than Reload was.

St Anger, on the other hand... to be quite blunt, St Anger was some of, if not the, worst music I have ever heard, and I do not have a small collection of music. I could easily fill a month and a half solid with non-stop music from almost any conceivable genre and not have a single song ever appear twice, so my opinion of St Anger does not come lightly, since I've heard some very bad music. I was completely unable to finish listening to the album, only getting to song six or seven, and only being able to listen to half or less of what songs I did listen to.

What were they trying to do with the drums? Where was the guitar interplay that they're so famous for? For that matter, where was the guitar play quality they're famous for at all? And the lyrics... I was seriously questioning whether any member of the band even wrote them, because they were so... generic and stupid. And then there was Hetfield's singing. Good lord. He did a great job with 'Whiskey In the Jar' and other recent songs, but nothing I heard off St Anger gave any hint that he could actually sing.

I was left with the impression that Metallica, as a band, no longer has any idea what they're doing with their music or where they're headed with it, and that they were trying to mix the styles of other bands with their own (such as Godsmack, who seem to be doing much better than Metallica is lately). If St Anger is the best they can muster anymore, with it's poor lyrics and generally substandard musicianship (especially by the standards Metallica themselves have set), then yes, I think there's a justifiable argument for saying they've lost their touch and should just stop.

I would say that unless they're next album is better (and there should be one fairly soon, I believe, since it's been three years now since their last), I don't see them making a comeback on quality, but compared to what they did for St Anger, I'm hard pressed to see how it wouldn't be better. confused What they need to do is stop kow-towing to what's trendy and do what we all know they can do better than most other bands. If they expect to regain the respect of their fan base, they need to take their music seriously again, or they really are dead as a band.

Even Black Sabbath didn't suffer so horribly with the quality of their music when they lost Ozzy Osbourne as a singer, considering singers are almost always the shaping force of a band's sound. All Metallica lost was their bassist, and quality bass players are not hard to find, even for bands of Metallica's playing caliber.

I absolutely love their older stuff such as ...In Justice For all, Ride The Lightning...just to name a few...I can't think of the other albums at the moment. sweatdrop
Personally,I hae geard their newer stuff,and it just isnt the same as it was before.My take on the whole thing would definately be that their older music is better. 3nodding

still awesome

I've loved Metallica for years they're the first metal band I ever heard THEY KICK a**!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! eek

The Unforgiven I claimed as my song since I was in Junior High. Love that song to no end. And that CD is always in my car 7 disk CD player. (For the last 3 years.)

Metallica is one of the greatest bands of all time. Hands down.