Load

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Editorial reviews

From Amazon.com
With iLoad/i, Metallica takes a dramatic left turn with their music, continuing in the direction suggested by iMetallica/i, their previous album. The songs on iLoad/i have groove; they're slower, with far fewer of the lightning-fast riffs that have been Metallica's trademark since their inception. While songs like "Ain't My Bitch" and "Wasting My Hate" are up-tempo and full of the vitriol one would expect from the quintessential heavy metal band, "2 X 4" is hard rock with a blues beat, "Hero of the Day" sounds positively mainstream, and "Mama Said" is an actual, honest-to-god ballad. While some diehard fans may find this mix unappealing, there's plenty to like about this album, including its laid-back, rhythmic orientation, and James Hetfield's characteristic growl tempered by his growing maturity as a vocalist. I-- Genevieve Williams/I

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Customer reviews

review by: warphead date: 2009-06-13 rating:
Ignorance is not always bliss!
I can't believe I am writing this album a review (and giving it 4 stars!). I'll tell you why. I was one of those Metallica fans that at the time of release of Load had a lot of difficulty with this album and the band. They had changed their sound, look and attitude which I had trouble accepting. It began with The Black album, an album I didn't hate but wasn't bothered with either. Even now I think that album is over-rated. Even so the day when Load was released I bought it. I went home, pulled it out its sleeve but before i'd even played it I got the jitters. All the trendy, posing photos inside put me off straight away, these images are not what Metallica are about. They are not U2 (they even got Anton Corbain to do them). And they still suck. So I pressed play and I think I got to the 2nd song before losing interest. By the 4th track I couldn't care less. No Leper Messiah, Battery, One, MOP, Shortest Straw, Creeping Death in sight. Thank-you and goodbye. I never played it again until 2 weeks ago, so thats over ten years! So what happened? br / br /A few weeks ago I watched Metallica play at the O2, touring Death Magnetic. 6th song in they play this immense tune which I did not recognise, I am blown away by the heavy, spiraling riff. I am spellbound. I find out (yeah you guessed it) it's from Load and is The Outlaw Torn. So I pull out the album, blow dust off it and press play on this track and am again blown away. Since then I have had this album on repeat. I played it 6 times in a row and fully appreciating Aint My Bitch, House that Jack Built, King Nothing, Bleeding Me, Wasting my Hate and of course The Outlaw Torn. br / br /So a thrash-head has been converted. It seems Metallica really are the Kings of heavy rock/metal/thrash. This album is a classic and rightly deserves to be up there with their best. You just have to get over the photos, a few dodgy tunes (Mamma Said, 2x4 and a few others) and chill. If you doubt me, play The Outlaw Torn at full volume and see...... br / br /

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review by: BabyLamb date: 2009-02-12 rating:
Something Different
First off, I will say that I very much like Master Of Puppets, Ride The Lightning and ...And Justice For All so I'm not someone who dislikes metal-ly Metallica, but I do feel that these album receives a fair amount of unjust slander. I understand entirely that Load does not sound akin to the aforementioned but that it is not a reason alone for rubbishing it. If you are buying this album because MOP or RTL is one of your favourite ever CDs, you must prepare for, at the least, a surprise, at the worst, disappointment. br /Now the album in question; for me it is an outstanding change of direction for a band not really treading new ground since 1986 and I think it comes off remarkably well. There is enough Metallica-ness to make it work and to justify its parity with their earlier works; for instance, 'King Nothing' is virtually 'Enter Sandman' in structure but very different aurally, James Hetfield's lyrics are as bitter as previous outings and Kirk Hammett still provides some blinding solos. br /No longer is the music about how fast one can play or how heavy, but how coherently, how unified as a whole the band are on this record. There is also a more personal and emotional sincerity within the music ('Mama Said', 'Poor Twisted Me') which, other than perhaps in 'Nothing Else Matters', the band have not demonstrated and this allows the listener to connect far more with the music than before. br /Unfortunately this is not what every Metallica fan wanted and so the record is just dismissed, unfairly I feel, since there are many fantastic songs present like 'The Outlaw Torn' and 'Bleeding Me', only offset by the boring '2x4' and the unexciting 'Thorn Within'. Other than those two tracks, the rest are all enjoyable. br /Just be open-minded and expect a rockier sound, and you'll find a very good album, if not quite a great one.

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review by: date: 2008-12-01 rating:
Most under-rated album ever?
This was the first Metallica album I bought, after being blown away by the 'Until it Sleeps' video. I was about to hit my teens at the time, and I remember all the bad press surrounding it at the time, but couldn't for the life of me understand why everyone had such a problem with a fantastic album. Although after hearing the 80's stuff, I soon realised why some of the thrash purists might have found 'Load' a bit hard to swallow (arf arf). br / br /However, just because it's different doesn't necessarily mean that it's bad. Far from it. After the trademark thrash sound of the first 4 albums and the Pantera-esque metal stomp of 1991's 'Black Album', Metallica took a bold move with their forray into alternative rock. But it undoubtedly pays off. If anything this album is a great example of the shape of mainstream rock and metal at the time - the 14 songs here bring to mind artists such as Soundgarden, Clutch, and Alice in Chains, although Hetfield's legendary vocal means that it is Metallica without a doubt from the off. Tracks such as 'Ain't My Bitch', '2 X 4', 'The House Jack Built', 'Thorn Within' and the classic 'King Nothing' are all benchmark Metallica, and all fully deserve a place on your iPod. br / br /Ignore the fact that this isn't a thrash album, in some places not even a metal album, and just buy it for what it is - a damn good hard rock album.

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review by: terencej72 date: 2008-10-28 rating:
Decent album but with some great songs
I've had this album since it came out and i would say had Metallica not been greedy and took the best songs from Load and Reload and made 1 album it would have surpassed the black album song for song. As it is it has to be treated seprately. br / br /I've seen Metallica 4 times -Juctice tour, Roam tour, Load tour and a few years ago at gig on the green in Glasgow. br /The best tour for me was the Load tour not just because of the venue (Glasgow Barrowlands) but the songs. br / br /So be under NO ILLUSION there are some fantastic songs on this album - Mama said, Hero Of The Day, Until it sleeps, Bleeding me The Outlaw torn, with the latter 2 standing up against the best Metallica songs recorded since Puppets. In fact i'd go as far as to say that Bleeding Me Outlaw Torn are better than every song bar "One" and Harvester on Justice. br / br /Now that is a bold statement and not everyone will agree but it brings me onto the second point i am making - perception of Metallica fans. br /I know a lot of Metallica fans and like me they've been into the band since Justice and they fall into TWO categories. They say you can't label people but i'm afraid that you can with Metallica fans - Camp no 1. Metallica fans whose favourite album is usually one of Kill 'em all, Lightning, or Puppets. br /Camp 2. Favourite album is Juctice (and they'll likely rate St. Anger as well). br / br /Now the first camp will pick apart Metallica's albums since Justice and they'll find some songs they like and will give credit where credit is due for example they'll admire the experementation of Mama said, sure they may not like the song, but they'll appreciate the effort to try something different. br / br /The second camp will label every album since Justice as either "sell out" or "rubbish", they won't even say some songs on some albums (God That Failed, Bleeding Me, Fuel etc) are good songs on overall decent albums, instead they'll label the entire album as either poor or ok. br / br /So do yourself a favour, if you haven't bought this buy it (just don't pay more than £5 for it)


review by: date: 2008-09-03 rating:
A Nice Change To The Cliché
If you want a change here it is. Metallica grew up and tried something different. You hear alot of metalligeeks (they are the narrow minded fans who want complex thrash metal - very original eh!) claim this album is terrible, metallica sucked from this album on blah blah blah... br / br /Truth be told, this album is great. It's a fine mix between heavy metal and the blues. The riffs and songs in general are more in line with the Black Album but it has abit more variety. br / br /The tempo for most of the songs are mostly mid tempo, which can drag abit but if you're like me who love some AC/DC or any of that classic heavy stuff then it's right down your road. br / br /Don't expect any "thrashing" classics, just some great mid tempo heavy metal. br / br /Buuut if you're as opinionated as the 80s Metallica/Slayer fans then you might aswell stay clear.

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