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How do you rank Metallica albums?
- Thread starter Fleet of Foot
- Start date
I was starting to despair. How did it take so long for the obviously best album to be named as the top one? SMH. :P
- Kill 'Em All
- Ride the Lightning
- Master of Puppets
- ...And Justice for All
- (everything else)
- St. Anger
Can't rank them but MoP is the best
And St Anger is the worst. I think Lars recorded the drums for that album in a hotel bathroom with a cell phone microphone.
And St Anger is the worst. I think Lars recorded the drums for that album in a hotel bathroom with a cell phone microphone.
That album is rough as hell. It's fantastic, but you can really tell it was their first. Mind you, still the strongest start of the big 4.
1. ...And Justice For All
2. Black
3. Master of Puppets
4. Ride the Lightning
5. Garage Inc
6. Kill Em All
7. Hardwired
8. Load
9. Death Magnetic
10. Reload
11. St. Anger
2. Black
3. Master of Puppets
4. Ride the Lightning
5. Garage Inc
6. Kill Em All
7. Hardwired
8. Load
9. Death Magnetic
10. Reload
11. St. Anger
I haven't listened to a lot of them in a while but based on past experience:
1. Black Album
2. Ride the Lightning
3. Master of Puppets
4. ...And Justice for All
5. Load
6. ReLoad
7. Death Magnetic
8. St. Anger
I haven't really listened to Kill Em All enough to rank it in comparison with the rest, and I never bothered with Hardwired at all. The singles just haven't done anything for me at all.
1. Black Album
2. Ride the Lightning
3. Master of Puppets
4. ...And Justice for All
5. Load
6. ReLoad
7. Death Magnetic
8. St. Anger
I haven't really listened to Kill Em All enough to rank it in comparison with the rest, and I never bothered with Hardwired at all. The singles just haven't done anything for me at all.
Master
Kill Em' All
Ride The Lightning
And Justice
Black
Death Magnetic
Hardwired
Load
Reload
Garage
Kill Em' All
Ride The Lightning
And Justice
Black
Death Magnetic
Hardwired
Load
Reload
Garage
I totally forgot about Lulu and apparently so did everyone else in this thread lmao
Kill 'em All has the best Thrash metal song of all time so that puts the album at the top.
The song in question is Whiplash
The song in question is Whiplash
Just checking the thread to make sure St Anger is on the bottom of most lists.
Also, give Load another listen without directly comparing it to the glory days of the 80s. There are some quality songs on it.
Also, give Load another listen without directly comparing it to the glory days of the 80s. There are some quality songs on it.
Is the black album really considered so shitty to metallica fans? Or its just the most popular one so its not cool to like it?
This is how I would rank the top 5. Load and reload would definitely be below those. No idea about the others because I stopped listening to them after that.
That's what makes it so good, though. It's so raw and primal and energetic and full of youthful aggression.
It is the epitome of mediocrity and watered-down pop-metal.
For me, it happens to coincide with the order I discovered/listened to them growing up:
Master of Puppets - first one I listened to and it will always be my favorite
Ride the Lightning
Kill em All
And Justice for All
Black
Load
Basically stopped listening to them after Load. They were moving to a rock/blues style, while my tastes were moving in the opposite direction towards more extreme metal.
Master of Puppets - first one I listened to and it will always be my favorite
Ride the Lightning
Kill em All
And Justice for All
Black
Load
Basically stopped listening to them after Load. They were moving to a rock/blues style, while my tastes were moving in the opposite direction towards more extreme metal.
Ride the Lightning > Master of Puppets > Justice >Black > Kill 'em All and that's all they ever released, right?
I've kind of always thought this. King Nothing is a classic.
It kind of had a more "mainstream," accessible sound compared to their 80s material. I guess that turned off a lot of older fans, but there's a reason why it brought in a lot of newbies too.
Master of Puppets
Ride the Lightning
Black Album
Kill 'Em All
Garage Inc.
Load
...And Justice For All
Hardwired...to Self-Destruct
Reload
Death Magnetic
St. Anger
Ride the Lightning
Black Album
Kill 'Em All
Garage Inc.
Load
...And Justice For All
Hardwired...to Self-Destruct
Reload
Death Magnetic
St. Anger
Mine.
Ride the Lightning
And Justice For All....
Master of Puppets
Kill 'Em All
Load/Reload
Hardwired....To Self Destruct
Death Magnetic
Metallica
St. Anger
Ride the Lightning
And Justice For All....
Master of Puppets
Kill 'Em All
Load/Reload
Hardwired....To Self Destruct
Death Magnetic
Metallica
St. Anger
Ride the Lightning
Master of Puppets
...And Justice for All
Kill em All
Black
Load
Death Magnetic
St. Anger
Hardwired
Reload
Master of Puppets
...And Justice for All
Kill em All
Black
Load
Death Magnetic
St. Anger
Hardwired
Reload
I'm probably gonna get so much shit for this, but...
1. Reload
The more bluesy, full-bodied Metallica sound speaks to me the most. No one writes a rock ballad quite like Hetfield et. al., and The Unforgiven II is a goddamn masterpiece and I dare say my favourite Metallica track.
2. Metallica / The Black Album
Really close second. An overall better selection of tracks than Reload.
3. Master of Puppets
My favourite out of the 80's stuff.
4. Load
5. Death Magnetic
6. Ride the Lightning
7. ...And Justice For All
8. Hardwired... to Self-Destruct
9. Kill 'Em All
10 (by far). St. Anger
If I were ranking based on songwriting alone, I'd probably be easier on St. Anger, but sonically it is straight up garbage.
1. Reload
The more bluesy, full-bodied Metallica sound speaks to me the most. No one writes a rock ballad quite like Hetfield et. al., and The Unforgiven II is a goddamn masterpiece and I dare say my favourite Metallica track.
2. Metallica / The Black Album
Really close second. An overall better selection of tracks than Reload.
3. Master of Puppets
My favourite out of the 80's stuff.
4. Load
5. Death Magnetic
6. Ride the Lightning
7. ...And Justice For All
8. Hardwired... to Self-Destruct
9. Kill 'Em All
10 (by far). St. Anger
If I were ranking based on songwriting alone, I'd probably be easier on St. Anger, but sonically it is straight up garbage.
And Justice for All
Master of Puppets
Ride the Lightning
Kill em all
.
.
.
.
Black album
.
.
The rest
Master of Puppets
Ride the Lightning
Kill em all
.
.
.
.
Black album
.
.
The rest
1. Master of Puppets
2. ...and Justice For All
3. Kill Em All
4. Ride the Lightning
5. Metallica
6. Hardwire....to Self Destruct
7. Garage Inc.
8. S&M
9. Death Magnetic
10. Reload
11. Load.
12. St. Anger
2. ...and Justice For All
3. Kill Em All
4. Ride the Lightning
5. Metallica
6. Hardwire....to Self Destruct
7. Garage Inc.
8. S&M
9. Death Magnetic
10. Reload
11. Load.
12. St. Anger
1. Ride the Lightning
2. Master of Puppets
3. Kill 'Em All
4. ... And Justice for All
5. Death Magnetic
6. Hardwired
7. Metallica
8. Reload
9. Load
10. St. Anger
2. Master of Puppets
3. Kill 'Em All
4. ... And Justice for All
5. Death Magnetic
6. Hardwired
7. Metallica
8. Reload
9. Load
10. St. Anger
Not going to bother with a list but I will say I think St. Anger is an interesting album. There are cool ideas, vocal harmonies and even a few good songs lurking somewhere in what is undeniably a messy album.
I love it when Metallica takes risks. They're a more daring and interesting band than their supposed fans will allow them to be.
I love it when Metallica takes risks. They're a more daring and interesting band than their supposed fans will allow them to be.
I do get this, and it's a large part of the charm for that album. In my opinion, the sound is in a weird place for this album. I think it's "too raw", so to speak. I've really no idea how to convey what I mean exactly, but contrasting with Slayer and Megadeth's firsts, you might be able to see what I mean.
Slayer's Show No Mercy is clearly distinct from the Slayer 'sound' that started forming by Hell Awaits, but you can tell there's a method to the madness, so to speak. Megadeth, I think you can clearly see this is where a lot of Kill 'em All's sound comes from. Dave Mustaine seemed to know what he was going for with Megadeth from the start with Killing is My Business. Metallica, I think, didn't seem nearly as clued in to what they wanted sound wise. It certainly feels like that album was heavily weighted on Dave Mustaine's input, but err... there's obvious reasons for that.
I've no idea if that'll make any sense to anyone but me... Hopefully you know what I'm getting at.
I'd have to guess by this post that you'd probably rate all 3 of their first albums as top or very high of their respective discographies.
Eh, no real arguments there. I still liked the handful of songs enough to call it a decent album in my book.
Ok, I get this too, but... fuck that album :P
Seriously though, I agree with the sentiment. I think their most recent stuff backs you up in this regard, but St Anger came out when their heads were shoved so far up their collective asses it seeped through the album.
How is Sad But True, Don't Tread On Me, My Friend of Misery watered down pop metal?
It's a hard rock album anyway
SS Tier: Kill 'Em All, Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets
S Tier: ...And Justice for All
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C Tier: Metallica
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AJFA is really more A or even B Tier. It's pretty objectively a huge step down from the first 3. Like 5 of the tracks are worse than EVERYTHING that came before. The most overrated album, while still managing to be listenable with fleeting brilliance.
S Tier: ...And Justice for All
.
.
C Tier: Metallica
.
.
.
.
Error! Data not found
AJFA is really more A or even B Tier. It's pretty objectively a huge step down from the first 3. Like 5 of the tracks are worse than EVERYTHING that came before. The most overrated album, while still managing to be listenable with fleeting brilliance.
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Compared to their previous output, or to just about any other thrash metal album of the 80's or early 90's, that's exactly what it is. Radio-friendly, accessible, sterile and soulless. It doesn't mean it's bad (though, in this case, it's also bad, except for Wherever I May Roam), but the description is apt.
In other words... "watered down pop metal"? :)