November 18, 1997 - Reload

Two days after my last release and a year and a half since "Load", Metallica released their seventh album "Reload" on November 18, 1997. Metallica were originally going to release "Load" as a double album, but they had so much material that they ended up releasing two 70+ minute albums! Some of these songs were recorded during the "Load" sessions and others were worked on in the past year, resulting in this companion album. "Load" wasn't really that great, so I don't have high hopes for this album, but let's see what "Reload" has to offer!

The album kicks off with one of it's big hit singles "Fuel" and James Hetfield's "Gimme fuel, gimme fire, gimme that which I desire!" is a very iconic way to open this upbeat jam with some catchy guitars from James and Kirk Hammett. Hetfield's singing is solid, though he's going full "ah!" at the end of most words at this point in his career. For this era of Metallica, this is a pretty solid song because it's fairly fast-paced and still has some heavy guitars and even heavy bass by Jason Newsted. Lars Ulrich's drums are loud as usual and sound pretty good on this one. Hammett's guitar solo isn't too flashy but it does have it's moments of awesomeness. Overall, it's a solid way to open the album. Up next is another big single "The Memory Remains" and it has a much slower, much simpler main riff that is pretty bland for Metallica. After a couple goes through we hear what sounds like an old woman "la-da-da-da"ing along and honestly I think it's pretty lame.  This is one of those parts where the crowd helps sing it, but on studio version it's pretty weak. Hetfield tries to add some emotion to the next verse and Hammett plays an epic-ish guitar solo, but it's not enough to save what's a poorer, made-for-radio song. More "la-da-da" at the end definitely doesn't help. Track 3 is "Devil's Dance" and Newsted plays a nice low bass riff that both guitarists nicely build around, including some slow but epic lead guitar by Hammett. Hetfield's singing fits the mood perfectly and he sounds pretty good on this one. The chorus is slow but heavy and catchy and this is easily my favourite song so far. Hammett plays an interesting guitar solo that isn't shredding but does sound cool and they also end the sing on a nice note. This was still a solid Metallica tune! The next track is "The Unforgiven II", a sort of sequel to the epic track off the Black Album. It starts with the same note, but then moves into a slow and light main riff with some nice rhythm guitar by Hetfield as well as some solid vocals. It's a well done slow burn, but it's very light for Metallica. Hammett sparks things sometimes with some heavier guitar, including a short but solid solo. The ending is supported to be epic, but the "unforgiven too" lyric is pretty lame, as is the ending. Track 5 is "Better Than You" and they do a decent job of building up things to a decent, but a little restrained main riff. It's somehow both heavy and light at the same time, it's an interesting verse and chorus that is alright, but a little weird as well. The guitar solo is decent as well, but then they return to the same strange set-up to predictably finish things off. There's a false ending, but they should've just ended it at the false part! Even another "solo" by Hammett isn't worth this extra minute-plus. Up next is "Slither" and it has a slow and decent main riff that tries to be heavier than it actually sounds and Hetfield's vocals are not his best  Hammett's guitar falls flat for the most part as well, aside from the latter half of the guitar solo where things do sound good for a sec. Most of this song is alright, but definitely nothing special, probably from the "Load" sessions. Track 7 is "Carpe Diem Baby" and it has yet another slow and oh-so-lame-sounding main guitar riff along with some "cool" drums by Ulrich that also fall flat. Hetfield's vocals are once again not his greatest and how he says the name of the song to end the chorus just sounds so lame and un-thrash! The guitar solo is quite long, yet there's nothing even resembling shredding and it's a pretty uneventful, lengthy solo. Hetfield has some more less than stellar singing and this long song just hits every note so softly! Toned-down Metallica folks. The next track is "Bad Seed" and it has an upbeat main riff, but it's pretty simple. Hetfield sounds alright, but this is all very average and uninspiring. It's just so made-for-radio and bland. Hammett's solo once agin turns up towards the end, but it's not enough to save another pretty poor song. Track 9 is "Where The Wild Things Are" and after a quiet and decent opening they move into a decently heavy main riff. Hetfield's vocals are all strange and not his regular voice and I'm not a fan of it. After a few long verses and choruses they move to a new long part with some more sub-par vocals. For a song that's almost seven minutes, there's not really a whole lot interesting happening. Yet another dud from these sessions. Up next is "Prince Charming" and Hetfield leads this upbeat main riff with some decent guitar, but Hetfield's vocals aren't his best in my opinion. The chorus is pretty bland and James "hey ma look it's me!" at the end is pretty lame. The guitar solo is anticlimactic and never really goes off and it's such a shame that Metallica reduced themselves to this lame, made-for-radio metal. Hammett's solo at the end of the song is much better and definitely the best part of the song, but it can't save it. Track 11 is "Low Man's Lyric" and Hetfield hums along with his rhythm guitar as we also hear some very country-ish vibes. Hetfield sings in a low voice that is alright, but the music is so slow and sad and just so un-Metallica. It's funny that they combine some of Hetfield's best singing on the album with this weak music that is so repetitive and unexciting, and way too long! This song is over seven and a half minutes and there's no part of it that makes me excited. They end it as it began, but the ending takes over a minute and there are just so many bad decisions going on. The next track is "Attitude" and Hetfield lays down a decent rhythm guitar riff, but Kirk's lead guitar is fairly lame sadly. Hetfield's vocals are alright and the verse and chorus is alright, definitely better than some others. Hammett gets a chance at a lengthy soloz but while it's solid, it's pretty tame for Kirk. Still one of the better songs probably, and that really speaks volumes. The final song on the album is the eight-plus minute "Fixxxer" and after a weird opening Newsted's bass sets the stage for this main riff as we continue to hear trippy background guitars and a slow main guitar riff that they build into a pretty typical main riff for this era with slow, loud music that is fairly simple. Hetfield's verse is pretty average, the chorus sounds better, but everything is very slow and pretty bland. Hammett's solo is pretty good actually once they get there, but then they quiet things down and just play a variation on the bland main riff, which is a little better but still not great. It's a fittingly uninspiring final track to finally end this album.

That is the end of "Reload" and I thought it was very similar to it's predecessor: which is not very good! This album started strong with a few solid early songs, but the rest of the almost 80 minute album really dragged and didn't provide enough excitement or energy that came from Metallica's previous albums. They are just so average during these sessions and have fully embraced their made-for-radio metal role, which I am definitely not a fan of. You wouldn't have thought it was possible to get worse than "Load", but I think "Reload" achieves this feat! So many of the songs are just that poor! New lows for Metallica, they couldn't possibly sink lower, could they?