I think anyone at this site can safely answer “no” to every question in that last paragraph. After 15 years of constant letdowns, I think its time we all realize that there is no hope of Metallica ever being good again at all ever.

This is one album I will have to listen to front to back before I purchase it. We all seem to hold out some faint glimmer of hope that this time, yeah THIS TIME they won’t do us wrong. Like the this weekend as I sat a blackjack table. Well, at the table I did come back and actually finish ahead, so maybe, just maybe…

Let’s see what they are going to bring to the table. We all know that St. Anger sucked the big one; hopefully, this new one will be semi-decent.

In GuitarWorld, Hammet mentions that they are doing solos, so that’s a good thing to me.

I feel that this may be their last hurrah (if it’s bad) because another shit-fest like St. Anger won’t cut it.

Sadly, I’ll still buy it, and will most likely be let down.

Have you seen Some Kind Of Monster? Those dudes have no fucking idea what they’re doing anymore. They have reached a point where millions of people are going to buy their records no matter what the fuck they sound like. The thing that made their classic albums so good was that they were out to prove something; now those days are long gone. They haven’t had anything to prove for so long that they’ve forgotten how to be good. It happens to anyone who is in the game for as long as they have been. Look at George Lucas. Once upon a time he was an angry nerd pouring his frustrated soul into his Science Fiction stories, now he has more money than God and just continues to make movies because he doesn’t know what else to do.

If Metallica can pull one out of their ass I’ll be pleasantly surprised and I’ll be very vocally recanting any detractions I’ve levelled against them. But I don’t think anyone really EXPECTS that anymore, they just vaguelly hope.

Metallica’s next album will lick balls, guaran-damn-teed. Will it be better than “St. Anguish”? How couldn’t it be? But that’s known as “setting your sights low”. I mean jesus, if the drums are audible it’ll beat “St. Anchor” right there.

I’m with Rob above. If it kills, I’ll happily eat my words. Very happily, because a return to form by these clowns would do my heart some good. But if I could bet on it I’d lay everything on “it will suck badly”. The sad truth about Metallica is that they haven’t recorded a seriously good song in a long, long, long time & please spare me the comments like “part of that one tune on St Anger was OK”. Metallica has been pathetic since the moment that hot steaming turd known as “Until It Sleeps” plopped with a wet splat back in 1996. ANY song on ANY album they’ve done since then would EASILY be the worst song on any of their previous discs (excluding the horrible “Nothing Else Matters” which was more of a novelty thing as opposed to a real Metallica song).

For me, The black album was pure & utter shit so as everything after that…period. Metallica will never be what it used to be simply because of Jame’s voice imo. They should have called it quits a long time ago.

Wha…wtf are you talking about SKOM & Newsted has nothing to do on why Metallica sucks. SKOM was just a well orchestrated fucking gimmick to generate more money Even if Metallica had the most brutal bass player they would still sound like a school girl band. James young angry high pitched voice is gone, they will always compromise their sound to appeal to a wider audience (me want more $$$$$) thus a lesser brutal trashy sound. The worst thing is I’m sure they have good intentions but its just so natural to compromise…they do it without even noticing it.

They should lock themselves in a basement for 6 months with only their old albums, beer, pizza, sluts & a good vocoder for James.

hm… i sense someone is trapped in the past? listen to something else if ya don’t like it. just stop bitchin about it.

LOL. Ok, everyone of you out there that has been displeased with Metallica since Load, or hell, since the Black Album, hahahahaa, why do you bother wasting your time even posting? I mean, you need to see a shrink and ask them why you bother even pointing your web browser to a Metallica web site or article if you dislike them so much, and for so fucking long!! Its absolutely comical. Seriously, think about it. You haven’t liked them for 15 years?! What the hell are you doing on this site? I mean, don’t you have something else better to do with your life?! Because apparently, you have nothing better to do with your time then rant about a band you stopped liking long ago… Bottom line whether you want to admit it or not, Metallica still has you trapped, in one way or another… Deep down in your heart, for whatever reason, you haven’t let go. Here’s whats normal – if you don’t like a band and haven’t for quite some time, ignore them, don’t think about them, do other things with your life… You are just as obsessed as the rest of us that ARE admitted diehard fans. If you don’t like them, let go. Its Ok. You don’t have to like all their stuff… Move on…
As far as the last three albums, how can any of you, especially those that like the earlier stuff, not like some of the songs like Ain’t My Bitch, Fuel, or Attitude? If you haven’t listened to them lately, put them on. No, they don’t follow the dynamic song structures on the first albums (and what is supposedly on album 9), but they are heavy, fast, and badass. Period. I won’t mention the other songs on those albums, but there really are a lot of quality songs there.
Now, as far as St. Anger, yes, it pains me to admit, like most people, I was very disappointed with that album. But I must say this, when I am really pissed and angry at something in my life (and I’ve had some shitty stuff happening in my life in the last few years), there is nothing else in this world that satisfies my anger like St. Anger. No other Metallica song or song by another band comes even close. St. Anger is a pure, raw, anger purge, which is what it was meant to be in the first place. Last weekend, I was so angry at some family shit going on that St. Anger jacked up my adrenaline so much, I channeled that anger into pure energy and broke my all time record for mowing my lawn! LOL. No I didn’t have a ride-on, jackasses. LOL. In all seriousness, we have a big corner yard and a push lawn mower (not the kind that pulls you along), and I literally didn’t stop and take a break in this South Florida heat. Normally it would take 45 to 50 minutes for the front yard, but this time it took only 35 minutes. The only other thing I would say about St. Anger is that Metallica themselves have said that they feel that album was more of a statement, more of a purge of all the shit happening in their lives at the time, Jason leaving, James’ rehab, etc. And no matter what, I always respect an artist who chooses to take the path less traveled and do what they want to do, and doesn’t take the path they already took to success. We don’t need AJFA2 or MOP2. THAT would be selling out. You know what you get when a band wants to just keep doing the same shit over and over again and isn’t brave enough to try something new? Megadeth. I mean, I DO like a handful of Megadeth songs, but otherwise, all their stuff sounds the same to me. Each Metallica album is distinct in some way or another from its predecessor, and that, my friends, is growth.

If they keep making great songs like the fab 5, the concerts would have to be much longer. Metallica live is what every fan wants. Bells, Puppets, One: thats what we go to see. They keep making them and like the loyal fans that we are, we buy it. Now go listen to Bells from S&M and relax.

cock my sucker !!!