Delivered five years after their eponymous "black" album in 1991, Load captures Metallica settling into an uneasy period of maturation.
Under the guidance of producer Bob Rock, Metallica have streamlined their sound, cutting away most of the twisting, unpredictable time signatures and the mind-numbingly fast riffs.
What's left is polished -- and disappointingly straightforward -- heavy metal.
Metallica's attempts at expanding their sonic palette have made them seem more conventional than they ever have before.
They add in Southern boogie rock, country-rock, and power ballads to their bag of tricks, which make them sound like '70s arena rock holdovers.
Metallica's idea of opening up their sound is to concentrate on relentless midtempo boogie -- over half the album is dedicated to songs that are meant to groove, but they simply don't swing.
Metallica sound tight, but with the material they've written, they should sound loose.
That becomes apparent as the songs drag out over the album's nearly 80-minute running time -- there are only so many times that a band can work the same tempo exactly the same way before it becomes tedious.
It isn't surprising to hear Metallica get stodgier and more conservative as they get older, but it is nonetheless depressing.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ain't My BitchJames Hetfield, Lars Ulrich | Metallica | Play | 05:03 | 11 MB | 37 MB |
| 2 | 2 X 4Kirk Hammett, James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich | Metallica | Play | 05:27 | 12 MB | 40 MB |
| 3 | The House Jack BuiltKirk Hammett, James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich | Metallica | Play | 06:38 | 15 MB | 48 MB |
| 4 | Until It SleepsJames Hetfield, Lars Ulrich | Metallica | Play | 04:27 | 10 MB | 31 MB |
| 5 | King NothingKirk Hammett, James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich | Metallica | Play | 05:29 | 12 MB | 39 MB |
| 6 | Hero of the DayKirk Hammett, James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich | Metallica | Play | 04:21 | 9 MB | 29 MB |
| 7 | Bleeding MeKirk Hammett, James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich | Metallica | Play | 08:17 | 19 MB | 54 MB |
| 8 | CureKirk Hammett, James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich | Metallica | Play | 04:53 | 11 MB | 35 MB |
| 9 | Poor Twisted MeJames Hetfield, Lars Ulrich | Metallica | Play | 03:59 | 9 MB | 27 MB |
| 10 | Wasting My HateKirk Hammett, James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich | Metallica | Play | 03:56 | 9 MB | 28 MB |
| 11 | Mama SaidJames Hetfield, Lars Ulrich | Metallica | Play | 05:19 | 12 MB | 34 MB |
| 12 | Thorn WithinKirk Hammett, James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich | Metallica | Play | 05:51 | 13 MB | 40 MB |
| 13 | RonnieJames Hetfield, Lars Ulrich | Metallica | Play | 05:16 | 12 MB | 36 MB |
| 14 | The Outlaw TornJames Hetfield, Lars Ulrich | Metallica | Play | 09:48 | 22 MB | 68 MB |
| 78 mins | 180 MB | |||||
| 78 mins | 552 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andie Airfix | Design |
| 2 | Anton Corbijn | Photography |
| 3 | Matt Curry | Mixing Assistant |
| 4 | Paul DeCarli | Digital Editing |
| 5 | Brian Dobbs | Assistant Engineer, Engineer |
| 6 | Mike Gillies | Digital Editing Assistant |
| 7 | Jason Goldstein | Assistant Engineer |
| 8 | Kirk Hammett | Composer, Guitar |
| 9 | James Hetfield | Composer, Guitar, Producer, Vocals |
| 10 | George Marino | Mastering |
| 11 | Kent Matcke | Assistant Engineer |
| 12 | Metallica | Primary Artist |
| 13 | Jason Newsted | Bass |
| 14 | Mike Rew | Mixing |
| 15 | Bob Rock | Producer |
| 16 | Andres Serrano | Cover Design |
| 17 | Randy Staub | Engineer, Mixing |
| 18 | Lars Ulrich | Composer, Drums, Producer |
| 19 | Chris Vrenna | Digital Editing Assistant, Programming |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |