Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Not much (if any) discussion about 'em here. What's your take, Sean?

I had a friend in middle school who was a HUGE fan, believe it or not. He was obsessed with them, and played me a few songs. I thought "Enter Sandman" was pretty good.

Metallica actually saved me from getting beat up by a bully at school. My freshman year of high school, that same middle school friend and I were talking, when some guys asked us what music we liked. The friend said "Metal", and I said, "What do you think of The Rolling Stones?" He said, "F**k the Stones!" I said, "The Beatles?" "F**k the Beatles! Another bad band, and I'm gonna kick your [butt]!" "Metallica?" I whimpered. "That's more like it!" he said.

The only album I really ever liked was Ride The Lightning. I respect was Kill 'em All did for the genre at the time but never cared for its sloppiness. Master of Puppets annoyed me in that I could see that they were getting too polished. RTL was the perfect blend of their rawness and refinement. And Justice totally turned me off with poor songwiritng and awful production. I saw that tour and Queensryche made them look like amateurs. Everything after that never got on my radar.

I've heard most of the leaked tracks from the new one and I am not impressed. There's nothing that they could put out now that I could care about.

I'm (kinda) with Sean on this one.

Kill Em All - kinda like a good garage band. Great attitude though and the live shows were pretty epic.

Ride the Lightning - Coming into their own and a great leap from the first one. Production still a little razor-y for my taste.

Master of Puppets I felt was them at the peak of their powers. I thought the production was great. From that acoustic intro into Battery to the onslaught that came after it all the way to the end was (I thought) brilliant. I saw them in 86 opening for Ozzy and I believe I caused permanent damage to my neck from headbanging so hard.

Justice - First of all, it should have been a single, not a double. It would have been a killer one album. Production SUCKED. No bass. Sounds like Lars is using a Hefty Bag for a bass drum head. Felt sorry for whoever followed them on Monsters of Rock.

Black Album - hey, it sold a 100 million or whatever, and they chased that ever since. Thanks, Bob Rock.

When Cliff died, it took the heart out of the band for me. For ME.

My opinion is a little different.

"Kill 'em All", "Ride the Lightning", "Master of Puppets" were (IMO) a natural progression getting more polished along the way but keeping a raw edge. With "....And justice for All" I think the technical songwriting took a leap but the mix of the release sounded a bit thin for my taste. "The Black Album" when it was released made my stomach churn....it was a pretty abrupt change from "....and Justice....". Over time it grew on me though. "Load" and "Reload" are actually two of my favorites. They are certainly different than the early years but on their own I think they are great releases with some solid, heavy, well written tunes with good studio production. "St. Anger" is almost completely unlistenable. The production is heinous and the songs are whiny and full of self pity. As a side note......I enjoy most all of the covers from the "Garage Days" releases.

My taste in music has evolved somewhat over the years. I still like most of what I did years ago but I have also come to like some mellower selections that I would have dismissed in my lost youth. So I can understand how a band's output can change directions over the years as well. I take each offering and try to judge it on it's own, not against past releases.

Seeing Metallica first for the "Ride...." tour in '85(ish) was certainly one of the best, if not the best, concerts I have attended. At a small venue and being in the front two rows the whole high energy show was priceless. Seeing them again for "Masters...." at a larger arena opening for Ozzy ("Ultimate Sin" tour.....horrible) was less excellent but still good.....as was "......Justice....". Monsters of Rock certainly was owned by Metallica. I missed 'em live for a few years since they played a local outdoor ampitheater that I detest and refuse to go to. I saw 'em several times in recent history for "Load/Reload" and "St. Anger" tours and, I must say, they are still a treat live. Always an excellent, solid show with great song selections. I look forward to seeing them again the next time they come around. It won't be the same as in '85, but neither am I.

From speed metal, to heavy metal, to alternative metal, to classic metal, Metallica is the biggest bunch'a badddassssssss's around! Some Kind of Monster is one big therapy session, embarrassing and whiny at times, but still an enjoyable ride. I wish I had it in widescreen, but don't know if such viewing was ever released.

Addendum: Favorite metal band of all time...a band classified as grunge but weren't in my opinion...Alice in Chains! Power, songwriting and monster vocals, and Jerry Cantrell--a gifted metal guitar writer! What a band, too short on sense, at least from one member. What is available was immediately classic!
...wisdom

There was a slide show on the local paper's web site showing bassist Robert Trujillo playing what appears to be a Ric bass at the concert in St. Louis on Nov. 18. I'm not a fan and was not there.

Robert mentions having a few Ricks in the current UK Bass Guitar Magazine interview with him.

One of the other photos shows a partial view of the bass body (the photo is copyrighted so I can't download it to post). Aside from a sparkle paint job, the neck pup (bridge pup not shown) had been replaced. Looks similar to a Fender noiseless jazz pup (long, black and narrow).....

Here's a thread from Talkbass with a few more pics of Robert with a Ric......

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthrea ... t+Trujillo

BTW....I think "Death Magnetic" is an excellent CD.

Death Magnetic is the best they've done since And Justice...but that's not really a compliment.