[emptymt]

Don't know if someone posted this already or not.

 
better than the first one I think

 

[KopaneDePooj]

Why all the hate for Hardwired...To Self Destruct? I don't get it.
I like it very much, it is clean, has very good rhythmic constructions, great riffs, a clear return to the old-school Metallica. Obvious Iron Maiden influences on Atlas Rise. What's not to like?
Yes it is a bunch of (good) songs, it doesn't pretend to be a concept album or anything else.
To me is their best since the Black Album. I could do without Load, Reload, St.Anger and Death Magnetic. Hardwired is much cleaner, rocking and very well produced.
'Hardwired...To Self Destruct' is to Metallica what 'Brave New World' was to Iron Maiden - a breakthrough / returning into shape / old school / great album.

 

[emptymt]

  Why all the hate for Hardwired...To Self Destruct? I don't get it.
I like it very much, it is clean, has very good rhythmic constructions, great riffs, a clear return to the old-school Metallica. Obvious Iron Maiden influences on Atlas Rise. What's not to like?
Yes it is a bunch of (good) songs, it doesn't pretend to be a concept album or anything else.
To me is their best since the Black Album. I could do without Load, Reload, St.Anger and Death Magnetic. Hardwired is much cleaner, rocking and very well produced.
'Hardwired...To Self Destruct' is to Metallica what 'Brave New World' was to Iron Maiden - a breakthrough / returning into shape / old school / great album.

I actually think that it is okay (I don't hate but I don't love it either, right in the middle), and some tracks in that album is quite good.
however, it definitely is not on the same level as the black album by a long shot.
 
I just feel that the guitar work and the song structure needs more refinement and complexity, progression is quite good in spit out the bones, but nevertheless, I don't feel like the whole album will be in my playlist(only a couple songs maybe) since I don't crave to hear it much.
 
Production is good and quite clean as you said.
just my opinion, and take it with some grain of salt as I like Death metal and it's sub genres the most.
I like Thrash too, but not as much as Death.

 

[SomeGuyDude]

I honestly think H...tSD is the best Metallica's done in like 20 years. Like the new Korn, this is the first I've heard from them in ages where I liked it and could go back to listen to it. I mean if you look at everything after the black album... Load/Reload/Anger/Magnetic? You can make a case for Load, at best, and I admit Memory Remains off Reload is a rad song, but that's about all. St Anger I won't get into, Death Magnetic felt like they were going through the motions. This is actually pretty rockin'. 
 
Keep in mind, I'm not a big Metallica dude (IMO Megadeth beats them by far), hell I don't really listen to thrash in general, so I don't really have a dog in this fight. I spend most of my time trolling around for new post/black/doom metal, but I'll readily admit H...tSD is solid.

 

[Riley Beale]

Hardwired has no soul.  It sounds like a money grabbing album to make some cash.  It doesn't move me at all.  It is emotionless which ruins it for a lot of us.  A corporate products using Metallica as an afterthought to perform the album.

 

[Redcarmoose]

I'll give the new Metallica some more, chances. Interesting to have it be controversial here?

The Megadeth this year was a dramatic reintroduction of what the vibe was from the golden era of Thrash. I have basically left the big four or five and moved onto bands like Kreator for my personal Thrash fix. There are always great new bands that seem to understand the energy and focus needed to make a great entertaining Thrash album in 2016.

I still listen to old Metallica and really wanted them to return to a form "old but new" just like Megadeth did this year. Still this new Metallica sounds like a band going through the motions. IMO

It's really all about emotion and mood with metal. There is maybe a hand full of ways to get emotion and mood, but a listener can simply feel it, like the sun on your arm on a nice day.

Pretty simple stuff, though it just goes to show, the formula can be elusive at times?

It's great when bands can continue to produce for years and years like Vader has, but the music industry has always been filled with slow death.

Some artist puts out a great album or two then 10 bad albums that no one even knew existed, that's simply the reality of the music industry.


In the end it is truly amazing that these formula aspects can't be located and distilled. A hit album should be no harder to produce than a great tasting meal. Put the ingredients in, cook everything right and "presto"!

But it's in truth never just that easy, as we always can hear.

 

[Roger5]

  Hardwired has no soul.  It sounds like a money grabbing album to make some cash.  It doesn't move me at all.  It is emotionless which ruins it for a lot of us.  A corporate products using Metallica as an afterthought to perform the album.

 
The entire Metallica catalog is even on Napster as of last week.  "No soul" and "corporate" seem like accurate words to describe their recent actions.

 

[Riley Beale]

   
The entire Metallica catalog is even on Napster as of last week.  "No soul" and "corporate" seem like accurate words to describe their recent actions.

Lars and the band have always been super money driven.  It is getting even worse now.  I have never seen them live and due to their actions I will never give them my hard earned money.  They show no appreciation for fans or what got them to where they are today. It is all about the money to them.

 

[Music Alchemist]

Wait...what? Every single track on Metallica's new album has an official music video?!
 

 
Well, I just played it all the way through (without watching the vids) since the recent discussion reminded me to get it over with. What can I say? It's a polite, polished modern thrash metal album for the masses that I find mind-numbingly boring and uninspired. In fact, I would go so far as to say that it is insulting to my intelligence and to serious metalheads everywhere. Even as a relative thrash novice, I feel like I've already heard these riffs before. The blatant rehashing of NWOBHM elements doesn't help either. Oh, and what I've said barely begins to cover why I think it's mediocre. If you can't instantly hear why it's trash (trash as opposed to thrash...why do people so often call thrash metal trash metal? ha), I really don't know what to tell ya. (Except maybe "Listen to more metal!") Sure, it is more akin to their classic material, but that doesn't count for anything in my book. Simply "representing the proper style" or whatever isn't good enough.
 
Brings to mind this stereotype:
 

 
Here are some other stereotypes...these are pretty darn funny.
http://lusoskav.deviantart.com/gallery/28926285/Luso-s-Handy-Guide-to-Metalheads
 
Anyway, I never liked Metallica much. Even their good stuff sounds pretty generic. When it comes to thrash, I much prefer the violent variety. (Or at least something that has an ounce of creativity.)
 
For an example of phenomenal extreme metal with thrash and other styles, listen to this Dimension F3H album. (I share it all the time, yet somehow no one talks about it!?)
 

 
This next vid is about metal *not* being just noise. Has a few decent points...but when people say crap like that to me, I just call them mean names. No point arguing with someone who knows next to nothing about music in the first place.
 

 
In other news...without even looking for it, I came across a metalhead dating site. lol
 

 

 

[KopaneDePooj]

[...]
Well, I just played it all the way through (without watching the vids) since the recent discussion reminded me to get it over with. What can I say? It's a polite, polished modern thrash metal album for the masses that I find mind-numbingly boring and uninspired. In fact, I would go so far as to say that it is insulting to my intelligence and to serious metalheads everywhere. Even as a relative thrash novice, I feel like I've already heard these riffs before. The blatant rehashing of NWOBHM elements doesn't help either. Oh, and what I've said barely begins to cover why I think it's mediocre. If you can't instantly hear why it's trash (trash as opposed to thrash...why do people so often call thrash metal trash metal? ha), I really don't know what to tell ya. (Except maybe "Listen to more metal!") Sure, it is more akin to their classic material, but that doesn't count for anything in my book. Simply "representing the proper style" or whatever isn't good enough. [...]

 
This is looking like the debate about Opeth's Sorceress not being progressive over in the 'prog rock' thread
What can I say, sometimes I like music to be simple, and give me raw emotion and I guess that's what I liked about H...tSD.
Background: I was in high school during the mid 80's, so "I feel like I've already heard these riffs before" and "The blatant rehashing of NWOBHM elements" are pluses for me in this case, because for a long time now I wanted to hear a Metallica album that sounds like their old material. Back in '83 their debut was groundbreaking for me, and later on 'Master Of Puppets' was another highlight. 
So getting back a bit of that raw emotion, from that era, is enough for me. Metallica is not my favorite band and I didn't like anything past the Black Album until this one. I just wanted a taste of that old sound and I got it. If I want progression I have other bands to listen to.

 

[Rockin_Zombie]

Metallica is playing at a small venue here next Wednesday, 100% going to charity. I would say they are not that money-driven, not anymore at least since they are rich now lol. 
 
Capacity is only 800, I tried to get tickets (so did 10 other friends), was not successful. Oh well..they not that good anyways lol.
 
Listened to Hardwired a few more times. Spit out the bones, moth into flames, hardwired, atlas rise are okay tracks. The others are forgettable. I would still say this is their strongest record since the black album, at least there are four tracks that could potentially make it to re-listen in a few years. 
 
The new Testament and Megadeth absolutely obliterates Metallica if we just count the oldies. 
 
 
BTW, I found this hilarious, a lot of you might have seen it already:
 
https://www.facebook.com/parasyche/videos/1001552903323639

 

[Music Alchemist]

  This is looking like the debate about Opeth's Sorceress not being progressive over in the 'prog rock' thread
What can I say, sometimes I like music to be simple, and give me raw emotion and I guess that's what I liked about H...tSD.

 
The only emotion I feel from it is annoyance, same as with newer Opeth. I don't think either of them express any real emotion at all; just about as tame and generic as you can get in this context. (I'm not talking about old Opeth, though. That stuff can make a man cry.) To each his own.
 
Contrast Metallica against this to hear what real anger sounds like.

 

[KopaneDePooj]

   
The only emotion I feel from it is annoyance, same as with newer Opeth. I don't think either of them express any real emotion at all; just about as tame and generic as you can get in this context. (I'm not talking about old Opeth, though. That stuff can make a man cry.) To each his own.
 
Contrast Metallica against this to hear what real anger sounds like.

That link returns a "This video is not available" to me, but if you're reffering to Antaeus - Inner War, then it sounds like someone stepped on the cat's tail (for vocals) combined with someone throwing cymbals in a concrete mixer (for guitars). So no anger portrayed for me
But again, I'm one of those who like 'Pale Communion' better that 'Blackwater Park' so yes, as you said - to each his own - and that is that.

 

[Mediahound]

When the Black album came out in the '90's it became sorta cool to diss Metallica and call them sellouts etc. So people keep on with that tradition today in order to seem cool or something. 
 
I think the new album rocks although I admit their last handful of albums were sorta take it or leave it. 

 

[Music Alchemist]

Man, I need to get some darker, more forgiving gear for the times when a recording is too bright/harsh. (Which accounts for a big chunk of metal. It's a shame, especially when the music is great but the production quality is bad enough to hurt my ears.) Either that or spend some time making custom EQ presets...