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The kings of speed metal have never been keen on being labeled, and LOAD, which follows up the 1991 mega-hit METALLICA, is a surprising pastiche of sonic fury. Metallica still rocks hard. James Hetfield's lyrics are still full of venom and anger, and the music still could scare small children. But the band is ready to show off other sides of its craft. "Hero Of The Day" sounds like an R.E.M. song, albeit a heavy one, with its tender beginning and ending confluence of harmonized vocals and catchy guitar riffs. A dose of the blues can be heard in the slow-burning "Bleeding Me," and a downright country twang pervades "Mama Said."
Still, this is a metal album, and there are headbanging riffs o'plenty. LOAD may seem like a departure from the Metallica "norm," but it's actually what the band has been doing all along: writing well-crafted songs without a regard for what others think. The only difference is that the one-time denizens of the underground now have the world's rapt attention.
2003 Elektra reissue of 1996 album.
Recorded at The Plant Studios, Sausalito, California between May 1995 and February 1996.
Personnel: James Hetfield (vocals, guitar); Kirk Hammett (guitar); Lars Ulrich (drums); Chris Vrenna (programming).
Audio Mixers: Mike Rew; Randy Staub .
Recording information: Plant Recording Studios, Sausalito, CA (05/1995-02/1996); Right Track Recording Studios, New York, NY (05/1995-02/1996); The Plant Studios, Sausalito, CA (05/1995-02/1996).
Photographer: Anton Corbijn.
Metallica: James Hetfield (vocals, guitar); Kirk Hammett (guitar); Jason Newsted (bass); Lars Ulrich (drums).
Producers: Bob Rock, James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich.
Rolling Stone (7/11-25/96, p.85) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...with LOAD, the foursome dams the bombast and chugs half-speed ahead, settling into a wholly magnetizing groove that bridges old-school biker rock and the doomier side of post-grunge '90s rock..."
Entertainment Weekly (6/7/96, pp.56-57) - "...captures the band's earnest pursuit of its Sisyphean mission: to create hard rock that reaches grown-ups and basement-dwelling teens..." - Rating: B
Q (7/96, p.119) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...These boys set up their tents in the darkest place of all, in the naked horror of their own heads....Metallica make existential metal and they've never needed the props....Metallica are still awesome....What is new is streamlined attack, the focus and, yes, the tunes..."
Melody Maker (6/8/96, p.49) - "...A Metallica album is traditionally an exhausting event. It should rock you to exhaustion, leave you brutalised and drained. This one is no exception. It is, however, the first Metallica album to make me wonder at any point, 'What the f*** was that?' It's as if the jackboot grinding the human face were to take occasional breaks for a pedicure..."
Musician (8/96, p.85) - "...The smoother, broader sound that distinguished...1991's METALLICA is even more apparent here, as is the tendency to write accessible tunes....the exploration of new sounds does nothing but good for the guitar duo of [James] Hetfield and Kirk Hammett..."
New York Times (Publisher) (6/2/96, Sec.2, p.28) - "...On LOAD, Metallica has altered its music, learning new skills. Hetfield has committed himself to melodies, carrying tunes where he used to bark, and he no longer sounds sheepish when he sings quietly..."
NME (Magazine) (6/1/96, p.44) - 7 (out of 10) - "...like triumphant warriors returning into a world changed beyond all recognition...Metallica emphatically prove they are still unsurpassed in their self-created genre of stadium nihilism..."
Load Music Review
Average Rating: (3.4 out of 5 stars)    List All 82 Reviews the sandinista! of metal.
sometimes in life there could be a double album like the white album and sometimes a triple album like sandinista!. but load on the vinyl days would have been a quadruple album but on cd form this was the ultimate example of cd technology. a lot of fans hated i mean hated the record and the videos and all that jazz. in the decade of tool, rage, pantera and sevendust, metallica had to release an album like that. this and reload have the feel of double albums like blood sugar sex magik and the real double album was mellon collie. 2x4, wasting my hate, king nothing, epics like bleeding me and the outlaw torn are awsome songs. so who cares if they dressed like a bunch of hollywood types i dig the style. well the problem witht he 90's is just that it is not a good decade for metal. but load is a good album. it may be everything that is wrong witht the record world but to hell with that people experiment at times and you got to be independant instead of being a formulaic commercial clown. still load is load.
Submitted by davidandino83 (chicago)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No 1 of 1 found this helpful.
 Load this into your garbage disposal
I never thought I would live to see the day that Metallica, rock's greatest band...the group with rock solid integrity...the guys who singlehandedly took over the musical world, would sell out to the man. But this is exactly what they did. Who is the man, you ask? Well, it could be Benjamin Frankin, MTV, music industry suits, or all three.
Regardless, this is just horrible music. Who are they trying to be? They cut their hair, bit hard on the grunge sound, cut out their fanciful arrangements, dumped their leads and basically shot a blank in the face of millions and millions of their die-hard fans. They may as well have lined us up one by one and peed in our faces. I would have rather they did that than to release this total embarrassment of a record.
There is nothing worth a squirt of urine on this album. Nothing new, nothing noteworthy, nothing memorable whatsoever. That's OK guys, take your money and don't look back. Why won't you make some concept videos while you are at it--dress up in little costumes--it will be great.
Just do us all a favor and leave the rocking to others.
Submitted by dcampbell (East Stroudsburg, PA)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No 2 of 3 found this helpful.
 Sell Out? Do Me A Favour!
Following Metallica's epic tour of nearly three years and 250+ shows on the Black Album tour. The band returned in 1996 to be hit by major critics with this new album. Load marked the start of an era when the band had short hair, classy cocktails, owned speedboats and put semen and blood on their front covers. Musically it was a change too, with a more bluesy feel to the songs. But i feel this is a good thing, for a start no band plays the same stuff all their career and gets as big as Metallica. And they've shown another dimension to their immense talent in this fine record. With "Until It Sleeps" the lead single which i would call a piece of Art. And a song which was a break from the norm even further with "Mama Said" a heart felt country style song about James Hetfield's mother who passed on when he was just 16. It takes courage to do what Metallica did, they got accused of "Selling Out" which is rubbish, Metallica stands for doing What they want, When They Want, How They Want To Do It. Top Work Lads!
Submitted by redman.7 (United Kingdom)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No 1 of 2 found this helpful.
And now for something different...
I must admit this album is different. I started listening to METALLICA from the BLACK ALBUM, and that is what i am used to. This one has it hits, King Nothing, Hero Of The Day, Bleeding Me, Until It Sleeps, brilliant songs. However, most of the others just didn't have the METALLICA touch.
Submitted by P. Stewart (New Zealand)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No have a beer
this load cd from metallica is the best come from this band so go and buy it you be mad not to.
Submitted by woodja1 (queensland australia)
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