LOAD

My experience with Load was a surprisingly pleasant one! Of course there is no comparison to even the weakest Thrash Metal-era albums but by the time I got this album, around 2001, I had already lost any preconceived notions of hearing anything other than a straightforward Hard Rock album.

A funny fact about my relation to this album is that I associate it with the game Unreal Tournament, which I purchased only a few weeks after Load. I remember vividly how I often played the two side-by-side, with Unreal Tournament's music turned off, and a lot of that nostalgic charm has indeed rub itself off on Load.

It might be unexpected that I happen to enjoy this release more than the Black Album but my explanation to this phenomenon is pretty simple. The Black Album was a market scam that fooled the fans into believing that Metallica was still a Thrash Metal band with singles like Enter Sandman, The Unforgiven, Nothing Else Matters and Wherever I May Roam. Once the fans got the actual albums they felt cheated after hearing that the rest of material there was mainly Heavy Metal. Load never gave the fans any other notion than that it was going to be a Hard Rock album with a slight country vibe added to it by James' vocal approach. This can be easily observed from singles like Until It Sleeps, Ain't My Bitch, Hero Of The Day, Mama Said and King Nothing.

Besides, Heavy Metal style of the Black Album did resemble Thrash Metal and made me hope that Metallica would give us at least one song in style of their past glory. Hard Rock is far from anything that Metallica had done to this point, which is why I didn't even hope for anything outside that basic formula.

In conclusion, this album is not as bad as most Metallica fans make it seem! Of course that isn't really saying much considering that the material here doesn't come near anything from Metallica's classic era. Still, I personally enjoy this one more than the Black Album since the band is truer to their new sound and make it sound more convincing. I guess you'll just have to find out for yourself whether you like it or not, just make sure to lock up your prejudge in a safe vault first!

**** star songs: Ain't My Bitch (5:04) 2 X 4 (5:28) The House Jack Built (6:39) Until It Sleeps (4:30) King Nothing (5:27) Hero Of The Day (4:22) Bleeding Me (8:18) Mama Said (5:19) Thorn Within (5:51)

*** star songs: Cure (4:54) Poor Twisted Me (4:00) Wasting My Hate (3:57) Ronnie (5:17) The Outlaw Torn (9:49)