Metallica: Catch 'Em All

I've listened through about 2 times so far, so I haven't got any song names attached to songs in my head, but there are definitely some tracks in there that I could hear Dave Mustaine and Megadeth writing/playing...

IMAGE(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3243/2860158230_edc2544e7d.jpg)

Interesting, and scary at the same time. A Japanese Metallica cover album.

I got a chance to hear one of the supposed "re-mix" of some ofDeath Magnetic , which was reviewed by Jonn Jeppsson. You download the album, ok, but then you review it, and then expect to interview the band after admitting it? The responses at Digg are predictable. Did anybody get a chance to try any tracks on Guitar Hero?

I was listening at lunch and I realized one of the main things I don't like about Metallica anymore. Kirk. His solos are simply abysmal. Pure tripe. They don't fit with the songs, they're pedestrian, they're amateurish, they suck. They're wah-soaked weedlefests. He's trying so desperately to channel Slash but doesn't have even remotely the talent or, more importantly, feel to pull it off.

I like the rhythm guitars, I like the bass, the drums are adequate, James' voice is better on this than it has been in a while, the lyrics aren't a completely lost cause. The songs, as mentioned previously, often feel disjointed and stilted. But they have some rock to them. Until Kirk walks in and pisses on the whole works. He's the biggest detriment to the band at this point.

ColdForged wrote:

I was listening at lunch and I realized one of the main things I don't like about Metallica anymore. Kirk. His solos are simply abysmal. Pure tripe. They don't fit with the songs, they're pedestrian, they're amateurish, they suck. They're wah-soaked weedlefests. He's trying so desperately to channel Slash but doesn't have even remotely the talent or, more importantly, feel to pull it off.

He's always sucked, but he was better back when every solo was meticulously planned and executed (Justice and earlier). With the Black album he started on this half-assed "blues is where it's at!" crusade. That would would have been perfectly fine if he'd had the chops to pull it off in the context of Metallica, but he didn't then and he doesn't now. He's a joke.

I haven't listened to the whole album but what turned me off on the songs I have heard is the production quality. Its not as bad as St. Anger but it just feels a little ragged, like they didn't put enough time into mixing the album. Perhaps they were going for that raw sound again but it does nothing for me. The positive reviews some of you have been giving on the songs I have not heard do have me considering picking this one up however.

I like the album overall, but it doesn't capture the same magic as "...And Justice for All". I miss those days. Also, the drums are clipping on some of the songs. I thought it was just my mp3 rip, so I ripped it again in lossless and I'm still getting that. I hate this trend of producers mixing everything so hot. Now all I hear on CDs is Loud and Louder.

Sephirotic wrote:

I like the album overall, but it doesn't capture the same magic as "...And Justice for All". I miss those days. Also, the drums are clipping on some of the songs. I thought it was just my mp3 rip, so I ripped it again in lossless and I'm still getting that. I hate this trend of producers mixing everything so hot. Now all I hear on CDs is Loud and Louder.

Funny you should mention that.

Apparently the rip of the GH3 version sounds way better than the retail CD.

Thats pretty hilarious, and sad.

Edit: Removed all links related to production quality and GH comparisons due to either overlooking recent posts when I checked the thread or taking too long to write my post.

I have to say I noticed the sonic quality of the album to be bad, and unfortunately have seen this type of production in a number of Rick Rubin's recent projects. I've also noticed an ongoing trend of this sort of behavior where they are maximizing loudness and flattening dynamic range as a result. I wish I could find the great article I read online about this terrible pattern, where a professional applauded how awesome Rush's "Vapor Trails" was musically but how terrible it was sonically.

Edit: Found it, and also found out they went back and remastered it after the fact.

Over the Limit, the original article. Apparently Rush went back and remastered it later on after much criticism and personal frustration due to the end quality.

And to top it all off, the trend itself.. the LOUDNESS WAR!

Podunk wrote:
Sephirotic wrote:

I like the album overall, but it doesn't capture the same magic as "...And Justice for All". I miss those days. Also, the drums are clipping on some of the songs. I thought it was just my mp3 rip, so I ripped it again in lossless and I'm still getting that. I hate this trend of producers mixing everything so hot. Now all I hear on CDs is Loud and Louder.

Funny you should mention that.

Apparently the rip of the GH3 version sounds way better than the retail CD.

".....someone will eventually record themselves playing the song perfectly within the game and distribute it via bit torrent, and then Metallica's label will have another thing to get upset about."

ouch.. When did the "Loudness Wars" come to be? I've just heard of this now with this album. I know 80s production has a certain sound, almost tinny but you could sense how heavy it was, stuff like Iron Maiden, and albums like DRI's "Dealing With It". That seemed to change when I heard albums like Megadeth's "Rust in Piece" and Judas Priest's "Painkiller", those albums sounded awesome, and still do today. Production seemed to get better and better (personally) to the loudness and sound being really good to great, one album that comes to mind is Anthrax's "Volume 8: The Threat is Real" (and subsequent re-mastering) and other random rock/metal albums.

*edit*
The coffin vagina cover reminds me of this old gem, now with appropriate artwork:

IMAGE(http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd327/gamerwithjob/Ephemall.jpg)

MaxShrek wrote:

ouch.. When did the "Loudness Wars" come to be? I've just heard of this now with this album.

Mid to late 90's is when it really started to take off. It's been a problem in popular music for a long time.

Podunk wrote:
MaxShrek wrote:

ouch.. When did the "Loudness Wars" come to be? I've just heard of this now with this album.

Mid to late 90's is when it really started to take off. It's been a problem in popular music for a long time.

That was the same time that MP3s took off, when everyone went from listening on hi-fis and CD carousels to portable players and whimpy earphones.

Kurrelgyre wrote:
Podunk wrote:
MaxShrek wrote:

ouch.. When did the "Loudness Wars" come to be? I've just heard of this now with this album.

Mid to late 90's is when it really started to take off. It's been a problem in popular music for a long time.

That was the same time that MP3s took off, when everyone went from listening on hi-fis and CD carousels to portable players and whimpy earphones.

I know I'm not terribly cool, but I was still listening to a Discman in the 90s. It had stickers on it from Lagwagon, Pennywise, and Wretch Like Me, and I could flip a switch to enable skip protection!

Thin_J wrote:

I notice the loudness of new music every time my mp3 player hops from something newer to something 10 or 15 years old. The volume halves and I end up turning it up, and then it jumps to too loud on the next song.

Annoying.

I haven't simply because I ran MP3Gain on my entire collection. With it normalized it's less jarring... but talk about compression!

I notice the loudness of new music every time my mp3 player hops from something newer to something 10 or 15 years old. The volume halves and I end up turning it up, and then it jumps to too loud on the next song.

Annoying.

ColdForged wrote:

Topical.

Well.. I guess that's another reason on my list for me to save eight bucks.

wordsmythe wrote:

I know I'm not terribly cool

Soooo tempted to sig this.

Do it.

Do it.

Podunk wrote:
MaxShrek wrote:

ouch.. When did the "Loudness Wars" come to be? I've just heard of this now with this album.

Mid to late 90's is when it really started to take off. It's been a problem in popular music for a long time.

I've found the trend of lack of concern with audio quality in popular music to be nearly proportional to the trend of lack of concern with music quality in popular music.

That's a bit harsh, of course, but at the same time, these attitudes toward butchering audio quality in mixing really speak as to how disposable the music is viewed to be even in the hands of the people working on it.

wordsmythe wrote:

Do it.

Do it.

It fit! Awesome.

There's a Guitar Hero 3 remix of Death Magnetic floating around, I gotta say, it might sound a little cleaner, but it seems you have to be listening for it (bleeding), or you'll miss it. The vocals are the most noticeable, but again, you might forget about it. The tracks are extremely large, running at about 50,000 mb per song.

Guitar Hero: Metallica is coming in March, and the band will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

"In addition to current METALLICA members Hetfield, Ulrich, Hammett, and Robert Trujillo, previous bassists Jason Newsted and Burton will also be inducted.

I wonder if they'll bring in Jason Newsted for the ceremonies? There seems to be immature bitterness towards Newsted, but just bitter bitterness from Newsted to the rest of the band. Wonder how it will all play out? Not that it matters to me about any kind of Hall of Fame, I just look for some Talking Heads Hall of Fame-like news afterwards.

Wonder how it will all play out?

Hopefully he'll get a chance on the mic to say "I watched Some Kind Of Monster... WTF happened to you p***ies. Are you going to induct your therapist too?" or something similar.

He was actually in the movie, acting all bitter about not being in the band anymore, but he did pretty much already call them pussies.

LockAndLoad wrote:
Wonder how it will all play out?

Hopefully he'll get a chance on the mic to say "I watched Some Kind Of Monster... WTF happened to you p***ies. Are you going to induct your therapist too?" or something similar.

That would rock. The funny thing about Newstead is that these days he is far, FAR more metal than his former bandmates.

Aside from Lynyrd Skynrd (spelled that way on the cover of the game), King Diamond is in-game for Guitar Hero Metallica.. God forbid you can reach some of his squeals:

IMAGE(http://www.destructoid.com/elephant/ul/119546-diamondmilk.jpg)

I finally caved and bought the Death Magnetic tracks for GH3/GHWT. I dragged my feet for so long because I had already purchased the disc (for $10) and didn't want to pay another $18 for the GH tracks... but I've grown to like the disc too much. I've only had time for three songs so far but it's well worth the dough.