Jay FC - my official artist profile -alivenotdead.com

New Metallica Album?

So what's the verdict then?

Been listening for a while and personally I love it... Of course some people will say that it's not Master of Puppets - but then that's clearly obvious - they're 20 years apart - people should move on... But that's what's so impressive about this record - the fact that a bunch of aging old boys can still create this kind of energy and purpose and intensity and anger in their music after all these years is worthy of respect (especially from me - another aging old boy who likes to rock out and feel angry once in a while).

Some towering riffs, furious vocals and brilliant rock cliche (only better) graphics and I am totally sold. Not sure what effect the masterful Rick Rubin had over the whole thing, or whether this was just an album they would have made with or without him, but either way no one else could have made this record, they're really is only one Metallica.

Some fans have complained it's too loud - that makes me feel much better - it means some fans have lost their edge and aged even more than I have.. Lightweights.

Anyway, fuck it, whatever - its just a great record.

And speaking of classic rock - I'll see you down the front at Jun's gig on Saturday night.

(Incidentally, fact fans, the CD was printed and manufactured right here in Hong Kong.)

15 年多前 0 赞s 9 评论s 0 shares

卡如飞

never a huge metallica fan... but i'll have to give it a listen...

15 年多 ago

Dan Burns-Findlay

It's not a question of being too loud as in volume – people can turn it up, down or sideways – it's a question of being crushed, overly compressed. Dig out Tool "Aenima" (1996) or Rage Against The Machine (1992) or Korn (1994) – all really well mastered albums – match the output volume with Death Magnetic so they sound comparable over your speakers, then listen to see which album really punches. DM is flat to the point of being fatiguing. The other albums have a lot more dynamic range and depth. The songs are some of Metallica's best, I think, but the mixing was terrible, and that's what fans have been criticising. It's the audio equivalent of restricting your graphical palette to 100% saturated colours ... or using a GIF for print output :)

15 年多 ago

Jay FC

I wish I could pretend to completely understand what you mean Dan! Although comparing it to Aenima (one of my favorite albums) and I do get it... Apparently one of the mixing engineers has disowned the mix and 11,000 fans have signed a petition for a remix of the whole thing. Apparently, less compressed mixes exist and will be used in their entirety on the game Guitar Hero 4. Get that and you get the whole album again with a better sound. So what was Mr Rubin up to then?

15 年多 ago

Dan Burns-Findlay

Sorry - I explained my point really badly - in truth my analogy with graphic art was not the best either. Imagine a chilli con carne with way too much red pepper in it. That's Death Magnetic. It was fucked before it left the kitchen and you couldn't make it any hotter if you tried. All subtlety between the tomato, meat, beans, spices and other ingredients are masked by an overload of chilli. Take Aenima. That's still a hot chilli but they only put enough red pepper in to get the dish established. If you want more punch in the face, add Tobasco* at the table ... the option is there. But prior to adding Tobasco, none of the other ingredients are obliterated by the overuse of chilli in the kitchen, and on the whole you end up with a meal with infinitely more flavour. Not sure if that makes any more sense ... seems close enough to me :) *Tobasco = turning your hi-fi volume up

15 年多 ago

Jay FC

Brilliant Dan... Perfect analogy! And although I would never turn down second helpings of Metallica, I've always found Tool to be a much more subtle dish. At the end of the day, Tool's head chef is much more intelligent.

15 年多 ago

Dan Burns-Findlay

Ha! Got there in the end :) The chefs, although responsible, are not to blame. Marketing forces within major labels during the early to mid 1990's dictated that the record / single they were currently promoting MUST sound louder than everything else on TV / radio. And so began the Loudness War (topic on wiki) Instead of just "simply" writing a good song in order to stand out, labels demanded that music and CD were manufactured as loud as technically possible; at the utter detriment of the music. CDs can be produced anywhere from 10 to 20dbfs lower than they are today. The same problem affects the volume of television adverts. Watching a well crafted show on TV only to have your ears chopped-off every 8 minutes because marketing execs failed to come up with an engaging ad campaign. Creative laziness!

15 年多 ago

Jay FC

The trend is no doubt real, but you'd think that the biggest, wealthiest rock band of all time might be able to transcend the blushit marketing forces and simply put out a decent record. Its not as if they need the extra money...

15 年多 ago

Dan Burns-Findlay

After watching the Some Kind Of Monster DVD I doubt Metallica can make *any* decisions on their own anymore :)

15 年多 ago

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位置（城市，国家）以英文标示: Hong Kong
性别: male
加入的时间: January 21, 2008