Track Listing

1. Ain't My Bitch
2. 2 X 4
3. The House That Jack Built
4. Until It Sleeps
5. King Nothing
6. Hero Of The Day
7. Bleeding Me
8. Cure
9. Poor Twisted Me
10. Wasting My Hate
11. Mama Said
12. Thorn Within
13. Ronnie
14. The Outlaw Torn

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6615 in Music
• Released on: 2007-07-02
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Explicit Lyrics
• Running time: 79 minutes

From Amazon.com
With Load, Metallica takes a dramatic left turn with their music, continuing in the direction suggested by Metallica, their previous album. The songs on Load have groove; they're slower, with far fewer of the lightning-fast riffs that have been Metallica's trademark since their inception. While songs like "Ain't My Bitch" and "Wasting My Hate" are up-tempo and full of the vitriol one would expect from the quintessential heavy metal band, "2 X 4" is hard rock with a blues beat, "Hero of the Day" sounds positively mainstream, and "Mama Said" is an actual, honest-to-god ballad. While some diehard fans may find this mix unappealing, there's plenty to like about this album, including its laid-back, rhythmic orientation, and James Hetfield's characteristic growl tempered by his growing maturity as a vocalist. -- Genevieve Williams

CD Description
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 andanger, 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 harmonised 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.

Customer Reviews

its different...thats all
Well, disappointing as it may seem to these other guys, Load is great. just a change in direction. As a guitarist, this album contains great riffs, although the solo's tend to be a little crappy sometimes. "wasting my hate" is an example. What a riff.
I really hate when others go "This album aint metallica man! These guys suck now!" well, i reckon metallica know what they're doing more than any one else. And as metallica have said before, its what they like, not what you like. And if u dont like it, stay away.
So stay away if you want, but its definetely worth a few quid.
Not the 5 star royalty of previous albums, but still great.

Just Read
ok to be honest i'd like to say i'm kinda tired of people saying metallica "sold out" for this album, ok its not the thrash they used to play..but its still a GREAT album admittedly its not as heavy as its predesessors but is change necissarily a bad thing, this album has some strong songs that a metallica and music fan will appreciate, do NOT buy this album if you expect metallica to sound like they did 15 years ago because thats not gonna happen the progression for metallica seems to come from everytime they get a new bassist they change there style to me it proves nothing more then therye diversity, its a solid album if your a fan of music... if you want 80's long haired leather jacketed snake skin boots thrash...maybe this album isnt for you!

This album changed my life
I'm a big Metallica fan, but I wouldn't be if it weren't for this album. I saw the video to Until It Sleeps while in Spain as a 17-year old and I was captivated by the arresting images and the music which stayed with you hours after hearing it. I didn't really like heavy metal, Nirvana was as heavy as I would go, but this felt different; it had, well, soul. A couple of days later I went down to the local music store, bought the album and then listened to it everyday, sometimes more than once, for the next three or four months.

I still like "Until It Sleeps", but it's been overtaken in my affections by "Mama Said", "The Outlaw Torn" and, especially, "2x4" - there are times when I'm walking along the street listening to this song on my Mp3 player and I feel like I'm stepping a little bit taller. An irrepressible blues groove played by a metal band: it's just dynamite.

After twelve years, what really stands out for me now about this album is how well crafted it is. You might look at these guys and be scared to meet them down a dark alley, but they are real musicians. A lot of thought has gone into each song. After several listens, each one reveals an element you hadn't thought about; even on a song like "the Cure", which isn't one of my favourites, you listen again to the vocals and hear the overlaid tracks of Hetfield singing in two different ways, accompanied by the thumping bass line, and, with the effect that creates, you think, wow, that's clever...

I'll never tire of listening to it.