Monday, November 6, 2023

Metallica - Load (1997)


1. Fuel
2. Ain't My Bitch
3. The Memory Remains
4. 2 X 4
5. Devil's Dance
6. King Nothing
7. Better Than You
8. Fixxxer
9. Bad Seed
10. Wasting My Hate
11. Prince Charming
12. Thorn Within
13. Attitude
14. The Outlaw Torn

This is my theoretical construction of a single album version of Metallica's Load and Reload albums. For this I enlisted the help of my friend Andrew to work on a track listing. The final result is a little over 79 minutes but the fade out in The Outlaw Torn happens earlier.

When Metallica released Load in 1996, the album did well on the charts but the critical response was mixed. Some criticized the album for not being as heavy as their Black Album and accused the band of selling out. 3 of the 4 singles were mellow with one of them being described as a country song. They originally planned on releasing both albums as a double album but had to release them separately cause their rigid touring schedule prevented them from being able to finish all the songs on time.  

I thought it would be atypical for them to release an album that didn't include a mellow song but maybe it would get a better response if it was all heavy. Each album had 4 singles so I got rid of the mellow singles and kept the heavy ones. But then Andrew also wanted me to get rid of Cure and Slither despite them ranking among the shortest songs on both albums. It was a little tough.

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