Metallica
Load

THE REVIEW

Most people hate Metallica from the controversial "Black Album"... it happened the opposite to me; before discovering the '90s Metallica, I listened to this band but not with the same enthusiasm as now. Believe me, I'm not exaggerating when I say that "Load" and "Reload" are perhaps my two favorite Metallica albums. I also like the older works, but they leave me feeling a bit colder. Let's move on to the album in question.

What a blast, "Ain't My Bitch" is a hard song to classify. It could be heavy metal, or according to others, hard rock. I just know that when the chorus arrives, I turn up the stereo volume to the max. The main riff is also nice, very "bouncy" and dynamic, though it's a shame about the solo which is certainly not one of the song's strengths. A great entrance for "2x4" which makes its way with Kirk and James striking with wah-wah, excellent six-string work and the drums that keep time, well done Lars. "The House Jack Built" has an introduction that I don't like at all, and the rest of the piece leaves me a bit indifferent. The attack of "Until it Sleeps" sounds very Grunge to me, but shortly after, it evolves into a strange hard rock — strange but quite convincing. "King Nothing" is my favorite track on the whole album, bass introduction, heavy guitar around the corner, chorus with plenty of phaser or flanger effect on the guitars and a more motivated than ever James, a decent solo from a somewhat subdued Kirk on this album, with less expressive and convincing solos. I hate "Hero of the Day", I just can't digest it, let's move on to the next one. Very slowly crawls the melody and Hetfield's voice, then it gushes into a powerful and very convincing chorus from an expressive standpoint. I don't like "Cure" because the beginning, in my opinion, ruins the whole piece with Hetfield's filtered voice... unbearable. Echo and delay reign supreme, here comes "Poor Twisted Me" with a vaguely blues intro, but which gets lost in a not very catchy chorus for my tastes, and by not catchy, I don't mean commercial — not catchy in the sense that it has nothing special and soon tires you. "Wasting My Hate" is a nice heavy piece with slight hard rock nuances, a compelling chorus, a nice combo if it were placed after "Ain't My Bitch". "Mama Said" is the true ballad, more of a ballad than a song can be, with a sweet and slightly melancholic melody, a song capable of digging into listeners' souls to stir up distant and past moments. Back on the scene with the heavy "Thorn Within", not one of my favorite tracks, but it can be listened to without any issues. Pure hard rock is instead the subsequent "Ronnie", of which I love the dry bends of guitars free of any echo or note sustain extension, enjoyable chorus. It all ends excellently with "The Outlaw Torn", a track which, like "Thorn Within", is not among my favorites but can be listened to, indeed.

Perhaps "Load" is one of my favorite albums more for the memories it's tied to rather than musically speaking. Many hate it, I have no problem loving it like the other Metallica records.