In a previous article I looked at 5 notoriously criticised albums which deserved a second chance. I got thinking more about 2 of them. That being Load and Reload by thrash metal titans Metallica.
One of the problems with these albums is that they are a bit jumbled in their style. Some song are hard rock, some are grunge. Some are closer to moody post-grunge. They flip around song to song. It’s disjointed.
But what if these albums were rearranged into two entirely new albums, would they be improved?
I am going to run the improvement process thusly; Load will become Metallica‘s post-grunge album, and Reload will become their hard rock album. We shall see if this at all changes the quality of these albums by rewriting a bit of history.
Loading Rewrite History Module…
First step in this alternate reality. Back in 1994, after 3 years touring their new superstardom following the huge success of The Black Album, Metallica are in the studio writing their follow up album.
This time however they don’t write two albums worth of material, just the one. The golden era of grunge had peaked following the death of Kurt Cobain and Metallica joined post-grunge movement. Load was the culmination of this effort and the track list was as follows:
Load
- Where the Wild Things Are
- The Memory Remains
- Devil’s Dance
- Slither
- Carpe Diem Baby
- Bad Seed
- 2 X 4
- The House That Jack Built
- Until It Sleeps
- Bleeding Me
- Cure
- Mama Said
- Thorn Within
- The Outlaw Torn
This time however they don’t release a second album in the same year. Instead they set off on their co-headline tour with the Foo Fighters. Supported by Puddle of Mudd and Theory of a Deadman. It would be wise to keep the Metallica old schoolers away from the gates.
We come to 1996 and Metallica enter the studio to follow up Load. Kirk Hammett has turned his wah-wah pedal on and forgotten where the knob is to turn it off. Everyone else is too embarrassed to bring it up.
James Hetfield has been practicing saying “ooo yeah” into a microphone without realising it’s on. It gets accidentally mixed into the record in multiple places. No haircuts this time, but the moustaches are thick and the cowboy hats donned.
Metallica release their new album Reload. Full of filthy southern rock hooks and the debut of Hetfield‘s newly found beer swilling, bull riding scowl. Reload presents the fans with a more upbeat sound compared with the doom and gloom of Load. The album is tracked as follows:
Reload
- Ain’t My Bitch
- Fuel
- Prince Charming
- Attitude
- Better Than You
- King Nothing
- The Unforgiven II
- Hero Of The Day
- Poor Twisted Me
- Wasting My Hate
- Ronnie
- Low Man’s Lyric
- Fixxxer
Metallica head off on The Great Southern Moonshine Conspiracy tour to huge success. Fans eagerly wait the next chapter of Metallica. At least they won’t be following the nu-metal crowd next time…
So what do you think, do these albums work better this way round? Do they feel more rounded and flow better? Were they perfect as they were or still just as rubbish?
For a review of metal in 2020 see the best metal albums and best metal songs.
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