Are Metallica the definitive metal band

GLaDOS

Motley Crue wrote: »

Having said that, there are few bands around from Metallica's generation (Slayer being the only one perhaps) that have stayed consistent with their sound and lineup and kept their reputation intact as a result

Not really, and that's the problem a lot of people have with them (e.g. KEA - AJFA = good, everything else = bad)

Mental Mickey

ScienceNerd wrote: »

Not really, and that's the problem a lot of people have with them (e.g. KEA - AJFA = good, everything else = bad)

Are you including MOP and TBA in that too?

GLaDOS

Mental Mickey wrote: »

Are you including MOP and TBA in that too?

I am including MOP (I was saying from KEM to AJFA, including MOP and RTL). TBA is debatable for a lot of people whether they'd include it in the same calibre as the previous 4 . I wasn't necessarily giving my own opinion, just giving one of the popular ones.

Mental Mickey

ScienceNerd wrote: »

I am including MOP (I was saying from KEM to AJFA, including MOP and RTL). TBA is debatable for a lot of people whether they'd include it in the same calibre as the previous 4 . I wasn't necessarily giving my own opinion, just giving one of the popular ones.

IMO Load is a decent album. Okay, its completely different to anything they'd done previous, but it's still a good one!? Everything after that has been meh.

GLaDOS

Mental Mickey wrote: »

its completely different to anything they'd done previous

That was my original point That their sound hasn't stayed consistent and a lot of peolpe have a problem with this

Kess73

Motley Crue wrote: »

Having said that, there are few bands around from Metallica's generation (Slayer being the only one perhaps) that have stayed consistent with their sound and lineup and kept their reputation intact as a result

Testament would be another in my eyes. Their sound has been pretty consistent.

Kess73

ScienceNerd wrote: »

That was my original point That their sound hasn't stayed consistent and a lot of peolpe have a problem with this

I think more people had a problem with their quality not being consistent rather than their sound not being consistent.

There was a big dip in quality after Load, some might even say after the Black album.

I think if the quality of music had stayed high after Load, then the change in sound would not have been as much of an issue.

GLaDOS

Kess73 wrote: »

I think more people had a problem with their quality not being consistent rather than their sound not being consistent.

There was a big dip in quality after Load, some might even say after the Black album.

I think if the quality of music had stayed high after Load, then the change in sound would not have been as much of an issue.

That's a fair point, plenty of metal bands have changed style but kept the quality up, Metallica didn't

ride-the-spiral

Testament don't seem to get enough credit. I'm not that big of a thrash fan but from what I can tell, they're much higher regarded than Anthrax.

nyarlothothep

You can't really hold it against them though. I've noticed artists in the music industry tend to dip in quality around 34-35, especially if they've had huge success as they have nothing really to prove to anyone.

bigeasyeah

No such thing.This question annoyed me.

PretentiousApe

I'd say that Master Of Puppets is the definitive metal album, rather than Metallica are the definitive metal band. They've changed styles quite a bit over the last decade and a half, so ya have to take that into consideration.

brendansmith

ride-the-spiral wrote: »

I wouldn't say Black Sabbath as much, I know alot of people who don't know any Black Sabbath songs apart from Iron Man. Same with Iron Maiden.

Liar! Ironman went out and bought the entire back catelog after Black Sabbath wrote that song about him.

Kess73

ride-the-spiral wrote: »

Testament don't seem to get enough credit. I'm not that big of a thrash fan but from what I can tell, they're much higher regarded than Anthrax.

To be fair I think Anthrax are regarded less highly than they should be as well.

As for Testament, they never broke out of the metal market and as such never drew the attention of anyone but metal fans.

They came close to breaking out when they released Souls Of Black and the excellent The Ritual on the strength of the reception and tv play that Practise What You Preach got . Even their most recent album, The Formation Of Damnation, rode a wave of critical acclaim, and is a top class metal album that blows Death Magnetic out of the water, but seems to barely get a mention amongst metal fans.

TFOD easily sits as one of Testament's best albums despite it being from a thrash metal band that have been around since the early 80's

3suns

it has to be black sabbath.

everything you hear today in metal can be traced back to some part of a black sabbath tune.

elements of nearly every single metal sub-genre can be heard in black sabbath records. death, doom, trash, whatever. its all there. bands just took one tiny bit of sabbaths wide range sound and expanded it into a genre

Catari Jaguar

PretentiousApe wrote: »

I'd say that Master Of Puppets is the definitive metal album, rather than Metallica are the definitive metal band. They've changed styles quite a bit over the last decade and a half, so ya have to take that into consideration.

Totally agree with this. Metallica are definitely the most commercial metal band and most heard of because of their sell out, headline grabbing tendencies...

For me, the definitive metal band is Black Sabbath. Apparently the term "heavy metal" stemmed from them. An adjective used to described their type of sound in an article about them. Even the metal style you see on any fan at any metal concert today, Black Sabbath was doing that back in the 1970s (way before Metallica). Long hair, chains/crosses, black clothes. And the "metal" lifestyle too: drink & drugs, tattoos, interest in the occult etc.

If you don't know Black Sabbath, then you're not a metal fan. Listening to Metallica doesn't make you a metal fan. (It does however make you a Metallica fan)

The reason more non- metal listeners have heard of Nothing Else Matters than say, War Pigs, is that NEM is radio friendly and it is more of a ballad really.

Black Sabbath helped pioneer the music to become one of the first metal bands, and I would have to say Alice Cooper created the definitive live metal show (and introduced the idea of shocking people). Since them there has been lots of copying and morphing of styles, sounds and trends in Metal.

Metallica: Accesible and widespread; yes. Popular; definitely. Definitive: 'fraid not.

Star Bingo

absolutely not OP. they are soft/country rock chart-toppers that r to metal what Green Day are to 'Punk' .. u know u get them open minded chavs with an eclectic collection of chart topping chuck n Metalikur is the only metal band the have? .. damn.
i see theyr selling their concerts now via an iPod app.. look out they'll criminalize u for owning bootlegs next.

facepalm/FAIL. someone's doing it sooo f'n wrong

cournioni

Black Sabbath are the definitive metal band.

metzengerstein

Mental Mickey wrote: »

At least get the album name right....?:rolleyes:

doesnt matter what way its spelled its rubish,


if they had stayed the way they started in the 80s they may have made a much bigger impact .

but it has to be black sabbath,and id have to say iron maiden aswell and there are so many others who are and will always be on top of metalica

Catari Jaguar

Mental Mickey wrote: »

At least get the album name right....?:rolleyes:

BOO! :rolleyes:.......:rolleyes:

fartmaster

Best Heavy Metal band of all time - Metallica
their best albums - RTL MOP AJFA
Worst crimes on their fans LOad Reload and St. Anger
even with the crap they produced afetr the black album their previous rank as some of the best stuff ever produced in terms of Heavy Metal.
My favorite metal song is To Live is to die

Best Thrash Metal band of all time - Slayer
their best albums - Reign in Blood, Show No Mercy, South of Heaven
worst crimes on their fans - their lyrics, in the main are anti christian and dont seem to vary much.

Best Death Metal Band Ever - Morbid Angel
their best albums - Alters of Madness, Blessed are the sick(Awesome video that goes with the title track! check it on you tube!)
worst crimes on their fans - never played in Wexford

All bands reach and fall but few have the stamina to keep to their original sound. Metallica produced some of the best Metal albums ever but in terms of which band is the most definitve Metal band I think Iron Maiden inspired most of the bands such as Metallica and Slayer though I myself would find it hard to listen to a Maiden album thses days as its very dated stuff whereas Metallica's MOP and for me espically And Justice for All are the most stomping Metal albums evers, your not a fan of Metal if you dont have these two albums in your collection end of!

Kess73

fartmaster wrote: »

Best Heavy Metal band of all time - Metallica
their best albums - RTL MOP AJFA
Worst crimes on their fans LOad Reload and St. Anger
even with the crap they produced afetr the black album their previous rank as some of the best stuff ever produced in terms of Heavy Metal.
My favorite metal song is To Live is to die

Best Thrash Metal band of all time - Slayer
their best albums - Reign in Blood, Show No Mercy, South of Heaven
worst crimes on their fans - their lyrics, in the main are anti christian and dont seem to vary much.

Best Death Metal Band Ever - Morbid Angel
their best albums - Alters of Madness, Blessed are the sick(Awesome video that goes with the title track! check it on you tube!)
worst crimes on their fans - never played in Wexford

All bands reach and fall but few have the stamina to keep to their original sound. Metallica produced some of the best Metal albums ever but in terms of which band is the most definitve Metal band I think Iron Maiden inspired most of the bands such as Metallica and Slayer though I myself would find it hard to listen to a Maiden album thses days as its very dated stuff whereas Metallica's MOP and for me espically And Justice for All are the most stomping Metal albums evers, your not a fan of Metal if you dont have these two albums in your collection end of!

Metallica were thrash metal right up to And Justice.... so why are they not the best thrash metal band on your list?

With the exception of Kill Em All, I would not call any Metallica album as having the sound of a heavy metal band.

RTL through to Justice were all quality thrash albums.

The Black album was a quality hard rock album.

Load to St Anger was a mish mash of varying quality, going from good rock to total rubbish.

Death Magnetic is a cynical attempt to sound similar to their 1988 sound, and while it is an alright album, especially when compared to the last few albums that came before it, it is still the sound of a jaded band who peaked nearly two decades beforehand.

fartmaster

Kess73 wrote: »

Metallica were thrash metal right up to And Justice.... so why are they not the best thrash metal band on your list?

With the exception of Kill Em All, I would not call any Metallica album as having the sound of a heavy metal band.

RTL through to Justice were all quality thrash albums.

The Black album was a quality hard rock album.

Load to St Anger was a mish mash of varying quality, going from good rock to total rubbish.

Death Magnetic is a cynical attempt to sound similar to their 1988 sound, and while it is an alright album, especially when compared to the last few albums that came before it, it is still the sound of a jaded band who peaked nearly two decades beforehand.

Technically your right on the thrash bit and Kill em All was more speed metal though that term is dead really. I class Metallica overall as a Heavy Metal band, the black album was Heavy metal not rock, the lack of bass on the Justice Album makes it more heavy than Thrash so really MOP is their only main Thrash album, RTL was also more Heavy than Thrashy and when you compare Slayer to Metallica well you can see the difference between the terms thrash and heavy metal, hope that clears it up for you?

Death Magnetic was long overdue and was an album that Metallica had to do to try and appease thier loyal fans, I quite like 'That was just you life' and 'the day that never comes' unfortunately most of the album is a rehash of RTL/MOP/AJFA

Kess73

fartmaster wrote: »

Technically your right on the thrash bit and Kill em All was more speed metal though that term is dead really. I class Metallica overall as a Heavy Metal band, the black album was Heavy metal not rock, the lack of bass on the Justice Album makes it more heavy than Thrash so really MOP is their only main Thrash album, RTL was also more Heavy than Thrashy and when you compare Slayer to Metallica well you can see the difference between the terms thrash and heavy metal, hope that clears it up for you?

Clears it up for me?

The Black Album was heavy metal? Lack of bass made Justice heavy metal?

Comparing Slayer to Metallica shows the difference between Thrash metal and heavy metal?

Thanks for that, that was one of the funniest posts on music that I have ever read.

fartmaster

Kess73 wrote: »

Clears it up for me?

The Black Album was heavy metal? Lack of bass made Justice heavy metal?

Comparing Slayer to Metallica shows the difference between Thrash metal and heavy metal?

Thanks for that, that was one of the funniest posts on music that I have ever read.

Thats good for you matey but were in post do you try and correct me? Because you cant? Explain the difference between what is thrash and Heavy and put me in my place please? Oh wait you cant right? Slayer were the difinitive Thrash band of all time and Metallica for a while had a thrashy element to their sound but overall they ARE a heavy metal band simple as!

ride-the-spiral

In my experience Slayer are the only band to have the sound that they have. Which would make them the only Thrash band by your logic. So they weren't really a good band to compare.

Kess73

fartmaster wrote: »

Thats good for you matey but were in post do you try and correct me? Because you cant? Explain the difference between what is thrash and Heavy and put me in my place please? Oh wait you cant right? Slayer were the difinitive Thrash band of all time and Metallica for a while had a thrashy element to their sound but overall they ARE a heavy metal band simple as!

Bands like Slayer, Testament, Kreator, Sepultura, Anthrax, Metallica, Voivod, Annihilator, and Dark Angel are all good examples of what was termed thrash metal in and around the 80's.


A lot of bands, including Metallica, changed their sound in the 90's to a more accessible radio friendly sound that was in the hard rock vein.


The examples I would use for the heavy metal sound in the 80's would have been Iron Maiden, Diamond Head, Judas Priest, Saxon, and Ozzy Osbourne. As all of them would would carry a lot of the stereotypes for the heavy metal sound like a galloping bass, long guitar solos, a certain style of lyrics.

Modern Heavy metal sounds like what bands like Rhapsody and Thunderstone are churning out, although one could also say that modern heavy metal is the Power metal sound.


Either way Metallica did not have that sound for the Black album, and have rarely had that sound over the course of their career.

buck65

Metallica are the Fianna Fail of metal.

nyarlothothep

Metallica are like the playstation of metal

Catari Jaguar

I consider Metallica to now be a rock band. They draw upon too many other styles to be considered metal anymore. They haven't released a good (speed/trash/*insert genre here*) metal album since the 80s. Load is Rock/ country, Reload is the same, Garage inc is familiar cover songs, Black is totally mainstream.

"Heavy metal" to me is stuff like Judas Priest and Iron Maiden with ripped jeans and high pitched vocals. Metal is like that long first note in Iron Man. And when the drum kicks in oh man! Heavy, scary, dark, totally awesome...

Metallica's live show is like a pantomime or a parody of a metal show. *Oh Yea? OH YEA!! Metal fingers! Mosh pit* Good clean fun. They are the ultimate Guitar Hero band; cheesy, fun, shout along, jump around, bang your head. They're not bad ass guys, sorry!

They're over hyped by fans of their first few albums that are desperate to keep *that* Metallica preserved forever. They changed. Get with it. Every second thread on here: "MOP is best" "No RTL is best", "No no it's definitely AJFL" :rolleyes:

Lars Ulrich: “This album (Load) and what we’re doing with it - that, to me, is what Metallica are all about: exploring different things. The minute you stop exploring, then just sit down and ****ing die.”