The first three don't need any tinkering done to them. They are perfect as they are.

I wouldn't mind a remastering for the first three. A remix (for anything other than AJFA), especially one with re-recorded parts, is definitely NOT needed though

I think we should all just stop paying attention to Metallica and everything they continue to do, because none of it is any good. Let's all right now agree to ignore them and never speak their name outside of the 1980's work ever again. The world would immediately be a better place.

I've often wondered whether or not the first two albums would sound better with the production of Master of Puppets. The only way that would happen today is if the band re-recorded them, and that's something no one wants. The only one that should be remastered is Justice.

There's an interesting bootleg called And Justice for Jason. Someone managed to get hold of the master tapes and intentionally boosted the bass to extreme levels. Its a definite dig at Metallica, but its definitely an interesting listen, and gives a much better idea as to how Justice should really sound.

I don't think it was master tapes, but that Guitar Hero: Metallica game. The individual tracks had to be seperated and someone ripped them from the game.

It's been around longer than that video game. I thought some guy just recorded the bass parts himself and added them to the album.

I personally don't think anything should be remastered or remixed. Whatever they do, someone will complain about the outcome. Of course they sound a little thin compared to modern "metal" production, but that was what recorded music sounded like back then. I don't think any artist should ever look back, and redo anything or "perfect" their previous work to match modern standards. Same goes for any other art for that matter.

And back to the thread: Ever since James stopped drinking, it seems he has started to get really into music again. And whatever people say DM, was a pretty good record, and I doubt anyone would have seen that coming. So with this new label, it seems like the band, or James at least, is really into trying to make the best he can. Honestly it seems like He [James] is the only driving force in the band now-a-days. So hopefully he can manage to do some great stuff before he is done.

As for the "And justice for Jason", like the guy said above, I think actually some guy just recorded the bass parts himself, and added them to the album. I seem to remember it was a guy over at the Old Kerrazy Torrents community.

I don't think "whatever they do, someone will complain" is a valid reason not to try anything. Cause otherwise, no artist would ever release new material either. Someone always complains and they can easily be ignored.

The 80s were the decade of awful ideas as far as studio production is concerned. It's like these fuckos were competing for bad ideas. And Rasmussen was a prime example. As such, I think Ride, Master and Justice could benefit greatly from starting the production from scratch with the source tapes. The actual performances are fine. It's the production choices that suck ass.

And with such important albums, there's no reason the originals can't remain available. They are a piece of history. Just call the new ones "Master of Puppets 2014" and such.



I wasn't really impressed with Death Magnetic but I kinda agree with this. It was a small step up, I guess. But I do think James being the only driving force effectively means Metallica is likely to be mediocre at best unless it gets a massive shot in the arm. I personally feel at this point, in order to be relevant, a Hetfield-Mustaine collaboration is probably in order.

I agree to an extent about the 80s and metal production - I think Testament's first couple of albums are a ....testament... to how shitty things sounded, especially within thrash. You couldn't do anything BUT improve those albums with a remaster, no matter what sort of god-awful modern techniques you used. But in the case of MOP and RTL? The production on those is amazing. They are a *little* low in the mix, to the point that you can't make mixtapes with those songs because they're a lot quieter than the rest, but that's the only bad thing I can say about the sound there.

Aside from the song-lengths, yeah, it was. "Hey, look, we're angular!" nu metal was all over the radio in the earlier part of the last decade. And there is this funny thing called a "radio edit".

Also, I don't like the production on The Black Album! I don't think it sounds so fantastic, actually.

Anybody who thinks Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets don't need remastering (on CD) obviously hasn't heard the 1999/2000 remasters on 24K Gold CDs by DCC. They absolutely destroy the Elektra Records CD versions sound-wise. Even the artwork is a much higher quality in the booklet and makes the Elektra versions look like cheap bootlegs. They're long out of print and quite expensive now, but they're worth every penny if you truly love the albums.

This is good, i think. A good opportunity to show old songs that don't get into the albums. Or maybe a choice to remasterize somo albums.
I don't think this is a total crap. I hope to see some bands in this label that can help to put forth valuable music.

They should use this new label to release a re-mastered "Death Magnetic". It's actually a decent album that was fucked by the so-called loudness war.

I can only speak from personal experience, but I don't think many radio stations played music similar to St. Anger in mid and early 00s. Some quasi-rough hard rock with downtuning and gruff vocals would appear on rock stations later on, but even then it was polished, streamlined and inoffensive, whereas St. Anger is quite abrasive compared to that.

I remember my local hard rock station played the crap out of Frantic at the time. Even if it was this weird, noisy mess compared to the slick shit like Korn and In Flames and Hatebreed and Seether and whatever else they'd play, it was a new Metallica album, no rock station is going to pass that up.

It seems sometimes that James is too concerned with hot rods and singing about random topics. He needs to go back to darker lyrical content like back in the day. Death Magnetic had some promise, and I think it's the best thing they've done in two decades, but it was ruined by shitty production and having one too many ballads (and the songs were excessively long at times). And sometimes it seems that Lars has completely forgotten what a double time feel is. Musically, I think they peaked with AJFA, and while their self-titled album was popular and admittingly a good album, I don't personally like it. The production is fantastic though, even to this day. I just wish they'd put out more music. We're getting what, one album per 4 years or so from these guys? I know it's dumb, but I still have hopes that they'll come out with another decent album one day... Just like I hope a decent Terminator movie will again be made. I keep getting let down, but I can hope.

Five actually.

Also, I think when they do put out music on their own (and by that I mean no fucking Lou Reed involvement) it's generally pretty damn good. I enjoyed the hell out of Death Magnetic and the Beyond Magnetic EP was quite good as well, although it's easy to see why those songs are B-sides. I mean, just listen to Rebel of Babylon. There's like 5 different genres within that 8 minutes.

This thread has provided a good summary of the usual tired, old opinions about this tired, old band.

Honestly, Death Magnetic is the Metallica album I personally have enjoyed most. I say this because it was the first to be released at a time when I was able to fully embrace metal as a genre. For the whole S&M to St Anger era they were just that band that my best friend and his high school buddies were mad for and I never clicked with.

They're true professionals as performers who could give an impressive live show in their sleep, James at least seems healthier and happier than ever and I think the best thing they can do is record and release whatever they want. Sure, millions of haters will be lining up to say it sucks, but some of us might get some inoffensive fun out of it. That's what matters to me.

Waiting for a great new Metallica record now is like going to the 25-year high school reunion and hoping the former prom queen is going to be hot after you already saw her looks declining at the 10-year reunion and almost had a heart attack seeing her at the 20-year reunion because she looked like shit.

It ain't gonna happen. Master of Puppets was released over a quarter of a century ago. Cliff Burton is dead. Any influence from Dave Mustaine on the early records is a distant memory now. James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich are different guys with different tastes and different abilities from what they had in 1986.

Really? Considering your age, that's a surprise. You didn't even listen to Metallica's back catalogue when you were younger?

That just might be the greatest analogy ever.

Riffs has won the rank of best newcomer in over a year, congrats!

Nope. Never really listened to rock music until my late teens. And why would I have heard their back catalogue in my younger days if I'd barely heard of them until my friend got into them in high school?

Lol, thanks man

Makes you wonder why a name like that hasn't been taken already, lol. I am almost ashamed of mine now That being said, you are very succinct, Riffs. I think you're words express the ideas of most of the people who posted in this thread, or at least mine, but in a general manner.

As far as production goes, I wouldn't be surprised if they did decide to remix/remaster their oldies, but to me the only album that is really in need of a change is Justice. Then again, I'm kind of a purist, and I cringe whenever I hear today's bands play sterile tones through expensive amps and crisp pickups, with boosted mids, noise gates, and triggers. That's not metal to me. I still want to hear raw unrelenting headbashing material. The alienating disgusting tone of hard music was always appealing in my opinion. Maybe it's a juvenile view of things. As long as the production isn't tampered with in a way that doesn't make their classic albums sound like the former description above, I'm cool with it I guess.

crap filter ??? what crap filter ? seriously.

honestly though, why do you even care for what these ass-wipes do when there are bunch of old and new bands making amazing metal with passion and integrity ?

Each to their own for sure. It's just that you're an unusual case.

I hope this is their legacy. A record label for aging rock stars that were once somewhat relevant but no longer serve a purpose in this world but continuing to be a burden by continuing to exist. Like the Island of Misfit Toys for washed up bands looking for a place to call home. Maybe even those bands that gained some high popularity for a short period of time before the next big thing came along and deththroned them. This is perfect

Once somewhat relevant? They're gonna go down as one of the most important band not only in metal but in rock in general. Their lasting impact on other artists is still felt.

And as much as I don't care for the new stuff, I don't think they're a burden. On the contrary, I'm glad if they give this type of music some exposure. They act like a gateway. Lots of people first hear metal through them, go see concerts featuring old songs. Get into other bands. I think it's awesome that they're bringing in new blood.

Plus I actually love what they are doing here, getting rid of the traditional bloodsucking label.

awesome!

I can't remember agreeing with anything I've read on the internet this much in a while. But I'm drunk, so who knows. (y)

Yeah it was some French kid who recorded his own bass playing and put together And Justice For Jason. We need a REAL remix/remaster dammit!

I was talking about stuff like this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAvwod7BBK0

^ Real or not, that sounds pretty good.

Hopefully it means something new and interesting from them sooner rather than later. Magnetic had some really great moments and really held it's own live. Looking forward to what's coming up!

The Magnetic songs were really awesome live, fo sho.

That Was Just Your Life and All Nightmare Long I feel are the best songs from that record, with The Judas Kiss coming right behind both of them. The only real pointless song on that record I feel was Unforgiven III. It had little to do with either previous Unforgiven song and it just didn't seem to have much of a reason to exist.

Ah yeah, I've done a few of these remixes myself with the tracks that were released on Guitar Hero/Rockband.



Yeah, Death Magnetic was a pretty kick-ass record. The only track didn't really like was U3 and I sometimes skip The Day That Never Comes. But the album in general has got a really fresh, energetic vibe to it. Shame the mix sucks.

I wish them luck. Naturally, I'd dig a remaster of "...And Justice".

Don't get why people get so worked up about the lack of bass on AJFA. Its not like you can hear the bass on 99% of thrash/death/black metal albums anyways.