Load

Great album but very average pressing

Considered one of the best albums of the old Metallica, I don't disagree. Crisp aui

A classic album!

Looked original with sleeve and album details. Sleeve was broken

Simply put , this must be metallica's most underrated album of all . What's in here is a band that has put great maturity in their music and the production and clearity of each single instrument shines through the whole mix. I happen to be a musican myself who has been following the evolution of rock music since the eighties. Many a die hard metallica fan may brush it aside when compared to their previous albums , but this has to be in my opionion one of their best! And it keeps growing on you . I don't want to put down any of their other stuff as the classic metallica will always remain , but .....This is a true gem ! Listen to it carefully and your ears are sure to proove me right .

Unfortunately this album gets given a hard time, less so since St. Anger was released but nevertheless, too many "diehard" 'tallica fans seem to operate on the let's all club together and mercilessly slate this album principle. Granted it isn't Master of Puppets of Justice and whilst everyone holds those albums to well deserved esteem I tend to feel that the "glory" days of 80's era Metallica are a bit overplayed and maybe given a little too much credit.Whilst 90's era Metallica probably has Met fans split down the middle, I tend to find this was probably their most prolific period to date. Load is crammed with top quality tunes. For the most part it is rebellion against their 80's era, cutting across the grain of what was then deemed to be "great" Metallica content. gone is the insane fret wankery of 10 minute songs with 25 riffs each and double kick pedal up the wazoo, replaced with tightly packed songs each with a remarkable identity of their own.Ain't My Bitch - a strong opener that growls into the album. A fun track to see played live (I was fortunate enough to see them in 96 - during this period) that is tongue in cheek and probably, a proverbial middle finger to the expected album that old school metallica fans screamed so hard for back in the day (and still do now, sadly).2x4 - as we find ourselves coming to a slower pace throughout the album 2x4 is a strong riff driven that excellently displays how far Hetfield's voice has come since the screamier days of Kill 'em all.The House that Jack Built - never played live and probably because Hetfield pretty much recorded the majority of it himself, it perfectly exemplifies the quality of the album as a whole, it also features probably one of the best talk box guitar solos I've ever heard and is probably one of my favourite Metallica tunes of all time.Until It Sleeps - A brilliant single, that definitely had old school Met fans screaming in fear that their favourite group had "sold out" - again Hetfirled growls his signature tropes throughout and is a very catchy tune. No wonder people were getting upset, much like the black album before it, Load with tracks like this was actually getting airplay and radio time.King Nothing - a proto sequel tune, if you will to Enter Sandman, heralded as such by Hetfields closing line of "we're off to never never land" This has recently found itself back on their live setlist and thank god it has, it still features one of Metallica's best intros, a wailing single note pitched and held for nearly a minute by Hammett. SImply gorgeousHero of The Day - Another Hetfield singing his heart out tune here, with an almost Bob Seger like quality to it. Fear not though, Hetfield is soon growling his way through proceedings with another hook filled catchy number.Bleeding Me - 8 minutes of Metallica doing what noone expected them to, create something akin to an Alice in Chains style number that pretty much heralds how good Hetfield's lyric writing can sometimes be. While most will think me on a Hetfield love fest here, trust me when I say he peaks on this and the next album for songwriting and rarely displays the quality on display here.Cure - back in the day, when I had this on Cassette, this was the opener for side two. The Bluesier side of the album, cure opens with a growly chuggy riff and again has Hetfield actually singing again and if I'm honest - is pretty damned enjoyable. Not particularly on a parr with the likes of Don't tread on me, but hey - still a lot of fun to listen to.Poor Twisted Me - Metallica does Blues. Nuff said.Wasting My Hate - After "Ain't my Bitch" this tune is probably the closest they get to thrashy on the entire record. A great number and some more fab lyrics.Mama Said - If any Metallica song would split fans it would be this one, If memory serves this was written by Hetfied about the loss of his own mother, if you excuse the country style twang of Hammett's involvement, it is a rather haunting ode to losign a loved one. I enjoy it, many hate it - make up your own mind.Thorn Within - If i'm honest, this is probably the closest Metallica get to "making do" - a "filler" track and probably never bothered with live. I often forget it's there. Sad, but alas true. still though nice growly intro and chuggy riff.Ronnie - Well, Metallica does blues again - never played live and that is a crime - fantastic riff - bold lyrics and another example of how tight this band can be. I really love this song.The Outlaw Torn - Well, no Metallica album would be complete without a ten minute track on it would it? - Difference here is as opposed to simply cramming those ten minutes with as many riffs as humanly possible (as they have been doing more recently on albums like Death Magnetic - and the even more recent Lords of Summer single) THIS song happens to capture a Zeitgeist. An unencumbered by Manufacturing restrictions version was released (This album pushed the limits of a single CD at nearly 75 minutes) - I believe the song ended up hitting the 12 minute mark on that version - it's a long sludgy, doomy riff driven journey and a great closer to the album as a whole.I was 16 when this album was released and whilst I loved the earlier stuff, this album for me has become a bit like a fine wine that simply keeps getting better with age. This and it's follow up are definitely my favourite Metallica albums, they're a product of their time and they capture that period of Metallia's true spirit - they rebelled, rebelled against what was expected, rebelled against themselves and were a bold, uncompromising band that did precisely as they pleased - probably the most prolific they ever were in their careers. The quality of the recording and the music contained here in have never been surpassed (barring maybe S & M three years later) but it harkens back to Metallica's true outlaw grit. The band that could genuinely do whatever they wanted, before the age of digital downloads, Metallica HQ, before Jason left - Metallica at their peak (in my opinion)A great album and not one to overlook simply because it isn't "metal" enough - it's more metal than their most recent material, because it panders to noone, nor does it apologise for not doing so. Give it a spin and remember the 90's fondly :)

This album never gets the credit it deserves and in my opinion even better than their previous self titled "black album". Hetfield and Co's creative juices are definately flowing with the writing process of this album and as such there are some classic songs on this album - bleeding me, outlaw torn etc. A lot of metallica fans will say that this effort is not "heavy" enough but infact is packed full of churning rifftastic crunches mixed with a great southern blues rock sound.

I really love this album from Metallica and although a lot of people, including die hard fans, dissed it and said it wasn't Metallica at their best, I think it was and it's good for a band to diverse a bit and not just keep churning out the same old crap. Nice one lads! Definitely worth the blood, sweat and............you know what! *GRINS*

Description says 4LP 7" Vinyl but it's actually 4LP 12" Vinyl. Only purchased this because I thought it was a 7" Vinyl box set I was buying. That aside I have to say I love Load just as much as I love Kill, Ride, Puppets, Justice, and every other album Metallica have released. If Metallica had stayed in the "Thrash Genre" after Justice, they would not still be around. I know not everyone will agree but to me this album is as good and as important as Justice, Puppets, the Black Album, and yes, even St Anger. If you love Metallica,regardless of the first album you heard you SHOULD love this too.