Recommend me a good studio album (Metallica)

ROOG

Dipping my toe into the music of Metallica, are there any must have studio albums I should consider to hear the real them?

not_the_dj

Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets. That'd do for the earlier stuff. The Black album is the turning point, and whilst more commercial it is a cracking album.

cj73

I'd start with Master of Puppets

d8m

Avoid the above at all costs.

I'd start with The Black Album and work your way back

ROOG

Right'o off to see what the damage is. Thanks for your guidance chaps

d8m

Personally I like to pretend the band ceased recording after the Black Album.

It helps me avoid the disappointment of their later offerings.

mike_l

Master of Puppets

Ride the Lightning

The Black Album

And Justice for all (despite the shite mix/production)

Death Magnetic/Kill Em All

 

There, in some sort of order.

Load/reload are average at best.

St anger - avoid like your life depends on avoiding. 

PolarityMan

I like load/reload but theyre not really metal, more like heavy blues rock ala clutch.

mike_l

If I wanted to listen to heavy blues rock I wouldn't pick up a Metallica album.

indiansummer1

i actually quite like the production on st anger despite general consensus. that said, i'm not in any way a metallica fan so ignore me!

Alnico

If you only ever had the Black album it would be a good thing to have but i agree with the others..........

Master of Puppets as well !

Lixarto

Load and Justice.

Maynehead

I'm a huge Metallica fan and the admin of the Metallica Facebook group. I think one of the reasons Metallica are still going strong today is the fact that their style has constantly evolved over the years, and they are not afraid to cross boundaries set by genres or the expectations of their fans. The only thing that is important to them is to write music that feels right for them at the time.

I enjoy listening to all their albums but appreciate them in their own individual ways. The albums can be roughly divided into 3 distinct "eras" as follows:

The thrash era - starting from their debut album kill em all and ending with the black album, this is the "classic" all out metal-up-your-ass, mosh till you drop Metallica that most people know and love. Some of their greatest technical compositions are created in this period culminating in their masterpiece "...and Justice For All"

The Load era - Covering the 2 Load albums and the covers album Garage inc., this period marks a dramatic change in direction for Metallica. The pace of the songs take a well deserved rest and the lyrics take a dive into the deepest and darkest corners of James' heart. These are some if the most personal and emotional songs he has ever written, and it's a chance for him to come to terms with and expel a lot of the demons he has kept bottled up since childhood.

The modern era - starting with St. anger and going all the way to the present day, this is the new sound of Metallica. A mix of old and new, with a sprinkling of something different, but with the same attitude and conviction they've always shown. These songs mark a new start for them and focus mainly on the present, inspired by the tumultuous relationship between the band members, but also closing some old wounds.

Anyway, enough with their back history, now for my recommendations. My favourite Metallica album, which of course implies my favourite album of all time, is ...and Justice For All. I call it the Mozart symphony 41 of metal. It is the pinnacle of technical and compositional genius. Closely following is the Load album. I find myself completely immersed in the emotion and lyrics, and can identify with a lot if the songs' subjects. After those 2 will probably be Ride The Lightning and Master Of Puppets, i.e the classics. But like I said, each and every album is worth listening to for their own reasons.

I wish you a safe journey, it's going to be a wild ride!

d8m

One of my all time top running songs!

RocknRollDave

ROOG

Thank you @maynehead, and others who responded. I agree that most successful artists bring their followers with them as they develop. Not withstanding, I like to know where they come from, so I recon start at the beginning and work forward. I am a bit embarrassed that I missed em the first time around.

mudslide73

Puppets - Genre defining... Then listen to some Reign in Blood and Peace Sells.... that's my late teens in audio.

Justice is also better than it's reputation implies imo.

mike_l

The biggest problem with Justice is the production, IE lack of bass.

Live, with a bass the songs are absolute monsters.

Rocker

The Black album, then Master of Puppets......

ROOG

Rocker said:

The Black album, then Master of Puppets......

Cheers, this is now the plan of action :0)

ThePrettyDamned

mike_l said:

The biggest problem with Justice is the production, IE lack of bass.

Live, with a bass the songs are absolute monsters.

This is the troof. 

Cracking songs on this. One is a masterpiece.