Metallica - Beyond Magnetic

Something short, but long, and new, but old, from the band that made metal matter again. Metallica's Beyond Magnetic contains four songs recorded between April 2007 and March 2008. The shortest song is listed at 6:57, then 6:69, 7:11 and 8:02 and they weren't released until 2011, after the Lulu incident.

The total running time of 28:09 makes this an album in my opinion, or a really big maxi-single, but I've known other "officially classified as albums" albums to be about that length. So, I'm calling it an album.

The four songs are Hate Train (6:59), Just A Bullet Away (7:11), Hell and Back (6:57), and Rebel of Babylon (8:02). These are tracks that one could argue weren't good enough to go on Death Magnetic, which is why it didn't get released as a double album. I have two counter points to that.

The most important is that these songs are actually different from Death Magnetic and don't belong on that album, or not with all of it. The sound, vibe, and feel, only match a couple of songs from those sessions.

The other point is that they did a double album thing a few years back and it didn't go over so well either. Load and Reload anyone?

Metallica fans can be split into two groups. The first is people that get that these guys are musicians. The second is everyone else. Everyone else wants to bang their heads, be real angry, and break shit. That's really fun. This albums satisfies that need.

Which brings me to what I consider the truth of this album. It was released to stop the angry fans from totally turning the violence towards the band. Honestly, I liked Lulu, but it was a piece of shit, and this isn't about explaining that statement. This is about an album that will always be seen as a fix, to a big boo boo. Luckily, the four songs that make up this album were good enough to fix reputations and heal hurt feelings. That and the band even laughing at Lulu.

Death Magnetic was the album that should have come out between ...And Justice For All and the black album. The band claimed that and I agree.

It's my opinion that Beyond Magnetic sounds like it should have come out out between Garage Days (not Inc) and Justice. The sound is raw, but crisp and clear. Their's a lot of passion, and anger, and riffing, and texture, but it all sounds pulled back. Reigned in, except for the vocals which punch through the centre of the mix. Part of me thinks the best way to explain it would be a quickly rushed ADAT demo produced by the vocalist. Although, that sounds a little too harsh. Accurate, but a little harsh.

Hate Train kicks the album off with the trade mark thrash fury that Metallica is known for. The vocals could be right out of Ride The Lightning, maybe Kill 'Em All, but older guys should not try to sing like that. At least not James and his growling voice, it leaves me feeling a bit sad. The song on the other hand makes me happily angry, and musically satisfied. In retrospect it may be the lamest song on the album.

My favourite track off the album, will also be added to the list of Metallica songs I will always gladly listen to. Just A Bullet Away is angry, pissed off, self destructive, beautiful and violent. Oh, so violent. I would have gladly, or easily, yanked a couple tracks off Death Magnetic to put this track on. I also would have made this the lead track, or single, for Beyond Magnetic, instead of Hate Train. I think it's the best the album has to offer for lasting playability. There's just something about James telling you to suck the barrel dry. The perverts will chuckle and the others will see red spots. Hell And Back makes me think of Wherever I May Roam in the way the instruments sound and are arranged, if it had been demo'd during the Garage Days sessions, and had more backbone. This is like Wherever I May Roam jacked up on gamma radiation and shown from inside the brain of the monster.

The album concludes with Rebel Of Babylon. This is the most ecclectic of all the songs on the album. Musically it's all over the place. It starts off all mellow, Mama Said/Low Man's Lyric, than it's punching you in the face all Frantic like, then it drops down and riffs out like anything off Death Magnetic over 5 minutes, and Kirk Solo's like he's just having a good ol' time, then the harmonies kick in and then it's all FUCK YOU! and back to banging your head really hard. Then the album is done. In the grand scheme of Metallica offerings it's a great filler in the middle. Somewhere between Garage Days (not Inc) and ...And Justice For All. I would have liked to have heard a version produced by Bob Rock. I think the sound would have been much better, and that's what hurt this album the most in my opinion. The rough shot production really takes away from the full lush vibrance that has been heard on other albums.

8/10 - content

6/10 - production

7/10 - personal bias