I was a huge fan of Metallica for about 12 years and like many, I started hating them when A) they sold out and B) they participated in the Napster debacle. Being only 26 years old, I wasn't introduced to Metallica until the self-titled "black" album was released. To this day, it contains many of my favorite Metallica songs but it also marks the start or their involvement with producer Bob Rock and the results of that collaboaration are what led to them "selling out". Load and Reload are hated by most Metallica fans and while there are a few good songs to be found, they're piss poor albums compared to everything that Metallica put out before then.

And then, there's St. Anger. The less said about St. Anger, the better. It's pure, unadulterated shit. Every single song on that album sucks. It's awful.

Metallica isn't the same band they were when they made Master of Puppets. They're just not and they never will be again... but that doesn't mean they're incapable of making good music anymore. Why do I say this? Their new album, Death Magnetic, rocks. It doesn't just rock, it kicks fucking ass.

They've finally ditched producer Bob Rock and they're making real Metallica songs again. Some may say that it's too late for them to ever regain their credibility or for them to become relevant again. That doesn't matter in the context of this album. Death Magnetic, all on its' own, kicks ass. Whatever you think of the various members of Metallica (Lars Ulrich... I want to smash in his weasely little face...), they still know their shit.

The drums don't sound like trash can lids anymore. Guitar solos are back. Epic fucking songs are back (there's one 5 minute thrash song, most are over 7 minutes long). There's even an instrumental.

Overall, I'd say the album feels like it fits somewhere between ...And Justice for All and the black album. Production is much better than Justice but it doesn't have that super polished feel of the black album. Metallica is back and I couldn't be fucking happier.

It would take me a lot to get back into Metallica, although I do love Ride The Lightning, Master of Puppets, And Justice For All..., and even The Black Album, but that part of my life is just over.

Plus it is truck-driver music.

It's gonna take quite a bit for me to give them a chance again. Between the release of three horrible albums in a row (not counting S & M) and Lars being a fricking dickweed....there's too much love lost.

Out of protest, I will pirate this album!

...I liked St-Anger....

runs away in fear of Metallica fans.

I absolutely love the new album. I already downloaded it but definitely plan on buying a physical copy of it as well. You're right this album is definitely a return to their roots and fits well inbetween Justice and Black.

I was kind of hoping that they would have put "The New Song", shown on youtube in 2006, on their new record, but found that instead of putting the song, they took riffs from the song and placed them into "The End of the Line" and "All Nightmare Long" close to the end of the song. If you listen closely you can hear that same kick-ass guitar solo. In the End of the Line song they used the main riff for the beginning and middle of the song while introducing a new solo, it freakin rocks! I've been listening to it at least once a day on my walkman and can't wait to buy it!

Metallica's finally back ;p

It's a heck of a lot better than St. Crappy Anger...

Like you said, much closer to good, old, Metallica.

lol don't run, I liked it too after a couple of beers XD

I've held that grudge for eleven years... but I'm finally able to let go because the new album is really just that good.

From Pitchfork....

So it is with Death Magnetic. Self-plagiarization abounds. "That Was Just Your Life" and "Cyanide" harken back to "Blackened" from ...And Justice for All. "The Day That Never Comes" has the clean tones of "Fade to Black" and the machine gun riff from "One". Still, Metallica wrote hundreds of riffs in the 1980s without repeating themselves, and to hear them so bereft of new ideas is disheartening. So is the fact that Load, ReLoad, and St. Anger are indelibly part of their bloodstream: "The End of the Line" and "The Judas Kiss" are built on those same bland hard rock riffs, and "Cyanide" tapes a Stone Temple Pilots chug to a disastrous stop/start section like a forgotten St. Anger deep cut. And like most sequels, the turgid "The Unforgiven III" should never have been made. Metallica just aren't very good at unpredictability. They're best at heavy metal thunder, and they've sadly lost the ability to summon it.

So I'm reading along and I come across "Unforgiven III."  They did what?  They made a third version?  After the second was so bad? 

What's your take on that song Deviation?