Metallica Falters: The Story of Load and Reload

In 1991, Metallica smashed all expectations and became the biggest heavy metal band of all time. Five years later, would Metallica be able to sustain high critical praise and commercial success? Furthermore, where would their fans stand on their newer, more streamlined releases?
0:00 Metallica Seeks Change (1988 - 1991)
2:21 The Black Album Conquers (1991 - 1993)
6:57 Hubris & Petty Taunts (1994)
9:03 The Writing Process Begins (1994)
11:08 Metallica vs. Elektra (1994)
13:21 Metallica Enters the Studio (1995 - 1996)
20:21 Press Coverage, Haircuts, Festivals (1996)
22:44 Load Succeeds, Controversy Ensues (1996 - 1997)
28:59 Return to the Studio (1997)
29:20 ReLoad Tops Charts, Fails to Reassure (1997)
32:47 Metallica Indulges (1998 - 1999)
33:40 Uncertainty and Looming Anger (2000)

[@joker_gaming6354]

The way james caught that shoe was smooth as fuck though

[@joemamma416]

The best shoe dodge ever was president Bush taking nothing away from James.

[@Luka2000_]

​@@joemamma416true

[@D-Fens_1632]

I saw them in 94, 97, and 98, smack in the middle of this period. My biggest complaint of the era was the way they would only play half of Master. Ending it in the middle always infuriated me. Still does.

[@belltolls1984]

Damn that really sucks, i had no idea they cut Master in half

[@AussieSingo]

!!!! Been a massive fan since 94. Back then i never understood why thayd do that. Glad they snapped outta it. I think they did that and thought theyd dissappoint me with 72 seasons instead.

[@EWALTEWALT]

when i first heard Master on the radio in middle school, I thought they had combined two Metallica songs together. No excuse for skipping the best parts live for any band!

[@BradCGZ]

Saw them in 94 for my first concert ever and remember being shocked that they cut off Master of puppets

[@D-Fens_1632]

They kind of had a relatively limited repertoire for a long time, it's not a knock against them but they were one of those bands that generally stuck to a set list for a tour and you always know you're guaranteed to hear a good number of songs (One, Sandman, Nothing Else Matters, Bellz, etc.). So I understood their desire to get weird. The Justice medley comes to mind, or the addition of the acoustic encores, and in the extreme case S&M. But people also eagerly expect to hear those big songs, and Master is one of the biggest. It's like a radio station that ends Hotel California before the guitar solo. Cutting Master in half was just a terrible idea. You won't find a single person who defends it.

[@fobbitoperator3620]

The day I got sober, January 3rd of '97, "Hero of the Day" was playing in my head. Since then, every time I hear that tune, I remember why I still walk this Earth. Addiction can be BEATEN. If my simple ass can do it, anybody can!

[@shannobailey2917]

Stay well brother 👍🇺🇲

[@fobbitoperator3620]

@PumpkinHead-jt3vx Nah, I just grew up!

[@chargree]

Yeah, I concur. I have been clean about 11 months. Suboxone was harder to beat than Heroin, for anyone considering that course of treatment. It was harder by about 2 months of steady withdrawal symptoms!

[@shannobailey2917]

Some people can't,I try to keep them working, it's alcohol for them, prayers never hurt anyone.

[@fobbitoperator3620]

@@shannobailey2917 "Can't" is the death of some people. Prayers work quite well, when addicts are ready to turn can't, into "can drink/use no longer!"

[@J0HNJ0RDAN]

I'm glad I never got hung up on genres and labels. I have always simply enjoyed good music.

[@toadspit9635]

Same here

[@Passarium-1195]

And Justice For All is honestly perfect and Frayed Ends Of Sanity is underrated

[@slappindabassman]

And Justice for All sounds like midi file shit though. It's not just the lack of bass.

[@zacharyyoung1083]

As a bass player, I completely reject this point of view.

[@rushnerd]

Yeah It's by far my fav album of theirs. I bought Load in 2001 I think. I enjoyed it, but 80Min of sameish songs was a lot to take. None of it sticks out like songs from their other albums. It's kind of a blur even with some decent lyrics.

[@spice_krispies]

It's not perfect by any means. The first 3 albums were closer to perfect.

[@aliataciciek]

@@spice_krispieskill em all literally exists, hideous production. justice is better imo.

[@brandongardner7398]

And Justice For All was , is, and always will be my favorite Metallica album. That album was so raw. YAH bless!!!

[@95ZR580]

Check out and justice for all with bass on youtube. The dude plays bass to the entire album and it's amazing!

[@brandongardner7398]

@@95ZR580 I heard it, and it is awesome. The bass definitely adds a lot of definition, but for an album that originally had little to no bass in it, And Justice was still awesome. Thanks for the reply. YAH bless!!!

[@Warstub]

Never been a huge Metallica fan, in terms of Heavy Metal, I prefer Iron Maiden, but And Justice For All is without doubt my favourite as well. It's not even the rawness - there's just something about the songwriting and the hooks that grab me across the entire album!

[@aerotube7291]

@@Warstub a deep commited immersion in an idea by dedicated pros free from trick production...that album is full of such intense playing and expanded arrangements.

[@weedidi7144]

I loved Reload, Load, Master of puppets, Metallica and Ride the lightning, so I gave And justice for all a good chance. I've listened to it a lot, but other than One and To live is to die, it never really appealed to me. always interesting how different parts of this band can be appreciated.

[@epicblarg1]

The older you get. The more you understand why bands change.

[@zagoyd]

They lost what they had trying to ride popularity, unfortunately they never got that magic back , when they realised it was too late . At least they have spent the last 20 years trying to make amends.

[@Zanatos9]

Megadeth, Anthrax, Slayer didn't "change" against their target audience.

[@robertsmith262]

It’s not that they changed. Good bands evolve all the time. Metallica just simply sold out. They made their music softer so it could get on the radio. It’s that simple.

[@derekgagnon1250]

​@@worsethanhitlerpt.2539yes it's all about the money... Grow up

[@jimmym3352]

@@Zanatos9 Megadeth certainly sold out in the 90's. The less said about Risk the better. But even Youthanasia was quite soft for them. As for Slayer, they never put out anything great after 1990. After a while, I get tired of his screaming. I love older Slayer, but after a while it really is just more of the same.

[@Stirrups]

I'm so lucky I was a kid when this album came out and I could listen to these songs without bias.

[@TheBeerslammer]

I agree in that it was my gateway into metallica being about 12 when it came out and was on the radio, but even then I remember listening to it and some hit hard like king nothing and others were just duds there were no middle ground with these songs, I feel the same way now it was either banger or trash. And if they’d just combined the best of both albums and chocked the rest it would have been for the better. Hindsight being 20/20 and all. That being said even watching this video and seeing them go from justice to load, appearance wise I can very easily see long term fans being like “fuck this” lol

[@nkw1985]

Same here. The Black Album and Reload are my two favorite Metallica albums. I was 12 when Reload was released and like TheBeerslammer said it was my gateway to their previous work which I also like. Unfortunately Garage Inc. was the final album I bought by them and everything after that lost me.

[@jackdough8164]

Agreed but I’ve never been a music snob so I don’t think it would’ve mattered even if I had grown up with their heavier prior material. And to this day I love it all and can listen to any of their music and enjoy it for the music and no other bs that would stop that

[@Ehoffman61]

​@TheBeerslammer same for me, reload was my intro to them. Good comment.

[@bigguy7353]

You had no bias from the 4 previous albums? Sorry, I don't believe that.

[@alexalexalex797]

Looking back. Its insane how BIG metallica was in the early 90s. C R A Z Y

[@alexalexalex797]

@@worsethanhitlerpt.2539 despise them or not, they were huge. Goddamn arena metal😂 No metal band has even come close to the mainstream level of fame they got during the early 90s. After that….well… lets say rolling down from so high takes time.

[@alexalexalex797]

@@worsethanhitlerpt.2539 more like they skyrocketed into the top of all charts with the black album and made more cash than any other metal band. Then they made a bunch of mediocre albums and finally reached rock bottom with st anger😂

[@YBM2007]

"Metalli-something"

[@ShadowZero1980]

@@alexalexalex797 They've been a stadium act ever since Black Album. Don't think much has changed since then? Obviously they don't tour 3 hour shows for 3 years anymore.

[@alexalexalex797]

@@ShadowZero1980 man, you probably weren’t around when the black album came out. It took over, globally. That’s when they hit their peak as far as popularity goes. For a while Metallica was literally EVERYWHERE. Since then, they haven’t reached anywhere near those heights.

[@sireverwhite]

Great storytelling. I came here thinking i will just watch 5 minutes of this and here I am, having watched it in full and wanting another video about next albums! Thank you for your job good sir, keep it up!

[@derekminer8185]

"Stunning c....I mean cunning stunts" 😅 had me dying!!

[@adarkerstandard]

Hahaha, I’m glad you appreciated that one

[@derekminer8185]

@adarkerstandard little humor is always nice. Not sure how many people actually caught it.

[@theeducatedfool]

If Load was twenty minutes shorter and released under a different name, it’d be hailed as a stoner rock classic nowadays

[@diabeticmonkey]

That's a great point

[@bigshagg3815]

You'd have to be pretty damn High to Like That album. 😂

[@utry_daniel438]

@@bigshagg3815 It has some duds but you're lying if you say Bleeding Me and Outlaw Torn aren't fantastic songs.

[@bigshagg3815]

@utry_daniel438 bleeding me is not bad. It's not a song I go looking for. I suppose if it were a woman, I wouldn't kick it out of bed... but I'd still be embarrassed if my friend saw me with her. 😄

[@utry_daniel438]

@@bigshagg3815 fair enough. It’s a top 5 Metallica song for me, as unpopular as that sounds. The S&M version is amazing. Then again, the S&M version of any song kicks ass lol

[@leighkavan5992]

This is one of the best videos of this style I’ve ever seen. Well spoken, straight forward yet detailed. Excellent stuff

[@DJW_]

I had an interesting start to Metallica. First album I ever bought with my own money was actually St. Anger with no clue of who Metallica actually were. Then I bought load and reload and THEN the black album lol. I worked backwards. 16 years later, 30 years old and they're my favourite band of all time. Seen them live 10 times to date and off to Scandinavia to see them another 3 times in 2024. Long live the kings

[@426baron]

Very interesting. You can't imagine the disappointment of 80s metalheads when playing the Load CD for the first time. Metallica died for me that day.

[@jacobmonster7721]

​@@426baron With all due respect, taste changes at times especially with musicians!! If you talk to Jonathan Davis from Korn he doesn't even listen to metal! And like lars ones said just because I listen to deep purple and king diamond doesn't mean I can listen to Beethoven

[@426baron]

@@jacobmonster7721 indeed. I both listen to a wide variety of music and I regularly go back to listen to older albums or artists I did not like at the time. I sometimes get to appreciate things differently. But "newer" Metallica never has done it for me so far.

[@426baron]

@@worsethanhitlerpt.2539 I am so happy to finally meet someone who thinks that MoP is meh. One good track and fillers all around. Nice name BTW, Mr H.

[@426baron]

@@worsethanhitlerpt.2539 I like Battery, for it's kind of brutal simplicity. But yeah it probably didn't take too much effort to write.

[@HenrySchecker]

what an incredibly well organized, researched, and spoken video documentary. I'm gonna binge your other videos

[@JPMongeS]

Man, this video was in my recommended section every time I opened KZbin and I was not able to play it until now and gotta tell you I love the way you narrate the stuff and how well edited as a whole the video is. I am glad I finally played it!. 🤘🏾

[@adarkerstandard]

Appreciate that! Thanks for watching bro!

[@undeadchainsaw]

I always looked at 80s Metallica and 90s Metallica as 2 different bands. Both had great sounds and great albums. They were kids in the 80s and then they were grown adults in the 90s. Then there was St. Anger and beyond. We don’t talk about that. lol

[@iplyrunescape305]

Yes we definitely talk about St. Anger. I always do.

[@ryancosio4331]

Exactly bro👏my exact take

[@YBM2007]

Rock and roll as an industry got dismantled in the 90s (and it wasnt just the glam bands), no idea how they managed to 'keep up with the times' somehow.

[@eatassonthefirstdate]

Dude there's the first 4 albums, then Black album was the preview of their downfall, then they went to hell. The 80s albums are the most important metal records of all time though. I mean there's Venom, Kreator, Slayer, Maiden, Anthrax, Celtics frost, king diamond, cro mags etc but those first 4 Metallica are it bro.

[@neilefc877]

Only the most dedicated of Metallica fans could have created this exceptional look into the band's mid 90s exploits. Well done, uploader. Fantastic stuff 🙏

[@gdt19871]

This is a great retrospective, man. I'm sure some serious work went into this, so thank you!

[@agirotto1]

I love Load. Nothing brings me back to 1996 like playing Quake while listening to Load does. Such good memories.

[@adarkerstandard]

Dude, nice! That sounds like an awesome memory

[@obviousaron]

Wow I thought I was the only one who did that.

[@wolfgangfrost8043]

Hey, me too!

[@yommmrr]

Same for me with donkey kong country and smb3/smw. I was only about 8 years old but already loved metal and grunge.

[@davidwagstaff47]

Oh my word, I got the Hero Of the Day single, and a Quake demo on my dad's pc. I'd play the first level of Quake, whilst playing that single, and every time a new screen loaded, it skipped to the next track, which were the Motorhead covers they did. I was such a loser ha

[@quickmanz]

Excellent job with this video. Thoughtful commentary and even some clips I’ve never seen as a 30+ year fan.

[@QuietmindYoga]

Bleeding Me and Outlaw Torn are two of their greatest deep cuts

[@BigCleverName]

This is better than anything MTV could dream about making, great job

[@yw1971]

Maybe old 90's MTV could... Long time dead now

[@SX1995able]

What emoji is that?

[@herehere3139]

​@@SX1995ableappears to be a yellow man squinting while shooting a Load album

[@SX1995able]

@@herehere3139 that's a thumbs up dumbo

[@np466]

MTV? What year do you think this is?

[@JoawMebs-im6ix]

That Cobain joke was uncalled for and im a Metallica fan. Shame on you James.

[@JoawMebs-im6ix]

I mean if james died of alcohol im sure he or his family wouldnt want jokes made about it.

[@Bkesal14]

I had no idea about those comments but they're totally fucking unacceptable agreed.

[@gruggberg6053]

I do idolise Metallica but James speaks before he thinks.

[@LandoMan09]

Imagine being mad at a moment 30 years ago

[@Bkesal14]

@@LandoMan09 What a ridiculous thing to say.

[@waterwoodguitars6871]

I loved load and reload. Actually, to this day I still do. I know it wasn’t everyone’s favorite but the riffs and production are great.

[@pandanarkystudios5198]

Nobody, and I mean NOBODY hits it outta the park each and every time It isn't until we revisit that stuff down the road that we really come to appreciate it properly

[@solitudefreak]

Yesterday I heard Reload again for the first time in a few years, and I think it aged really well. These songs are great in my opinion: Fuel, The Memory Remains, Devil's Dance, Better than You, Where the Wild Things Are, Attitude. But the album as a whole works really well. Like you said, both the riffs and the production are great. It's not just a nostalgia thing, their sound was really unique at the time. Actually "Where the Wild Things Are" may as well be one of my favourite Metallica songs. It's really somber and atmospheric, in a way I don't think the band has ever tried to explore again. Oh well. To each their own!

[@ChrisTian-rm7zm]

@@SquierBulletBass-sj5bg Isn't it that the case with most music? I prefer the Load and ReLoad albums over the pre Black album releases.

[@crescendo5594]

The first half of Load is ridiculously good, and the second half is ridiculously bad.

[@soculese]

They were not bad albums. Not masterpiece level but some good tunes.

[@johnyoung9203]

I've been a huge metallica fan since 1989 and I love load and reload. It's a piece of my childhood I wouldn't change for anything. I started listening to metallica at 5 years old and justice for all is my favorite album with load and reload a close second.

[@fail_master_z]

I was 3 when I heard Enter Sandman! So that style of Metallica was all I knew for years haha. I remember hearing their thrash stuff for the first time and not being a fan 😂. That changed later on though.

[@simgul840]

@@fail_master_z I Was two weeks old when I first heard Fade to black! Ah the memories remain

[@nathanlentner3129]

This is a great video! Great behind the scenes info as well as thoughtful, balanced and restrained commentary.

[@adammatthews1984]

I can’t quite put into words how much I enjoyed this video. I’ve just watched it for the second time tonight and I enjoyed it even more than the first time. Keep up the good work sir. We want more!!!!!

[@adarkerstandard]

Can’t thank you enough for supporting what I do! New video is about 60% edited, just some odds and ends to get finished up. I’m super proud of it and I know it’s going to be of the level of quality I produced on this one!

[@dgrn101]

This is so well done I'm throughly impressed. I've been a diehard Metallica fan for 40 years and you have created a story that has dug deeper and done more homework than any other documentary about the band. And you managed to do it with one of my favorite albums from them. I wasn't a hater at any point in their career and st anger was close for me personally but I still proudly wear my Metallica tattoos and will defend them still. Great job thanks for this I'm gonna go check out some more of your videos

[@dgrn101]

@@brianjohnson8616 Lou was an interesting project indeed but I think what I dislike most about st anger is the drum sound

[@weedidi7144]

@@dgrn101 I bought St. Anger after sooooo much anticipation. Man the disappointment hurt. The songs felt boring and those drums man....

[@lagramau]

Wonderfull storytelling and more in depth than anything i have seen before on youtube. Thanks for this!

[@Krzztl]

The ending was perfectly timed, nicely written and well executed, nice job!

[@nivnikov3dnews]

Great video edit in the final part! Thank you for the story! For me, L&R are the greatest Metallica period albums and the peak of their creative career.

[@johnhuldt]

This is a very well made documentary. Great job dude!

[@Jammer90210]

Load was my first ever Metallica album I owned on CD. So it has sentimental meaning to me. My mom got it for me for Christmas in 1996. Where as I get why Metallica fans would hate on it, or rank it low in what is considered "heavy metal" when it comes to Metallica, the album has a lot of nice, beautiful lyrics and melodies to it. Reload to me was just as amazing when I bought it a year later. When I got into vinyl record collecting a few years back, Load and Reload were the first two Metallica albums I bought. I have many more now, but still, I figured if I was going to have just two Metallica vinyls, Load and Reload were the ones for me to have.

[@aerotube7291]

That is why people should always comment respectably regarding anothers taste. You met them at the right time for you and er um 'nothing else matters 😂....but seriously, your mother set you on a journey that Xmas which no doubt went in all sorts of directions, but Load started it

[@akseli5790]

I wished reload cd for christmas.. I got Spice Girls cassette. I listen to Metallica till this day but no Spice Girls.. 😀

[@aerotube7291]

@@akseli5790 i shouldn't really be on here at all because I asked for S club 7 and got Metallica. Still haven't listened to any Metallica....just having ya on ..good story!

[@aerotube7291]

@@akseli5790 just heard some of 72 seasons. Sounds pretty cool

[@gregkosinski2303]

⁠@@akseli5790honestly that Spice Girls album was considerably better than Load. Wannabe, 2 Become 1 and Say You’ll be There were all jams.

[@Radi0nFE]

Amazing video!! Can't wait to see your other Metallica stuff.

[@Edu0596]

excelent work dude! every metallica fan should watch this. cheers from Argentina! looking forward to next part

[@kevanvanhorne556]

I loved Load and its still one of my favorite albums. I understood the hate back then...but musically, it was and is still better than a lot of other stuff out there.

[@brentbartels9254]

Very much the same for me

[@NPK476]

Huhh? The 90's was flooded with such great music if you liked actual metal. In Tampa you had the Tampa Bay death scene with Obituary, Deicide,death in NOLA had sludge metal with bands like IhateGod, Crowbar, Soilent Green, in Sweeden you had the Gothenburg Sound with In flames, Dark Tranquility, At the Gates, Norway was an explosion of Black metal on the US east coast you had hardcore crossover, and Europe really started to crossover. When you break it down, the 90's bad the biggest expansion in metal and left 90's metallica in the dust.

[@kevanvanhorne556]

@@NPK476 no thats not what I meant. Down, BLS, C.O.C, Ozzy, Crowbar, Sepultura, Testament, etc. I could go on and on. All my favorites and had killer albums. But Im talking about commercial "mainstream" it was starting an era of crap and pop music, and Load was a commercially brilliant album compared to any radio friendly hits. I gotta give credit to the internet and streaming for finding me some really great music later on like Orchid, The Sword, Graveyard, and so on

[@NPK476]

@@kevanvanhorne556 And that's why we keep metal underground, metal has never cared about the mainstream.

[@keithramsay6923]

That guitar solo on 'Bleeding Me' is one of Kirk's most underrated.

[@fabcondo7191]

Great Video , I’m a very long time fan , and one who embraced all their changes over the years , each album is a classic and different in sound , and apart from the tin can drums of st anger , which had some great songs , the haters (and there’s plenty of keyboard warriors on the internet who’ve think they’ve done it all ) forget people grow up and styles and music change over the decades , this band not only changed and grew but still dominated

[@frankwebster9110]

This video came up in my feed a few times and I really wasn't going to watch it as I am one of the old dogs from the beginning and thought I knew most of what there is to know about MettalicA. Man was I wrong. Well done! And thanks for putting this together!

[@adarkerstandard]

Love to hear that man, glad you liked it! Cheers!

[@NOT_Brian]

Great video! I've been a Metallica fan since S&M and I never really had any context to what the band was going through when they followed up the black album. Good stuff dude!

[@donovanbadrock4246]

Fantastic video, thank you. I've been a Metallica fan since the mid 80s, and am still listening today as much as ever. This video was great. So well explained and researched. Great work, well done.

[@johnmacdonald3319]

I could not disagree more about "Load". James poured his heart out on this album and was clearly the beginning of James journey to self heal. Monumental.

[@darrenthetuber743]

It was but it was also too early, like you can tell he felt pretty self conscious about these decisions, because he knew the fans were going to be pretty harsh, and they were.

[@aerotube7291]

Yes, that's correct, opening up aside, some of the most confusing and flaky observations can come of those near the end of addiction and some of the best Insights come through recovery, but are often kept far closer to ones chest....just my own personal experience

[@adarkerstandard]

It was a great album no doubt. I put it in my top 2 with Justice, though somehow this video has led people to believe I hate both 😂 I tried to use more objective standards for how the reaction to both records resulted in a reaction by the band, but people seem to think that I’m dogging the records lol Anyway, James became a better lyric writer AND a better singer on this record, but it’s weakness is its run time. I wish they would experiment again and play with different styles, as what they’ve done on the last 3 records hasn’t resonated with me in the least.

[@mkv2718]

@@adarkerstandardI’d wager that’s mostly due to the title of the vid. “Metallica Falters” is a pretty obvious declaration that what you’re talking about won’t be the groups best material.

[@adarkerstandard]

@@mkv2718it was a declaration that the albums dealt a massive blow to their credibility, not that I personally believe the albums sucked

[@simonbowen4254]

Very well done! Thank you for this

[@tomzadvydas1758]

This is a cool video man of an interesting period in the band’s history. Thanks for doing

[@krisfreouf]

James using bullets to write lyrics is pretty awesome ngl

[@Targula]

For young me S&M was probably the most impactful thing I had ever listened too. Still love it to this day, No Leaf Clover and minus Human are simply fantastic additions to a career spanning fantastic songs.

[@adarkerstandard]

I love No Leaf Clover and Minus Human, but the album is so autotuned that I can’t bear to hear it any more.

[@Targula]

@@adarkerstandard that's fair enough. I've never really noticed it too much. Might be worth another video!

[@RealAlphaDrum]

@@adarkerstandard what are a few instances of autotune? I love the album and learned how to drum from it.

[@adarkerstandard]

@@RealAlphaDrum you can hear it especially on No Leaf Clover at around 4 minutes and 35 seconds. His pitch bends perfectly to hit the note in an extremely unnatural way. I can’t blame them for using autotune, it was a rather new, hip technology at the time, but Rock or whomever was in charge of the vocal effects really went overboard. It’s all over the album though, everytime he hits a note and it bends or straight up jumps to a note in a robotically smooth fashion, that’s autotune. Look up No Leaf Clover vocals only on KZbin and check out the isolated vocal track, it’s much easier to hear it

[@rabbit9577]

​@@RealAlphaDrumNo leaf clover is autotuned to death...

[@timbacon7349]

I remember when Load came out. I was so pissed. It took me years to actually listen to it. Once I finally really gave it a listen, I loved it. I still think there are amazing songs and riffs on that album.

[@Naughtforeye]

FACTS! I personally really like Load and Reload and they still hold up today.

[@IlliniDog01]

Yep. You just have to get past the shock of how different they are from their old stuff. Look at the Beatles. Every album they released was completely different. Artists usually don't like to do the same thing over. and over

[@josepha3805]

I still think Load sucks & they never completely recovered after that. But hey,I'm sure there's been a good album since then

[@jimmym3352]

It's a decent album, but that Ronnie song is horrible. What were they thinking.

[@timbacon7349]

Oh there’s definitely some garbage on ‘load’. But some really good stuff too. But ‘re-load’… I still can’t listen to that one. That was hot trash.

[@smctunes]

Great content, sir. I lived through all of this, and as someone who found Metallica just before the Black Album hit, I remember every step of this journey - I had all kinds of apprehension about Load and Reload, but appreciated aspects of them. At the same time, newcomers in the metal genre (namely System of a Down and, to a lesser extent, Korn) were pulling my attention towards something that was arguably as rough and raw as early Metallica, but novel in its newness. I'm now 42 and, after recently doing a promo for a Metallica cover band, my interest was re-kindled and I found 72 Seasons, which I'm really appreciating. This new album feels _right_ for them.

[@Johnnywhamo]

Layne will always remain 10x the vocalist James ever is or was.

[@wormwood078]

Apples and oranges.

[@derek92502]

Layne:Axl 🤷

[@cblizard6850]

O.o

[@positivepsycho2932]

Ok......But Metallica pioneered a whole fucking sub genre of metal. And Layne is dead. And Metallica has had a much bigger influence on rock and metal than Layne and AIC ever has.

[@Bmphotog]

Quite accurate, very tasteful - good job on this.

[@bdabassman]

Great job on this. The narration is fantastic and so is the content! 💯💯

[@JordanJMyers]

This was really good man. As a huge Metallica fan I hope you do more from them. Great job🤘🤘

[@WickedlNl]

Realistically, if they removed the fluff from both albums, putting the two together would make one really solid album.

[@FLudlow1]

Fair enough, there is a good bit of fluff (arguably, even if subjectively) on ReLoad, but very little on Load. I would have happily taken one bigger longer album, though.

[@jjwallnutts4341]

I’ve always thought this. Could’ve been 1 amazing album

[@marthademovimaus5140]

I made a mix of the two...but then ended up listening to their old stuff instead.

[@MitchJewers]

Damn this is a great video, definitely going somewhere with these

[@Blackened30]

As someone who was a teen during the black album and load/reload period, I have a lot of vivid memories of how I felt and what I thought. The black album was huge, and the tour was enormous, they played 3 hours every night for years. You'd often see James and Lars being interviewed by local news, sometimes for a whole news hour. Mandatory Metallica became a thing I haven't seen anything similar for a band before or since, and it still continues to this day in places. Wearing a Metallica shirt to school every day made me feel different, like some kind of reflected glory landed on me. I was a fan of the biggest, heaviest band in the land. They were just untouchable. Life was great. All that changed with Load. My first experience with it was during a road trip in a friend's car, and the first thing he said was "brace yourself." We went through Load and I can't say I hated it at all, but man was it a change. The biggest change was how other people reacted to you though as a Metallica fan. Suddenly that respect was gone, a lot of the local metalheads saw them as traitors. People started calling them shit like Alternica. The level of disrespect for them as a band and for their fans was a terrible feeling, and to some extent it still exists among some today. A different kind of person would walk up to you when you wore the shirt. They'd be the type wearing normal clothes or even a suit and tie that loved Until It Sleeps and didn't even know there were other records in the discography. It took me a few years of growing up to get over the changes and to accept that all bands have to grow and change. In the end the Load era let them explore music from a different angle, and what you hear from them today is a blend of "old" Metallica and that Load period. I love every Metallica record, even St. Anger for all its flaws though those songs sound way better live. But damn do I miss that black album era, and that era's James. He was like a predatory vulture with his old stance perched on the edge of the stage glaring into the crowd. Metallica was a whole phenomenon, and I don't know that we'll ever see its like with a metal band again.

[@AamuAurora]

Such a great channel! My aunt introduced me to Metallica when I was 11. It was 2008, the year of Death Magnetic. I still remember the excitement when she brought me a dusy box filled with every Metallica album to explore. Even as a kid I never felt that Load and Reload were bad records. Though my favourite album was AJFA, I was able to appreciate and enjoy few songs from Load and Reload. I didn't have any context when listening because I didn't read any reviews, and had no friends who were Metallica fans. Maybe that helped me not to be prejudiced and to appreciate the good elements. In the 80's Metallica curated the image of a band against the commercial glam and pop in metal and they attracted similar people, who were very attached to the idea of "true" metal. I think for these diehard fans, Load and Reload were like slap in the face. People who opposed the loudest didn't see Metallica as a band made of people who just played music they liked but an institution of metal, a golden standard. They saw the mainstream metal scene crumbling. I think it would be easier for them to accept St.Anger than Load and Reload xd

[@andyynda8917]

I Love Load & Reload!!!!!! Not putting down the album's from the past. Load & Reload have a meaning in my life. For what I went through. So Thankful for these's Albums.

[@FlutterHoof87]

Great video! I hope to see a follow-up to this one soon 🤘

[@stlchucko]

James and Lars went full douchebag after Cliff. Jason caught the grunt of it, but damn… The jabs at Nirvana and Layne. They’re losing even more respect from me 39 years later.

[@josephkoval5434]

Yea that part was hard to watch

[@vazzeg]

Fuck, that was so bad.

[@avatarsebas74]

Olymel fry4la🎉fry4la est est ok😂😂f2edftl9

[@acousticnirvana94]

You don't think James/Lars can change?

[@1-800-WILLIAM]

@@acousticnirvana94 Clearly he does because he concedes that they changed after Cliff’s passing. Everybody alive changes. A lot of people remember Cliff warmly because he wasn’t alive long enough to stick his foot in his mouth. It’s the exact opposite with Mustaine who, by my estimation, has almost always been a turd but he’s been tempering those demons as of late. I just think a lot of people judge others by standards and measures they would not want to be judged. “So and so did this in 1994. They’re horrible!”

[@danielsutherland488]

Excellent work! I've been listening to these albums a lot recently, and find they stand the test of time more than their early stuff - IMO. I'll happily listen to Load on the regular.

[@meursault-ey7wq]

I wasn’t crazy about these albums, but I respected the band for making music that seemed honest.

[@geneevans7885]

Thank you. Swear to god for years I’ve been saying those two albums are the most honest Metallica albums.

[@tamasbodnar1729]

Load will always be one of my favourite albums I love the bluesy sound.

[@roddcayton6723]

Yeah, because you don't get to hear that really difficult guitar solo.

[@Christophernorbits]

Mama said is a great song

[@KROMO50]

Great video man!!!!

[@TheMusicPoint]

Good video. I enjoyed the deep dive thanks ❤

[@ChiefWindyCheeks]

People who say "Sellout" have nothing to sell.

[@nameless646]

Yeah, I'm not one to call someone or a band sellouts but Kirk and Lars wearing "guyliner" in a prepackaged product sort of way despite their disdain for stuff like that in the 80's when hair metal acts were doing that is difficult to ignore. It definitely feels like they opted to be posers after the Black Album and the trend continued into the recording of St. Anger. They went from wearing Alcoholica shirts in a humorous way of not taking themselves too seriously to ironically becoming the butt of the jokes they used to make about glam metal years before.

[@harrypothead42024]

Glorious!

[@harrypothead42024]

​@Nintendo😂😂😂😂😂Psycho

[@mediumvillain]

Meh, complete bullshit. Very many extremely talented people recognize (and have frequently commented) that people can abandon their artistic integrity in order to make more money.

[@jedsteelwell2354]

Or it's just fans of thrash Metallica and didn't like hard rock Metallica

[@paynexkiller]

Hey man,, just wanted to say I loved your CKY reviews so really happy to see you getting some exposure on your excellent work on this one!

[@wandr3r180]

This is a great doc, well done.

[@belltolls1984]

Hero of The Day is such a great song, I love the video as well. Phenomenal video, I learned so many things in this I didn't even know and I'm a die hard Metallica fan; great job!

[@jeffreydean7556]

This was an absolutely fantastic re-telling of Metallica's 90s. I've been an uber-fan fan since I was a teen in the early 90s, and there's still a lot of this that I didn't know, before! Thank you for making this! (Also, I'm apparently the one lone fan who loves Bad Seed. Someone has to! Attitude can go away, though.)

[@marthafokker2071]

They were far better in the 80's.

[@fidacuca]

Bad Seed is way better than Fuel or TMR.

[@invisiblekid7374]

@jefferydean7556 You're not alone bud. I also like Bad Seed! I have an Alesis electronic drum kit, and I play along to it, quite often! Devils Dance is another favorite that I love playing along to!!

[@JacubWhite38]

I think it's funny when alcoholics make fun of drug addicts. It's really the pot calling the kettle black.

[@Liam-zw1ek]

They think it justifies their behavior. 'I may be an alcoholic, but at least I don't do this, or that narcotic.' People in the wrong, divert attention away from themselves to those 'more' in the wrong.

[@wpzamora]

Then they had no clue why people were throwing shit at them

[@alexprieto4815]

Load and Reload are ahead of their time and misunderstood masterpieces. The band’s longevity is absolutely due to their desire to consistently experiment in the 90s. Load is less angry, has some emotional and heady concepts, which tend to resonate as a person becomes older. Now at 36, I find myself constantly coming back to Load and Reload, as they inform and reflect lot of my personal experience with aging and the overall contemplation of life. All their albums have value. I love 72 Seasons but I wish they had the spirit and courage to experiment again. They have nothing to lose at this point. Also, great video. You just got a subscribe 🤘

[@horatiohuffnagel7978]

That Cobain joke was very distasteful. Make fun of Chains too. Hetfield was a total boozer so one to talk. Not cool boys.

[@CHlEFFIN]

This happened 30 years ago, idiot. He isn’t the same person. He is very much aware that those antics weren’t “cool”.

[@Terp311]

True, that’s all they are is “boys”

[@jonathanbrooks1651]

Right?!! I had no idea they would stoop so low.

[@jameskuhn432]

I'm an old school Metallica fan that's also a huge fan of both Load and Reload. I just love both albums. Even when they first released. I love bands that aren't afraid of experimenting from time to time.

[@mjdejong]

agreed, same for me

[@RonnieRonnie3697]

A favorable band of mine (The Mars Volta) does that shit all the all time, they can go from prog rock to post-hardcore to jazz to R&B. I love artists and bands that aren't afraid to experiment outside of their comfort zone.

[@2000Doriyas]

How does any of that era sound experimental?

[@jameskuhn432]

@@2000Doriyas compared to their usual music. And even Kirk and James talked back then with experimenting with new guitars, new sounds. Low Man's Lyric and Mama Said are good examples.

[@FeYew-ff5gb]

Yup

[@kirkericson2722]

Two points: First, album bloat became a problem for many artists across all genres in the 90s, not just Metallica. As albums began to be written for CDs rather than LPs, the standard 45 minute runtime suddenly was extended by 30 minutes. Many 90s albums were 10-15 minutes away from being double albums. My second point is that Hetfield circa '96 is a dead ringer for Chris Pratt. This was a great video, keep 'em coming!

[@skottyo]

Great video bro Well done. Thanks

[@mathiasthelander7834]

I really enjoyed this one, great quality!

[@bleedingcrystal4722]

It still hurts to this day. It’s their music and I applaud them for having the balls to do what they wanted to do. Doesn’t make me like the stuff any more. I owe this band so much as their early stuff was the foundation I learned to play guitar on. They’ll always have a place in my heart but I haven’t listened to any of their stuff after not even being able to finish Load.

[@edelcorrallira]

I totally get it, I can still remember arriving home, putting in that brand new CD and ... Ain't my bitch >> skip ... skip ... skip ... then I had skipped to the last track. I pushed eject and had my mind spinning. Where was the Metal in Metallica? James now song like a cross between a pop and a country singer. No solos, no good riffs, dumbs lyrics, the drums were bare bones. And the 4 guys out to conquer the world were now metrosexuals. Meaning that fashion had taken the place of writing lyrics, music or even bothering with performance. Learning about the flames being semen, blood and piss did not "enhance" my experience. Let alone, this was the band that had been punishing young listeners with the Napster debacle. Yeah, I tried playing the album again two or three times. Years passed and I'd usually listen to new albums a year or two after they came out via a video or some single ... and I'd just never felt the energy of fight fire with fire, or heck even Don't Tread on Me ever again. S&M sounded gnarly, with James phoning in his vocals as he had learned to do from here on. So even live Metallica had watered down versions of what I liked (say what you will about Megadeth, but at least they still killed it live and at their most commercial they came out with Crush 'Em "tails I win, heads you loose"). At some point they came out with Death Magnetic that sounded like a bad mix of fragments of songs put together clumsily but hey at least there was something... not something I enjoyed, but something. And then they did Lulu... I know lots of people LOVE Metallica, and frankly I'm glad. I know I did so as well. While the Black album is uneven and far poorer than the first four albums, it still has some muscle behind it and some classics. And while I can't for the life of me enjoy (and I tried) anything from Load onwards, I think of it as a sort of consolation price that others get a similar experience to some degree. But man, that stuff is just not for me.

[@zach8989]

At least listen to outlaw torn man it’s fucking amazing and is epic and like old Metallica in many ways

[@nebularain3338]

Mate, you need to re-evaluate your life if an album can hurt you. I mean, I despise Death Magnetic, but I just don't listen to it.

[@ryancosio4331]

Cvck take, load rules

[@_AVF]

There are some phenomenal songs on those albums. "Hero of the Day" is a forever banger.

[@dr.loomis4221]

Yup...love that song

[@mikem3779]

the trio of Hero, King Nothing, and Until It Sleeps may be three of there best songs.

[@fidacuca]

The worst song ofnthe album.

[@_AVF]

@@fidacuca *Second best

[@earthsurgery1237]

Outlaw torn is the best in those 2 albums. Imo

[@jonathandayton4442]

Great video!!!

[@Puff_123]

Gotta say, your channel is seriously underrated. This retrospective and even the ST anger retrospective were so well made and informative, i am seriously shocked that you only have 6 thousand subscribers.

[@adarkerstandard]

Happy to know you enjoyed it! I take it in stride, a small subscriber count just means I have a lot of growth ahead of me!

[@Puff_123]

@@adarkerstandard Keep up the fantastic videos, my friend. You have great potential!

[@sambuxton931]

I was incredibly shocked to see this guy has only 3k subscribers, this was a higher quality video than your average million subscribers plus KZbinr

[@adarkerstandard]

I appreciate that so much man, thank you It’s a tough mountain to climb but I also neglected to properly build momentum in the past. Now it’s time to put out videos more frequently!

[@kronoscamron7412]

tbh it was low from james to mock someone for addiction.

[@TrouserTrumpet]

It’s trashy to kick people when they’re down.

[@Mari000]

Agreed. And then cries when people throw shoes at him.

[@madconqueror]

I didn't like neither load nor reload, but I'm going to listen to them the coming days again. Thanks for your video! Good choice in scripting and words!

[@GrigoriCross]

This band has been in my life for more than two decades now. They have probably been my favorite or my second-favorite band just as long (the other is TOOL). Just as I love this band, I love both of these albums and I prefer ReLoad. “Where the Wild Things Are”, “Prince Charming”, “Fixxxer”, and “Low Man’s Lyric” are among the band’s best material. You and I may disagree on taste, but the video overall was masterful and actually showed me some footage I’d never seen. It must be stated: The ending montage done to “St. Anger” is a stroke of genius.

[@adarkerstandard]

Hey man, I appreciate you took the time to comment! I actually love Load, Reload not so much, but some of those tracks you listed are definitely highlights for me. I have one more Metallica vid in the editing process that I hope to have out by January 2nd. Hope to see your thoughts on it!

[@j.r.cruzaguirre2734]

This is a great documentary! I just came across this, and I am absolutely impressed. I first saw Metallica in 1988 at the monsters of rock concert when they opened up for Dokken, scorpions, and Van Halen. It had only been six months after Cliff Burton was killed when I got to see them live, and the show was amazing even though they only played an hour. Still, I have been a fan throughout their highs and lows and truly Load and Reload could be edited down into one album of eight songs. Maybe nine. But that’s just my opinion. Keep up the great work!

[@adarkerstandard]

Thanks!! I appreciate that a lot. More videos are coming soon!

[@Finechug]

Cliff Burton died in September of 86

[@markeppley1287]

My perfect album from that era: Entitled "FULLY LOADED" -Fuel -Until it sleeps -King Nothing -Hero of the Day -Bleeding Me -The Memory Remains -Devils Dance -Better than You -The Outlaw Torn -Fixxxer Each track getting a little trimmed and polished up more The rest released on a B sides compilation entitled "UNLOADED"

[@mattvideoeditor]

Cure is a must

[@fidacuca]

The Memory Remains is horrible.

[@DadRockProject]

Great recap of that time!

[@shane727]

Great video. You earned another subscriber

[@cassiopiea8438]

The more you find out about Hetfield and Ulrich the more they seem like the two most unlikeable people on the planet. Making fun of a man's incredibly recent suicide on stage and then bitching when people take issue with that is such boomer behaviour lol. Another fantastic video my dude, hope you're keeping well!

[@adarkerstandard]

By no means was it my intention to condemn James or Lars or inspire others to think any less of them. They’re heroes to many a musician, me included, and deservedly so. And like everyone, we all have flaws and have done and said terrible things. I included those clips to highlight what band’s was mindset was after the Black Album, which was extreme hubris. Give a 20-something year old millions of dollars, widespread acclaim, and celebrity, and watch how they turn into a monster in the following years. It’s a tale as old as time, really.

[@seanmckelvey6618]

@@adarkerstandard Sadly yeah. They ultimately turned into the very thing they claimed to be against in their early days. As the song goes, money changes everything. That being said, it is incredibly low to mock a man who recently killed himself and also pretty fucked up to mock someone struggling with addiction, especially when you consider James' own battles with alcohol.

[@RDamps]

People change and grow, I’m pretty sure they would never do or say such things now. We all do, 45 year old me is very different than 30 yo me. That’s lost on most people these days. They want and believe that people should be virtuous and perfect at all times. It’s just not a reality.

[@kylereece1979]

@@adarkerstandard Totally right, mate. Im sure Hetfield would look back now and regret his onstage piss takings towards Kurt or Layne. It was almost 30 years ago, he was a totally different person. Time , perspective, personal journey and travels change you. New families, experiences. Back then of course, he was Wilder, younger and full of Metal Behemoth bravado that, would all come crashing down by the decade's end, once his own Demons knocked on his door. I love his "Papa Het" persona since Rehab. His insights and hindsights as a Father and Metal God whos been through the never and back again are fascinating to aspire to.

[@matthewcordeiro2073]

@@adarkerstandardNo

[@Crimson28]

8:07 Metallica mocking others for their addictions is the biggest example of the pot calling the kettle black

[@Dekead1930]

Great video man!

[@denyfixe1000]

Excellent documentary!!!

[@dakota8201]

I'm not a fan of Load but Reload is great imo. Some serious gems on that album

[@kylereece1979]

At the 28 minute mark, is a performance on "Later with Jools Holland". A live music show on the BBC each week. I remember eagerly recording that on video tape, where we got an awesome performance of Wasting my Hate, King Nothing, and a really unique , solo acoustic Mama Said. The era of the band, whilst yes was and is polarizing, is also very interesting. I still discuss over many a drink with friends how the material and band would have looked if they kept the hair and standard "metal" image througout that time. I agree with your words on Bad Seed and Attitude. They are B Side material and Reload, whilst having some studded gems in there, is too rushed and filled out with filler. Kirk's soloing is lazy and uninspired at times on there too.

[@jasoncarter9356]

Well Said Kyle Reese

[@alexjohnston8889]

Bad seed and Attitude, two of my favourites on reload but there are a few on reload I don't care for too much, where the wild things are, fixxxer and slither arnt my favourite.

[@johnb7046]

metal fans are more apt to hate everything about 'selling out' mostly, so the image, to me, is immaterial. The music changed dramatically and were it not only for that, the technicality and quality went off the deep end. Load I remember had great radio songs, which is great and that's what it's for. But for such a dramatic change in the band to occur musically, nothing else matters..

[@dannyscarborough]

I also have the Jools Holland show on VHS taped off the telly. Used to rewatch it quite often back then, I was only around 11 or 12

[@kylereece1979]

@@dannyscarborough Its a fascinating performance. Wasting my Hate is a great little revved up song that doesnt hang about that long. I remember being super surprised that they played it, and its not really been performed much since. Their look/attitude at the time really adds to the interest of people still. This was when Machine Head, Sepultura and Pantera were seen as the flag flyers for 90s Metal. In the midst of it was MetallicA in nice clothes, eyeliner and cut hair. The metal community reaction was insane! 😁 Some of the images/photography of the band from '96 perhaps hasnt aged too well😁, but hey, they were stepping out of comfort zones, and metal fans' perceptions of them. Challenging themselves and people. Not all of it worked, but there is a 5 star brilliant album across both Load/Reload, were it released as a single album. And- Papa Het still looked The Man. I saw them for the first time on the Load tour, and he was an Absolute Tower of Power onstage as always.👍

[@spaceburger80]

Excellent documentary, ADS!

[@adarkerstandard]

Much appreciated!

[@mariz9084]

Owing to my age, the mid-to-late 90s Metallica is the band I was introduced to and fell in love with. I was 6 when my dad got himself ReLoad and it was the coolest ever. To this day I find myself coming back to ReLoad on a regular basis and it still holds up.

[@itchy.tasty.]

That was exceptional! I would love to watch a documentary for The Prodigy.

[@VinnyBrando]

Deeply love both albums.

[@FLudlow1]

Load is my favourite Metallica album, plus S&M 1.

[@VinnyBrando]

@@actionfigureShowcase What?

[@RhodesTTU]

I didn’t even start listening to Metallica until the load album. Until it sleeps is still one of my favorites. This album opened me up to more Metallica and I’ve enjoyed their music ever since.