Metallica Falters: The Story of Load and Reload

[@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!

[@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.

[@killemall1983]

they did that since the black album tour in 92 all thru the 90s

[@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!"

[@Gxvin]

man i love metallica and every member including james, cliff em all tho, but whoever threw that shoe at james is a legend and that shoe will live on forever in honor of Layne Staley.

[@TheArchitect097]

Seriously, this band was being extremely childish back then.

[@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.

[@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.

[@leighkavan5992]

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

[@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.

[@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

[@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.

[@Atomicketchup]

I remember my dad telling me he stopped listening to Metallica after the black album for several years because he felt betrayed with the changes in their music, he loves all of their music nowadays but I always found that funny.

[@petrilampela]

I could say exactly the same thing except swap Load to The Black Album. I was the biggest Metallica fan after Justice (learned to play guitar and write my own songs because of that album) and how the suddenly changed their style from that album to Black was absolutely shocking. It was the most drastic change they made musically whereas Load for me felt like a natural continuation. That's why I actually enjoyed Load much more because it wasn't such a shock anymore compared to what they did on the previous album.

[@razeezar]

@@Blackened30 The funny thing with James is, despite their sound changing with the Load / Reload era, he was still that aggressive arrogant 'Mighty Hetfield' badass on stage. Case in point: Cunning Stunts, and their 'King Nothing' performance on an MTV awards show. Then just prior to that was Mullet-era James, during the writing / recording of Load. He looked and carried himself as if he could be primed to have pumped out another cutting thrash masterpiece in the vein of AJFO. Alas, it was not to be. I still like Load / Reload for what it is though.

[@ivankrushensky]

You forgot to mention the Napster lawsuit. They were (still are) one of my favorite bands. But latter 90's- it was not "cool" to be a fan. Then tack on the Napster deal at the end of the 90's/early 2000's. Everyone called them sellouts. At the end of the day, they prevailed.....and they were right about what was coming. Look what's happened to music these days. Now I just sound old, but it's true.

[@shawnroberts6384]

Just remember, The Beatles had a huge backlash and everyone burned and stomped on their records. Those people wen right back out and bought new copies of those albums and nobody says anything bad about them because their body of work is solid, and yet there are a number of songs that were just straight corny or dumb (yellow Submarine). as a teen I get it, they were your identity and it felt like someone reached in and socked you in the stomach. Metallica will always be heralded as the greatest metal band of all time, and they have rightfully earned that distinction.

[@Krzztl]

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

[@jjwallnutts]

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.

[@jadentrez]

At least they tried something new.

[@sdsmt99]

Loaded Fuel Memory Devil UFG-II Hero Bleeding Fix Hate Carpe Low Jack Twisted Outlaw Bleeding and Outlaw are top 20 MetallicA songs

[@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!

[@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 🙏

[@krisfreouf]

James using bullets to write lyrics is pretty awesome ngl

[@tian4538]

pretty metal

[@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.

[@robertsmith16286]

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.

[@derekgagnon1999]

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

[@JimmyMon666]

@@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.

[@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.

[@pho3nix-]

The 90s was a difficult time for any classic rock & roll band

[@HK-me6es]

@@pho3nix- They could have written a heavy album and blown the roof off stadiums touring with other bands like Pantera, Sepultura or any of the other metal bands.

[@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....

[@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

[@aunch3]

It was smooth lol

[@daywalker3735]

"Why did you throw this at me??"

[@Xyphra]

​@@daywalker3735 bro if I was that guy who was questioned id probably piss myself

[@johnhuldt]

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

[@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!

[@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.

[@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.

[@quickmanz]

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

[@HenrySchecker]

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

[@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?

[@MrDlt123]

I saw Metallica in Rome in 1996. They nailed every track. The huge stunt they pulled was magnificent, but had only been done a couple of times previously, so most of the Italian audience werent aware of it, and thought it was a real event. It got dangerous in there really quick when a bit of panic set in. The house lights stayed up as they calmed the place down. Then everyone was laughing. Great show. One of the best concerts I've even been to.

[@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

[@J0HNJ0RDAN]

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

[@toadspit9635]

Same here

[@LeicaFleury]

Enjoying something without interacting with the fandom is always best!

[@verbalswagrawkey1932]

I’m not smart enough to label music. And do you know where labels belong? On Packages

[@Guava11534]

Totally agree I like every Metallica album despite the changes in genre they just make good music.

[@rokker333]

In the end it is all rock'n'roll.

[@QuietmindYoga]

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

[@vickijoy100]

I agree. Bleeding Me is so underrated!!

[@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!

[@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.

[@FromTheSky0]

Gotta love how James insults some of the biggest bands, then wonders why people are angry, throwing shoes at him

[@charlesdarwin7253]

Dude that happened 30 fucking years ago. Let it go.

[@michaelschnepel5000]

@@charlesdarwin7253 that's how big a band Metallica is even people that don't like them can't stop thinking about them ha ha

[@R1ddic]

While having been through rehab .. how many times now?

[@AnthonyAfrikaans]

@@charlesdarwin7253Love this. The OPs weird 30 year old rant and your curt reply. Hahaha! You were totally right to call out his BS.

[@DelKshares]

@@charlesdarwin7253 He told a so-called joke about Kurt Cobain blowing his brains out ffs. I used have huge James Hetfield posters on my wall in the early-mid 90s but I was also a Nirvana fan, and I hadn't heard that "joke" until a few minutes ago. It was a long time ago but if you didn't know until now it's fresh.

[@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

[@nathanlentner3129]

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

[@tb18761]

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

[@JimmyMon666]

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

[@tb18761]

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.

[@lagramau]

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

[@Xyphra]

Great doc. Im only 30 but i grew up disecting all of Metallica's songs and learning them on guitar. I love everything besides st anger, and now im diving into these docs. Great channel and content, my man

[@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.

[@percival-hz5zj]

Totally why they named it that!

[@TGA737]

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.

[@TGA737]

@@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...

[@Radi0nFE]

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

[@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.

[@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.

[@Kathayne636]

Honest in what way?

[@meursault-ey7wq]

@@Kathayne636 In the sense they were using styles and genres that weren’t necessarily meant to please fans but most likely pleased them (country for Hetfield, for example).

[@Middleagedrockfan]

This was incredibly well produced. As one of those obsessive Metallica fans, I appreciate how accurate your information was in this video.

[@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!

[@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

[@PaulSmith-pe1kh]

Memory remains slamming into its guitar solo was just the perfect amount of heavy and melody to hook me and drag me into a lifelong love of all things Metallica and entirely change my life forever as it inspired me to pickup guitar, which became my profession for the next 20 years. Crazy how time has passed. Metallica’s most melodic and lyrically deep writing is found in Load and Reload. Reload especially, along with Outlaw Torn and Bleeding Me, are full of gut wrenching genius. Fixxxer, Low Man’s Lyric. They’re brilliant. Listen to the lyrics and every snare strike. It’s so phenomenally structured. It’s true art. The heavier faster stuff is fun and sure it’s more “Metallica” but I would far rather live in a world where they make what they want to make and we get things like FiXXER and Until It Sleeps and I hope we get much more like it. I’ve always looked forward to the day when they play what they want to play. Covers, tributes, and even solo stuff. Though I never wanna see them split. But I love their music, all of it (well anger isn’t something I can listen to unless it’s remixed) so hearing each of their talents and loves come out is pure joy.

[@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

[@Edu0596]

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

[@virvum_cypher]

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!!

[@braudhadoch3432]

Pantera changed Metal forever in 1991. Everybody wanted to get that dimebag groove!!!

[@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!

[@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!

[@austindolan7182]

i just wish that a lesson they'd taken with them from these 2 and st. anger was that not everything needs to be over 70 minutes to be good. that they should really work on editing songs down to their most concise form.

[@ChanceTheChancenator]

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

[@Tigerdriver93]

Yeah those jabs at Layne and Kurt were really shitty. I’m honestly not surprised that grunge being popular at the time got them a lot of hate. It knocked so many previously popular genres off their perch. This just comes off as sour grapes by James and Lars because they couldn’t stand alternative bands being more successful than them.

[@wittyd-e3c]

Do you really think AIC and Nirvana were "more successful" than GNR/Metallica? Nirvana were offered a supporting slot opening up on the GNR/Metallica co-headlining tour so that's really all you need to know about the pecking order. The biggest grunge band was Pearl Jam but even they were not on the level of GNR/Metallica in terms of album sales/tour gross

[@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

[@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.

[@cityweezle]

Hey dude I subbed to your channel your breakdown of Metallica and where they got to is perfect... To me Load has less filler songs than the black album. I love your vid.. Keep doing what you're doing! much Respect you're quite on the pulse!

[@Bmphotog]

Quite accurate, very tasteful - good job on this.

[@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!

[@ComradeArmyyy]

I know people love to say Metallica hasn't written a good record since The Black Album, but honestly, I gave Death Magnetic a try, and not only is it now my 2nd favorite album overall, but it convinced me they still know how to write quality music. Really enjoyed the last two records too.

[@lewisgrant7622]

I like DM but the production or mixing isn’t great. And we’ve a long ass way before we get a deluxe remaster of that album. Theres still load which will be probably 2026 reload will probably be 2027 st anger will probably be 2033 and DM will probably be 2038. These are just guesses

[@MitchJewers]

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

[@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.👍

[@michaelmartino16]

I swear they made St. Anger just so people would think Load and Reload weren’t as bad.

[@charlesdarwin7253]

That's exactly what they did, inadvertently.

[@JanJott-r7s]

St. Anger is still my personal favourite of all of their albums. Yes it's not classic Metallica, but that's why it's so great: It's not as overplayed as the rest of their catalogue And it's RAW as fuck, the best album for when you're in a rough state

[@JordanJMyers]

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

[@culmo80]

I was 15 when Load came out. I just remember how much hype preceded it. So much so, that back then, I really felt like there was a "selling out" vibe with the band. The new image, the different tone of the album, etc. Nowadays, my favorite song is "Bleeding Me." I think, had they, accepted that not every track needed to be released, we would have gotten a very good single album rather than two mediocre albums with some good songs on each.

[@RobbyRaccoon]

For years I've asserted that there's a good album between those two inconsistent albums.

[@TimmyTickle]

@@RobbyRaccoon If you mixed the deep album cuts from Load with the radio singles from Reload, you'd have a great album

[@alessandromorosin3251]

Bleeding me … such a great heavy emotional song. Of course , Inamorata takes that vibe even farther and higher.

[@RobbyRaccoon]

@@TimmyTickle I respectfully disagree; I dislike most of the singles that came off of Reload. When I think of tracks on that album that I would want, it's things like Fixxer and Prince Charming. I'll never understand why Prince Charming wasn't a single; it's a banger.

[@williamlovering5026]

You also had the napster situation. A lot of metal heads saw themselves as working class, screw-the-system types- especially since prior to Metallica, metal struggled for radio play- bootleg recordings were the mechanism that made it grow. Durjng this period you have Metallica change their sound but also get haircuts and dress a bit more “preppy” then follow that up with the image (right or wrong) that they took the side of wealthy corporations in the music biz vs the working class folks who wanted to download and listen, and it’s easy to see why the perception that they abandoned the metal culture would take hold.

[@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.

[@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!

[@Crimson28]

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

[@psychedelicfright85]

Man, he caught that shoe perfectly.

[@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.

[@JeremyAustin-hw1qy]

I'm not a metallica fan these days because I've moved on but I love load and reload

[@midnight347]

I don't understand why people "move on" I mean you can like other stuff and still enjoy Metallica right? People act like they "graduated" from Metallica as if they're somehow inferior to their super unknown "real" metal bands they listen to now. That is a dumb childish way to look at things imo. Oh well to each their own at least you gave load and reload cred.

[@hamupinhere]

@@midnight347 I think the guy is just saying, in a few words, he's not into their new shit. That's all.

[@JeremyAustin-hw1qy]

I moved on cuz James sings about the same stuff most of the time there's only so much you can say about your childhood before it becomes stale

[@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.

[@vija992]

​@@YBM2007 no need for them to 'keep up', they simply make music so good it is timeless and universal

[@RandyBadour]

I remember when these records came out. I'm in the minority as I love these records! I believe they wouldn't be around today had they not changed up the sound some. These tunes really hold up in my opinion as well as I can still turn these up to this day. Great work on this sir!

[@yourmomma2995]

the last Metallica album i ever bought was and justice for all. they were my fav band up till then.

[@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!

[@GameplayandTalk]

Load has aged like a fine wine and still remains my favorite Metallica album. While I still like much of the rest of their output, this one just feels the most even and mature of their discography, which better fits my perspective on things as I personally age. Funny enough, I popped on Reload a few months back (still have my CD I bought day one in high school, haha), and while I still enjoy some of it, it's way all over the place in quality compared to Load. It hasn't held up nearly as well overall.

[@krustdogg131]

Garage inc is gold

[@lewisgrant7622]

There’s still a lot of covers on that album I’m surprised they’ve never played live

[@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

[@jakethedrummer2814]

Load was the first Metallica album I ever heard. I was 7 when it came out and I was hooked. It was my gateway into all of their stuff. I love both Load and Reload. They’re different, but great albums.

[@fuzzydunlop7928]

Love the switch in demeanor from mocking someone to getting shit thrown at 'em. Can dish it but can't take it. Metallica are the only band I say it's fine to throw things at - they know what they did.

[@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!

[@matthumphries2190]

as a fan born in 80, i think they just reached their peak after the black album, they all just grew after the tours and wanted to come back with a newer sound. my favorite album is justice but i do like load and reload. i didnt mind the change then and i like those albums more than anything since.

[@rexall18v]

I was a hardcore hip hop head until i heard reload, something about it grabbed me, and afterwards bought the rest of their albums, and a metalhead i became

[@leogolive]

I grew up listening to both hip hop and rock/metal. I get the same feeling and enjoyment from both types of music when I listen to the best of each respective genre. Especially in the 80s and 90s.

[@catstone1176]

They got so cocky after 93-94’ and the music scene humbled them so hard that on 98-99’ they tried to go back to their old image, James, Kirk and Lars grew their hair back, especially on the Garage Inc Era the “Alternative” Look disappeared completely, Load/Reload was a weird time for Metallica, and even so, those records have a special place on my heart

[@lewisgrant7622]

Honestly to me it shouldn’t really matter what they look like it’s their choice not ours.

[@Unseenhollywood]

Being a fan since the early days, I get the evolution. I wasn’t always thrilled by the directions they took at times, but being a fan of a band for 40 years, you understand they can’t stay the same all the time. Creators and artists want to evolve and experiment.

[@frunkischipperson3092]

Where the wild things are is one of my favorite Metallica songs that is way overlooked.

[@eroldcroft3045]

My fave of the entire load/ reload arsenal

[@manifestgtr]

At the time, these albums were definitely criticized by Metallica’s more thrash-oriented fanbase…and I understood why. You could draw a line from the black album to reload and see them becoming more and more “hard rock”. I always loved these albums though. The songwriting was top tier and it was very “of the era”. Hero of the Day and Bleeding Me will *always* be two of my favorite Metallica slow jams.

[@BW9971]

I was 9 in 1996. The Load and Reload albums are what introduced me to Metallica. I remember seeing the "King Nothing" video on tv back then.

[@_AVF]

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

[@Dr.SamLoomis]

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

[@MineralGPK]

Outlaw torn is the best in those 2 albums. Imo

[@grizzlysquatch9874]

The near flawless mix of metal and blues they were able to fuse together was so innovative and unique. It caught my heart as a kid, always will. LOVE these two albums.

[@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!

[@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.

[@realrocker777]

Absolute trash! Triple flush that shit and hope it doesn't clog your pipes!

[@thegrandpencil4374]

Load and Reload are not "fails", imo. They are bloated, yes. But they are not fails. They just aren't metal. They're hard rock records, and great ones at that.

[@DeniseCoelhoEnglishForLife]

Metallica has been my favorite metal band since I was 15, I am now 40. I have always struggled with mental health and later I needed alcohol heavily to cope and I struggled with suicide and self harm for decades b4 I finally had access to money and proper health Their music, especially one and sanitarium, wherever I may roam, and justice, fade to black, one, among others helped me a lot. But I also loved nirvana and Alice in chains and I could always related to their lead singers struggle. Their deaths hit me hard and I was always wondering when I would lose that battle myself. When I hear about James struggling with mental health and alcoholism I immediately thought: figures. He probably has always had the same issues and that's why it reflected in the art and maybe y I found myself there. I was one to support and being very understanding towards hetfield's cancelations and things like that. The hardest part of my struggle was not the unbearable pain, the hunger, the homelessness, but other people's lack of understanding. The way they would lack patience, abandon, ridícule, not believe or balme me for the health issue which I now know was a mix of hormones, malnourished and being brutally abused and tortured from an early age. I am all better now. But I had no idea meatllica had mocked Kurt's suicide and Alice in chain's singer as well. I can't find the words to describe how soul wrenching it was to learn that

[@justbenelson]

I knew of and heard Metallica in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but I cut my teeth on Load and ReLoad. I was in High school when those albums hit store shelves and they certainly were instrumental in my developmental years. This is my Metallica era.

[@jamesdeininger3759]

Load and Reload are incredible. Also from the same era, “I Disappear” is probably my favorite 2nd generation Metallica song.

[@bleedingfly]

Four Leaf Clover is pretty awesome too.

[@Dr.SamLoomis]

@@bleedingfly It's not as good as No Leaf Clover

[@bleedingfly]

@@Dr.SamLoomis Sometimes i get distracted by all the hookers and cocaine.

[@diablofn]

2nd gen? Hmm, I'd say metallica was in their third or fourth by then.

[@lewisgrant7622]

@@bleedingflyyou mean no leaf clover.

[@bdabassman]

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

[@crissblack478]

Not gonna lie the Blue eyes joke about Kurt Cobain is actually quite funny and fits perfectly in today's jokes about Cobain's death. Not sure how well it fitted back then tho.

[@impalaman9707]

If there's one thing I've learned throughout the history of rock music, it is that one person's wanting to try something new and different and not "repeat the formula"---is another person's "selling out". And there's a fine line between the two. The die hard fans can cry "sell out" all they want to, but then they might get bored with every album sounding like "Kill Em All" and give up on the band! You run a risk either way. Is it really "selling out" to want to experiment? All I know is for every fan a band loses, there are others who are drawn to the same band---and not always for commercial reasons. Believe it or not---I knew people who hated Metallica until they heard "Load". And no---they weren't all teenyboppers, either. Some of these people had very mature musical tastes and were drawn in by what they felt was the musical growth of Metallica. So who's really shallow and closed minded? Compromising for commercial reasons is one thing. But doing something different for the sake of originality is anything but seeking commercial appeal

[@adarkerstandard]

@@impalaman9707 Well said! I agree completely

[@Manowar13Athens]

I don't agree that every change in musical direction is selling out. Nobody said that Pantera sold out when Cowboys from Hell came out....quite the contrary.....!!

[@impalaman9707]

@@Manowar13Athens My only question about Pantera, though---was it still a calculated move based on a trend? Consider the time they did "Cowboys from Hell"---1990. Hair metal had pretty much run its course and was already oversaturated--there was no way this band from Tejas could compete. They became more popular (albeit with a cult segment) when they went harder