Load and Reload

[Thelemech]

I have been listening to these two albums on and off for the last few days
I have to say that they are mostly boring and forgettable
Load is the best of the two and I will admit that they both are better than I thought
That being said I found them a major downgrade from what had come before
Anyone else have a strange relationship with Load and Reload?
I also have little need to get into the whole image makeover thing that happened at the time
When the albums came out I listened to each of them once and hated what I heard
I  have since returned to them once every few years but it really has been a long time since I heard both back to  back

[Charger]

I think I kind of share your thoughts.

I do think that the first half of Load is actually pretty good...and Bleeding Me is among my FAVOURITE (!!!) Metallica tunes...the latter half of the album though is about as interesting as a colonoscopy.

ReLoad is clearly worse of the two...there isn't much to listen on that one...part from Fuel and The Memory Remains the album is pretty darn lame and uninspired.

I think the S/T is already a clear step down from the first 4...but it has some killer tunes on it though...

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

I was never the fan of thrash metal so to me Load is the kind of change that I found agreeable. And while I learned to love Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets, I still don't get Kill 'Em All or And Justice....

I would rank Load at No. 4 on the Metallica album ranking as Death Magnetic has really grown on me in recent years so gets the 3rd spot.

As for Reload, it has it's moments but is generally poor... but wasn't it the discarded tracks from the Load sessions? It's still better than St Anger!

[Zzzptm]

These were the albums in which Metallica proved to me that we were going to part ways. I love the albums with Cliff Burton on them. When they lost Cliff, they lost their way musically.

[Vyn]

Load and Reload seem to be great examples of Metallica continuing to put different lipstick on the same pig. It's clear that the band was wanting to stretch out and reach that elusive "next level" with their music, but no one in the band had that spark to make it happen.

Cliff had that spark, and took it with him when he died.

[Thelemech]

Thanks for the replies my friends
First I am going to be forced to agree with Vyn and Zzzptm about the spark of creativity that was extinguished when Cliff died
I still like the Black Album, Death Magnetic and Hard Wired To Self Destruct but they are vastly inferior to the original 4 albums
@charger- I am very close to sharing most of your opinions on these albums except I think that Load is very weak IMHO
@kdc- I know that thrash metal is not for everyone and I'd say that coming from your perspective I can see how the albums would have a appeal to you. I am glad you enjoyed Load.
And though Metallica deny it Reload is all the crap that didn't make the first cut on Load
And I agree with you on them both being better than St. Anger
@Zzzptm- I found myself in total denial of what I was hearing and seeing and modern Metallica became uncomfortable for me
I felt completely betrayed by the whole image they were adopting and the quality of the music was abysmal
@Vyn- Speaking of lipstick 💄 😍
The band had more makeup than motley crue ever wore
Cliff truly was such a loss

[Zzzptm]

I contrast my loss of enjoyment with Metallica with my overall enjoyment of Megadeth. Not every Megadeth album since the late 80s has been to my liking, but quite a few are quite good, quite good indeed.

[Charger]

I contrast my loss of enjoyment with Metallica with my overall enjoyment of Megadeth. Not every Megadeth album since the late 80s has been to my liking, but quite a few are quite good, quite good indeed.

I agree with this 100%

I have always thought Megadeth has a far superior discography to Metallica.  Dave is a music writing genius.

[Zzzptm]

If somehow Dave and Cliff had been able to keep things together over the years, I'd want to listen to anything coming out of that partnership.

[Vyn]

They would have made a formidable pair for sure. If, as you stated, they had been able to keep things together.

[Charger]

Indeed, I'm sure those two would have been great together for a long run! And hell if Cliff had left with Dave he might still be alive!!