Shin Ji said:
Just wanted to make a quick comment on one of your excellent articles, Thunderfoot. Are you really claiming that ...And Justice for All was the beginning of Alternacca? That was an excellent album by any reasonable metric. Was it as good as the first three, possibly not- but it did have "One" and that makes up for anything else.
Perhaps you meant the downslide began after Justice, with the Black Album? Now, then I think any metal fan would agree with you.
Good points, so I will address them each in a historical turn...
Yes, I am claiming it was the beginning of Alternnica. The reasons are many:
1) Cliff Burton is dead. Though an often overlooked member in relation to the overall talent of the rest of the band, Cliff was, more or less, the musical morale compass of the group. He was an old school hippie that tried to keep the group grounded to its roots.
2) Jason Newstead becomes the new bassist. Jason, while a fantastic instrumentalist and prolific writer, was unfortunately a terrific bassist and prolific writer. While undeniably younger than the rest of the group his musical tour de force on the bass was inescapable, he also had a much younger musical influence base to draw from, He is the single pebble in the pond that caused the ripples of Alternative music over the next four or five albums.
3) Though
One was indeed a heavy song and typical of the Metallica of old, the rest of the album (for the most part) showed that the direction of the group was taking a turn for the more popular Alternative Rock of Seattle rather than the underground metal movement of San Fransisco.
4) I stand by my statement. To be fair, often the beginning of something rarely looks like the end. I realize my analysis is often unpopular, especially with newer fans, but the
"And Justice For All..." and
Black Albums are considered some of the best metal music of all time, but to me, it just isn't Metallica. And I believe
Load was appropriately named and
St. Anger should have been titled
Inappropriately Produced Annoying Drum Tracks Over Really Crappy Music, just so that truth in advertising could be adhered to.
However, Metallica fans have been promised a revival of the old with the upcoming album, so who knows? Maybe the Jason Newstead thing will be proved completely true. (Remember that Robert had nothing to do the creation of their last album, he just came in a played over what was already written.)
