Current Events > Best Metallica album?

(+) Yeah! (+)

in your opinion

Hm, for me it's either Ride the Lightning or ...And Justice For All. But it's not an easy choice.

Ride the Lightning for me.

S&M

Easily the black album. One of very few perfect albums from front to back IMO. Another being Pearl Jam's debut album Ten.

I'm actually not a huge Metallica fan and consider them rather overrated, but I'll be damned if Ride the Lightning isn't amazing. I even dig the weaker tracks. It's also like the only album I really respect Lars's drumming.

Ride the Lightning

And justice for all and it's not even close.

Toss up between Ride, Master, & Justice, all classic albums.

Ride The Lightning. Whole album is fantastic, EVEN Escape.

trappedunderice posted...

And justice for all and it's not even close.

How dare you pick And Justice with that name!

Ride the Lightning just slightly over Master of Puppets

Over time it has changed, but ultimately I settled on Kill 'em All.

It's got to be all the classic Motorhead and punk influence... even though RtL, MoP, and JfA have more structured songs, those albums often become a chore to listen to in parts.

Just drop in Kill 'em All and shuffle or play through, every song will get you pumped.

This one hits home because Im an old school huge Metallica fan. I have so many bootleg cds (over 50) along with all of their normal albums. Im also admittedly one of those fans that is stuck in the past on the first 4 albums. The ones I grew up with.

I fucking love Kill Em All. Especially my 1988 Elektra re-release with the Am I Evil and Blitzkrieg bonus tracks. I still have the original artwork t-shirt with the metal up your ass artwork somewhere.

I do like Ride the Lightning a lot but outside Creeping Death Im not a huge fan of side two. Not really into Trapped Under Ice or Escape and I think The Call of Ktulu is my least favorite instrumental. Ironically this album is my #4 out of the first 4 and usually on polls most have it as their #1.

I honestly think Master of Puppets is probably their best album. James hits his stride as a singer and loses the screeching from previously. Its really truly fantastic however my personal favorite is And Justice For All. To me every song on Justice is an absolute banger and it has my favorite instrumental in To Live Is to Die.

I was on the verge of being a teenager when Justice came out and I remember spending the night at a friends house, playing NES all night long and flipping that tape over and over and listening to that nonstop.

Justice will always be my #1 even though the original recordings neutered the bass. Also speaking of Justice I bought the Japanese single to One because it has an amazing cover of Breadfan on there. One of the only singles I ever purchased.

Master of Puppets for me.

toadfan64 posted...

Ride The Lightning. Whole album is fantastic, EVEN Escape.

How dare you pick And Justice with that name!

Trapped is my favorite track but justice is a flawless album.

Kill 'em All is their only album that is from start to finish good
It still has their trademark major habit of making songs way too fucking long, but at least the songs are all good

archizzy posted...

I fucking love Kill Em All. Especially my 1988 Elektra re-release with the Am I Evil and Blitzkrieg bonus tracks.

That's the only version I ever knew. Yeah, that's the one I mean when I say that's my favorite Metallica album.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/5/553f83d7.jpg

Ride the Lightning? Load was probably the last one that mattered. I got that into eventually because when I was at bars it's like yo want to hear the Offspring or Motorhed (that was a big thing with patrons). I need to look at the discog, but I think Reload had a few good songs.

Master of Puppets. Ride the Lightning has my favorite Metallica song (Fade to Black) and a bunch of certified bangers, but every song on Master of Puppets is a certified banger.

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/metallica-mn0000446509#discography

Random throwaway surprised this site is still around but this was my go to for music knowledge in the earliest 2000s. I bought a ST. Anger EP for 5 dollars because it some kind of monster and a bunch of old live songs. Absolutely worth the purchase then.

AnsestralRecall posted...

Kill 'em All is their only album that is from start to finish good
It still has their trademark major habit of making songs way too fucking long, but at least the songs are all good

Agreed!

trappedunderice posted...

Trapped is my favorite track but justice is a flawless album.

From the very start, the mix on Justice is awful, with the bass drowned out it makes the very slow, grindy, repetitive songs feel even more-so because the interplay between guitar and bass is muddled into a single voice.

I do like Justice overall, but I skip songs generally when I listen to it. Blackened is in my top 5 all time Metallica songs.... possibly their best IMO. It's also the one song that sounds very different from the rest of the album.

Ride the Lightning

I like Kill 'Em All the best, it's raw and high intensity

Full disclosure, I don't like any Metallica album post Black album, and the Black album is kind of dull and I've grown sick of all the songs that got radio play over the years.

AJFA's production actually really fits the bleak oppressive atmosphere of the album imo

it and mop are definitely their worst offenders for being overly long and self-indulgent tho, both averaging ~7 minutes a song is criminal for thrash

Torgo posted...

Full disclosure, I don't like any Metallica album post Black album, and the Black album is kind of dull and I've grown sick of all the songs that got radio play over the years.

oh black album is straight up fucking bad

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vh9uz3GS7so

Surprise motherfuckers, I play something from the Black Album!!!! But yeah I have a tinge of guilt b/c I could have made the first one way better, but eh........this is just showing I guess, ya we are alternative now I guess lol Also I am only saying the MF word because of LAD:8.

Also you know ol' Kamil would never play a fucking single from this album btw.

Ride the Lightning is great from start to finish. I have to give it to RTL.

Torgo posted...

Full disclosure, I don't like any Metallica album post Black album, and the Black album is kind of dull and I've grown sick of all the songs that got radio play over the years.

Metallica have a lot of great songs post Black album, but most of the albums fall far from anything Kill Em All to And Justice. Load/Reload has a very good album if you strip away the fat. Death Megnetic has a great EP/short LP in it, and the same thing for Hardwired. I will say the newest record is probably their worst record since Lulu or St Anger, maybe 2-3 songs worthwhile.

trappedunderice posted...

Trapped is my favorite track but justice is a flawless album.

I would probably agree if the bass was actually audible on And Justice. Still a fantastic record though.

I will say though Trapped Under Ice is underrated and Metallica needs to play it more often live.

St Anger....

Serious answer for me is Black

And Justice for them all had many great ones. Kill'em all had their most punk songs lawl.... Jump into the Fire wasn't punk it all, but that was fun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBOLDdc5QHE

Yea this I guess but at the bar occasionally I would play to live is to die is I think better, but I dunno in I am better 2013, I also wanted to wind down too. So this is the harder one. Find me.

Everything after And Justice was weak sauce. Master of Puppets was peak Metallica.
But, if we're allowed to count live albums, then Binge and Purge takes my top spot.

Kamil posted...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vh9uz3GS7so

Surprise motherfuckers, I play something from the Black Album!!!! But yeah I have a tinge of guilt b/c I could have made the first one way better, but eh........this is just showing I guess, ya we are alternative now I guess lol Also I am only saying the MF word because of LAD:8.

That's my favorite song from the black album, the swing and the attitude is just killer. I learned to play it on guitar and it's so much fun.

... And Justice for All, with Master of Puppets a close second.

Master of Puppets = ... And Justice for All > Ride the Lightning >> Black >>>> Kill em All >>>>>>>> Death Magnetic >>>>>>>>>>>> 72 Seasons >>>>> Hardwired >>>>>>> Load >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Reload >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> ... >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> St Anger

Black album for me

Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets, I really can't put one above the other, both are peak masterpieces.

Justice... is what I would say if there was any bass on the album. Therefore, I think I'd have to go MoP

Ride the Lightning is the album that got me into metal music and it's stuck with me as a personal favourite. I'd put it slightly ahead of Master of Puppets, which is itself a fucking amazing album.

And Justice for All has some really great songs (quite a few personal top tens as well) and I rate it very highly in spite of the fact that it lacks Cliff Burton's creative bass arrangements, which had been some of the more standout highlights for me on the previous albums. Jason's Bass gets buried in the official mixes and only in fan made remasters have I been able to fully appreciate his brilliant playing (and absolutely beautiful bass tone!) so it will always stack up a little inferior to Ride and Puppets to me so it would be my 3rd placed album.

Kill 'Em All is 4th. It's a great thrash album, on any other bands list it'd probably be their best work but Metallica got bigger and better on Ride, Puppets and Justice. Anesthesia - Pulling Teeth is my absolute favourite Bass composition. Cliff was a once in a generation talent on Bass guitar and Anesthesia is not just a showcase of his talent but how much of an amazing, versatile instrument Bass is when you put it in the hands of a mad lad genius.

Black Album is 5th. I actually love this album in spite of the transition from the speed and complexity of the previous works. Their first dive into a more grooved based heavy sound is their best effort, and really everything else that followed after it would at best be described as a mixed bag of results. But on this album, everything hits just right. Also, as much as Bob Rock used to get commonly maligned for ruining Metallica, I genuinely think they needed a producer like him because he understood how to get a monster tone. The guitars sound like a wall of fucking heavy and we finally get to hear Jason's crushingly heavy bass tone. This album would probably have fallen on it's face if they'd mixed it like AJFA.

I've liked some of the albums they did afterwards but as I said earlier they've all been mixed bags and I have solid placement for them.

-Crissaegrim- posted...

Kill 'Em All is 4th. It's great thrash album, on any other bands list it'd probably be their best work but Metallica got bigger and better

Man this sums up Kill 'Em All perfectly.

-Crissaegrim- posted...

Cliff was a once in a generation talent on Bass guitar

He really wasn't

Jaco Pastorius he is not

Their first three albums are great, then they start to dip with Justice for all.
I'm a fan of Garage Inc