Hypothesis: Metallica still matters if you love metal…. even if you hate them!

So the much ballyhooed new Metallica album came out at 12 midnight EST. The music media hype machine has boiled over for the last three months and the record is finally out. Time to see if their attempt at recapturing past glories is legit or not. Looks like it may move in the 10s of millions of copies sold both digital and standard cds the first day which is astounding in this day and age of the dying industry . Irregardless of whether you hate them, love them, believe they are the biggest poseurs of all time, think the Black Album sucks dick etc: like it or not they are back and all of metal fans must take notice. At least a glance in passing. That is a fact in my humble opinion and I plan to explain why.

A few months back I couldn't have cared less about them anymore. From being my favorite band in late 80's, the undeniable underground sensation, million selling albums and arena tours before videos and radio. From the self righteous uber-suceess and later to outright pompous idiocy in the late 90's: I had long moved on from being a fan long ago. I still rock the old shit a lot because for my money there are few bands whose early catalogue stands up to the first five Metallica records. Even the hated and debated Black Album rules in my book. But they had become such an awful spectacle the last decade it was almost embarrassing to ever say you were ever a fan. Lars single handedly alienated ¾'s of the original fanbase with the Napster controversy alone. Cliff was surely rolling over in his grave. I didn't hail Rick Rubin as their producer as a big deal at all. Like Chad Johnson and Terrell Owens in football, Metallica have become spoiled and uncoachable. Besides- for all of Rick's accolades and great resume he mails it in half the time these days. Listening to the tracks once in a while is what an engineer does Rick, not a producer. Does it take a guru-type producer to tell them they have sucked for a long time, that Lars has played drums for 17 years like his snare has VD and the double bass pedals have AIDS, or that Kirk needs burn that bloody wah wah pedal reclaim the throne as a shredder-king, and that they treated Jason Newstead like shit and why even have a genius like Rob Trujillo in the band at all? Why did this band have "find their way back" to their previous style anyway? Scorsessee doesn't need to be reminded how to make great films, he just does. Money changed these guys the way Wal-Mart and Conservatives changed America -for the worse. Other than hearing things from other people I really wasn't paying them any mind.

Over the ensuing months and the lead up to the album I definitely found myself intrigued after hearing a snippet or two. It was hard not to notice since everywhere I looked or listened they were popping up. I was indifferent to "Cyanide" when I heard it in a metal podcast in August and I wasn't getting carried away when I heard the first single/video song-"The Day That Never Comes"  released either. It's decently melodic with a thrash-like ending, but not great. However, when I heard the song "My Apocalypse" (title stolen from Arch Enemy and all) I had to admit it was really good. Not in any way good like the first 33 seconds of "Master of Puppets" good. But good as in I had zero expectations for them and this song was an impressive metal song by any standard. "Judas Kiss" is another outstanding track with a great riff and vocal line. Heavy, fast and mean the way they were back in the day. It doesn't reinvent the wheel or put them back on some pedestal in my book. What it does do is reference all the things I had loved about the band and thought they were incapable of doing these days. Having heard a few more tracks I am convinced that it will be a slight return to form for them- definitely being a worthy successor to The Black Album with more of the old school "Master" and "Justice for All" style speed and riffing thrown in. So that means a record that is metal in some places, modern rock in others but so far not cringe worthy embarring moments.

So why is this important if you love metal? Even if you don't care about Metallica there is likely a band influenced by them you love. Their re-emergence and return somewhat to respectability will open the gates for countless underground bands, some who may become great one day.A new kid today that hears Metallica may someday invent an entire new style of metal. Because of their clout they can change how creep agencies like Ticketmaster do business like the paperless ticket experiment in Europe this weekend. By taking Down, Lamb of God and Machine Head on the road in America and not hacks like Godsmack they are giving fans something back for their $80 ticket price: a great show! Coupled with Skipknot's startling 1 album in the country last week- Americans must realize wheat the rest of the world knows: that great heavy music matters because the genre has never and will never go away. Metal does not need Metallica like Metallica needs to be metal and it wasn't always the case. Metal is not about how high you score on guitar hero or how many shirts you get at Hot Topic. Never was. Never will be. While for the last 17 years Metallica has appealed to the least discerning fans of metal- they do act as an ambassador for hard music: good, bad or otherwise for us all.

Welcome back guys. Try not to let Lars talk to much and fuck it up again. Okay?