Ranking Metallica's official studio albums is a fools errand, so obviously I'm going to give it a go..
However, I'm going to weasel out of picking number 1, number 2 and so on, for now at least.
There are 11 albums to rank, so my strategy is to pick album number 6 as the midpoint, then choose the 5 albums that are above the line, and the 5 below the line.
For me, 'Metallica' ( I've never liked it being referred to as 'The Black Album') is the midpoint. It's a record that stands alone - the band never sounded like this before, and they never sounded like it again.
It's the record that I probably overplayed the most, and so I may be a bit sick of it. And that is it's only flaw. I don't subscribe to the "sell-out" garbage that this album gets.
I remember the buzz when it was released. Yes, we're all sick of Enter Sandman now, but that wasn't the case when it first dropped.
Ignoring Enter Sandman, and let's face it, the real odd one out that is Nothing Else Matters (if Elton John thinks this is one of the greatest songs ever written, who am I to question it?) this album is pretty damn heavy. The Struggle Within, Of Wolf and Man, Through The Never - these are not pop songs. The tracks which were singles, and (did make it on to Top of The Pops, thereby becoming 'pop'), also, by and large, absolutely crushed it. Sad But True, and particularly Wherever I May Roam are great tracks. The Unforgiven is spectacular, and the solo is probably Kirk's finest moment*
Sonically, this album continues to be the benchmark. Before this album was released, I was always feeling a bit disappointed with how Lars's drums sounded. As a fan of The Cult, I loved the drums on "Sonic Temple". I was excited to hear how Lars was going to approach simpler drumming, and more excited to hear how he would sound.
The drums are amazing. The bass drums sound like bass drums, and not the awful clicky mess that dominated And Justice For All. The toms were thunderous, and the snare was glorious.
And despite all this, I'm going to rank it smack bang in the middle of all the albums.
So which albums do I enjoy more?
The first 4 are quite easy to pick.
Ride The Lightning, Master of Puppets, Load, and Reload.
The first two don't need any justification, they are classics, and when I need to concentrate, the headphones go on and one of these two gets fired up.
Load and Reload were never on my playlist until well into the 2000's. I'd heard "Until it Sleeps" when it came out, and I liked it. The video didn't bother me. Over the years I heard King Nothing, Fuel and The Memory Remains, but I never heard the entire albums.
Load was an impulse buy after work one night. I stuck it on in the car and while I liked some of the tracks, it wasn't really doing anything for me. As is often the case with Metallica, repeated listens bore fruit.
Listening to the album 2 or 3 times on a long drive on a summer's evening, with no one else around, deserted roads, and glorious scenery, made something click. Bleeding Me hit home hard, as did The Outlaw Torn.
Reload took me even longer to get into. At first, I thought it was pretty bad. Over time, I began to appreciate the songs more, to the point that when I put together a combined Load and Reload playlist there were more songs from Reload than Load.
Picking my 3 least-favourite albums is also pretty straight-forward.
Kill 'Em All, ...And Justice For All and St.Anger.
Kill 'Em All hasn't aged well for me. There is nothing that makes me want to listen to it. While I recognise that The Four Horsemen was a banger, I don't need to hear it. Some of these tracks are way over-rated, and others are just plain bad. And no, I'm not stupid enough to list which ones they are.
AJFA has Blackened, Harvester of Sorrow, and One, and yet I really don't find myself craving to hear it very often. It has to be a really bad day before this one gets some airtime (it's been played a couple of times recently). It's a cold, bleak, at times sterile sounding record, and there are others that I enjoy far more.
St.Anger - well, no surprise here. I like Frantic, Some Kind of Monster (well, a specific remixed version of it) and Sweet Amber could have been amazing apart from the godawful chorus. There are some good riffs scattered about, and watching them peforming it in the studio made the whole album make more sense.. but it's not something I can ever imagine subjecting myself to in its entirety ever again.
That leaves me with Death Magnetic, Hardwired..to Self-Destruct and 72 Seasons.
Recency bias plays a part here. Death Magnetic slips below the line because I don't find it that compelling. Like Blackened, All Nightmare Long ranks highly in my list of favourites, but the rest of the album drops off for me. Of the 3 remaining albums, it's the one I'd be least likely to listen to.
Summary so far
We have (in no particular order)
Favourites - Ride The Lightning, Load, Master of Puppets, Reload and ?
The mid-point, not my favourite, but nowhere near least favourite - Metallica
The least listened to - Death Magnetic, ...And Justice For All, St. Anger, Kill 'Em All and ?
I'm going to have to count the songs I like.
Hardwired has 9 decent tracks in my opinion.
72 Seasons also has 9, so it's still a tie.
Damn.
You want me to list them?
Ok - on Hardwired, I like Atlas Rise, Now That We're Dead, Moth Into Flame, Dream No More, Halo On Fire, Confusion, Here Comes Revenge and Spit Out The Bone.
On 72 Seasons I like 72 Seasons, Shadows Follow, You Must Burn, and then it's a long stretch from Crown of Barbed Wire through to Inamorata. I loved Lux AEterna at first, but that was mainly joy at an unexpected new release. It's a good track, but not one I would go out of my way to listen to.
I'll side with 72 Seasons, for the simple reason that my son also likes songs off that album, and that give us a little bonding time. My other kids don't like the music so Metallica is something special between us.
That said, I wish the guitars on 72 Seasons sounded like they do on Hardwired. When I first heard "Moth Into Flame" - it sounded like Metallica. The opening bars to 72 Seasons sound more like AC/DC. I miss the Hetfield crunch.
The Final List
- Ride The Lightning
- Load
- Master of Puppets
- Reload
- 72 Seasons
- Metallica
- Hardwired.. To Self-Destruct
- Death Magnetic
- ...And Justice For All
- St. Anger
- Kill 'Em All
Stop Press!!
Belatedly, I realise that instead of going 5-1-5, I can go 4-3-4
Top tier: Ride The Lightning, Load, Master Of Puppets, Reload
Mid tier: Metallica, 72 Seasons, Hardwired to Self-Destruct
Bottom tier: Death Magnetic, AJFA, St.Anger, Kill 'Em All
I'm a lot happier with this approach. Because, realistically, there is no way I can genuinely say 72 Seasons is better than "Metallica", even though 72 Seasons is much more likely to get some airtime at the moment.
Thankfully, no one will ever see this, so I am spared the wrath of the internet either way
*Apart from Disposable Heroes