This album sounds so much better than any album before or after. Bob Rock did one hell of a job. How awesome would it have been if the record label let them just go with the all black cover instead of the stupid grey snake?
The album opens with perhaps their most famous riff in Enter Sandman. Again, another song about how fucked up James is. He's a thinker, trapped in his mind. The worst time of existence for a thinker is that time before bed when there's no distractions from your mind. You can make it through the day by being occupied and watching tv and socializing...etc....but when you lie down to bed in the small hours and wait for "never-never land" to come, you "dream of wars, dream of lies...and of things that will bite." The riff is so good and so simple. The song builds nicely. Kirks has some nice solos in it. Definitely their biggest hit, deservedly so.
Sad But True....Huge song. Huge drums just like the rest of the album. Great opening. Nice slow dirgy pace. The sound on this album is so monstrous....had to be recorded in a big room. Nice echo on the vocals. The drums just pound. Lars doesn't pummel in the same manner of Keith Moon yet he plays by feel. Townsend often ripped Moon for his inability to keep good time. Lars's playing has a natural feel. It plays to the song. Technically, he's not superb by any means. But there is emotion in his playing. Kirk solos like a mother fucker in this one. Lyrics = Hi, my name is James and I'm really fucked up.
Holier Than Thou...an uptempo number. Super repetitive start. Good riff. Not as good as the first two songs. Hetfield really gives it the trademark elongated last syllable delivery...
The Unforgiven...nice acoustic guitar at beginning. Nice slow electric picking. Jason's bass is heavy here. It sounds good on this whole album. Welcome to Metallica Jason. The verse parts are sludgy and heavy. I think I remember James saying that they wanted to do the "anti-power ballad." The choruses would be soft and gentle and the verses heavy. Jason's bass stands out on this track. It's driving and thick. The more I listen to Metallica, the less I hear Lars as a time keeper but more of a enhancer of sound. James's voice is delicate in the choruses. Good song structure. Good playing. Really good guitar by Kirk. Nice balance between the acoustic leads and the screaming electric leads in the middle of the song.
Nice sitar sound to open Wherever I May Roam. I think Jason plays an 8 string bass on this. He plays something other than a regular 4 string bass to get that thwack sound...This is another standout song. Just a great rock song. Nice harmonies...Nice loud choruses. Definitely in the top 10 of all time Metallica songs. This is just a monster. Great mid tempo riff and good leads. Can't hear this song and not see the on the road montage from the video. Just like The Unforgiven and old angry shirtless guy.
Don't Tread on Me...Metallica's attempt at an anthem. Sucks.
Through the Never..Better than Tread but still doesn't match the other songs on this album. Once the lyrical verses kick in it's good. There is some cool guitar work but the song isn't stellar. The chorus is cool because of the stop/start parts.
Nothing Else Matters...so slow. So soft. It's good. It shuts the album down after starting so strong and then muddling through the last two songs. Great song. Beautiful guitars. Nice singing by James. Put some headphones on and there is so much depth and so much to listen to on this. There's definitely strings all over this along with some acoustic guitar mixing nicely with the electric guitar. And for a ballad, Lars's drums are banging...he hits hard, always. Love the kick drum on this. BOOM. BOOM. And no matter what you say about Lars as a drummer, when he does his kick, snare, snare, kick, kick, thing, it sounds cool.
Of Wolf and Man....starts out urgent. Nice interplay between the two guitars playing rhythm. Cool vocals by James. Another metaphorical song? Does the werewolf represent the anger that grows in James? Analysis for another time. Great banging drums. Jason's bass is fucking great...right in the pocket. This song just grooves. Love it.
The God That Failed....Lyrically, I love this song. Love that it opens with Jason's bass. The guitars kick in and the sound is fucking huge again. I know a band doesn't want to recreate the same album over and over again but they should've stuck with this studio, this producer, this mixer and engineer. The sound on this is so good. Like Kill Em All, all players can be individually heard all over this album but it sounds so big. Gigantic.
My Friend of Misery...another song that opens with Jason's bass. Kick drums and open chords kick in....really straightforward beat by Lars. The kick drum and the snare are so big. I keep using that description, so big. So huge, Gigantic, but this whole album truly is. This song has some pretty straightforward and simple riffs and some excellent vocals by James. I think I hear a cowbell in there.....Jason's bass makes this song. Guitars in the middle break down are all over the place...I hear 5 or 6 different things going on. The leads almost sound like a Deep Purple keyboard solo. Almost. Then Kirks starts blazing and wah-wahing all over the place about 5:10. There is definitely cowbell on this. Kirk keeps soloing.
The Struggle Within....starts off with a war time march. Nice stop/start riff. Chugging. Uptempo tune. Good angry vocals by James. Some Warrior Soul sounding slides down the neck of the guitar. Lars's snare sounds so sharp on this. This song is heavy...fast...and interesting. It's not a typical Metallica song but it bounces. Kirk's solos are rarely boring, almost always listenable. Interesting way to close the album...the riffing at 3 minutes is killer. The song falls short of the best on this album but ahead of the two stinkers in the middle.
Because of the mediocrity contained in tracks 6 and 7, this album falls short of the A+ I gave Justice and Puppets. But the sound is soooooooooo good it's hard not to say this isn't their best. James's singing is better than ever, Jason's playing can be heard and it's damn good, and Lars's drums are titanic. Kirk's solos are listenable and interesting, as always. They scream. They emote. So what to do. There's not a bad song on Puppets or Justice. Of course some are not as good as others but they're all good. This album is so listenable and maybe the best sounding album of the 90s.
Grade: A
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