Yes, it kicks serious ass. Guitar Hero: Metallica is the second iteration of the Guitar Hero franchise to be focused entirely on the career of one band. Rather than talk about the gameplay which for the most part is still the same as Guitar Hero: World Tour, I'm just gonna mention the improvements or changes to this game.
First and foremost the setlist is PHENOMENAL. With 28 Metallica songs and 20 other guest acts very few music rhythm games can boast such an excellent track list. Add in the Death Magnetic DLC with 10 extra tracks and it makes one meaty set of hard rockin' anthems. One difference I noticed is that the songs here are all fun to play, there were one or two moments in World Tour (the Tool songs come to mind) that were really boring to play. Also the motion capture is top notch, with really authentic animations and representations of the band. Not a huge step up from World Tour, but fans will appreciate it.
Other added bonuses include the Metallifacts videos after you complete a song, the lyrics sheets and photos and videos from the various tours. It really is a game for the fans, and any Metallica fan would be a fool to pass it up. The interface is mainly the same except this time the developers have added in the star performance meter above your score, and for the band mode it is now more clear how each member is performing.
Career mode has you as a member of band playing before Metallica at the various venues. This story is actually based on a real life band who followed Metallica round during the 80's. Progression is different from World Tour where you no longer need to complete all the songs in one show to proceed. You simply have to earn an overall number of stars from the various songs of your choice in that venue to move on.
I know this is a short review but there isn't much more to say than what's already been said in past reviews and previews. If you're a fan of Metallica and have any gaming system, buy this now! You won't regret it.
Yes, needless to say my decision to buy Guitar Hero: World Tour for Christmas was ultimately determined by the inevitable release of this very game. Finally, a whole month and a bit after the Americans, we Europeans are going to give our hands, voices and feet a solid work out in Guitar Hero: Metallica.
The routine of Guitar Hero is well known, so rather than waffle on about what to expect, which I'll waffle about come the review, here's some videos from Youtube of people beating certain songs on expert mode with 100%....
Fight Fire with Fire
Creeping Death
Master of Puppets
Part of me suspects I'm going to suck at it greatly....
Some time back I wrote a piece about the Heavy Metal Renaissance and how the early indications of Metallica's forthcoming album were good due largely to the demo track "The New Song". I can now say "Yes", they have succeeded...
YOU CAN LISTEN TO THE WHOLE FREAKIN' ALBUM HERE!!!!!! FOR FREE!!!!!
Let's face it, St. Anger blew a lot out of its..ye know. And Load and Reload weren't all that great either. Finally, after so many years, I think they've got it right again. Death Magnetic is the first Metallica album I've listened to since the Black Album where I liked every single song upon its first listen. I couldn't do that with the other 3 mentioned above. I guess in part the anticipation leading up to Death Magnetic influenced how I would judge the album and God forbid I am no expert when it comes to music in any regard, but I know what I like - and I like Death Magnetic.
Rather than discuss each individual track (okay, I can't because I really know nothing about the technicalities of music) I'll instead just mention my experience of it. Metallica fans are familiar with the concept that Metallica can potentially sound very different from album to album. Part of what makes the first 5 albums so good and so successful is that...broadly speaking...they all had a similar sound/tone/whatever that people LIKED. All their work after that till now has had varying sounds, with a more mellow Load and a highly aggressive yet ultimately bland St. Anger. The first thing I thought after listening to Death Magnetic (in actual fact it's the second thing after saying to myself "That was freakin' savage" was that it was a return to form for the lads. Death Magnetic - to me - sounds like it could have slotted anywhere in the Metallica timeline between Ride the Lightning and the Black Album. In fact, The Judas Kiss feels to me like the closest thing Metallica have written to the song ...And Justice for All.
One flaw with the songs off St. Anger was that they never felt nor sounded like they would be suitable for a live performance. Metallica's first 5 albums all feel natural for a live performance, and Death Magnetic certainly feels like the whole album could be played live aswell. The line "Show you scars!!" in Broken, Beat and Scarred is just screaming to be played in front of an audience to let everyone sing, much like the low-key chants of "Luck....runs...out...." in All Nightmare Long. The chorus for Cyanide and The Judas Kiss feel like they could be sung much in the same way as the chorus for Master of Puppets and Creeping Death. That interaction between the live performance and the crowd is what helps the success of Metallica songs in the fan's eyes, yet another element to why St. Anger failed.
You will also notice that Metallica have reintroduced complex riffs and variations in sound throughout the songs, much like they did in their early work, again annexing themselves from the overly simplistic and repetitive nature of St. Anger. There is a sense of continutity between this album and the better previous ones with The Unforgiven III - a song I highly anticipated prior to the release - the only song on the album which could possibly be called a ballad. It doesn't necessarily sound like The Unforgiven and The Unforgiven II but it feels like them. My suggestion is that you listen to all 3 (probably on Youtube) to see what I mean. Suicide and Redemption is also the first instrumental Metallica have written since To Live is to Die from ...And Justice for All. It is as though the band listened to the cries of the fans for a return to glory and I personally feel they have answered those cries exceptionally.
I could continue to waffle on for longer but I personally recommend listening to the album at the link above. If I was to grade Kill 'Em All, Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets, ...And Justice for All and the Black Album with 5 out of 5 stars, St. Anger with one, and Load and Reload with 3 stars, then Death Magnetic would certainly garner 4 (if not 5) stars from me. Hopefully this is a harbinger for future albums to come from the boyz...and not have to wait 5 years for the next one!
I've been trying to come up with one word to sum up the whole thing; savage, amazing, fucking-insane, incredible, but I think my good friend Daithi summed it up best: EPIC! Of all the things I've done this year, that is most definitely number 1. Okay so we didn't get our pit bands despite being there mad early, and yes my feet were in agony from being on my feet for well over 12 hours and fine the beer was expensive but it was all worth it. The second The Ecstasy of Gold starts echoing around the place the pain disappears, the adrenaline starts running and the crowd echo the tune. You've got about 2 mins to make sure the adrenaline is going 'cause once Creeping Death starts, you don't get a single break.
Setlist: Creeping Death For Whom The Bell Tolls Ride The Lightning The Memory Remains Welcome Home (Sanitarium) Cyanide ...And Justice For All The Four Horsemen Fade To Black Master Of Puppets Whiskey In The Jar Nothing Else Matters Sad But True One Enter Sandman - - - - - Last Caress So What Seek And Destroy
It's a real credit to the guys - given that they're in their mid-fortys - to be able to practically go non-stop for 2 solid hours. You could see they enjoy it though, at one point James even told the crowd that we were singing too loud. I was a satisfied customer for other reasons, mainly hearing ...And Justice For All and Cyanide live, but also because Tenacious D were animal aswell. Other defining moments were possibly when Hetfield's daughter sang the child's lyrics for Enter Sandman.
Really it's so hard to put it to words, I mean you really had to be there. The best way for me to describe it is probably what Daithi said "Best thing I've ever been at" and Daithi is a hard man to please given that he goes to practically every concert/show going anywhere, including Oxegen! I mean, even the light show and pyrotechnics were enough to keep you happy, hell they didn't need to be on stage the other bits were so good.
Now is the agonizing wait for the show to go up for download (which I pre-ordered) so I can at least in a hearing sense relive the experience over and over, and I'm also secretly looking to hear just how loud we were...
That’s it ladies and gentlemen, first we had the album title, followed by the track list and now the release date – can’t freakin’ wait!! What we also know now is that the first single from the new album will be The Day That Never Comes. But I now also have for you from metontour a look at the song Cyanide from the album.
Played at Ozzfest in Dallas, Texas:
Suicide, I’ve already died, it’s just the funeral I’ve been waiting for…. Cyanide, feeling dead inside, break this empty shell forever more!
Finally...after months of waiting Metallica's newest album is almost here!!!!
Death Magnetic. For a few days a while back they slowly revealed the album title in a series of image extensions. Personally I thought when the letters spelt out "Deagnetic" I thought that was pretty good but hey. Hetfield recently gave an interview explaining the album title:
"Death Magnetic, at least the title, to me [...] started out as kind of a tribute to people that have fallen in our business, like Layne Staley and a lot of the people that have died, basically — rock and roll martyrs of sorts. And then it kind of grew from there. Thinking about death… some people are drawn towards it, and just like a magnet, [and] other people are afraid of it and push away. And the concept that we're all gonna die sometimes is over-talked about and then a lot of times never talked about — no one wants to bring it up; it's the big white elephant in the living room. But we all have to deal with it at some point."
Also, the track list - in order - was posted on Metallica.com shortly after the cover art was revealed:
That Was Just Your Life
The End Of The Line Broken,
Beat & Scarred
The Day That Never Comes
All Nightmare Long
Cyanide
The Unforgiven III
The Judas Kiss
Suicide & Redemption
My Apocalypse
That looks grand and all till WOAH...... The Unforgiven III???????? Like The Unforgiven on the Black Album was awesome, then The Unforgiven II on Reload was awesome-er so does that mean by default that Part 3 will awesome-est?? That track title alone has be buzzin' over the new album. Below is a piece I got off Youtube which is like a short medley of all the samples currently available on the album.
Some time ago I wrote a blog about the Renaissance of heavy metal. In it I was discussing how two of leaders in modern metal - Megadeth and Metallica - had gone through similar phases of huge fame, lower standard albums to new beginnings. Megadeth have pulled through it with flying colours following the albums The System Has Failed and United Abominations. This year (finally) sees the release of Metallica's ninth studio album. Five years after 2003's St. Anger, expectations are high, especially given the teaser of The New Song in 06 and 07. To help with the hype build up for the Autumn release date - which will hopefully be before they perform in Marlay Park on August 20th - they have released a sister site to metallica.com called Mission Metallica - http://www.missionmetallica.com/ . They will be releasing details about the new album and showing us footage from the studio and so on. Below is the trailer for the website. At 2.23 onwards features new riffs, which sound promising. Interviews with Rick Rubin have revealed that there are 8-9 songs all of which are 8 minutes long, including new solos which were sadly absent in St. Anger. If this and The New Song are anything to go by, Metallica are sure to pull through their own renaissance too...
Bow down! Sell your soul to me....I will set you free...
It also seems they may have gone back to their old logo... :D
For my 100th post of Master Engineer of Sigmar's Realm I figured I'd do something with a bang, totally rockin', and what better than a Top Ten of one of the world's top metal bands. 25 years later and they're still goin'! Bring on Hall of Fame 2008!!!
Remember, this is just IN MY OPINION!!!!
Enjoy!
10. Turn the Page (From Garage Inc.)
9. Fade to Black (From Ride the Lightning)
8. Battery (From Master of Puppets)
7. Blackened (From ...And Justice for All)
6. For Whom the Bell Tolls (From Ride the Lightning)
5. Seek and Destroy (From Kill 'Em All)
4. Creeping Death (From Ride the Lightning)
3. Master of Puppets (From Master of Puppets)
2. One (From ...And Justice for All)
1. ...And Justice for All (From ...And Justice for All)
You'd never guess what my favourite albums are.....
This year sees the release of two albums from the two Gods of heavy metal; Metallica and Megadeth. Now this has happened before, but this year has added significance as both bands head out to redefine heavy metal music.
Let's take you back to when both these bands were at their beginnings (and their best!). The 1980's and (very) early 90's. In this time Metallica released Kill 'em All (1983), Ride the Lightning (1984), Master of Puppets (1986), ...And Justice for All (1988) and Metallica (1991). During this time there was no comparison to their dominance and style. Every song on these albums was a masterpiece, any of them could be played at any live performance today and the fans would go home happy. Last year they played the entire Master of Puppets album at every stop on the tour in recognition of the albums' 20th anniversary.
Now after that things went slightly downhill. The next album we had was Load (1996) five years after the Black Album. Fans expected it to be the equivilent of "Black Album 2". Not the case. While the album had its hits such as "Until It Sleeps" and "King Nothing", the general feel from the album was a disappointment. The same can be said for Reload (1997) which contained the remaining songs from the same recording sessions as Load. Though slightly better, including songs like "Fuel", "Memory Remains" and "Unforgiven II", the songs still failed to reach the summit that had been conquered and flagged by the albums from the 80's.
1998 saw the release of Garage Inc. a cover/compilations album. This album was of shear quality. By far the best thing released since The Black Album, but also because it included songs from the semi-unreleased album Garage Days Re-visited which was recorded in 1987. So obviously the calibre of songs from this time was good. In 1999, we were treated to S&M, which was a live performance recorded with San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Michael Kamen. The songs played were from a mix of their albums, but the singing and playing was by far at the best it had been for a long time. We also heard for the first time 2 other songs, written especially for the occasion, namely; "No Leaf Clover" and "-Human". Would these two songs appear on the next studio album? Following that Metallica performed the song "I Disappear" for the film MI2. Would this song also appear on the next album?
The answer was no. Instead, in 2003, we were plagued by the god-awful St. Anger. There are too many problems to name here. Some of the issues were: no guitar solos, grunge sound to the music, repetitive lyrics, too many filler tracks. The only tracks worth mentioning are the ones that had a video; "Frantic", "St. Anger" and "The Unnamed Feeling". Strangely enough this album appealed to more non-heavy metal fans than anything else. Something had to be done!
The band toured in 2003, 2004 and 2006. They took a break out in 2005. In 2006 we learned that a new album was in the works, and we were assured by the band themselves that the music would go back to their roots. They fired their producer Bob Rock and instead brought in Rick Rubin, who has worked with the RHCP, System of a Down and Rage Against the Machines. During the 2006 tour, certain stops (not including Dublin unfortunately) were treated to "The New Song" (see above) which will appear on the new album. After hearing it only once, we knew it was an incredible step up from St. Anger. We had the return of Kirk's solos, a return to 8 and a half minute tracks and decent drumming on Lars' part. The Asian leg of the tour were treated to "The Other New Song", a shorter song which was reminiscent of Garage Inc.. Later on, Metallica's guitar interpretation of "The Ecstasy of Gold" (see below) was leaked to youtube, a further indication of good things to come.
It is quite evident that Metallica have managed to bring about a renaissance in their style of playing, a feat which was achieved by Megadeth in 2004.
In the early 80's, Megadeth were formed after Dave Mustaine, the then lead guitarist in Metallica was fired. It is no wonder then that Megadeth are up there with Metallica at the forefront of heavy metal. In 1985, they released their first album Killing Is My Business...And Business Is Good!, followed by Peace Sells..But Who's Buying? (1986), So Far, So Good....So What! (1988), Rust in Peace (1990), Countdown to Extinction (1992) and Youthanasia (1994). I'll stop there. Arguably the last three albums mentioned are the best. With Countdown to Extinction being the Megadeth equivilent of Metallica's Master of Puppets and Youthanasiathe equivilent of the Black Album.
After than, Megadeth went through a bad phase like Metallica. Their albums really failing to produce anything special, with Risk(1999) and The World Needs a Hero (2001) being the bottom rung of the way things were going. Unfortunately things got worse, when Mustaine was told he could never play guitar again after injuring his arm by sleeping with it over a chair. As a result, Megadeth released Back to the Start, a greatest hits album.
However, shock horror, we learned around 2003 that Megadeth were beginning work on a new album, released as The System Has Failed in 2004, which in my opinion rivals Countdown and Youth for shear masterpieces. Everything is right, sound, voice clarity, everything. Then in late 2006, we learned that Megadeth were once again hitting the studio for the album United Abominations out today. Unfortunately I haven't bought it yet, but Mr Conway tells me that it's absolutely brilliant, better than System. I've only heard one song off it which is a new version of 'A Tout le Monde', which originally appeared on Youthanasia. This one is also better thanks to the wonderful singing of the ever so foxy Cristina Scabbia of Laguna Coil.
Bring on Metallica's 9th studio album this summer!!! Complete the Renaissance!
I'm 20 currently studying 3rd Year Structural Engineering in UCD going for my Bachelor Degree! Interests are many, including postulations about the unknown, painting, modelling, further postulations regarding the incomprehenisble, thinking, reading, creating THE EDGE (see past blog), classic metal and the odd love interest (rare nowadays)...
That’s it ladies and gentlemen, first we had the album title, followed by the track list and now the release date – can’t freakin’ wait!! What we also know now is that the first single from the new album will be The Day That Never Comes. But I now also have for you from metontour a look at the song Cyanide from the album.
