Review by MartinDavey87 for Metallica - Load (1996)

Short hair? Make-up? Cigars? What's going on?! What happened to Metallica? Did they... sell out?! OH NOOOOO!!!!!

These are just some of the things the metal community were complaining about back in 1995, when Metallica changed their image and their sound and released 'Load'. Anyone with an open mind will see that there are some really good compositions on this album, but sadly the metal community, as reliable as ever, couldn't get past the fact that Metallica changed their look and "sold out". In fact, most of 'em were still complaining about Metallica releasing a music video in 1988 when they said they never would. Metal elitists... at least they're consistent.

This may not be Metallica's best release, but there are songs on here that definitely stand side-by-side with anything Metallica had done before. 'Ain't My Bitch', 'Until It Sleeps', 'King Nothing' and 'Bleeding Me' are all classics. Even the country-influenced 'Mama Said' is a great tune (unless you're an 80's thrash metal fan who's still trying to get over the ‘Black Album’). But for all its strengths, there is one major problem that bugs me about this album; the duration. Alone, any song on 'Load' is a great track (yes, that includes 'Ronnie'), but when you listen to it all in one sitting, it really feels like you've heard the same song multiple times. It's tough.

I can admit, this may not be Metallica's finest hour, but don't be swayed by any "metal" reviews, because it's not a metal album. It's a rock album, and a bloody good one, at that!