Metallica's Death Magnetic Album Review

The day was September 12, 2008. If you were in the same boat as me, then you were eagerly awaiting Metallica's new "Death Magnetic" Album to hit shelves, like a giddy schoolgirl waiting for a boy to call. It's the band's first album since "St. Anger" was released in 2003, and their ninth studio album in all.

While, I loved "St. Anger," part of me was a little disappointed with the lyrics. James Hetfield is an amazing lyricist, quite possibly one of the greatest of our time. All of Metallica's songs are filled with deep lyrical prowess and meaning. "St. Anger" for me, seemed like they were trying to make their songs as raw as possible. They even used a "stripped-down" recording method, intending to sound something like a garage band recording their first album. But, the lyrics seemed a bit stripped of their usual intelligence and meaning. I still absolutely loved the album, though.

"Death Magnetic," however, has those deep, unbelievably good lyrics back, and at full force. Not only that, but after five years without a new studio album, they've come back with a sound that can be described only as "Pure Metallica." It's rough, it's fast, it's Metallica.

When listening to this album, I can't help but think to myself, "Not only is this what Metallica should be, this is what Metal should be. Finally, Metallica is back to their prime. We haven't heard them like this since "Master of Puppets", "Ride the Lightning" and, of course "...And Justice for All."

While these guys are all in their forty's, at an age where most of us are investing settling down, making weekly trips to the chiropractor, and buying Rogaine by the gallon, these guys are still shredding through face-melting 100MPH guitar solos, pounding on the drums like a beast, and belting out lyrics like, "Crawl from the wreckage one more time. Horrific memory twists the mind."

So, through all this, where does it put Metallica, in this strange new world where the Jonas Brothers take 3 spots on Billboard's top 10 charts in one week, but if you ask a kid about Rock Music they respond with something like, "I wuvs Guitar Hero. lol." It's a sad, sad world. Can Metallica come back and bring forth a new era of a Rock-Fueled society to crush the Disney Channel generation. Well, Metallica's consistently most loved song with fans and critics alike is clearly, "One." Does "Death Magnetic" have this generation's "One," you ask? The fourth song on the album, entitled "The Day That Never Comes" has been said to be reminiscent of "One." It begins with a downbeat intro on clean guitar, and gradually picks up speed, before resulting in the best hard rock "jam session" that I've heard in years.

"Death Magnetic" is an instant classic, and will go down in history as one of Metallica's best albums to date. Let's hope that they can keep up with music like this, but more than that, let's hope that they can bring about an end to the Disney Channel generation, by introducing some fury.