The beginnings of a disappointing transformation of Metallica displayed on their self-titled album have come to full fruition on their next release, Load. Gone are any traces of progressiveness or thrash, and they have mostly been replaced with bluesy hard rock and country stylings. Critics ridiculously propose that the frustration of long-time fans at this release stems from haircuts, music videos, or production values. Rather, fans of the band’s early releases are simply seeing what was once the most important band in their favorite genre of music fade into just one of many mediocre heavy alt-rockers.

It isn’t all doom and gloom; there are a few great songs on the album, mostly those where the band makes no real attempt at being metal. Until It Sleeps and Hero Of The Day are great straight-ahead rock tunes. King Nothing and Wasting My Hate are enjoyable examples of the hard rock boogie displayed frequently on the previous album, but are not as good as those older songs.

None of the rest of the material is particularly bad, but neither is it very interesting, and that is a shame.