With age comes experience and with experience, hopefully wisdom follows. If that’s the way things are, then maybe aging isn’t so bad right? Wine gets better with age, and as adults you’re able to do and see so much more of the world through new perspectives. On the other hand though, it seems more and more common that as life continues on, things inevitably get worse. Our bodies break down, society seems doomed to repeat history’s blunders. Metallica’s 72 Seasons is no exception to the unending grind of the wheel of time.
There aren’t many bands who have the legacy Metallica does. Think about it, from humble origins they create an album like Kill em’ All, then stretch their songwriting legs and progress to writing Ride the Lightning, then proceeding ever higher and releasing the epic Master of Puppets. To get one album right is amazing, to get it right twice and grow your reach as a band is amazing, to do it a third time and become the biggest band in metal is staggering.
Of course, the rest of Metallica’s discography is up for debate. There may not be another band in the history of metal whose music has been argued over more. Time and again the opinions “Metallica sold out after Justice!” and “Load and ReLoad both suck!” have been yelled by many, only to receive “At least Metallica’s not afraid to try something new!” in reply. Wherever you stand on their discography, we can all agree that the topic at hand is at least discussed passionately. But where does that leave 72 Seasons?
We can all find something familiar throughout the album, and be greeted with something new. Metallica once again turns in an album that lets riffs develop and repeat. That’s nothing new. The production quality of the record seems clear and on the drier side for modern metal. You would think with a studio like theirs and a budget (assumed) like no other, Metallica would perhaps lean into a bit more grandiose of a sound. Sadly we’re left with a sound similar to that of And Justice For All; plasticky and replaced drums, thin guitars and anemic bass, the latter being the most disappointing as it would be cool to hear Rob Trujillo flex his chops more on their music.
Songs like “Lux Aeterna” and the titular “72 Seasons” showcase the band bringing some speed to the music, with memorable riffs that easily get stuck in your head. But it’s apparent that the band falls into old habits and lets songs run on for far too long. The repetition in songs such as “You Must Burn!” and “Sleepwalk My Life Away” (amongst the majority of the record” does no favors and things seem to trend downward into a boring and unimaginative affair. Lyrically, the stories told fail to incite any deep or exciting reactions, they just fall flat and seem like uninspired ramblings over the music. Which is a shame as James’ voice has aged fairly well.
Bottom Line: It appears father time hasn’t been as kind to Metallica, perhaps even letting the clock run a bit faster on their music. Album after album, they recreate brief moments of their past, with stronger songs and memorable riffs, but they fail to recreate the sense of palpable energy, the behemoth sound, or the imposing presence that their earlier works had. 72 Seasons by no means is a bad album. There are moments that make you want to bang your head, but for each of those, there are twice as many that make you doze off, or lose your attention.
32 comments
Post CommentYup, that's why they are one of the biggest touring acts in the world. Not a fan of this record too much but saying they aren't relevant is just a down right uneducated comment. Don't be stupid you sheep
It's decent. Funny how a band that has been around for 40 years puts out an album that is a breath of fresh air in a very stale metal scene. Every new band sounds the same and occasionally there's a diamond that's just Different. This album certainly isn't the Diamond but it's just different in a good way. As far as the drumming.... probably sounds flat because all the other metal bands track their drums on a Computer program lol . I am not a robot.
Its like their heart was in the right place but they couldn't dial it in 100%
I would not want to pay a minimum $75 for a ticket to hear them play. These guys should be playing county fairs at this point. Overrated. Baa, mfers.
Oh wow! I didn't even know they were still trying to make new music. I enjoy mediocre dad-rock.
It's perfectly... Average. Clean. produced. All the right licks, all the right tricks, but together everything feels so forced and the result is an album so full of energy that feels so devoid of energy. It's like jolting a corpse and watching it dance for a split second. You get excited, and then you're not. This is the opposite of everything that make Metallica good.
Listened to entire album today. Don't think I'll ever listen again. Disposable. Ugh Huge fan by the way but this is just a bad Load/Reload album.
Not enough deranged hipster whining. For me it's Flatspot or nothing
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and in my opinion this review is far too harsh. This is easily Metallica's best record in 30 years, and I would rank it on par with the black album.
^^^ That guy/gal (shim/herm) needs to check into a psych ward ^^^ The Black Album stands alone (not saying it's the best) without question. Release date, production, songwriting, 'metal' radio play, billboard chart, records sold, etc. It's the most untouchable heavy metal release of all time. You can debate this, but numbers don't lie. Anyway, 72 Seasons is mediocre and unfinished. A little more production and creativity would have brought this to life. These guys are better than this and we all know it...
They're one drummer away from being at the top of their game again.
72 reasons why they should've hung it up after Master Of Puppets.
Zulu received a 9, therefore Zulu is a better band than Metallica.
Metal has grown metallica had no competition. They sure do now and seem tame in comparison. It's not the best album but god will they fire Lars and get someone who can do more than just hold a beat? His drumming has no imagination.
ZULU got a way higher score that how you know you're trash Metallica needs to hang it up
So many negative critics from people who have not done at least 0,0000001% of what Metallica has been doing for 40 years
^^^ So f.ucking what? You put out a song, it's open to criticism. Metallica sucks. What do they care anyways? They're laughing all the way to the bank regardless.
My grandma can write such pitiful riffs Drown yourselves
Sounds like Metallica. But they'll never have a run like their first 5 albums. I'm sure most of these comments are from youngsters who really have no idea how different Metallica was than everyone else. Just because they have tried different things- they will always sound like Metallica. Big from the beginning but not a fan of every single record. I think it's funny when people talk about selling out. Isn't music itself about doing what you want? Trying new things? There will never be another Metallica, AC/DC, Slayer, Anthrax, Megadeth, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath....etc. They're all great and always will be. And they all have plenty of great music. Dislike songs or albums but why hate on the bands that did so much for music? Grow up. Everyone ages. Everyone is free to try new things or such jobs except musicians? Don't make sense. They're the masters of freedom! FREEDOM!
Honestly I wanted to like it especially after all the money they spent on PR. The mixing sucks, the guitars sound flat and lame! It's a forgotten album after listening to it 3 times max. Thankfully the full album is on YT and I didn't have to spend money on this pile...
All legacy. Had this been a new band. Would be entirely ignored
"As far as the drumming.... probably sounds flat because all the other metal bands track their drums on a Computer program lol " Ummm, it sounds flat because THIS is gridded to hell. There's nothing organic, at all, about the drums on this.
I just feel like if any other band put out this exact same record, it would be completely unnoticed and written off.
Havent put out a good album in 25 years. If you like this you're also probably super into five finger death punch Also you have dogshit taste in music
Metallica hasn't been relevant since Napster. They should be thankful someone is writing about them at all.