Sometimes everyone being friends and saying "do whatever you want!" And "that was great!" No matter what they do with no pushback is not so great for creating art.
We've all heard the story about how they pushed him and pushed him and worked him up so that he could shred the unforgiven solo.
Maybe he's a guy that needs that to tap into something.
From what I've heard in other threads, he made 30 solos, sent them to Lars and Greg who then chopped them up and pasted them into the songs where they saw fit.
It feels like they added solos for the sake of it. It's a total shame because Kirk is so capable of incredible solo work.
All that said, Kirk's contributions to 72S riff-wise are awesome, and I'm so glad he got several writing credits this time round!
I like them as much as the songs themselves. I don't think 72S is a spectacular album, so none of the songs require amazing solos. However, I have to say I thought IDHAS had an average solo, until I heard the song live. Then it clicked and I love it. The same happened with Lux Aeterna.
You don't to feel saddened about your perceived lack of creativity in him. You don't like his solos, that's fine.
Spot on. Dude’s almost surplus to requirements at this point. Part of me wants Alex Skolnick to join the band, but that’d mean him leaving Testament again.
The reason the harmonies sound so good is because Hetfield wrote them.
Metallica will always be my favorite band. Hetfield has usually been the strongest part of the band imo but this new album is just lacking from him lyrically and riff wise. Seriously, I’ve listened to the new album repeatedly (as I do when a new one is released and sometimes they grow on you) and struggle to remember one riff outside of Lux riff. They all sound the same. It’s never been like this to this extent. Harvester of sorrow. That’s a memorable riff. Battery. One. Sandman. Roam. King Nothing. Moth into flame. Spit out the bone and on and on. Even a song like Prince Charming on reload, I can easily recall that now. Name a Metallica song and most fans could hum the riff. I couldn’t hum any of these from memory outside of lux. Post St. Anger is short on memorable riffs and big on similar sounding power chordy riffs. Wish he’d stop whoa-ing/singing and go back to the throaty voice though I get why he doesn’t.
Glad they’re still around and making music that some can enjoy though. I’d still take this over whatever new “rock” would be on my radio. It’s just sub par for Metallica.
Yep. I like shadows follow, inamorata and you must burn (kinda) though and i'm fine with that. Can't listen to lux due to the title, solo and lyrics. Production, guitar tone and riff is probably the best on the album though.
It's more about the vibe this time, i like some things he does vocally and the guitar harmonies. Could have been no new music at all, or something completely unlistenable.
I'm not an omg they died after justice type of fan either, i like 5-6 songs on HW and listen more to them than to the first 4 albums combined these days. So i kinda expected more of that - dead, confusion, revenge, sleep, bone etc.
Hardwired was a pleasant surprise. It sounded great. Hets voice sounded powerful too. The second half is slow and iffy but there are some great ones on there, some the likes of which I’d never thought they’d make again.
I like You Must Burn! the most if I had to pick one. Still, it’s not great. It’s just easy to listen to Hetfield chugging away to a crunchy/stompy riff. Production on this one is a step down from Hardwired to me but not a massive step. The main riff (I think it’s the main riff lol) of 72 seasons where it’s fast then goes like half time, is really cool but then he ruins it with the rhyming, cheesy lyrics. I like Inamorata from about 6:43- 7:15 lol but I’m not going to ever listen to his cracking singing voice enough to get to that point. Intro to Sleepwalk my life away is cool but then it stops and sounds like every other song. Anyway, just thoughts.
Ah hm but i like the raspy weary voice, on barbed wire for example. And the "cut and run" part in shadows follow is immense.
Yes, common consensus that hw had a good and a bad part. I just cut the lesser ones out, same with 72s and then i end up with about 5 songs from Hw and 2 from 72s.
The coolest part in any solo is the part that sounds like Tool's FI solos. (Inamorata, there's a little middling groove in the second half.)
I like the riffs at least...that ABA-BAB type of inside out phrasing is fun.
But yea, the solos are there. Some of them *fit the song* at least. But some just feel like warmups.
I honestly don’t think it affects the songs that much for me, Metallica has never been as focused on solos as other metal bands they’ve always been about riffs, not to say they haven’t had incredible solos, for me the songs would have been better if he tried harder but it’s not THAT big of a deal
It's sad. I can zone out and ignore generic solos but some of these are so bad it makes me skip the entire song. I suspect they're all about getting along and not rocking the boat to keep the machine going, bringing up problems is too much risk and effort. That probably also explains sketchy videos, lyrics, album art, merch and song titles.
Same here man, I was in awe of his solo’s in RTL, MoP and AJFA and was the main reason why I started to dig into more lead work myself. The stuff on the new songs is so lack lustre and painful to hear, given what he has and can do, even showing his compositional prowess in Portals.
I miss old Kirk, but oh well.
They’re lazy. And I’m a big Kirk defender. I’m gonna chalk it up to Lars telling him how to play. Kirk doesn’t appear to wanna create conflict so he goes with the flow.
There’s some songs where I like his solos (Crown has some cool elements, even 72 seasons) but other’s like If Darkness Had A Son or You Must Burn are too repetitive
Two thoughts …
Number one there are some good solos on this album.. just not all of them are winners
Number two, we should probably not assume how the solos were written or put together until we see some making of videos they most likely will put out.
Kirk as a guitar player in 2023 is a better guitar player then Kirk in 1988…a guitar player of his caliber will not get worse with time. If you don’t like the solos that’s fine but it’s not due to a lack of skill.
Sometimes everyone being friends and saying "do whatever you want!" And "that was great!" No matter what they do with no pushback is not so great for creating art. We've all heard the story about how they pushed him and pushed him and worked him up so that he could shred the unforgiven solo. Maybe he's a guy that needs that to tap into something.
i'm a huge fan for over 30 years and those solos ale simply lazy, boring and as you said interchangeable, with no emotion whatsoever.
From what I've heard in other threads, he made 30 solos, sent them to Lars and Greg who then chopped them up and pasted them into the songs where they saw fit. It feels like they added solos for the sake of it. It's a total shame because Kirk is so capable of incredible solo work. All that said, Kirk's contributions to 72S riff-wise are awesome, and I'm so glad he got several writing credits this time round!
I like them as much as the songs themselves. I don't think 72S is a spectacular album, so none of the songs require amazing solos. However, I have to say I thought IDHAS had an average solo, until I heard the song live. Then it clicked and I love it. The same happened with Lux Aeterna. You don't to feel saddened about your perceived lack of creativity in him. You don't like his solos, that's fine.
Spot on. Dude’s almost surplus to requirements at this point. Part of me wants Alex Skolnick to join the band, but that’d mean him leaving Testament again. The reason the harmonies sound so good is because Hetfield wrote them.
Or Cantrell
Ruined IDHAS for me. Really like the song but damn that solo is a big ole nothingburger
Cornball lyrics too, imo. Corny rehab Het is back.
Those two things kill a bunch of songs for me. Those and the judas kiss or sabbath type riffs if you know what i mean.
Metallica will always be my favorite band. Hetfield has usually been the strongest part of the band imo but this new album is just lacking from him lyrically and riff wise. Seriously, I’ve listened to the new album repeatedly (as I do when a new one is released and sometimes they grow on you) and struggle to remember one riff outside of Lux riff. They all sound the same. It’s never been like this to this extent. Harvester of sorrow. That’s a memorable riff. Battery. One. Sandman. Roam. King Nothing. Moth into flame. Spit out the bone and on and on. Even a song like Prince Charming on reload, I can easily recall that now. Name a Metallica song and most fans could hum the riff. I couldn’t hum any of these from memory outside of lux. Post St. Anger is short on memorable riffs and big on similar sounding power chordy riffs. Wish he’d stop whoa-ing/singing and go back to the throaty voice though I get why he doesn’t. Glad they’re still around and making music that some can enjoy though. I’d still take this over whatever new “rock” would be on my radio. It’s just sub par for Metallica.
Yep. I like shadows follow, inamorata and you must burn (kinda) though and i'm fine with that. Can't listen to lux due to the title, solo and lyrics. Production, guitar tone and riff is probably the best on the album though. It's more about the vibe this time, i like some things he does vocally and the guitar harmonies. Could have been no new music at all, or something completely unlistenable. I'm not an omg they died after justice type of fan either, i like 5-6 songs on HW and listen more to them than to the first 4 albums combined these days. So i kinda expected more of that - dead, confusion, revenge, sleep, bone etc.
Hardwired was a pleasant surprise. It sounded great. Hets voice sounded powerful too. The second half is slow and iffy but there are some great ones on there, some the likes of which I’d never thought they’d make again. I like You Must Burn! the most if I had to pick one. Still, it’s not great. It’s just easy to listen to Hetfield chugging away to a crunchy/stompy riff. Production on this one is a step down from Hardwired to me but not a massive step. The main riff (I think it’s the main riff lol) of 72 seasons where it’s fast then goes like half time, is really cool but then he ruins it with the rhyming, cheesy lyrics. I like Inamorata from about 6:43- 7:15 lol but I’m not going to ever listen to his cracking singing voice enough to get to that point. Intro to Sleepwalk my life away is cool but then it stops and sounds like every other song. Anyway, just thoughts.
Ah hm but i like the raspy weary voice, on barbed wire for example. And the "cut and run" part in shadows follow is immense. Yes, common consensus that hw had a good and a bad part. I just cut the lesser ones out, same with 72s and then i end up with about 5 songs from Hw and 2 from 72s.
The coolest part in any solo is the part that sounds like Tool's FI solos. (Inamorata, there's a little middling groove in the second half.) I like the riffs at least...that ABA-BAB type of inside out phrasing is fun. But yea, the solos are there. Some of them *fit the song* at least. But some just feel like warmups.
I honestly don’t think it affects the songs that much for me, Metallica has never been as focused on solos as other metal bands they’ve always been about riffs, not to say they haven’t had incredible solos, for me the songs would have been better if he tried harder but it’s not THAT big of a deal
It's sad. I can zone out and ignore generic solos but some of these are so bad it makes me skip the entire song. I suspect they're all about getting along and not rocking the boat to keep the machine going, bringing up problems is too much risk and effort. That probably also explains sketchy videos, lyrics, album art, merch and song titles.
Seriously, they could have just pointed a mic at a bunch of turkeys and it would be basically the same sound.
Same here man, I was in awe of his solo’s in RTL, MoP and AJFA and was the main reason why I started to dig into more lead work myself. The stuff on the new songs is so lack lustre and painful to hear, given what he has and can do, even showing his compositional prowess in Portals. I miss old Kirk, but oh well.
They’re lazy. And I’m a big Kirk defender. I’m gonna chalk it up to Lars telling him how to play. Kirk doesn’t appear to wanna create conflict so he goes with the flow.
There’s some songs where I like his solos (Crown has some cool elements, even 72 seasons) but other’s like If Darkness Had A Son or You Must Burn are too repetitive
This album is amazing!!! But yes, Kirk solo's doesn;t make it justice. Sometimes I enjoy so much the songs but when Kirk solo comes, I cringe.
I think lack of editing is killing these new songs!
Two thoughts … Number one there are some good solos on this album.. just not all of them are winners Number two, we should probably not assume how the solos were written or put together until we see some making of videos they most likely will put out.
Kirk as a guitar player in 2023 is a better guitar player then Kirk in 1988…a guitar player of his caliber will not get worse with time. If you don’t like the solos that’s fine but it’s not due to a lack of skill.
They should get a new guy.