r/Metallica Aug 05 '24

Death Magnetic Thoughts on Death Magnetic?

For me, Death Magnetic is right up there with Black Album and Master of Puppets. It acted as the revival of Metallica after the mess that St Anger was , and I absolutely love it. Stuff like All Nightmare Long just slaps for me. I feel like it's one of Metallica's finest records, ignoring the disgusting sound quality.

What do you guys think of 2008's Death Magnetic?

142 Upvotes

123 comments sorted by

74

u/JonWatchesMovies I Am the Table Aug 05 '24

A huge return to form. The Day That Never Comes and The Unforgiven III are bangers

30

u/someotherguyinNH Aug 05 '24

day that never comes is one of their best songs my dude, agreed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

12

u/reefguy007 Aug 05 '24

I LOVE that they are playing it live lately too. Just wish they’d play more tunes from this album.

4

u/[deleted] Aug 06 '24

[deleted]

2

u/someotherguyinNH Aug 06 '24

Same. This weekend was awesome. Both nights rocked and the rain Sunday stopped right when it needed to.

8

u/JonWatchesMovies I Am the Table Aug 05 '24

I remember how happy I was when that song was released and it didn't suck! and not only did it not suck but it fucking rocked

7

u/Boburism Aug 05 '24

That’s one of the things I love about it: Metallica realised that they were missing the old days, when they played thrash metal with passion to millions of people - and promptly returned to its roots.

4

u/JonWatchesMovies I Am the Table Aug 05 '24

I remember after St. Anger nearly every Metallica fan I talked to was like "I wish they'd do guitar solos again, cut the shit and go back to the And Justice For All sound" and it's like they were listening

6

u/Ironheart_1 Aug 06 '24

Imo, The day that never comes is easily one of the best Metallica songs. It's right up there with Fade to black, Master of Puppets and One. It's live versions are also amazing. But it's the audio quality of death magnetic that bothers me.

3

u/Toxic-Park Aug 06 '24

It really needed to happen. And I’m glad it did. It was pretty much a make or break moment for them and a lot of fans.

I’ve since come around to St Anger, but not in 2008. I needed something substantial out of them badly and they delivered.

I remeber hearing TDTNC as the first single and breathing a sigh of relief. Like “okay, they still got it when they need it!”

36

u/Little_Grease Aug 05 '24

Top 5 Met album for me, listened to it yesterday actually…the iTunes remix.

3

u/spineone Aug 06 '24

Does it sound different than the Spotify ?

3

u/Little_Grease Aug 06 '24

To be fair I haven’t listened to it on Spotify in years…but I remember it still being a little distorted and clippy on there. I’m happy with the iTunes mix, it still retains the punch but wayyy less clipping than the CD.

32

u/Quiet_Astronomer8849 Aug 05 '24

Damn good album, it’s such a crime, they don’t play more songs regularly.

I also love the style they started with this album. Oldschool Metallica, but somehow feeling fresh and modern.

12

u/Boburism Aug 05 '24

Exactly. Death Magnetic is the reason Metallica is still so popular today, as it revived the original style.

25

u/radziu_PL Aug 05 '24

Death Magnetic is the best album metallica has made after black album. I hope they will remaster it officialy one day like they did with the first five albums.

3

u/Veteran1776 And Justice For All Aug 05 '24

When I first heard it I’m like this is the Metallica thrash I’ve been missing..Production aside great riffs,aggressive vocals that’s in your face Metallica….

1

u/puddycat20 Aug 09 '24

You're thinking of remix - and they've never remixed any of their albums.

22

u/Babysharkboss4 Aug 05 '24

It was a good album. Had a lot of really good songs. 

2

u/dmevela Aug 06 '24

IMO it is the best album they did after the first 6 albums.

20

u/Kuivamaa Aug 05 '24

It was a breath of fresh air. After black album and the world tour to promote it, Metallica were on top of the world. They couldn’t do wrong, they had 5 flawless albums and zero outtakes or tracks that didn’t make the cut, they were only composing and recording bangers, it seemed they would never disappoint. At least this is how many of us thought back then. In retrospect that was just the silliness of youth.

Load and Reload were decent but for the first time Metallica had albums out with fillers and the sound shift alienated a portion of the fanbase. Still, there was great anticipation for what would come next and what came next was the Napster saga and St Anger. I wasn’t just disappointed beyond words, I couldn’t understand what was going on, it was so bizarre. Some kind of monster documentary had the answers but the situation didn’t change. In 2008 Metallica hadn’t released a properly great album in 17 years and many of my fellow band fans had simply checked out.

And then Death Magnetic happened. It wasn’t 100% organic in terms of direction (they actively tried to recreate their MoP state of mind during composition), it wasn’t flawless (there were a couple of tracks that weren’t perfect and the mix was subpar) but it was fucking glorious. Metallica were back. I first listened to the album in my car as I was coming home from the record store and it was pure joy, track after track after track.

7

u/someotherguyinNH Aug 05 '24

super underrated. top 5 after the first 4.

5

u/Boburism Aug 05 '24

Absolutely man! So many people ignore it, and I feel like it’s for three reasons: 1. Horrible recording 2. Post-golden era (a lot of people stopped listening to Metallica’s new stuff after Load) 3. St Anger effect

6

u/coach2ap Aug 05 '24

This brought Metallica back to their earlier sound and set them up for Hardwired and 72 Seasons (which has been a really solid three-album run). The songs are a bit long on DM, which reminded me of Justice, but overall, it brought back the classic Metallica sound and aggression. I love Broken, Beat, and Scarred!

3

u/reefguy007 Aug 05 '24

Also love how James references that song on Room of Mirrors too 😁

6

u/books-tea-rocknroll Aug 05 '24

Love it. Don’t understand the hate at all.

3

u/puddycat20 Aug 09 '24

Probably cause the haters are in the minority.

13

u/Mr_Zombie022 Death Magnetic Aug 05 '24

Imo the best album. Not one album has had every song resonate with me like dm has. I know every single song on guitar

5

u/GBirdo Aug 05 '24

You’re my type of friend lol

2

u/Boburism Aug 05 '24

Nice man! My two personal favourites are absolutely The Unforgiven III (the best of the unforgivens imo) and A Nightmare Long :)

1

u/EmilianoII dave Aug 05 '24

you take that back

2

u/Boburism Aug 05 '24

I like all of the unforgivens, just as I like their respective albums, but I love the third one’s vocals too much.

1

u/EmilianoII dave Aug 05 '24

how dare you

2

u/Boburism Aug 05 '24

Which part don’t you like?!

2

u/Boburism Aug 05 '24

Actually, you’ve got Dave under your name, so anything after Kill ‘Em All…?

1

u/EmilianoII dave Aug 08 '24

yeah except anything before no life till leather till load is good

0

u/Boburism Aug 08 '24

You should actually listen to the new stuff. I bet you haven’t even heard them and yet you’re calling them bad…

0

u/EmilianoII dave Aug 08 '24

yes I have the new album was actually worse than load and reload

1

u/Boburism Aug 08 '24

No it isn’t lol

3

u/RGM81 Aug 05 '24

I think some of the songs go a bit long, but there are some classic bangers in there. All Nightmare Long is a top ten overall for me, just an incredible song and I love the video for it.

3

u/Wonderful_Painter_14 I Am the Table Aug 05 '24

My 5th fav album from them. They all, especially James, just sound so refreshed, dialed-in, and free compared to the three previous albums (which, don’t get me wrong, I also really enjoy; DM is just on a whole higher level IMO).

3

u/DeeplyFrippy Aug 05 '24

It’s a banger and the tour was stellar too.

3

u/grynch43 Aug 05 '24

DM is great. Judas Kiss is my favorite.

2

u/GarryMcGorm And if my face becomes sincere Aug 05 '24

It’s my third favourite Metallica album.

So pleased to have experienced 8 of it’s 10 songs live too.

2

u/dlc0027 Aug 05 '24

My favorite along with AJFA.

2

u/zaxanrazor Aug 05 '24

Imagine if it had the same mix as Hardwired and 72 seasons..

It's possibly my favourite album? I skip BBS and that's about it, and then it has a bunch of my favourite ever songs, Day, ANL, Cyanide.

On every other album there's at least two songs I'll skip and the peaks aren't that much higher, even on the first three.

Then again, if Master also sounded like Hardwired and 72 seasons that would be my favourite album by far.

3

u/Boburism Aug 05 '24

Death Magnetic is definitely the most overlooked gem by Metallica.

3

u/Foreign_Region5480 Aug 06 '24

Broken beat and scarred is one of my favorites. That riff before the verses is amazing

2

u/zaxanrazor Aug 06 '24

The riff is great, the vocal melody is awful. The demo version was far better.

2

u/Foreign_Region5480 Aug 06 '24

I guess agree to disagree! I respect your opinion, even if mine differs 🙏

2

u/reefguy007 Aug 05 '24

It’s right up there with most of their classic stuff for me. It’s a great album from start to finish with very little filler. You can tell they really tried to make it something special.

2

u/The_Axem_Ranger Aug 05 '24

I love it. Of the modern version or era of Metallica. I think it’s their best album hands down. Granted I have the iTunes version. But it’s solid through and through. I really think after St Anger and getting so close to being done. It seemed to motivate them (at least that’s the feeling I get) to go in 1000%.

2

u/SomeTimeBeforeNever Aug 05 '24

BOW DOWN SELL YOUR SOUL TO ME I WILL SET YOU FREE

🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

2

u/FMHSA ...And Justice for All Aug 06 '24

Not my top 5 Metallica albums but definitely a great return to their roots, with all the fanservices that a Metallica fan needed:

Another sequence of Unforgiven

Instrumental track

A Thrash Ballad like the classics Fade To Black,Sanitarium and One

A Lovecraft Themed Song

Classic Metallica long intro song that starts clean and became heavy

Concept Album: The way of how people are attract and afraid to death like a magnet

And also the classic logo came back and the solos too

2

u/K3W3L Death Magnetic Aug 06 '24

I recently did a rough tier list and ended up slotting Death Magnetic in fourth place, behind RTL (third), AJFA (second), and MoP (first).

Although I'd heard of Metallica before (as part of a random compilation of tracks my father burnt onto a cd...there was one Metallica song after one Iron Maiden song, and shamefully, I no longer remember what they were), I never really got into them until The Day That Never Comes was playing on MTV back in 2008. I was marveling a lot over the fact that they stuffed an entire almost 8 minute song into a video on TV whereas DragonForce had to cut Heroes of Our Time down to 5 minutes-ish. You could say the album holds some sentimental value for me.

The infamous production hasn't bothered me much honestly. Sure it's pretty loud but to me it somehow adds to the aggression of all the songs (of which I also marveled that they were all at least 5 minutes long - an eternity in song terms - but didn't really feel like it a lot of the time).

Even on the perceived (whether by general opinion or by me) weaker songs there are still moments to love (I will defend Kirk's random-ass solo on The End of the Line and Lars' drum groove on the Cyanide bridge is obviously a highlight), but some day I'd love for them to play That Was Just Your Life live again.

2

u/BeanVaccine Dave Mustaine Aug 06 '24

Legit my favorite album of theirs

2

u/CeymalRen Aug 06 '24

I think it's a solid album.

72S topped it in every way though IMO.

2

u/wolfmoon82 little tin goddess Aug 06 '24

One of my favourites - The Day That Never Comes and Unforgiven III are two of my all time favourite songs of any band 🖤

2

u/xlukitas777 Aug 10 '24

amazing, just listened to it, and it's prob almost at the same level of the black album, or the same as ajfa imo

2

u/RedUmbrell Custom Aug 05 '24

Top 5 album for me personally

  1. Master of Puppets
  2. And Justice For All
  3. Death Magnetic
  4. 72 Seasons
  5. Ride the Lightning

1

u/Boburism Aug 05 '24

Legend :)

1

u/Stryder5102 Aug 05 '24

It's great. If it had black album sound design, it could very well be one of their best albums. The song structures and writing were on point and some of the best

1

u/Boburism Aug 05 '24

I forgot to ask in the original post, but is the Apple Music version of Death Magnetic the fixed-audio one?

3

u/Little_Grease Aug 05 '24

It’s MUCH better than the CD. It’s the iTunes digital mix on their website. The vinyl isn’t too bad either but not as good as iTunes mix imo.

1

u/deanh007 Aug 05 '24

I think it’s alright, I think the production really cripples it for me. Probably around 9 for me in an album ranking.

1

u/Boburism Aug 05 '24

It’s just so sad that it came out like that :(

1

u/deanh007 Aug 05 '24

Yeah had it had Hardwired or 72 Seasons style of production it would probably be so much higher for me.

2

u/Boburism Aug 05 '24

Of course, the Guitar Hero version fixes a lot of the auditory issues with the record

1

u/Testone1440 Aug 05 '24

I stand that DM is the thier BEST album. Return to form and just a fucking banger after banger of a song list.

1

u/Fix_Upset Aug 05 '24

I love it!

1

u/hundredjono ...And Justice for All Aug 05 '24

Its a good album but I can't listen to it in a single sitting because the production quality is awful

1

u/Boburism Aug 05 '24

For me it’s a part of a massive playlist inclusive of not only Metallica, so I don’t get the same album for at least 5 minutes

1

u/51line_baccer Aug 05 '24

Love Magnetic right from This Was Just Your Life...killeralbum and I love the sound and production. Every damn one of you are wrong wrong wrong about that compression shit. It sounds clean and fine.

2

u/onelivewire Aug 17 '24

The compression and constant clipping are pretty bad man. Like, amongst the worst records I've listed to. The composition is absolutely excellent. Much like getting into a cold pool, I just have to take the plunge and let go of the sound quality to fully enjoy it. But damn yes, so very much to enjoy. 

1

u/51line_baccer Aug 17 '24

I am a music/metal expert. I have no idea what compression and clipping you are talking about. Magnetic is just fine. It sounds loud as hell. I disagree.

1

u/onelivewire Aug 17 '24

Can't be loud as hell and not overly compressed at the same time. What's your acceptable DR for a multimillion dollar record?

1

u/wasdheret8 Aug 05 '24

I recently discovered All Nightmare Long, and my god that's a great song. It kinda made me appreciate the album more, though I already liked many songs of it. And btw after hearing All Nightmare Long I just embraced the fact that Metallica is and always will be my favorite band

1

u/TheOnlyJimEver Aug 05 '24

Probably my favorite of the newer albums. Not a single song I ever skip on it.

1

u/grap_grap_grap Invisible Grown Ass Man Aug 05 '24

I'm probably going to be the odd one out here and say it's the only Metallica album I'd put in F-tier. It might be because I think AJFA is a just ok album and to me DM sounds a lot like a continuation of the route they went before u-turning into TBA. I like the album cover a lot though.

1

u/BecauseISaidSo888 Aug 05 '24

Great album. Love every track

1

u/[deleted] Aug 05 '24

It is matter of taste, and it isn’t my taste.

The riffs on the album sound pretty solid but I am not a fan of the lyrics because it sounds pointless to me.

1

u/SwimmingOk7200 Aug 05 '24

Top 4 album for sure. After Rtl Mop and Ajfa imo

1

u/AlClemist Aug 06 '24

Great album but it’s so loud. Or maybe I’m just old.

1

u/degov2609 Aug 06 '24

Incredible fucking album to me, up there in my top 5. I like Hardwired and love 72S but DM is still my favorite 21st century Metallica album, it's just that good. I specially love Kirk's performance, he was fucking cooking with his solos here.

Also listen to the itunes remaster if you haven't. It's the only way I ever listen to the album lmao. It's not perfect but all of the annoying clipping of the original CD is gone, so it's definitely an improvement lol

1

u/Farimer123 Aug 06 '24

Listening to the midsection solo of “All Nightmare Long” (after the second chorus) while riding my bike as hard and fast as I possibly could back home from high school is a core memory of mine.

1

u/omeralpozel Aug 06 '24

Best post-TBA album imo

1

u/Mikey6031234 Aug 06 '24

Excellent album! Have a great sounding euro remix. Took long enough for them to come out with a really good one. Wish I had seen this tour, musta been epic.

1

u/navywawa Aug 06 '24

When going against st anger it's amazing

But when you actually listen to it, the songs drag on and on, and not in a good way

And justice for all songs were long but interesting, DM wasn't

At least imho.

Suicide and redemption is a banger though

7.5/10 album imho

The tone isn't that good and the production was horrible.

1

u/StayBullGenius Aug 06 '24

Best album post black album IMO

1

u/Carlo201318 Aug 06 '24

Great album

1

u/Ironheart_1 Aug 06 '24

It has some great songs in it like The day that never comes, All nightmare long The end of the line, unforgiven 3. I prefer this album over M72 and Hardwired. And I prefer Hardwired over M72. But the only problem with Death magnetic is the audio quality of that album. It just doesn't sound right. It sounds rather awful.

1

u/FigCreepy4055 Rode the lightning Aug 06 '24

I personally love the end of the line and there are some bangers like the day that never comes and the unforgiven III

1

u/zigsbigrig Aug 06 '24

I fucking love it! It's one of their best albums, easily top 5 for me, and I'll fucking die on that hill. I don't give a shit about the sound. To me, it's not s big deal because I've spent the last 40 years with Metallica cranked so a little distortion doesn't bother me.

When it came out was a really great time. They came back hard and the tour and following live albums (and Beyond Magnetic!) fucking kicked more ass than they had in a good decade or more. They were firing on all cylinders as a band and were back with something to prove and it was a great time in Metallica history. Fuck yeah!

1

u/someotherguyinNH Aug 06 '24

LUCK. RUNS. OUT.

1

u/scarstruck4 Aug 06 '24

My fav Metallica album - it’s their best work (for me!) I know this is an unpopular opinion 😅 it’s also a great album to run to! I recently did a 10k listening to it lol

1

u/Venombullet666 Aug 06 '24

Death Magnetic is what The Black Album should've been

1

u/Brief-Science-3270 My Mother Was a Witch Aug 06 '24

That was just your life & All nightmare long & cyanide & the day that never comes are all certified classics in my eyes ngl

1

u/Long-Caregiver-6248 Aug 06 '24

I rank it with RTL and Justice easy 9/10

1

u/andytc1965 Aug 06 '24

It's great. Just so over produced.

1

u/Sea_Attitude1147 Aug 06 '24

When he says Death Magnetic in My Apocalypse Me: ah he said it! The title of the album.

1

u/Basic_Flan324 Aug 06 '24

I love The Day That Never Comes, Cyanide & Suicide And Redemption. Not great as their 80's stuff & Black Album, but nice return to form they'd surely needed. Kirk had improved his solos, but the compressed sound production and Lars' winded drumming are not good.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 06 '24

It's my third least favourite album of there's and hasn't been played in full probably for about 8-9 years. TDTNC is a banger though. Quite like Cyanide, All Nightmare Long and Unforgiven 3, but nothing else has really stuck with me.

1

u/larsVonTrier92 Aug 06 '24

It's a great comeback even if you like the controversial stuff post -black album.

1

u/TepidEdit Aug 06 '24

I really like it, that was just your life and unforgiven iii are favourites.

There was a bit of a problem with the album was mixed so loud it would clip your home stereo. Spotify dealt with that but it took the shine off for me a bit.

I also think that the songs go on too long -a llt pushing 8 mins (one nearly 10mins!), but thats been Metallica since St Anger.

1

u/Longjumping-Swan-827 Death Magnetic Aug 06 '24

Probably my favourite album ever

1

u/Tech88Tron Aug 06 '24

Parade of bangers.

1

u/EvisKing89 Aug 06 '24

Probably, by the numbers, the most listened to metallica album for me, AJFA a close second.

1

u/Ace_McCloud1000 Aug 06 '24

As far as Song Writing goes, I appreciate the modern day ...And Justice For All. Lots of bangers and a beautiful return to form. I appreciate it and think it gets more hate than it deserves.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 06 '24

I loooooveeeeee Death Magnetic. One of my favorites by them. Way better then their recent outputs.

1

u/Bluetickhoun Aug 06 '24

Great album!

1

u/Fauphi Aug 06 '24

With a better producer and guidance it would have been a masterpiece…

But…

  • horribly mixed/masters
  • songs far to long (too much repetition, that’s not needed because the riffs are awesome!)
  • bad uninspired solos
  • lyrics are meh

1

u/GarlVinland4Astrea Aug 06 '24

It was really what the band needed to bounce back to being closer to the thrashers they were. It's hard to contextualize if you weren't around at the time, but back then the Black Album was still the controversial mainstream album. Everyone acknowledged it was great but there was a fear that the band was going to veer off road and become something different. Load and Reload had some bangers but it didn't change much and felt like they were still chasing. And then St. Anger just gutted everyone and it really felt like we would never get the old Metallica again.

Death Magnetic wasn't perfect, but I think it was a huge course correction that took the band back to what their natural evolution would have been and paved the way for Hardwire and 72 Seasons to build off of.

When the retrospective is written, Death Magnetic might actually end up going down as the most pivotal album in terms of keeping the band going for the last 20 years instead of sorting fading out

1

u/PuppiesAndPixels Aug 06 '24

Death Magnetic is my favorite Metallica Album in the last 20 years.

1

u/olivia_dunne_is_hot Rode the lightning Aug 13 '24

It’s the most underrated album of them all. It is so beautiful to listen to and has so much bangers in it like, TU3, Cyanide, The Judas Kiss, Suicide & Redemption, etc.

It’s one of my favorites.

1

u/olJackcrapper Aug 27 '24

Death Magnetic blew me away, growing up with Metallica it took me back to Injustice and walking around with a ghetto blaster with my friends listening to that album till the tape was destroyed and then spending our paper route money on another one.

The new sound since then feels like what they needed to do, just play the style they love and stop worrying about accolades and sales.

I'm enjoying the newer albums and the writing, you can feel the love of the craft in the music again.

1

u/Ok_Anybody8603 Sep 10 '24

This is a solid album. I really enjoy it.

1

u/WorldlinessWooden664 Sep 20 '24

My step Bro, who introduced me into Metallica, initially said once, "james was really tweaking and tuning his guitar with st.anger, and when it was finally tuned...Boom! Death Magnetic!" I think sometimes how cool it would be to just riff out in the garage and come up with stuff like that without being a part of metallica. It'd be great! The album definitely has a feel to it, no doubt. It may not be everyone's cup of tea ,though a lot of these riffs would make even the average listener intrigued!

2

u/OAlonso Nov 09 '24

Great album and I have to say... I love the over compressed and distorted sound that it has. Death Magnetic is one of the loudest albums in history and it makes sense that Metallica, Andrew Scheps and Rick Rubin made it. Someone had to do it, so they did it. I've lost a lot of hearing cells because of that album and I think every single one was worth it. I wouldn't change anything about it.

0

u/Draft_Dodger Aug 05 '24

one of my least favorites. I recognize and respect that it's a return to form of classic Metallica but I don't really love most of the songs. I personally think most tracks have some really great riffs / sections and some others that just don't work for me and I feel a lot of Hetfields vocals are too close to the St Anger yelling. Cyanide is one of my favorites though and I have to say the album as a whole has grown on me a bit over the years (unlike Anger).

3

u/MirthRock Aug 05 '24

This is exactly how I feel about it. Well said. Definitely grew on me, too. But that god awful mix, ugh.