Now That We Have St. Anger....Rank Metallica Albums
 

So now most of us have heard or have in our possesion Metallica- St.Anger. So lets rank Metallica albums.

Here's mine

1. Kill Em All
2. Master Of Puppets (a close second)
3. Ride The Lightning
4. ...And Justice For All
5. St. Anger
6. Black
7. Reload
8. Load


I'm very impressed with St. Anger but you really can't tell from where its placed. Its just that the others were classic albums that were easily 10 out of 10's.

1) Master Of Puppets
2) Ride The Lightning
3) Black Album
4) Kill Em All
5) And Justice For All
6) St Anger
7) Re Load
8) Load

master
ride
justice
black
kill
anger
garage days
reload
load

Great albums
1. MoP
2. Justice
3. St. Anger
4. RTL
5. KEA

sucky albums
6. BLack
7. Load
8. Reload

For original material studio albums (I still very much enjoy Garage Inc., Live *****: Binge and Purge, and S&M):

1. Master of Puppets
2. ...And Justice For All
3. Ride the Lightning
4. Kill 'em All
5. Black
6. St. Anger
7. Reload
8. Load

This is also not to say that I don't like Load, the last album on the list. I have thoroughly enjoyed all of Metallica's outings, and didn't see the Black album and all that followed as "selling out", merely that they decided to take a different direction then what they had done on the first four albums. Sometimes folks wanna do something different. In the thread that reviews the album St. Anger, someone said that Metallica used to do their own thing no matter what critics said...as long as the fans liked it, and that they no longer do that....and I disagree. I say that Metallica continues to do what they want to do. If they change, and you no longer like the music they play, you can let them know with future purchases, or lack thereof.

I find St. Anger a mixed bag. For everything in it that is great, and there is a lot that is, there is an equal amount that is not so great. With that said...here is my ranking of Metallica's albums.

1. Master of Puppets
2. Black Album
3. ...And Justice For All
4. Ride Lightning
5. Kill 'Em All
6. St. Anger
7. Re-Load
8. Load

I do not flat out hate one single Metallica album. I can find good traits about every single one, including Load, and bad traits about every single one, including Puppets. I have never been, or ever will be, bothered by Metallica's "change of direction" after Justice.

1. Master Of Puppets
2. Ride The Lightning
3. Kill Em All
4. And Justice For All
5. Load
6. Reload
7. St. Anger
8. Black

1. And Justice for all
2. Master of Puppets
3. Kill em all
4. Ride the lightning
5. Reload
6. Load
7. Black
8. St. Anger

I guess I'm the only one that REALLY liked Kill Em All ;)

master
justice
ride
anger
kill
load
black
reload

Master
Kill em All
Ride the Lightning
Justice
Garage EP
Black
Re-Load
Load

So far the couple of songs from St. Anger I have listened to, it would go around Black, but still not sure till I get a chance to hit the store this weekend.

I thought this thing didn't come out until June 10th. I was suprised to see it at Target today.

they released it yesterday offically.

my listing
1. master
2. St. Anger
3. Lightning
4. Black
5. Justice

I'll provide some justification to my list:

1. Master of Puppets: captures the band at the apex of their power. Cliff on bass. The best songs, the best performances and the production is perfect. Best Track: "Leper Messiah"
2. Ride the Lightning: second best album of their golden age. Best Track: "Creeping Death" (my favorite Metallic song ever).
3. Kill 'Em All- the original. This album means to the metal world what the Ramones first one means to punk. This one set the tone for all serious metal to come. Best track: "Seek and Destroy".
4. ...and Justice for all: a ruined masterpiece, IMO. This is probably their best album from a songwriting and musicianship perspective, it should be a classic. However, IMO, the weird buzzy/thin production almost ruins it. If they had actually mixed the bass a little higher and increased the dynamic range, this album would be all destroying. As it is, a bit of a "what could have been" situation for me. best track: the title track.
5. Black album: it's obvious this is a totally different Metallica. Some of the slower tracks ("Unforgiven" in particular) sound like the band is trying way, way to hard to diversify and wind up being pretty overwrought and boring. However, crushing hard rock tunes like "Enter Sandman" almost redeem it. This album also has probably my favorite loud hard-rock production since Cheap Trick's first one. Terrific stuff from Bob Rock.
6. Everything else. After Metallica released "Nothing Else Matters" as a single, I stopped listening. "Hero of the Day" was a pretty cool track with an excellent video but I haven't heard too much else of interest.

1.) Master of Puppets
2.) ...and Justice For All
3.) Black
4.) Ride The Lightning
5.) Load
6.) Kill Em All
7.) Re-Load

It's far to early for me to place St. Anger on the list yet as I havent even listened to the entire cd yet. I'll come back and add it in its respective place when I get a really good feeling of the album.

I hate this friggin' title song. The whole "You Flush it Out" yelling really ruins it.

Ride the lightning
Justice for all
Master of puppets
Kill em all
black
st.anger
load
reload

I'll also provide justification for my list. St. Anger will not be on it, because I have not had time to really digest the album. It's good, I just don't know how good.

1. ...and Justice for All -- Yes, it's flawed. Yes, Jason Newsted (who I liked better than Cliff) is nearly inaudible. But, it's still my favorite Metallica album. I want to hate it for its flaws, but I look at the track list and I'm just blown away. Everything on this album rocks the house. Metallica is really showing their range and skill here, not just playing fast and hard, but there's still a lot of genuine emotion here. Best song: Shortest Straw

2. Ride the Lightning -- It's not a popular opinion, but I like this album the best of the Cliff Burton years, if for no other reason than For Whom the Bell Tolls and Creeping Death. Fade to Black is the icing on the cake here. Best song: Creeping Death

3. Kill 'em All -- Would be higher except for two fatal flaws. Number one, the mastering on this album sucks -- what did they use, Fischer Price recording equipment? Christ. You'd think after 20 years they'd remaster it. Two, Metallica just isn't as talented, polished, and mature as they will be in a few years. Had this album been recorded just five years later and with better equipment, it would be my number one. Some great songs, particularly on the original releases (with Blitzkrieg and Am I Evil?). It also makes me wonder what Metallica would be like if they had kept Dave Mustaine. Best song: The Four Horsemen

4. Master of Puppets -- Yes, I know how good this album is. I know that everyone thinks it's the Metallica album. I think it's very good, but for purely subjective reasons it just doesn't rate as high as the other three. I want to like it more, but I listen to it and think about how the other three are just better. Best song: Battery

5. Load -- I actually like this album, and I like the new direction. Metallica aged, and so did I. I couldn't very well expect them to keep playing like they did on Kill 'em All my entire life. Besides, I'm no longer that angry 16 year old that really identifed with ...and Justice for All. Tighter and more polished than the Black Album. There's some really great stuff here if people would give it a chance. Best song: King Nothing

6. Black Album -- This would be the 'sellout' album for me. One year I was the strange kid listening to that heavy, hard music, and the next, everyone in my hometown is blasting this album. Plus, I was really looking for something harder and more complex. Instead, I got Metallica Lite. I don't think I listen to this more than once a year. Best Song: My Friend of Misery

7. ReLoad -- This is the 'worst' album in my mind, though it's still an album I'm not ashamed to own. I rank it low though, because it's much more inconsistent than Metallica's other albums. It's got songs that kick much ass, and a lot of songs that ... just don't. Very obvious that these are the songs that didn't make the Load cut. Best Song: Unforgiven II


After looking at this list, it amazes me how damn good Metallica really is, and how long they've been good. Even their worst album is better than most bands best album.

Master of Puppets and Ride the Lightning in a tie. The rest suck bigtime.

As of today, here are the top four results from <b>Rypro 525</b>'s poll of 12 months ago<ol><li>Master of Puppets<li>And Justice For All<li>Ride the Lightning<li>[Metallica sucks]</li></ol>By the way, <A HREF="http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=217566" target="_blank">that old thread</a> is now locked: [:eek:] we don't <i>really</i> need any more Metallica-oriented topics emerging here!

1. Master of Puppets
2. ...And Justice For All
3. Ride the Lightning
4. Metallica (The black album)
5. St. Anger
6. Kill 'Em All
7. Load
8. Reload

1. Load
2. S&M (if that counts)
3. And Justice
4. Black
5. Master of Puppets
6. Ride the Lightning
7. Kill 'em All
8. Reload

I'm getting St. Anger tomorrow, so I can't rank that yet. I liked all the Metallica albums except Reload. I don't understand the dislike towards Load though, I thought it was awesome.

My #1 favorite as well. Freakin' Whiplash man! :)

I'd like it a lot better if wasn't for that Fischer-Price sound quality. I've done better mastering that that, and I've heard more than a few bootlegs that were better quality. And, after all these years and all this money, they still can't buy the rights to Blitzkrieg and Am I Evil?

I guess I'd rank them this way:

1. Master Of Puppets
2. Ride The Lightning
3. ...And Justice For All
4. St. Anger
5. Metallica
6. Load
7. Kill 'Em All
8. Reload

I like St. Anger the more I listen to. The drum sound is not as annoying after a few spins, but it sounds a lot better on the live DVD. The lack of guitar solos doesn't hurt the album at all, in fact it works in its favor, IMO. Just a lot of brutal riffs and thrash, and for those complaining about the lyrical quality...when the hell has Metallica (or Hetfield) ever written mind-blowing lyrics?