Dec. 23, 2011 - Issue #845: Headstones
Beyond Magnetic
Metallica {recordings_bands_mg} Beyond Magnetic {/recordings_bands_mg}
Warner Bros, 2011
3
For the band's 30th anniversary celebration—a series of intimate shows for fan-club members—Metallica dusted off four tracks that didn't make Death Magnetic. After their live debuts, the quartet offered up the original rough mixes from the Death Magnetic sessions. It's not difficult to see why these didn't make the final record: they're not bad, but they do tread similar territory to the songs that did make the cut. Still, while the four tracks don't revolutionize the sound of today's Metallica, they work as an EP, and they paint a picture of a band that's not quite as uptight as it may have once been (you know, like during that whole Napster era), willing to let its fans in on the larger picture. There are some clunky bits here and there, but those are punctuated with other parts that are excellent—the chorus on "Rebel of Babylon" is infectious in just the right way—and there are even moments where the band lays down a heavy enough crunch to make up for that whole Lulu debacle.
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