Back in 1997, when I was barely a teenager, I listened a friend’s copy of Metallica's ReLoad, and for the first time in my life, I was taken aback by music. Sound corny? A little too dramatic? I mean, I’m talking about an album that’s been pretty much forgotten and neglected by Metallica fans and, to a large extent, by the band itself. I’ll forgive you for thinking, “Mitch, come on. ‘Taken aback’? Did you forget what you’re writing about? ReLoad. Not Revolver. ReLoad."
But it was true for me. Here's a kid who’d grown up in a pretty conventional southern household, a kid who went to church most Sunday mornings, rarely missed a day of school, and listened to whatever country was on the radio when he listened to music at all.
And then, on that day, James Hetfield's screaming straight into my ears: “Gimmie fuel, gimme fire, give me that which I desire!” and his unfiltered request is immediately followed by a fast, demonically groovy riff that caused this oh-so-sheltered little dork to drop what he was doing and pay attention.
“Fuel” didn't kindly suggest that I leave my comfort zone (which I didn't even know I was in), it took a battering ram to its door and blew out its windows.
After gathering the entire Metallica catalogue and listening to the hell out of it for the better part of twenty years, I have concluded that ReLoad is not Metallica's most technically impressive album. The material is straightforward, and stylistically, like Load, it sounds like the love child of Alice in Chains and AC/DC. Nor is ReLoad Metallica’s most important album: that honor belongs to Kill’em All, as their first. Or Ride the Lightning, for its sudden leap forward in maturity. Or Master of Puppets, for its overall brilliance. Or ….And Justice For All, for being a masterpiece no doubt heavily influenced by the loss of Cliff Burton. Or maybe the self-titled "Black Album" was the most important, since it vaulted the band into the stratosphere of the rock world. Regardless, with all those classics in their catalogue, no chance is ReLoad Metallica’s most important album.
But it is, perhaps, their most underrated. There is some extremely quality material here beyond the radio and concert staples— material like “Devil’s Dance,” “Where the Wild Things Are,” and “Fixxxer”— that simply, in my opinion, deserves to be remembered, appreciated, and played live.
While more traditional in structure and sporting more discernible “hooks,” the songs on ReLoad are no less meticulously put together than the band’s classic efforts in the eighties. The tempos are slower, but the riffs are still plenty heavy. Lars’s drumming does what drumming should do in mid-tempo, blues-influenced hard rock: it holds down the rhythm. And James Hetfield's lyrics…. After a slew of albums about the atrocities of war, the hypocrisy of the government, and the end of mankind, Hetfield decided, sometime around 1990, to start penning more songs about the conflicts within himself. But the James Hetfield on ReLoad rarely goes all-in on the “personal angst” hand; rather, he seems to remove himself one step, focussing more on the issues than himself. He addresses potential consequences of fame in “The Memory Remains,” the calling of one’s inner demons in “Devil’s Dance,” and being suppressed by a higher power— God, drugs, parents?— in “Fixxxer.” To this critic, James’s abilities as a lyricist improved as Metallica’s music became more straightforward. Did he actually get better, or did the simpler nature of the music simply inspire him to open up more? I don’t know. Whatever the case, I’m glad it happened:
“Blood for face, sweat for dirt,
Three X’s for the stone.
To break this curse a ritual’s due.
I believe I’m not alone.
Shell of shotgun, pint of gin,
Numb us up to shield the pins.
Renew our faith which way we can
To fall in love with life again.
To fall in love with life again."
I think Metallica’s “experimental” period in the mid and late nineties was actually the band’s most honest era. Some accused them of "selling out," getting a whiff of a million dollars with the "Black Album" and going all-in on rock radio. I, of course, disagree. I think the band hit their thirties and decided to not fake it. “We’re not kids anymore,” I think they said. “We’re successful adults, and we can’t keep acting like pissed off kids.”
Why force a passion that obviously wasn’t there anymore? You’ve only got one chance, after all.
As Hetfield states:
"So wash your face away with dirt.
It don’t feel good until it hurts….
So take this world and shake it.
Come squeeze and suck the day.
Come carpe diem baby."
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