Load
Studio album by Metallica
Released	June 4, 1996
Recorded	May 1995 – February 1996 at The Plant Studios, in Sausalito, California
Genre	Heavy metal, hard rock[1]
Length	78:59
Label	Elektra
Producer	Bob Rock, James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Robert Christgau C+ link Rolling Stone link Q (7/96, p.119)
Metallica chronology
Live Shit: Binge & Purge (1993) Load (1996) ReLoad (1997)

Load is the sixth album by American heavy metal band Metallica, released in June 1996. Cover for the album Load by Metallica This is an album cover. ... A studio album is a collection of studio-recorded tracks by a recording artist. ... Metallica is a Grammy Award-winning American heavy metal/thrash metal band formed in 1981[1] and has become one of the most commercially successful musical acts of recent decades. ... is the 155th day of the year (156th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar). ... 1995 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1996 is a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... The Plant Studios in Sausalito, California, has been a professional recording studio since its opening as the Record Plant, Sausalito in October of 1972. ... Sausalito is a city in the San Francisco Bay Area situated in Marin County, California, United States. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Heavy metal redirects here. ... Hard Rock redirects here. ... In the music industry, a record label can be a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. ... Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, and today operates under Atlantic Records Group. ... In the music industry, a record producer (or music producer) has many roles, among them controlling the recording sessions, coaching and guiding the musicians, organizing and scheduling production budget and resources, and supervising the recording, mixing and mastering processes. ... For the Christian heavy metal singer, see Rob Rock. ... James Alan Hetfield (born 3 August 1963, Downey, California[1]) is the main songwriter (with drummer Lars Ulrich and sometimes guitarist Kirk Hammett), co-founder, vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the American thrash/heavy metal band Metallica. ... Lars Ulrich (born December 26, 1963) is the drummer and co-founder of Metallica. ... The All Music Guide (AMG) is a metadata database about music, owned by All Media Guide. ... Image File history File links 2. ... Robert Christgau (born April 18, 1942), is an American essayist, music journalist, and the self-declared Dean of American Rock Critics.[1] In print, his name is sometimes abbreviated as Xgau. ... This article is about the magazine. ... Image File history File links 4_stars. ... Q is a music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom, with a circulation of 140,282 and a readership of 731,000. ... Image File history File links 3_stars. ... Metallica is a Grammy Award-winning American heavy metal/thrash metal band formed in 1981[1] and has become one of the most commercially successful musical acts of recent decades. ... Live Shit: Binge & Purge (1993) is Metallicas live album containing 3 CDs and 2 VHS tapes (new version: 2 DVDs) from concerts in Mexico City, Seattle and San Diego. ... ReLoad is the seventh album by American heavy metal band Metallica, released in 1997. ... An album or record album is a collection of related audio or music tracks distributed to the public. ... Heavy metal redirects here. ... Metallica is a Grammy Award-winning American heavy metal/thrash metal band formed in 1981[1] and has become one of the most commercially successful musical acts of recent decades. ...

History

The album marked the band's return to the musical landscape, approximately five years after the release of their international smash success, Metallica. Load saw the band embrace a collective sound and identity far removed from their thrash metal roots. As on previous releases, the fourteen songs that would eventually make up the album began as rough demos created by principal songwriters James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich in Ulrich's basement recording studio, "The Dungeon." The band took over 30 demos into The Plant Studios in the spring of 1995 where they would work for approximately the next year. Once again, Metallica teamed up with famed producer Bob Rock, who had been at the helm during the recording process for Metallica. Metallica (also known as The Black Album) is the 1991 self-titled 5th studio album by the American heavy metal band Metallica. ... Thrash metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music, one of the extreme metal subgenres that is characterised by high speed riffing and aggression. ... James Alan Hetfield (born 3 August 1963, Downey, California[1]) is the main songwriter (with drummer Lars Ulrich and sometimes guitarist Kirk Hammett), co-founder, vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the American thrash/heavy metal band Metallica. ... Lars Ulrich (born December 26, 1963) is the drummer and co-founder of Metallica. ... The Plant Studios in Sausalito, California, has been a professional recording studio since its opening as the Record Plant, Sausalito in October of 1972. ... For the Christian heavy metal singer, see Rob Rock. ...

The songwriting dispenses almost entirely with the thrash metal style that characterized the band's sound in the 1980s. In place of staccato riffs, Hetfield and lead guitarist Kirk Hammett experimented with more blues based tones and styles. As the group had become friends with country star Waylon Jennings prior to the recording of Load, he is often credited as influential to the album's new sound, particularly songs like "Mama Said." Additionally, Ulrich adopted a minimalist approach to his drum recording, abandoning the speed and complex double bass patterns of previous albums. Hetfield displayed a lyrical evolution as well, writing what many feel to be his most personal and introspective lyrics. "Until it Sleeps," the album's lead single, addressed his father's losing battle with cancer, while "Mama Said" explored his relationship with his mother. All of this marked a departure from the political and social overtones of albums like ...And Justice for All and Master of Puppets. The 1980s refers to the years from 1980 to 1989, also called The Eighties. The decade saw social, economic and general upheaval as wealth, production and western culture migrated to new industrializing economies. ... In musical notation, the Italian word staccato (literally detached, plural staccatos or staccati) indicates that notes are sounded in a detached and distinctly separate manner, with silence making up the latter part of the time allocated to each note. ... Kirk Lee Hammett (born on November 18, 1962) is the lead guitarist and songwriter in the band Metallica and has been a member of the band since 1983. ... Blues-rock is a hybrid musical genre combining elements of the blues with rock and roll, with an emphasis on the electric guitar. ... Country music is a blend of popular musical forms originally found in the Southern United States and the Appalachian Mountains. ... Waylon Arnold Jennings (June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002) was a respected and influential American country music singer and musician. ... Mama Said is a Metallica song on the bands sixth album, Load. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Bass drum. ... Until it Sleeps is the 4th song from Metallicas 1996 album Load, and is written by James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich. ... Cancer is a class of diseases or disorders characterized by uncontrolled division of cells and the ability of these to spread, either by direct growth into adjacent tissue through invasion, or by implantation into distant sites by metastasis (where cancer cells are transported through the bloodstream or lymphatic system). ... ...And Justice for All is American heavy metal band Metallicas fourth studio album released August 25, 1988, by Elektra Records. ... For the title track of the album, see Master of Puppets (song). ...

The album also marked the first appearance of a new Metallica logo, rounding off the stabbing edges of the first and last letters of the band's earlier 1980s logo. The M from the original logo was used to make a shaken-like symbol known as the "ninja star" which was used as an alternate logo on this and future albums as well as other related artwork. The album featured an expansive booklet which contained many photos of the band. The booklet only contained select lyrics from each song in contrast to Metallica's previous studio albums which included complete song lyrics. Additionally, the interior artwork revolved around images of inkblots, a theme which would carry over to ReLoad and the covers for the singles released from the two albums. SHAKEN Japanese throwing blades, spikes. ... Inkblot is an eclectic performance artist who resides in Seattle, Washington. ... ReLoad is the seventh album by American heavy metal band Metallica, released in 1997. ... A collection of various CD singles In music, a single is a short recording of one or more separate tracks. ...

The cover of the album is original artwork entitled "Semen and Blood III." It is one of three photographic studies by Andres Serrano created in 1990 by mingling the artist's own semen and bovine blood between two sheets of Plexiglas.^[2] Andres Serrano Andres Serrano (born August 15, 1950) is an American photographer who has become most notorious for his controversial piece Piss Christ, a red-tinged photograph of a crucifix submerged in the artists own urine. ... This article is about the year. ... Horse semen being collected for breeding purposes. ... Tribes Bovini Boselaphini Strepsicerotini The biological subfamily Bovinae (or bovines) includes a diverse group of about 24 species of medium-sized to large ungulates, including domestic cattle, Bison, the Water Buffalo, the Yak, and the four-horned and spiral-horned antelopes. ... For other uses, see Blood (disambiguation). ... Structure of PMMA: (C5O2H8)n Structure of methyl methacrylate Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) or polymethyl-2-methylpropanoate is the synthetic polymer of methyl methacrylate. ...

This was Metallica's longest studio album, clocking in at 78:59. Initial pressings of the album were affixed with stickers that boasted its long playtime, simply reading "78:59." A studio album is a collection of studio-recorded tracks by a recording artist. ...

"The Outlaw Torn" had to be shortened by about one minute to fit on the album. The full version was released on a single for "The Memory Remains" as "The Outlaw Torn (Unencumbered by Manufacturing Restrictions Version)" with a running time of 10:48. An explanation was given on the single's back cover: The Memory Remains is a song by Metallica in their 1997 album Reload. ...

When we were doing the final sequencing of the 'LOAD' album, the record company told us that we couldn't go a second past 78.59, or your CD's wouldn't play without potentially skipping. With our 14 songs, we were running about 30 seconds over, and something had to give, so the cool-ass jam at the end of 'Outlaw' got chopped (ARRRGGGHHH!!!!). Here is the full version as it was written, recorded and meant to be.

This was also the only Metallica studio album not to have the bassist have a writing credit.

Reception

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Professional reviews: Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...

• Rolling Stone (7/11-25/96, p.85) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...with Load, the foursome dams the bombast and chugs half-speed ahead, settling into a wholly magnetizing groove that bridges old-school biker rock and the doomier side of post-grunge '90s rock."

• Entertainment Weekly (6/7/96, pp.56-57) - "...captures the band's earnest pursuit of its Sisyphean mission: to create hard rock that reaches grown-ups and basement-dwelling teens." - Rating: B

• Q magazine (7/96, p.119) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "These boys set up their tents in the darkest place of all, in the naked horror of their own heads....Metallica make existential metal and they've never needed the props....Metallica are still awesome....What is new is streamlined attack, the focus and, yes, the tunes."

• Melody Maker (6/8/96, p.49) - "A Metallica album is traditionally an exhausting event. It should rock you to exhaustion, leave you brutalised and drained. This one is no exception. It is, however, the first Metallica album to make me wonder at any point, 'What the f*** was that?' It's as if the jackboot grinding the human face were to take occasional breaks for a pedicure."

• Musician (8/96, p.85) - "...The smoother, broader sound that distinguished...1991's METALLICA is even more apparent here, as is the tendency to write accessible tunes....the exploration of new sounds does nothing but good for the guitar duo of [James] Hetfield and Kirk Hammett."

• New York Times (6/2/96, Sec.2, p.28) - "On Load, Metallica has altered its music, learning new skills. Hetfield has committed himself to melodies, carrying tunes where he used to bark, and he no longer sounds sheepish when he sings quietly."

• NME (6/1/96, p.44) - 7 (out of 10) - "...like triumphant warriors returning into a world changed beyond all recognition...Metallica emphatically prove they are still unsurpassed in their self-created genre of stadium nihilism."

When discussing Metallica in an October 2007 interview, Evile frontman Matt Drake stated; "I think Load is ace, and I absolutely love that album".^[3] This article is about the magazine. ... Entertainment Weekly (sometimes abbreviated EW) is a magazine published by Time Inc. ... Q is a music and entertainment magazinepublished monthly in the United Kingdom. ... This article is about the music newspaper. ... Musician (c. ... The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ... For other uses, see NME (disambiguation). ... Evile are an English thrash metal group from Huddersfield, England. ...

Track listing

All songs written by James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett and Lars Ulrich except where noted. James Alan Hetfield (born 3 August 1963, Downey, California[1]) is the main songwriter (with drummer Lars Ulrich and sometimes guitarist Kirk Hammett), co-founder, vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the American thrash/heavy metal band Metallica. ... Kirk Lee Hammett (born on November 18, 1962) is the lead guitarist and songwriter in the band Metallica and has been a member of the band since 1983. ... Lars Ulrich (born December 26, 1963) is the drummer and co-founder of Metallica. ...

1. "Ain't My Bitch" (Hetfield, Ulrich) – 5:04
2. "2 × 4" – 5:28
3. "The House Jack Built" – 6:39
4. "Until It Sleeps" (Hetfield, Ulrich) – 4:30
5. "King Nothing" – 5:27
6. "Hero of the Day" – 4:22
7. "Bleeding Me" – 8:18
8. "Cure" – 4:54
9. "Poor Twisted Me" (Hetfield, Ulrich) – 4:00
10. "Wasting My Hate" – 3:57
11. "Mama Said" (Hetfield, Ulrich) – 5:19
12. "Thorn Within" – 5:51
13. "Ronnie" (Hetfield, Ulrich) – 5:17
14. "The Outlaw Torn" (Hetfield, Ulrich) – 9:49

Aint My Bitch is the first song from Metallicas 1996 album Load. ... Until it Sleeps is the 4th song from Metallicas 1996 album Load, and is written by James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich. ... King Nothing is a song by Metallica in their 1996 album Load. ... Old logo, as used in Master Of Puppets, circa 1986. ... Bleeding Me is track # 7 on Metallicas 1996 album Load. ... Mama Said is a Metallica song on the bands sixth album, Load. ...

Personnel

• James Hetfield – vocals, rhythm guitar
• Lars Ulrich – drums
• Kirk Hammett – lead guitar
• Jason Newsted – bass

James Alan Hetfield (born 3 August 1963, Downey, California[1]) is the main songwriter (with drummer Lars Ulrich and sometimes guitarist Kirk Hammett), co-founder, vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the American thrash/heavy metal band Metallica. ... For other uses, see Singer (disambiguation). ... Rhythm guitar is a guitar that is primarily used to provide rhythmic and harmonic accompaniment for a singer or for other instruments in an ensemble. ... Lars Ulrich (born December 26, 1963) is the drummer and co-founder of Metallica. ... For other kinds of drums, see drum (disambiguation). ... Kirk Lee Hammett (born on November 18, 1962) is the lead guitarist and songwriter in the band Metallica and has been a member of the band since 1983. ... Lead guitar refers to a role within a band, that provides melody or melodic material, as opposed to the rhythm of the rhythm guitar, bass, and drums. ... Jason Newsted is an American bass guitarist, currently a member of Voivod and Rock Star Supernova. ... A sunburst-colored Fender Precision Bass The electric bass guitar (or electric bass[1][2]; pronounced , as in base) is a bass stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers (either by plucking, slapping, popping, or tapping) or using a pick. ...

Production

• Bob Rock, James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich – producers
• Brian Dobbs, Randy Staub – engineers
• Brian Dobbs, Jason Goldstein, Kent Matcke – assistant engineers
• Mike Rew, Randy Staub – mixing
• Curry – mixing assistant
• George Marino – mastering
• Paul DeCarli – digital editing
• Mike Gillies, Chris Vrenna – digital editing assistants
• Chris Vrenna – programming
• Andie Airfix – design
• Andres Serrano – cover design
• Anton Corbijn – photography

Anton Corbijn (pronounced ) (born May 20, 1955) is a photographer from Strijen, the Netherlands. ...

Charts

Album

The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. ...

Singles

References