Reload

Making a Metallica album is no easy feat; there are no shortcuts when it comes to capturing the band's massive sound on tape. Metallica had initially envisioned Load—its first non-thrash album—as a double CD. But when reality hit and it proved both too much for fans to process at one time and too much for the band to complete at once, Reload was made into a distinct 76-minute follow-up. Naturally, the sound here is similar to Load, where the band abandoned its thrash rhythms and excessively speedy guitar solos for a bluesier sound that was closer to traditional hard rock. “The Memory Remains” features a haunting cameo from Marianne Faithfull that underpins the creepiness. “The Unforgiven II” serves as a sequel to a track on Metallica, a.k.a. The Black Album. “Better Than You” nearly shuffles as it moves effortlessly through the verses before hitting the hard-on metallic chorus. Best of all is the haunted vibe of “Where the Wild Things Are,” where the group captures a heaviness that doesn’t rely on overstating its case.