Load is the sixth album by American heavy metal band Metallica, released in 1996. (See 1996 in music). For many fans, Load (as well as its 1997 companion, Reload) marked the end of Metallica. Many felt that the songs weren't in fact heavy metal songs, but instead resembled the then-popular grunge and alternative styles of rock (Metallica's decision to participate in the 1996 Lollapalooza tour--arguably the symbol of alternative rock during the 1990s--only solidified those opinions). The album also marked the first appearance of a new Metallica logo, notably rounding off the stabbing edges of the band's earlier logo. All members of the band had also cut their heavy metal long hair prior to the release of the album, a gesture which seemed to confirm Metallica's separation from the metal tradition for many fans. Adding to this was a series of "Calvin Klein" style photographs in the album's booklet, showing the band swilling brandy and smoking cigars while fashionably dressed, all in a dramatic departure from their usual "street" image.
It's fairly easy to hear what disappointed those fans who had hoped for some return to the style of songs written before The Black Album of 1991. Indeed, if anything the music on Load moves further away from that imagined ideal. Hetfield's riffs dispense almost entirely with most of the sonic markers that characterized Metallica's sound in the 1980s and he actively incorporated a more "bluesy" feel to many of the riffs and vocal delivery. While some critics and historians have argued that heavy metal has always been based on some version of the blues, Metallica and other thrash acts in the 1980s wrote music that made such claims difficult to defend. On Load, however, Hetfield's foregrouning of such "bluesy" components such as pentatonicism and double-stopped bends, and the absence of things such as phyrigian or locrian modalities signaled that this was music of a more "experimental" nature. Vocally, Hetfield now usually sang in a "clean" timbre, without distortion, and freely exclaimed, shouted, as well as let his voice "break" for effect. Overall, whatever power had been invested by fans in the image of Hetfield-as-powerful-growler had thoroughly disappeared.
Track listing
- "Ain't My Bitch" (Hetfield, Ulrich) - 5:04
- "2 X 4" (Hammett, Hetfield, Ulrich) - 5:28
- "The House Jack Built" (Hammett, Hetfield, Ulrich) - 6:39
- "Until It Sleeps" (Hetfield, Ulrich) - 4:30
- "King Nothing" (Hammett, Hetfield, Ulrich) - 5:28
- "Hero of the Day" (Hammett, Hetfield, Ulrich) - 4:22
- "Bleeding Me" (Hammett, Hetfield, Ulrich) - 8:18
- "Cure" (Hammett, Hetfield, Ulrich) - 4:54
- "Poor Twisted Me" (Hetfield, Ulrich) - 4:00
- "Wasting My Hate" (Hammett, Hetfield, Ulrich) - 3:57
- "Mama Said" (Hetfield, Ulrich) - 5:19
- "Thorn Within" (Hammett, Hetfield, Ulrich) - 5:51
- "Ronnie" (Hetfield, Ulrich) - 5:17
- "The Outlaw Torn" (Hetfield, Ulrich) - 9:52
Personnel
Production
- Producers: Bob Rock, James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich
- Engineers: Brian Dobbs, Randy Staub
- Assistant engineers: Brian Dobbs, Jason Goldstein, Kent Matcke
- Mixing: Mike Rew, Randy Staub
- Mixing assistant: Curry
- Mastering: George Marino
- Digital editing: Paul DeCarli
- Digital editing assistants: Mike Gillies, Chris Vrenna
- Programming: Chris Vrenna
- Design: Andie Airfix
- Cover Design: Andres Serrano
- Photography: Anton Corbijn
Charts
Album
| Year
| Chart
| Position
|
| 1996
| The Billboard 200
| 1
|
Singles
| Year
| Single
| Chart
| Position
|
| 1996
| "Ain't My Bitch"
| Mainstream Rock Tracks
| 15
|
| 1996
| "Hero of the Day"
| Mainstream Rock Tracks
| 1
|
| 1996
| "Hero of the Day"
| The Billboard Hot 100
| 60
|
| 1996
| "Until It Sleeps"
| Mainstream Rock Tracks
| 1
|
| 1996
| "Until It Sleeps"
| Modern Rock Tracks
| 27
|
| 1996
| "Until It Sleeps"
| The Billboard Hot 100
| 10
|
| 1997
| "Ain't My Bitch"
| Mainstream Rock Tracks
| 40
|
| 1997
| "Bleeding Me"
| Mainstream Rock Tracks
| 6
|
| 1997
| "Hero of the Day"
| Canadian Singles Chart
| 17
|
| 1997
| "King Nothing"
| Canadian Singles Chart
| 14
|
| 1997
| "King Nothing"
| Mainstream Rock Tracks
| 6
|
| 1997
| "King Nothing"
| The Billboard Hot 100
| 90
|
