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Released: May 20, 1996


Rating: 3.390 (average of 15 ratings)


Genre: hard rock


Quotable: --


Album Tracks:

  1. Ain’t My Bitch
  2. 2 x 4
  3. The House Jack Built
  4. Until It Sleeps
  5. King Nothing
  6. Hero of the Day
  7. Bleeding Me
  8. Cure
  9. Poor Twisted Me
  10. Wasting My Hate
  11. Mama Said
  12. Thorn Within
  13. Ronnie
  14. The Outlaw Torn


Sales:

sales in U.S. only 5 million
sales in U.K. only - estimated 100,000
sales in all of Europe as determined by IFPI – click here to go to their site. 2 million
sales worldwide - estimated 10 million


Peak:

peak on U.S. Billboard album chart 1 4
peak on U.K. album chart 1 1


Singles/Hit Songs:

  • Until It Sleeps (6/1/96) #10 US, #5 UK, #1 AR, #27 MR. Sales: ½ million
  • Ain’t My Bitch (7/6/96) #15 AR
  • Hero of the Day (9/21/96) #60 US, #17 UK, #1 AR
  • Mama Said (12/7/96) #19 UK
  • King Nothing (1/18/97) #90 US, #6 AR
  • Bleeding Me (6/14/97) #6 AR


Notes: --


Awards:

Rated one of the top 1000 albums of all time by Dave’s Music Database. Click to learn more.


Load
Metallica
Review:
“Delivered five years after their eponymous ‘black’ album in 1991, Load captures Metallica settling into an uneasy period of maturation. Under the guidance of producer Bob Rock, Metallica have streamlined their sound, cutting away most of the twisting, unpredictable time signatures and the mind-numbingly fast riffs. What’s left is polished – and disappointingly straightforward – heavy metal. Metallica’s attempts at expanding their sonic palette have made them seem more conventional than they ever have before. They add in Southern boogie rock, country-rock, and power ballads to their bag of tricks, which make them sound like ‘70s arena rock holdovers. Metallica’s idea of opening up their sound is to concentrate on relentless mid-tempo boogie – over half the album is dedicated to songs that are meant to groove, but they simply don’t swing. Metallica sound tight, but with the material they’ve written, they should sound loose” (Erlewine).

“That becomes apparent as the songs drag out over the album’s nearly 80-minute running time – there are only so many times that a band can work the same tempo exactly the same way before it becomes tedious. It isn’t surprising to hear Metallica get stodgier and more conservative as they get older, but it is nonetheless depressing” (Erlewine).


Review Source(s):


Related DMDB Link(s):

previous album: Metallica (1991) next album: Reload (1997)


Last updated October 14, 2009.