That thing about the metal chairs is funny.
I used to love listening to M when I was in high school, too. They have some great stuff on their old CDs.
I can't believe that they would have let anything- ANYTHING- get on that CD without wanting it there. They've been around for decades, recorded almost a dozen CDs (I've lost count, ok?!) and they had a solid engineering team behind it.
That snare sound was deliberate. So be it.
When they recorded the Black album, I could handle it. Wasn't as good as the old stuff, but if that's what they wanted to play, so be it. When Load and Reload came out, I couldn't stand the playing- but as long as they're doing what they want to do, that's awesome. In the end, that's all a musician really wants; to play music they enjoy. If they're happy with it, great. Doesn't mean I have to buy it or listen to it or tolerate it.
I didn't buy St Anger, either, and have no plan to. It's interesting to me that they're trying to go the garage-band route, but I just plain don't like the sound. But if they're playing the stuff they enjoy, I'm happy for them.
They certainly played enough straight-up heavy metal in their time; RideTheLightning thru JusticeForAll was pretty much balls-out the whole time. It wouldn't be a stretch to say they got tired of writing music like that.
Just like the lack of bass guitar on JusticeForAll, it was a deliberate decision to get that snare sound. If they hadn't liked it, you can bet they'd have changed it.
BTW, speaking of Justice and it's lack of bass guitar, a friend of mine who is much more brave with file-swapping tells me there is a version of that CD remixed with the bass guitar added. Where'd that come from?
Kase
http://www.minemusic.net
"to hell with the CD sales- download the MP3s and come to the shows!"