Didn't followed all this, but I understood lots of people were really unhappy with his snare - I just was pleasantly surprised hearing M. again after deliberately having ignored this country-ballad outfit for a few years.
Fresh sound ! Nice.

Peter

I just think it's great that there are some bands out there still willing to turn left when everyone else out there is turning right. It took me a while to appreciate the album, but right now I'm thoroughly enjoying it for like you say it's freshness. (Bummer about no guitar solos though, I think Kirk could have come up with something fitting for the feel of the album)

I haven't heard the entire album yet, but having that snare sound on every song seems silly. I could see using it on certain parts, but it's so much of an "effect" that it seems inappropriate to use as the primary sound.

I'm all for being creative and experimental in recordings (especially with drums), but at a certain point I think things like that just get in the way. I'll try to pick it up sometime to give a better-educated review of the sound on the record in general. :D

Honestly. I can't enjoy the album. This is because I am a drummer and what lars ulrich did with his sound is just oppoisite what drummers have tried to accomplish as the "perfect" drumsound..

It's a joke I can't laugh about.

-leon

I also think it's time that there are some fresh sounds in music. The "ultimate" drumsound on records is also fake. Drums don't even sound like that, so why do it like that always :)

Revisiting this forum from another PC, now the picture did show up - it didn't before. Fun !

I can agree with a mix of the above, the snare is cool, fresh and imho a nice idea - but perhaps a bit too much to use it all over for a complete album. Doing it like this could however be a clear statement: "this is my new snare-sound"
and would therefore be less of an effect.

Looked at it this way, who would for instance suggest to Les Claypool of Primus that he shouldn't always sing like he does ? It's probably just a new chosen sound. Tom Waits is a better example here, he didn't sound like that from the start.

FWIW,

Peter

I have to agree that the album's sound is refreshing. And yes, I even think the snare sound is cool on some of it, but it does go "over the top" on some of the songs. I'm just glad to see there are bands left out there with the balls to buck the system. And even happier that it actually made it to the shelves without the record company putting a stop to the project. But I'm sure there are still those "old school" diehard M fans out there labeling this as just another "sell out" CD. Go figure. I just don't get those people who think a band of musician's (musicians being known for CREATIVITY) can play the same shit with the same sound for 20 years. I get bored playing the same stuff for a year. I guess that's the difference in a band that makes an album or two then dissapears and the bands that keep going, and going, and going, and going, and going, and going, and going, and going.........................

Yeah, many ppl are rusted into place and panic over change. Change is good and especially in music. I'm almost certain his snare is just a snare without the snare unit turned on and with the heads pretty tight. It sounds pretty loud when played live though. I like it.

Les Claypool is God.
Seriously, Les brought us something new and creative that was also fun and lively. Not even to mention how talented he is.
As far as "M", I made a point NOT to buy this CD. Right now I have a coworkers CD and have been listening to it trying to understand it. Lars attitude over the whole Napster thing turned me off.
Yes was a band that sounded superb in headphones. I'm not sure what they were thinking when they mixed the "M" album. It actually hurts to listen to it in phones. It's a prime example of how NOT to pan.

Everything about Lars sucks. I hate him. That snare sound is the worst f*^king thing I have heard in years. Three minutes of that over-compressed, and overly-wrung snare makes me want to Bondo my ears shut. St. Crap. Don't even get me started on the decline of James's vocal talent and his crappy lyrics. They were my favorite band growing up and now I think they should retire. Newstead was smart to leave that junk. :td: :td: :td: :td: :td: :td:

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!"