The Problem With 'LOAD' and 'RELOAD', According to JAMES HETFIELD: 'I Hate That Part Of Us'

Metallica made a name for itself in the early days with fast, aggressive thrash metal. But things changed with the release of their self-titled album in 1991, known to most as the Black Album.

That record brought the band into the mainstream, thanks to more radio-friendly tracks like Enter Sandman, Sad But True, The Unforgiven, and Nothing Else Matters.

It sold millions and helped turn Metallica into a household name.

After the massive success of Black Album, the band shifted directions. When Load came out in 1996, followed by Reload in 1997, fans were hit with a very different Metallica, slower, groovier, more experimental.

The aggressive thrash that defined their ’80s sound was nowhere to be found.

Both albums had a lot of songs. Load featured 14 tracks, and Reload had 13. In a 2008 interview with Guitar World, frontman James Hetfield admitted that releasing so much material at once came with downsides.

“On the Black Album, we learned how to make our sound stronger. On Load and Reload, I learned that when you write too many songs, your focus gets watered down,” he said. “I hate that part of us. We know how to take a good song and make it great. But the real challenge is, do we have the discipline to toss out a mediocre song? Can we recognize when something just isn’t good enough?”

James said that in the band’s early days, they didn’t hesitate to scrap anything that didn’t meet their standards. Back then, they had what he called a “blind vision”, a no-nonsense mindset that anything not heavy enough didn’t belong on the album.

“In the ’90s, we tried to be more open to everything. Bob Rock, our producer, was really good at helping us explore that. But every time we did, we lost a bit of our edge. We became craftsmen instead of wrecking balls.”

The result, he explained, was a pair of albums that tried to do too much. Looking back, he would’ve rather focused on a few great songs than spread himself thin across two long records.

“I can’t split myself over 40 tracks. I’d rather have eight powerful songs than 14 that are just okay.”

Ironically, though Hetfield’s comments seemed like a lesson learned, Metallica’s later albums didn’t exactly go minimalist. St. Anger (2003) had 11 songs, Death Magnetic (2008) had 10, and both Hardwired… to Self-Destruct (2016) and 72 Seasons (2023) each packed in 12 tracks.

Maybe old habits die hard. Or maybe they just really like writing songs.

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