Wall St. Journal article

I have the new Metallica CD.

I think it is a better recording than St. Anger both sonically and content wise. It is definitely not an audiophile recording, but it does sound pretty good in the car and through my Grado SR60 headphones. I'm in the process of changing speakers and did not listen to this disc on the home system yet. Yes, there are no subtle cymbals, no surprising nuances for audiophiles. The drums occasionally sound like tin cans. But it is enjoyable for what it is and definitely a "listenable" recording.

Maxnewid, do you have the disc at home? Have you heard it?

Maxnewid

I wish I could hear the disc at home but I do not have speakers at the moment.

I was listening to this on my iPod at work today through my Grado SR60 headphones. it sounded OK for the most part, but since this post, I started paying attention to the sonics of this disc. Anyway, on "Judas Kiss", I noticed the bass was very distorted, kick drums were too. It almost was too loud that I had to turn it down. I looked at the EQ setting on the iPod and confirmed it was set to "off". I couldn't believe it! I listened again and same thing. I guess I did not notice this before when listening to it in the car. Through the Grados though, it was apparent. Not on all songs but on some of them you do hear this distortion. it almost sounds like the iPod was overdriving the 'phones. but it is not. I know it for a fact.

I have been a Metallica fan for more than 20 years now. They never produced an "audiophile" recording. And that is OK. They do not cater to this crowd. St. Anger really was a mess music and sound wise. This album is better.

The only Metallica song that sounded real good tghrough my system and the one that actually had some audiophile attributes(sound stage, imaging, detail) was the "Outlaw Thorn" from the "Load" cd. I really can't name any other Metallica song that would qualify for a high-end system playback. I still enjoy Metallica for what it is. but mostly in the car or through the iPod.