Try telling a waning fan to stop listening to them. It's a strange request, but given the fanbase's penchant for dividing itself further and further into album-specific clubs, the thing that brings them all back together is that insatiable curiosity to check out whatever latest track is doing the rounds, or any filmed performance that's getting talked about, regardless of how much hollering has been done by the naysayers to convince anyone they're giving up. For as many people who claim to be utterly disenfranchised with the latter-day output, they must surely sit in isolation with the first four albums on repeat, occasionally peering out the window to observe dusk turning to dawn as they decide whether or not Escape is 'too mainstream' or not, yet regardless they're still bound by some strange inbuilt primal NEED to keep up with the band. Although this type of belly-flopping fan stereotype would be the subject of the opening scene from last year's movie Through the Never, these guys are the band's lifeblood, and it's through pleasing them with the likes of the 30th Anniversary shows or playing tracks such as Damage Inc. or The Four Horsemen that they can continue to tick all boxes.
13. We're Okay With Not Having Another Master Of Puppets
Mainly because the band can't kick one out any more, but it's not a bad thing whatsoever. Those early albums were powered by a vodka-soaked drive that just doesn't exist any more. Not to mention the passing of bassist Cliff Burton and the fact that he almost single-handedly made the likes of Orion what it was, the mindset of all four members of the group just isn't that tenacious any more. Death Magnetic was a roaring return to form (if form is aping the older material), and subsequent bonus-track release Beyond Magnetic featured some great cuts that sat nicely between the band's earlier thrash work and their post-Black Album mid-tempo grooves, leading to just last month the reveal of Lords of Summer - a gloriously heavy riff-anchored piece of long-awaited perfection, continuing more in a vein reminiscent of the older work, yet without doing away with the crunchier guitar tones of the 90's. Put the early albums to bed, and get on board with the new direction - if the new tour videos are anything to go by we're going to have a perfect mix of the two sides of Metallica soon enough.
