Metallica: ONE Overlooked Song On Every Album

For a split second when you popped in ReLoad for the first time, it looked like Metallica were getting back to their badass self. From the opening of Fuel, this felt like the return that most of us had been waiting for, with the whole thing kicking things into high gear. While the rest of the album didn't really deliver on that promise all the time, that's not to say that the slower moments couldn't be knockouts either.

Of all the ballad songs that Metallica have made, Low Man's Lyric occupies its own little world, with the main instrument being a hurdy gurdy playing the melody. Favoring some more acoustic guitars and clean electrics, this is James Hetfield wearing his heart on his sleeve a little bit more, telling the story of a man that's left out in the cold with nowhere to call home. Once he's accepted by his family again though, all he wants is to be right back out in the cold again.

It's not hard to see the parallels to addiction here either, especially when Hetfield sounds so rough and ragged behind the mic. There are even some sore spots in the vocal performance too, like on the second chorus when you pretty clearly hear his voice crack on the higher notes. In this case though, it feels like it builds character for the song a lot more than any clean vocal would have done.