“They all started having kids and getting married, and nothing was getting done”: Why Metallica’s Load and Reload were split into two albums
While St. Anger often takes the crown as Metallica’s most controversial record, 1996’s Load and the following year’s Reload have certainly caused a stir over the years. Not only did both records shift away from Metallica’s signature thrash in favour of hard rock and bluesy influences, but some fans have considered them to be ‘loaded’ with filler. However, the pair of records could have been even longer.
Speaking on episode 105 of The Metallica Report, producer Bob Rock explains that Metallica were utterly inspired while writing Load and Reload, overflowing with new ideas. “I think we cut 26 tracks,” he recalls. “I think we were a year into it and James Hetfield had, like, three vocals. And I’m going, ‘This is gonna take fucking five years!’ So we made the decision to split the album.”
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While the record marked a shift in tone, the pair of albums would also soundtracks huge change in the band’s personal lives. “We had to get out of town because they all just started having kids!” Rock adds. “They married and stuff, and nothing was getting done. So I said, ‘We’ve got to get out of here [to refocus]’.”
The environmental shift would only amp up the inspiration. “We picked New York, and, in New York, it kind of changed,” he explains. “They started experimenting, like Hetfield’s [version of] Lynyrd Skynyrd.”
Because of this shift in location, there’s also “quite a difference” between how Load and Reload were produced; the split also captures a change in production. “They didn’t have the consoles that we used before, the [Solid State Logic, SSL] 6,000,” he says. “All the studios that were available, they had an SSL 9,000… [Recording engineer] Randy Staub and I fucking hated it. It’s an acquired taste – but that’s what we had to finish it.”
“When I listen to Load and when I was asked to write about [the reissue of] both records, and I talked to Lars [Ulrich] about this, I said, ‘They’re completely sonically different,’” he continues. “Reload is aggressive. But some people love Load! They don’t know what I know.”
Despite the controversy around the records, the experimental records were Metallica’s way of reinventing and evolving with the times. According to Rock, drummer Ulrich played a big part in defining Load and Reload’s sound, eager to capture the feeling of the ‘70s and ‘80s.
Particularly inspired by dual guitarist rock bands like Aerosmith, The Rolling Stones, and Guns N’ Roses, Metallica would see frontman Hetfield and guitarist Kirk Hammett taking on dual rhythm roles. “Before Load, James did all the rhythms,” Rock says. “So the idea was, Kirk was gonna play rhythms along with James. That changed everything – and some people don’t like it!”
The record also saw former bassist Jason Newsted changing his approach to playing, something he had began to do during the recording of 1991’s The Black Album. “Jason wasn’t playing bass like a bass player,” Rock notes. “He was just doubling the guitar. So I taught him: ‘Dude, be a bass player!’ So there’s points where he’s not playing the guitar riff – he’s playing with the drums… So that opened the door, and it’s my fault that I opened that door to them [during The Black Album]. On Load, they embraced it.”
Despite the controversy, Rock was fully supportive of the shift in tone. “I was glad we weren’t copying The Black Album, ‘cause you can’t make The Black Album again,” he explains. “When you make albums like that, it’s everything coming together – where I was, where they were, where culture was, where music was. And so I embraced the fact that they wanted to be a little freer.”
“Load is a great record,” Rock insists. “Actually, my kids like Load better than Reload… But when you put Fuel on off of Reload, they go, ‘Oh!!’ Sonically, it’s more aggressive. It’s more like [Metallica], so to speak.”
While fans continue to debate whether Load and Reload are quality Metallica records or not, Ulrich is in the same camp as Rock. “I think Load and Reload are great records,” he told Revolver Magazine in 2013 [via Ultimate Guitar]. “They are creatively on par with every other record we’ve made.”
“Obviously, they’re bluesier records, and at that time, we were listening to a lot of Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, and AC/DC, and we had a different kind of foundation than records before or after,” he continued. “I also understand that there are people who couldn’t quite figure out what was going on with the haircuts and the rest of it, and that’s fine. But, musically, if you strip all that other stuff away, if you just listen to the 27 songs, it’s a great collection. Those records are on par with everything else that we’ve done creatively… I’m very proud of those records.”
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