There is no doubt that our band of music nerds is indebted to Metallica and their first four records. Those dudes’ style changed lives and inspired so many kids to get their own bands going. It should be of little surprise when you see that our founding member took the stage-name Cliff Cobain. Certainly one of the raddest dudes to ever rock was Metallica’s bassist Cliff Burton. Unfortunately, Metallica has not rocked with the same sensibilities since his passing and with the release of this most recent track, it doesn’t appear that they will again any time soon. Their most recent release of the single Hardwired is a flop and shows that the rock giants aren’t the committed and pioneering Metallica we had come to admire.
The opening riff presents the track’s first problem. It’s was written before by Slayer. The galloping staccato guitar pattern may have been transposed a whole step higher but it is certainly Raining Blood. Drummer Lars Ulrich changes it up ever-so-slightly by following the riff with his snare pattern but the tempos and rhythms of the two lines are essentially identical. Some may argue that the galloping riff is what gave Metallica and other metal bands their distinctive sound and remind us of its use in Battery, the Dyers Eve’s interlude, or even the Small Hours rhythm part in the guitar solo. The riff as Slayer presented it was simply iconic. No one band necessarily owns a guitar riff but the similarity hits too close to home and is one we can’t excuse.
Other sections of the song earmark Metallica’s good ol’ days from Kill ‘Em All. They return to 1983’s Metal Militia for Hardwired’s rhythm guitar parts at the solo. The lick at 2:02 is found in Whiplash. It’s hard to imagine how the similarities would have gotten past the professionals in Metallica’s organization unnoticed. Hurts to Laugh and many other music scrubs scrutinized these early licks note-for-note in their bedrooms and fans are intimately familiar with the revered canon of guitar and drum parts. The recent inclusion of these older musical ideas must not have been by accident but rather, calculated and seductive invitations for old-school fans to follow them anew.
The sound of the record, while not as immediately obvious is vaguely familiar. It’s dry. Unlike more recent King Nothing, there are few swirling effects and little reverb. The lack of effects or warmth was a common complaint about Metallica’s fourth and last great record …And Justice For All. To some, the studio trickery had gotten the better of them as they manipulated their sound to the point of essentially omitting their new bassist Jason Newstead. But Justice’s sound was a forgivable artistic risk that centered on James Hetfield’s guitars and Lars Ulrich’s drums. Hardwired attempts the same directness and minimalism and to its credit, boasts a balanced mix with the clearer bass and fewer guitar overdubs. It is unfortunate that other production aspects of Hardwired keep us from the raw emotional intensity of even a stifled Justice.
Lars’ drum tracks help tell the story of a band that’s blowing it. The timbre of the drums themselves on Hardwired is impressive. The kick-drum packs an unforgiving punch. The crispness of the snare is a welcome improvement from the thin ringing of St. Anger.’s snare sound. These drums sound like drums and coupled with the lack of reverb or echoing room mics, bear close resemblance to those of Justice. But Lars’ most recent performance is exceedingly accurate. Any fan would know from watching their dismal Some Kind of Monster documentary that the band cobbles together multiple performances on music editing software to create a final product. The absence of error on Hardwired is unbearable. Compare the sound and double bass-drum precision from Hardwired Justice’s Dyers Eve. In 1987 the band most likely ‘punched in’ spliced recordings to fix specific errors on Justice but modern recordings can be manipulated to make entire sections or a whole piece of music technically perfect. A ‘perfect’ part does not a rad song make. Apart from the misguided technicality of the recording and the fact that Lars now refuses to use a proper ride cymbal, creative issues keep Metallica from its former greatness.
James Hetfield is not the man he used to be. Getting sober, married, and becoming a father are milestones and achievements to be celebrated. Our own friends and band members have struggled with addictions, divorces, and failed careers and we know that dying for real is the ultimate sad song. The question for us may come down to limits. We can’t drink too much. We can’t work too much. We can’t travel too much. People have to put boundaries on what they can spare for their life and art and James may not have set limits for the line of work he created for himself.
It would be an oversimplification to suggest like many dickheads have in the past that his early performances were better because he was drunk or high. There’s actually no way for any of us to say if he is or was under the influence when he sang either song. What’s more, even a sober person can have feelings of rage against the injustice of the world and channel those feelings into successful music. Compare the mid-career delivery from title track …And Justice for All to what he’s got going on now. Both of these songs have similar themes of injustice; the former describes injustice towards defendants in the courts and the latter to the environment and the culture at large. If we take drugs out of the equation for our comparison, something more sinister must account for the difference in his performance after all these years. Both performances might have the requisite pitch, diction, and timing but there is a reason Hardwire fails and sounds hollow. You can’t hear James’ contempt for an unfair reality that we’re “hardwired for self destruction” because it’s not there. The opposite is true. The dudes are set for life.
The main hook “We’re so fucked. Shit out of luck,” is a grubby Cheetos-crusted 13 year-old’s insight coming from the most successful and storied musicians of our time. These guys are not reaching back to their roots but pandering to the lowest common denominator. What in the name of Ktulu are they thinking? Metallica was a counter-culture icon featured in Zorlac skateboard ads for Thrasher Magazine. They made an amazing living and traveled the world as a game-changing group that was twenty years ahead of the mainstream. They went from making one the greatest videos on MTV to writing lazy-ass lyrics that don’t even really rhyme.
For the record, Rob Trujillo is kinda cool but pretty dorky. He should join Tony Trujillo and Trixie in their band Bad Shit. Lead guitarist Kirk Hammett may be the only cool one left. He still looks like Tommy Guerrero and in all fairness, his solo for Hardwired straight rips. If anyone can arrange it, Hurts to Laugh will be more than happy to meet them all for a battle of the bands at The Basement in Nashville.