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It's actually surprising how much time has passed since Metallica used to be good. Looking at the infographic, they've now spend nearly 2/3 of their career in

It's actually surprising how much time has passed since Metallica used to be good. Looking at the infographic, they've now spend nearly 2/3 of their career in the "play the songs from this album on its release tour, then never again" phase. I still distinctly recall the day in 2003 when I first uttered the previously unthinkable phrase "more crappy Metallica" on hearing their new release. I actually downloaded their latest album when it so publicly got leaked on the internet. Then, with dashed hopes, deleted it an hour later. Shame.

mgkimsal 15y ago
I don't think this is unique to Metallica. I'm a big McCartney fan, and he too will play a few from the new album, a couple from mid career, but mostly "oldies" hits. There's little he can do to please everyone, so the hardcore fans realize there's just no way he's likely ever to do "Girls School" or "Morse Moose" live. :/ I think Metallica is in a similar place with the amount of history they have, and yet I'm not sure anyone would ever slap the label "oldies" on their work. :)
- untog 15y ago
  Is that such a bad thing, though? I've seen Radiohead live a few times and I'm always very sad that I never saw them in The Bends/OK Computer era- they barely ever play songs that far back any more. It's a huge deal when they play Creep, too. I'm not saying that every band should just play crowd-pleasers, of course, but it's nice to hear the stuff that made the band every now and then.
  - mgkimsal 15y ago
    No, it's not bad. It just "is". As someone else mentioned, some gigs where artists did the deep cuts, and others where they focused on "big hits" would be ideal. Macca's plumbed the depths of his Beatles stuff - only a handful of 'his' that I think he's never done live. There's loads of Wings stuff he could do live, and loads of 80s stuff that he never touches. A couple of "deep cuts" shows would be great. "Hey Jude" is great and all, but give me "Magneto and Titatnium Man" one more time :) I saw the Beach Boys (well, most of them) in 1993(?), and they were doing some 'deep cut' stuff - Vegetables(!), Wind Chimes (IIRC), etc. A couple people booed - WTF! I was the only one in the upper deck singing along with this stuff, so maybe that was an issue - there's just not enough people at a 30k seat arena who want to hear the deep tracks to make it worthwhile to do there. Smaller venues would be great though.

mgkimsal 15y ago

I don't think this is unique to Metallica. I'm a big McCartney fan, and he too will play a few from the new album, a couple from mid career, but mostly "oldies" hits. There's little he can do to please everyone, so the hardcore fans realize there's just no way he's likely ever to do "Girls School" or "Morse Moose" live. :/ I think Metallica is in a similar place with the amount of history they have, and yet I'm not sure anyone would ever slap the label "oldies" on their work. :)

untog 15y ago
Is that such a bad thing, though? I've seen Radiohead live a few times and I'm always very sad that I never saw them in The Bends/OK Computer era- they barely ever play songs that far back any more. It's a huge deal when they play Creep, too. I'm not saying that every band should just play crowd-pleasers, of course, but it's nice to hear the stuff that made the band every now and then.
- mgkimsal 15y ago
  No, it's not bad. It just "is". As someone else mentioned, some gigs where artists did the deep cuts, and others where they focused on "big hits" would be ideal. Macca's plumbed the depths of his Beatles stuff - only a handful of 'his' that I think he's never done live. There's loads of Wings stuff he could do live, and loads of 80s stuff that he never touches. A couple of "deep cuts" shows would be great. "Hey Jude" is great and all, but give me "Magneto and Titatnium Man" one more time :) I saw the Beach Boys (well, most of them) in 1993(?), and they were doing some 'deep cut' stuff - Vegetables(!), Wind Chimes (IIRC), etc. A couple people booed - WTF! I was the only one in the upper deck singing along with this stuff, so maybe that was an issue - there's just not enough people at a 30k seat arena who want to hear the deep tracks to make it worthwhile to do there. Smaller venues would be great though.