72 stations surpasses predecessor Wired… to self-destruct (2016) for the title of “best original Metallica album of the last 25 years”. The praise sounds generous, but it should be read with caution. After all, it surpasses the above. Street. Anger (2003) and magnetic death (2008) was far from a demanding task: along with recharge (1997), these are the least interesting albums of originals in the band’s discography, to which the collection of covers could easily be added. garage inc. (1998) and the collaboration with Lou Reed in lulu (2011). It is agreed that Metallica’s career falls into two main periods: the pre-global black album phenomenon metallic (1991), when in those early years of genius they released masterpieces like ride the lightning (1984), Puppeteer (1986) and …And Justice for all (1988); and 30 years later black albumduring which the band lived artistically tormented between art rock (burden1996), alternative metal and (unsuccessful) attempts to modernize their thrash metal. In a sentence: Metallica have spent the last two decades looking back.
This framework is essential to understand the new Metallica album, because 72 stations born out of the musicians’ complex relationship with their past, in particular with vocalist James Hetfield. The title (in Portuguese, “72 seasons”) refers to the first 18 years of life (4 seasons per year multiplied by 18 years equals 72), with the album cover appearing symbolically filled with the contrast between luminous yellow and the black of charred objects, as if suggesting an irretrievable idea of (not always happy) youth: a broken crib, toys, an electric guitar similar to the one Kirk Hammett used in the 1980s, a pair of wired headphones, a skateboard, two stuffed animals, among others, about 30 objects. In other words, the association with the youth of the members of Metallica is not a detail, but the heart of this album. Now, if on the one hand this does not 72 stations a conceptual album in the pinkfloydian interpretation of the term (there is no continuous narration, for example), on the other hand the omnipresence of biographical elements (personal and musical) creates a common thread in the sound and lyrics of the songs that run through the (too much long) 77 minutes of the album.
[o vídeo de “72 Seasons”:]
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Source: Observadora
