Originally Posted by Unknown Soldier

I can partly see the logic of your debate but there are one or two issues here. Do you really believe that the melodic death sound of In Flames wouldn`t work live? I think it was just more of a case of the band trying to put out a more commercially accessible sound and nothing more. Also, its no secret that the songs on AJA were too long (part of its charm really) but longs songs are seen as being less accessible to the music buying public than shorter ones and I think that has more to do with it than anything else. The long song was the in-thing in the 70`s especially by the prog brigade, but by the late 70`s onwards shorter songs in general have been the trend, especially if you want to appeal to the public.

Personally, I think Metallica just sold out for the Black Album, I`ve nothing against commercialism in a group but its pretty obvious that the plan of Hetfield and Ulrich was world domination and they only way to do that was to sell as many albums as they could and sell out as many shows as they could and The Black Album was the perfect solution.

Originally Posted by The Virgin

what? i don't understand you. farming is for vegetables, not for meat. if ou disagree with a farming practice, you disagree on a vegetable. unless you have a different definition of farming.

Originally Posted by Il Duce

i don't see any much complexity in In Flames' earlier melodic death sound - maybe the vocals are harsher and harder to carry off live but that's about it

but i'm speaking as one who likes IF's commercial sound so i'm the worst person to ask about them - my fave IF album is Reroute to Remain - the only IF I don't have is the debut and Whoracle

i think Metallica just got fed-up of having rabid metal fanboys and wanted a more diverse audience - add to that long complex songs are pretty exhausting to play live

Originally Posted by Unknown Soldier

If you listen to the brilliance of "Whoracle" their best album, you`ll see why I don`t like their more recent stuff.

Metallica basically followed a 3 step formula for world domination which worked:

Step 1: Dominate the thrash market which they did with "Kill Em All" and "Ride the Lightning"

Step 2: Dominate the metal market which they did with "Master of Puppets" and "AJA"

Step 3: Consolidate world domination which they did with "The Black Album" and its subsequent tour putting them in the same league as a band like U2. Once you reach this level you`re big for the rest of your career.

After this they could put out anything good or bad and it didn`t matter as they had reached the big league. It was a simple formula which worked, I doubt if Dave Mustaine had stayed with the band it would`ve worked though

Originally Posted by The Virgin

what? i don't understand you. farming is for vegetables, not for meat. if ou disagree with a farming practice, you disagree on a vegetable. unless you have a different definition of farming.

Originally Posted by Il Duce

well, as long as they don't let him sing

Originally Posted by Unknown Soldier

If you listen to the brilliance of "Whoracle" their best album, you`ll see why I don`t like their more recent stuff.

Metallica basically followed a 3 step formula for world domination which worked:

Step 1: Dominate the thrash market which they did with "Kill Em All" and "Ride the Lightning"

Step 2: Dominate the metal market which they did with "Master of Puppets" and "AJA"

Step 3: Consolidate world domination which they did with "The Black Album" and its subsequent tour putting them in the same league as a band like U2. Once you reach this level you`re big for the rest of your career.

After this they could put out anything good or bad and it didn`t matter as they had reached the big league. It was a simple formula which worked, I doubt if Dave Mustaine had stayed with the band it would`ve worked though

Originally Posted by Il Duce

i don't see any much complexity in In Flames' earlier melodic death sound - maybe the vocals are harsher and harder to carry off live but that's about it

but i'm speaking as one who likes IF's commercial sound so i'm the worst person to ask about them - my fave IF album is Reroute to Remain - the only IF I don't have is the debut and Whoracle

i think Metallica just got fed-up of having rabid metal fanboys and wanted a more diverse audience - add to that long complex songs are pretty exhausting to play live