Reload was recorded at The Plant, a wood-panelled studio in Sausalito, California. The session was produced by Bob Rock, who also produced Metallica's previous two albums. The album artwork displays a photo by Andres Serrano, titled "Piss and Blood XXVI". The original idea was to release Load and Reload as a double album. However, with problems recording so many songs at one time, the band decided that half of the songs were to be released and the band would continue to work on the remaining songs and release them the following year. Speaking about the recording sessions in an interview for Guitar World, guitarist Kirk Hammett stated that "We were gonna do them both as a double album, but we didn't want to spend that long in the studio. Also, if we did a double album, it would have been a lot more material for people to digest, and some of it might have gotten lost in the shuffle." It was the final Metallica studio album to feature bassist Jason Newsted, though it was not his last release with the band. This was the second album to feature most songs in E♭ tuning, with "Bad Seed" being played in D♭ tuning and "Devil's Dance" in D tuning. D tuning was earlier used for "The Thing That Should Not Be" on Master of Puppets, "Sad but True" on Metallica and later used for "Sabbra Cadabra", and "Whiskey in the Jar" from Garage Inc. Six songs from the album have been played live, including "Fuel", "The Memory Remains", "Devil's Dance", "The Unforgiven II", "Carpe Diem Baby", and "Low Man's Lyric". There were occasional jam sessions of songs such as "Better Than You", "Bad Seed", and "Fixxxer". "Carpe Diem Baby" premiered at Metallica's 30th anniversary concert in 2011. Songs that have not been played live in their entirety are "Better than You", "Slither", "Bad Seed", "Where the Wild Things Are", "Prince Charming", "Attitude", and "Fixxxer".
Reception
's Stephen Thomas Erlewine thought the record was worthwhile and noted it was heavily influenced by Southern rock. He did not approve the idea of doing the sequel "The Unforgiven II", but praised the collaboration with Marianne Faithfull on "The Memory Remains". Dan Snierson from Entertainment Weekly said Reload "continues Metallica's journey into stripped-down maturity while toying with fresh melodic textures" and "also forsakes some of the punchy hooks and gut-clenching heft that elevated recent Metallica CDs". Rolling Stone's Lorraine Ali opined the album was rooted in heavy metal despite some songs being influenced by "bluesy rock & roll". She said Reload was not Metallica's best, but named it a steppingstone in Metallica's legacy. On the other hand, Musician described the album as "greasy, driving, full of fat grooves, lyric and rhythmic hooks, and sonic curveballs". The magazine felt it "captures one of rock's greatest bands at its peak". Canadian journalist Martin Popoff lamented the "dull, unfinished, unrealized" songwriting in many songs, but praised the production and groove of the album. British author Paul Stenning said Metallica were "at their best on the likes of opener "Fuel", the inspired follow up to an old favourite in "The Unforgiven II" and the closing "Fixxxer" which had a fantastic lead riff." Reload sold 436,000 units in first week and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. The album remained on the chart for 75 weeks, and sold just over four million copies in the United States by December 2009. It was certified 3× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipping three million copies in the United States. Reload peaked at number two on the Canadian Albums Chart, and was certified double platinum by Music Canada.
Track listing
Personnel
Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes. Metallica
