Metallica’s ’72 Seasons’ – A Brief Review
I’m going to make it a habit to do album reviews well after they’ve been released. The simple reason being I’m far too knee-jerk reactionary when initially hearing a new release. So that brings us to Metallica’s 11th studio album, 72 Seasons. The title is a reference to the first 18 years of someone’s life that, as lead singer James Hetfield stated, “form our true or false selves.”
The first question you may have is, is this better than the band’s previous release, Hardwired to Self Destruct? Yes, but not by leaps and bounds. The 12-track album doesn’t have any bad songs on it. There’s certainly nothing that comes across as cringe-worthy. There is, however, an overall project that just feels very average. Sure, nothing is bad, but nothing jumps off the page either.
Lux AEterna is arguably the best song off the project, with other notables including Screaming Suicide and Shadows Follow. That being said, the songs on 72 Seasons are not necessarily tunes you’ll find yourself humming or singing. Typically when a band reaches an album count beyond six or so, the zest and zeal isn’t what it used to be. You can’t fault 72 Seasons for not being And Justice For All. Those days are gone, but there was hope for something slightly more musically memorable here.
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