Metallica METALLICA (The Black Album) [DVD-A]

[JonUrban]

Please post your comments, thoughts and observations....... :thumbsdow

[Cai Campbell]

Holy crap! The power and the majesty... an incredible surround-sound experience. Another example of the perfect marriage between music and surround mix. A head-banging 10!

[winopener]

Holy crap! The power and the majesty... an incredible surround-sound experience. Another example of the perfect marriage between music and surround mix. A head-banging 10!

101% agree with you, Cai.

[mdphunk]

Funny...just listened to this disc yesterday for the first time in a few months. While I love the original album, I think this disc left much to be desired, so I went with at "5" on this one.

Two things I go for on DVD-A are sound quality and surround mix. The sound quality is ok, but way too compressed for my taste. The only things that sound much better than on the CD are the voices (especially the child's voice on Enter Sandman) and the orchestra on Nothing Else Matters.

Additionally, the surround mix suffers greatly. For the most part, it's all up front with a lot of ambiance (especially drums) in the rears...then, suddenly, a guitar circles around the room. I like a mix with a lot of consistant action in 360 degrees, so this mix didn't really work for me.

[MIDIQ]

I didn't vote on this one. I had the DVD-A of it, but i really am not a fan of the band to start, so i didn't like the DVD-A. I think i might have liked it if the surround mix had been better, but as i remember, it wasn't a very good surround mix. I gave this one to a friend of mine and he loves it though.

[Cai Campbell]

Yow... the surround mix is awesome! It is very aggressive (but not overly so, and only when the music calls for it - the rest of the time it is just plain immersive) and the sound quality is top notch. Funny how different folks have entirely different perceptions of the same title.

[Guy Robinson]

Funny...just listened to this disc yesterday for the first time in a few months. While I love the original album, I think this disc left much to be desired, so I went with at "5" on this one.

Two things I go for on DVD-A are sound quality and surround mix. The sound quality is ok, but way too compressed for my taste. The only things that sound much better than on the CD are the voices (especially the child's voice on Enter Sandman) and the orchestra on Nothing Else Matters.

Additionally, the surround mix suffers greatly. For the most part, it's all up front with a lot of ambiance (especially drums) in the rears...then, suddenly, a guitar circles around the room. I like a mix with a lot of consistant action in 360 degrees, so this mix didn't really work for me.

I agree on both counts. I think I have played it 3 times. I like Metallica but the sonics amd mix on this one sucks.

[blackbirdr]

This album is the best mix of title and format since Rumors. Must listen to loud!!!!

[Ed Bishop]

Pretty nasty, heavy, deep, powerful sound...if you love this sort of thing! I don't but gotta admit, this one is impressive....but due to the music style itself, not the subtle little things that one tends to embrace with 5.1. Still, glad I have it, wakes up the cat when I play it loud, which of course is the only way to go....

ED

[mcherdering]

Gave it an 8. I’m not a Metallica fan, this is my first purchase. Got it after hearing Enter Sandman on the radio and thought it would sound good in surround. And it does! Half of the songs don’t seem to have as much of a surround mix, but the power of the music makes up for it. Wherever I May Roam has excellent bass, though not much surround, as does My Friend Of Misery, which exhibits great use of bass-as-rhythm-guitar. I think Metallica made better use of the bass channel in the DVD Audio format than the surround channels, but it is an impressive effort, none the less.

Having heard this, it makes me crave my favorite hard rock in 5.1. If only Warner Bros. would kick loose some early Van Halen …

Mike

[analogdemon]

If this disc doesn't make you grin ear to ear, there's something wrong. A 9!

[Ed Bishop]

It certainly does fill up the house with noise... But I can also understand why this was an unusual choice for a 5.1 title, since this sort of thing is mainly bought by a younger crowd not likely to be concerned about anything other than having the album. Us older farts into 5.1 audio aren't a likely audience for Metallica, but I bought it anyway, just out of curiosity(I had the vinyl edition already, just for the hell of it). Not likely to be replayed often, but certainly wakes ya up!

ED

[Demolition Man]

Certainly a fun energetic 5.1 mix. My favorite track to demo with this disc is "Nothing Else Matters." The orchestra really is more noticeable in the rears compared to the stereo mix which is kinda there. Yeah you can hear it but it just doesn't move me the way it does on the 5.1 mix.

7/10 from me.

[Frantic]

Here is my humble opinion.

I loved the Black Album from start to finish when it came out years ago. My hope was to have a re-birth of the music and a new experience.
While there are some good moments and surprises in the surround mix, they are far and few between. The sound remains good but I do not think that the music really lends itself to the nuances of the surround experience.

I gave it an eight as I do love the music!

[cupboy]

Certainly a fun energetic 5.1 mix. My favorite track to demo with this disc is "Nothing Else Matters."

Yea, I like that song. This dvd-audio disk has apparently been re-issued and is in the new style super jewel case with the fatter hinge. Picked it up at Best Buy a few days ago for $14.99.

Fleetwood Mac Rumours also got re-released. Maybe there's some others but these are the two that store just got in.

[Foxman]

I thought I voted on this already. Oh well, this was my first Metalica disk period, so it was hard for me to appreciate how this was compared to the regular 2ch. cd. A good friend and die hard metallica fan came over and I played this disk for him....his first experiance with surround music as well, anyway he loved it. He pointed out things about the surround version that were subtle differances that I hadnt noticed...anyway it is fantastic. 9/10

[Dylan Berichon]

I would have preferred "Master Of Puppets" in surround, but I enjoy this one quite a lot.

The mix is outstanding, in my opinion.

If you are a fan of the album, this is worth tracking down.

I give it a solid 8.

[Nachosgrande]

I'm a huge Metallica fan, but I am disappointed in the surround mix. Guitars spinning around the room detract from the songs. I prefer the cd version.

[The_Nephilim]

I voted a 8 as I do not like some of the Songs on this Album. I would of liked to seen Master of Puppets myself. But it is Great to have a Metal HiREZ !!

[cupboy]

I'm a huge Metallica fan, but I am disappointed in the surround mix. Guitars spinning around the room detract from the songs. I prefer the cd version.

If you prefer a 2 channel mix, what's wrong with the 2 channel dvd-audio ?

[YmSeb]

If you prefer a 2 channel mix, what's wrong with the 2 channel dvd-audio ?

You're damn right. The stereo mix in advanced resolution on this DVD-A is just jaw-dropping.

[lolbroek]

It certainly does fill up the house with noise... But I can also understand why this was an unusual choice for a 5.1 title, since this sort of thing is mainly bought by a younger crowd not likely to be concerned about anything other than having the album. Us older farts into 5.1 audio aren't a likely audience for Metallica, but I bought it anyway, just out of curiosity(I had the vinyl edition already, just for the hell of it). Not likely to be replayed often, but certainly wakes ya up!

ED

Hello all, new guy here!

And to reply to your post: I'm probably one of the only young people (at least that I know of, not on the internet) that is VERY interested in hi-rez/surround sound for music. So I was one of the people who bought this one

Gave it 9/10. The surround may not be that active but the music doesn't call for it either IMO. What it does call for is FAT sound and that it delivers in spades IMO.

[Nachosgrande]

You're damn right. The stereo mix in advanced resolution on this DVD-A is just jaw-dropping.

Good point! I was very disappointed in the 5.1 mix, I will replay in 2.0 tonight and compare to redbook CD (which has a great mix imho)

[BananaSlug]

I picked this up the other day, not quite ready to vote though. Is anybody else annoyed by the clanging hi-hat? It's about all I notice for the first few tracks. Could be that I just got that noise stuck in my head and on next listen I won't notice it so much. Free time for listening is a bit limited for me at the moment, so it might be some time before I get back for second thoughts.

Otherwise I like the mix a lot. However, the sound quality is only average, especially for such a recent album.

[lolbroek]

the sound quality is only average, especially for such a recent album.

Are you serious? I think the sound quality is great. Listen to the snare in Sad But True for instance. You can hear the air moving.