METALLICA, GUNS N' ROSES, AC/DC Make Rolling Stone Reader's Top Albums Of 2008 List
December 12, 2008, 15 years ago
Rolling Stone readers have chosen their Top Albums Of 2008. The hard rock/metal inclusions (with Rolling Stone commentary) are as follows:
#9: METALLICA - Death Magnetic
"It's an overdue return to the extended, episodic whiplash of 1986's Master Of Puppets and 1988's . . . And Justice For All. James Hetfield's staccato-rhythm guitar and Lars Ulrich's drum-orchestra charge are right up front in 'That Was Just Your Life', and Kirk Hammett's wah-wah leads light up the mayhem with a '68-Hendrix vengeance. Hetfield's lyrics are an unflinching examination of the big finish, particularly the terrible allure of suicide — sung with the raging vigor of a man fighting for life. "We die hard!" Hetfield crows, summing up heavy metal's resurrection of the year."#12: GUNS N' ROSES - Chinese Democracy
"Axl Rose has not lost his appetite for disorder. Democracy could never live up to every expectation, but it is audacious and unhinged: the mass of strings, choir and Mellotron in 'There Was a Time'; the Spanish guitar and blaxploitation funk of 'If the World'. It's hard rock without apology — which is enough."#41: AC/DC - Black Ice
"Angus and Malcolm Young have not strayed an inch from what they do best: brutal riffs, soccer-crowd choruses and lyrics about rattling bedposts. What sets it high above the last 20 years of average AC/DC records: Brendan O'Brien's muscular production and unexpected rhythm change-ups."View the entire list here.
