AFlowerKingCrimson wrote: I need to listen to RTL again but that's probably the one I would go for. Just to be clear though is this poll about the songs or the entire albums?

haha i wanted to leave out as little info as possible for an unbiased poll, but yes the albums, not the songs (hence why I embedded Creeping Death instead of Ride the Lightning [the song]) - probably shoulda done Battery instead of Master of Puppets [the song] for further clarification.

Nevertheless, for me, MoP is the more consistent album that works better as a whole, while RtL has significantly higher highs and much better singles, but some songs, like Escape, were questionable inclusions. It really is a tough decision between the two albums, but I do like the production of RtL considerably better than MoP, as the latter is honestly a bit too polished for me, while the former hits in just the right spot and for that reason I would pick RtL. If the four best songs from this album were released as an EP, it may be the greatest release of in metal history, imo they're that good (For Whom the Bell Tolls, Fade to Black, Creeping Death, and The Call of Ktulu), and a contender for best EP of all time. Yet as cliched as it may be to state this, it really is a tough decision between the two - the question is am I looking at the songs or the album.

Justice was "Well what do we do now?"

...blahblahblah... if I had to choose just one, its got to be Master of Puppets for me. But fortunatly I can have both:)

Yeah I just got Master of Puppets on CD - the only Metallica album I still need to have all the Metallica albums I want is Ride the Lightning. Nevertheless this is the first Metallica album I purchased since I got Kill 'Em All on vinyl in 2017, thus I reorganized all my Metallica stuff (replacing, for example, all the sh*tty compressed mp3s I got like a decade ago with better sounding files) and so they've been on my mind recently.

Justice would be my absolute favorite if they didn't madly disrespect Jason with that god awful mix. Instead, rather, I can't really sit through the damned thing. Metallica are brilliant musicians, but they keep screwing up the production job... I blame Lars.

Master of Puppets. It's hard for me to pick a favorite between the first 4 Metallica albums, but Ride The Lightning is probably my least favorite, although not by much. Most songs on one have an equivalent on the other, but the MoP counterparts are usually better IMO. The production is also a lot better.

There are some fan mixes that reinstate the bass, but I honestly never found it to make a huge difference. Though the production is a weak point for sure. The bass is never really all that audible on Metallica albums, but something about the sound of the guitars and drums makes it all the more painful on Justice. Though I'm more annoyed by how the Justice bass drum sounds like a mouse click.

Cristi wrote: Their 80s album covers were great, but afterwards, they looked rather awful, really strange...

To me it makes perfect sense as...

Their 80s albums were great, but afterwards, they sound rather awful, really strange... 

(I don't really mind the Black Album though. It's a solid three star. Same goes for the cover art)

I really like their last two albums. Hetfield saves the day for me though. 

Cristi wrote: Their 80s album covers were great, but afterwards, they looked rather awful, really strange...

I don't really mind listening to it, but every recent song I've heard from Metallica just sounds like you'd ask someone to come up with a song that sounds like Metallica. I feel like every 80's metal band, after they get past their weird era in the 90's just devolve into that.

Kill Em All is the only one of the earlier (black album and earlier) albums I don't have. I don't have anything from Load or after it athough I did borrow Death Magnetic from the library once and thought it was pretty good. 

Yeah I'm not interested in Load/Reload - they as well as 72 Seasons and Hardwired are the only four Metallica albums I've never finished, nor intend to.

I have Kill 'Em All, Master of Puppets, eponymous, St. Anger, and Death Magnetic, the latter three I got in high school (what if I told you at one point St. Anger was one of my favorite albums... I was one angry teenager and man did that album serve its purpose for me lmfao I don't listen to it nearly as much as I did back then [I don't think I've listened to it in several years but idk]) - I would like to get Ride the Lightning, and I'm still thinking about AJFA (brilliant song writing, but terrible production job - thanks Lars)

yeah, maybe, still like some of those albums (Overkill, Testament, Death Angel, Exodus, Kreator have released good albums post 2000). 

I really like "When Darkness Had a Son" off the new 72 seasons - the way the riff sits in time seems like something Metallica hasn't done before. 

For me, everything post Black album is pretty hit and miss. There are some great songs in there "Fuel" as an example, but they decided to do more straight ahead rock in the 90's until the can of beans snare fiasco and by the time they came back to old man thrash, it was nostalgia band time. Which is fine. They are old men. And they do write good riffs and sometimes good songs. But the magic fire of their 80's output is long past.

The first four Metallica albums are among the best music ever. 

"Ride the Lightning" has excellent songs, like "For Whom the Bell Tolls", "Fade to Black" and the instrumental "The Call of Ktulu", but Master of Puppets is a step above with its more powerful sound like with "Master of Puppets", "Welcome Home" and the instrumental "Orion".

I call it that, too. 

I prefer this 1956 jazz-version