Load is the sixth album by American heavy metal band Metallica, released in 1996. (See 1996 in music).

For Load Metallica embraced many new styles and influences and reflected it in the songwriting for the album. The album also marked the first appearance of a new Metallica logo, rounding off the stabbing 80's edges of the band's earlier logo. The album featured an expansive booklet which contained many photos of the band.

James Hetfield's songwriting dispenses almost entirely with most of the Thrash metal style that characterized the band's sound in the 1980's. For Load he actively incorporates a more traditional bluesy feel. The songs incorporate a much greater range of mood and feel than some of their previous offerings. Many capitalize on the contrast between clean and melodic to more aggressive mid-tempo styles. Also, Hetfield's vocals mix in equal parts bluesy wailing as well as moments of softer and clean.

The cover of the album is original artwork entitled "Semen and Blood III". It is one of three photographic studies by Andres Serrano created in 1990 by mingling the artist's own semen and bovine blood between two sheets of Plexiglas.

"Ain't My Bitch" is a song written about a person who is not concerned for other people's problems. The song gained some notoriety due to its title. Kirk Hammett uses a slide for the guitar solo. The demo was named "Bitch" and was recorded on April 6, 1995.

Track listing

1. "Ain't My Bitch" (Hetfield, Ulrich) – 5:04
2. "2 X 4" (Hammett, Hetfield, Ulrich) – 5:28
3. "The House Jack Built" (Hammett, Hetfield, Ulrich) – 6:39
4. "Until It Sleeps" (Hetfield, Ulrich) – 4:30
5. "King Nothing" (Hammett, Hetfield, Ulrich) – 5:28
6. "Hero of the Day" (Hammett, Hetfield, Ulrich) – 4:22
7. "Bleeding Me" (Hammett, Hetfield, Ulrich) – 8:18
8. "Cure" (Hammett, Hetfield, Ulrich) – 4:54
9. "Poor Twisted Me" (Hetfield, Ulrich) – 4:00
10. "Wasting My Hate" (Hammett, Hetfield, Ulrich) – 3:57
11. "Mama Said" (Hetfield, Ulrich) – 5:20
12. "Thorn Within" (Hammett, Hetfield, Ulrich) – 5:52
13. "Ronnie" (Hetfield, Ulrich) – 5:17
14. "The Outlaw Torn" (Hetfield, Ulrich) – 9:49

Personnel

• Kirk Hammett - guitar
• James Hetfield - guitar, vocals
• Jason Newsted - bass
• Lars Ulrich - drums

Production

• Producers: Bob Rock, James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich
• Engineers: Brian Dobbs, Randy Staub
• Assistant engineers: Brian Dobbs, Jason Goldstein, Kent Matcke
• Mixing: Mike Rew, Randy Staub
• Mixing assistant: Curry
• Mastering: George Marino
• Digital editing: Paul DeCarli
• Digital editing assistants: Mike Gillies, Chris Vrenna
• Programming: Chris Vrenna
• Design: Andie Airfix
• Cover Design: Andres Serrano
• Photography: Anton Corbijn

Charts

Singles

External links

• Album lyrics

Metallica albums | 1996 albums | Elektra Records albums

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