Kirk Hammett Thinks Enough Time’s Gone By That People Like ‘Load’ and ‘Reload’ Now
There are two types of Metallica fans in this world — the ones that think just the first four (maybe five if you want to include the Black Album) are all you need out of the band and others who also enjoy the more off-beat side of the band found in the late 90s/early 2000s. Remember, that was the time of short hair cuts, country ballads, and photoshoots of Lars and Kirk wearing makeup. It wasn’t exactly thrash metal madness and all that.
So it’s interesting that now, in the year of our lord 2025, that Hammett says he thinks fans that once derided the 1996 album Load and the 1997 album ReLoad have a newfound appreciation of those releases. He said as much during a recent appearance on the Rolling Stone Music Now podcast.
“You know, it’s interesting because when Load and Reload came out, there was was a lot of derision. There was a lot of backlash. There it was like, too much change. We changed our appearance. We changed our sound. We changed the way we we recorded. I was even playing different guitars and fucking tuned into E flat and listening to a lot of blues and jazz.
“So all those factors came out on Load and Reload to make what Load and Reload are. Load and Reload are so, so different from anything that came before it. It’s interesting, because like nowadays I run into fans and they love that era. They love Load and Reload. But when those albums first came out it was like ‘fuck Load, fuck Reload, fuck Metallica.’ Nowadays we play ‘Fuel’ and people go nuts.”
Now, let’s not get it twisted — “Fuel” is leagues more akin to their older stuff than say “Mama Said”, “Wasting My Hate”, or “Where The Wild Things Are”. I bet if they pulled those songs out at a concert, they wouldn’t have near the level of bombast and pyro as “Fuel” does. It’s a crowd pleaser for a reason.
That being said, I’ve always been a Load and ReLoad apologist and will die on the hill that they’re both good albums. If a band other than Metallica put them out, they’d be considered great records. They’re just cursed by the absolutely titanic shifts Metallica’s previous efforts brought to the metal world.
During the interview, Hammett said those two records weren’t too unlike Led Zeppelin’s Led Zeppelin III, which fans felt was a huge departure from their previous output.
“When I was a teenager, I listened to all the Zeppelin albums except Zeppelin III because it was more acoustic, and I just wanted the bang high energy aggressive stuff because that’s what I loved when I was a kid. But over time, I really came to embrace Zeppelin III and how wonderful it is, and now I fully understand it and its place in Zeppelin’s catalog. I think a similar thing kind of happened with Load and Reload after people got over the initial shock and the challenge. People sat down and gave an honest list and said ‘oh, you know? It’s not really that bad at the end of the day.’”
Whether or not Metallica will use this apparent fan data collected by Kirk to add more songs from those two albums remain to be seen. Metallica’s heading out on tour to continue their ‘M72 World Tour’ very soon, so maybe you can check out the list of dates below to buy your tickets and maybe see some late 90s ‘Tallica in person.
M72 World Tour
4/19 Syracuse, NY JMA Wireless Dome (w/ Pantera & Suicidal Tendencies)
4/24 Toronto, ON Rogers Centre (w/ Pantera & Suicidal Tendencies)
4/26 Toronto, ON Rogers Centre (w/ Limp Bizkit & Ice Nine Kills)
5/1 Nashville, TN Nissan Stadium (w/ Pantera & Suicidal Tendencies)
5/3 Nashville, TN Nissan Stadium (w/ Limp Bizkit & Ice Nine Kills)
5/7 Blacksburg, VA Lane Stadium (w/ Pantera & Suicidal Tendencies)
5/9 Columbus, OH Sonic Temple @ Historic Crew Stadium
5/11 Columbus, OH Sonic Temple @ Historic Crew Stadium
5/23 Philadelphia, PA Lincoln Financial Field (w/ Limp Bizkit & Ice Nine Kills)
5/25 Philadelphia, PA Lincoln Financial Field (w/ Pantera & Suicidal Tendencies)
5/28 Landover, MD Northwest Stadium (w/ Pantera & Suicidal Tendencies)
5/31 Charlotte, NC Bank of America Stadium (w/ Pantera & Suicidal Tendencies)
6/3 Atlanta, GA Mercedes-Benz Stadium (w/ Pantera & Suicidal Tendencies)
6/6 Tampa, FL Raymond James Stadium (w/ Limp Bizkit & Ice Nine Kills)
6/8 Tampa, FL Raymond James Stadium (w/ Pantera & Suicidal Tendencies)
6/14 Houston, TX NRG Stadium (w/ Pantera & Suicidal Tendencies)
6/20 Santa Clara, CA Levi’s Stadium (w/ Limp Bizkit & Ice Nine Kills)
6/22 Santa Clara, CA Levi’s Stadium (w/ Pantera & Suicidal Tendencies)
6/27 Denver, CO Empower Field at Mile High (w/ Limp Bizkit & Ice Nine Kills)
6/29 Denver, CO Empower Field at Mile High (w/ Pantera & Suicidal Tendencies)
