Editing Load (album) (section)

==Background==
''Load'', released approximately five years after the commercially successful album ''[[Metallica (album)|Metallica]]'', saw the band shifting toward [[hard rock]] and further away from their [[thrash metal]] roots. As on previous releases, the album's fourteen songs began as rough demos created by principal songwriters [[James Hetfield]] and [[Lars Ulrich]] in Ulrich's basement recording studio, "The Dungeon". In early 1995, the band took over thirty demos into [[The Plant Studios]], where they would work for approximately one year. Metallica worked with producer [[Bob Rock]], who had been at the helm during the recording process for ''Metallica''.

The songwriting dispensed almost entirely with the thrash metal style that characterized the band's sound in the 1980s. Metallica had listed several artists and bands from which they took inspiration while writing ''Load'' and ''Reload'' that strayed from the types of bands that influenced them for their earlier albums, including [[Kyuss]], [[Alice in Chains]], [[Soundgarden]], [[Primus (band)|Primus]], [[ZZ Top]], [[Pantera]], [[Corrosion of Conformity]], [[Ted Nugent]], [[Aerosmith]], and even more mainstream acts like [[Oasis (band)|Oasis]], [[Alanis Morissette]], and [[Garth Brooks]], among others.<ref>{{cite web |title=Lars and James discuss Load's style |url=https://www.guitarworld.com/gw-archive/archive-metallicas-james-hetfield-and-kirk-hammett-discuss-their-1996-album-load |website=Guitar World |date=November 18, 2011 |access-date=August 9, 2018 |archive-date=September 1, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210901081954/https://www.guitarworld.com/gw-archive/archive-metallicas-james-hetfield-and-kirk-hammett-discuss-their-1996-album-load |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=James Hetfield reflects on Load |url=https://loudwire.com/metallica-load-album-anniversary/ |website=Loudwire.com |access-date=August 15, 2020 |archive-date=July 24, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190724195950/https://loudwire.com/metallica-load-album-anniversary/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Load isn't that bad: the story behind the most overhated metal album of all time |url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/it-felt-like-a-big-fuck-you-metallica-s-contentious-load-revisited |website=Metal Hammer |access-date=August 15, 2020 |archive-date=August 5, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805035953/https://www.loudersound.com/features/it-felt-like-a-big-fuck-you-metallica-s-contentious-load-revisited |url-status=dead }}</ref> This resulted in ''Load'' having a much more mid-paced, groovier sound that verged on hard rock. In place of [[staccato]] riffs, Hetfield and lead guitarist [[Kirk Hammett]] experimented with [[blues rock]]-based tones and styles. Additionally, Ulrich adopted a minimalist approach to his drum recording, abandoning the speed and complex [[double bass drumming]] patterns of previous albums, and using simpler techniques and playing styles. 

The album's lyrical themes show a striking departure from Metallica's previously social and politically charged subjects; many of ''Load''<nowiki/>'s tracks discuss themes of depression, including "Bleeding Me", "Mama Said", and "Until It Sleeps", all of which are about the death of Hetfield's mother, and "The Outlaw Torn", which is said to be about the band coping with [[Cliff Burton]]'s death. Other songs, such as "The House Jack Built" and "Cure", discuss themes of drug and alcohol addiction, and "Thorn Within" and "Poor Twisted Me" reflect James's struggles with depression.

Hammett, encouraged by producer Bob Rock, also played rhythm guitar on a Metallica album for the first time, having previously only played lead parts with Hetfield playing all the rhythm parts to achieve a tighter feel, in contrast to the looser feel they were looking for here.<ref name="guitarworld.com">{{cite web|url=https://www.guitarworld.com/gw-archive/archive-metallicas-james-hetfield-and-kirk-hammett-discuss-their-1996-album-load|title=From the Archive: Metallica's James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett Discuss Their 1996 Album, 'Load'|date=November 18, 2011|access-date=August 9, 2018|archive-date=September 1, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210901081954/https://www.guitarworld.com/gw-archive/archive-metallicas-james-hetfield-and-kirk-hammett-discuss-their-1996-album-load|url-status=live}}</ref>  Hammett continued playing rhythm until ''[[Death Magnetic]]'' when Hetfield once again played all the rhythm parts.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.guitarworld.com/features/interview-james-hetfield-discusses-metallicas-death-magnetic|title=Interview: James Hetfield Discusses Metallica's 'Death Magnetic'|date=November 21, 2012|access-date=August 9, 2018|archive-date=August 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180810072512/https://www.guitarworld.com/features/interview-james-hetfield-discusses-metallicas-death-magnetic|url-status=live}}</ref>

At 79 minutes, ''Load'' is Metallica's longest studio album. With the CD length at 78:59, initial pressings of the album were affixed with stickers boasting of its long playtime, simply reading "78:59". "The Outlaw Torn" had to be shortened by about one minute to fit on the album; the full version of the track was released on the single "[[The Memory Remains]]" as "The Outlaw Torn (Unencumbered by Manufacturing Restrictions Version)", with a running time of 10:48. An explanation on the single's back cover stated:

{{blockquote|When we were doing the final sequencing of the 'LOAD' album, the record company told us that we couldn't go a second past 78:59, or your CD's wouldn't play without potentially skipping. With our 14 songs, we were running about 30 seconds over, and something had to give, so the cool-ass jam at the end of 'Outlaw' got chopped.<ref name="youtube.com">[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIkSOx6kkMY Metallica – The Outlaw Torn (lyrics in video)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160104001527/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIkSOx6kkMY |date=January 4, 2016 }} YouTube. Retrieved 19-Jan-2016.</ref>}}

''Load'' was Metallica's first album on which all tracks were down-tuned to [[E♭ tuning]]. Hammett states:

{{blockquote|I started tuning to E-flat for my riff tapes because I copied a lot of the Hendrix stuff. You know I used to try to figure out [[Jimi Hendrix]] solos, [[Stevie Ray Vaughan]] solos, [[Thin Lizzy]] solos and those three bands tune to E-flat. And so a lot of my riffs were in E-flat, and I guess when James would hear the riffs tuned in E-flat and he'd try to sing to 'em, I think he kind of liked it. He liked the break it kind of gave his voice. He didn't have to pitch that extra half step. And that's also why on both ''Load'' and ''[[Reload (Metallica album)|Reload]]'' the primary tuning is E-flat rather than E.<ref name="Haircuts">{{cite web |url=https://www.metallica.com/so-what-article/427029.html |title=20 Years of Blood, Semen & Haircuts: A Conversation about Load |date=June 9, 2016 |work=metallica.com |access-date=April 19, 2021 |url-access=registration |archive-date=March 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230302151544/https://www.metallica.com/login/?scope=gated&original=%2Fso-what-article%2F427029.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>}}

The band had recorded songs on earlier albums in tunings lower than E: "The God That Failed" (''Metallica'') was in E♭, and "Sad but True" (''Metallica'') and "The Thing That Should Not Be" (''[[Master of Puppets]]'') were in [[D tuning]]. Hetfield also felt that the change to E♭ was a bonus, as it was easier to perform string bends in the riffs.<ref name="guitarworld.com"/>

The Australian CD release of ''Load'' includes a bonus interview CD that is unavailable elsewhere.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://encycmet.com/discography/new/Detailed/254.shtml|title=Encyclopedia Metallica – Load, 2CD|publisher=Encycmet.com|access-date=November 13, 2010|archive-date=July 8, 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120708053259/http://encycmet.com/discography/new/Detailed/254.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref> 10 songs from the album have been played live: "[[King Nothing]]", "[[Until It Sleeps]]", "[[Ain't My Bitch]]", "[[Bleeding Me]]", "Wasting My Hate", "[[Hero of the Day]]", "The Outlaw Torn", "2 X 4", "Poor Twisted Me", [[Mama Said (Metallica song)|"Mama Said"]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.setlist.fm/stats/albums/metallica-3bd680c8.html|title=Metallica Album Statistics - setlist.fm|website=www.setlist.fm|access-date=March 22, 2016|archive-date=March 16, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160316181302/http://www.setlist.fm/stats/albums/metallica-3bd680c8.html|url-status=live}}</ref> "The House Jack Built", "Cure", "Thorn Within", and "Ronnie" have never been performed live.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/general_music_news/these_are_the_only_15_songs_metallica_never_performed_live.html|title=These Are the Only 15 Songs Metallica Never Performed Live|access-date=March 22, 2016|archive-date=April 15, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160415071051/https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/general_music_news/these_are_the_only_15_songs_metallica_never_performed_live.html|url-status=live}}</ref>