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Me t allica

DEATH MAGNETIC

(WARNER BROS.)

T h e

20

BestAlbums

2008

of

BEFORE HE GETS to the mangled flesh, the concrete angels, or the “selfish ridden dead goodbyes twisting on the tourniquet,” the very first thing that James Hetfield sings about on Death Magnetic— Revolver’s no-question pick for Album of the Year—is a “siren in my head that always threatens to repeat.” Considering the very public manner in which the Metallica frontman has chosen to address his struggles with addiction, that line—from “That Was Just Your Life,” Death Magnetic’s brute-force opener—

most likely refers to the imp ulsetoward relapse that haunts every reformed alcoholic. alcoholic.

But it might as well describe the chorus of disappointment that’s greeted every new

Metallica record since the “Black Album” in 1991. Load, Reload, St. Anger—each has invited a fresh wave of speculation that

Metallica are done, that the thrash-metal assassins behind such ’80s classics as Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets have receded into irrelevance.

Given that perceived fall from CONTINUED

THISYEAR”SCREWOFJUDGES: BRAD ANGLE, LUCAS AYKROYD, TOM BEAUJOUR, J. BENNETT, BRENT BURTON, DAN EPSTEIN, JASON FERGUSON, BRANDON GEIST, PETER GIANNASCOLI, KORY GROW, CHRIS KROVATIN, VALERIE MCQUEEN, ROB O’CONNOR, GREG PRATT, ALLISON S TEWAR T, ADEM TEPEDELEN, ZENA TSARFIN, CHRISTOPHER R. WEINGARTEN, JON WIEDERHORN, AND MIKAEL WOOD

ILLUSTRATION BY JEPH LA CHANCE