I've come to the conclusion that Metallica are some of musics biggest aura farmers. Their rhythm section is incredibly straightforward, James's lyrics are entertaining but shallow, and the majority of their output is dramatic and serious. This album in particular has such a grand, spacious sound to it that makes you expect a long-winded story to play out. It's all about the guitars. It was always all about the guitars, the really fun melodies and riffs they'd be able to come up with, and how one would smoothly play into the other, ideally in some epic journey that never leaves you bored. And that's what this album (in regulated doses) achieves - bombastic entertainment. This is some of the most easily listenable metal you can find, and these riffs are downright delicious. If someone told me Kirk is the real hero of the band, I wouldn't be surprised; he seems like the one member that consistently had his shit together.
And yet, I still can't say I love it, even with my newfound appreciation for Orion. I love guitars too, but I've been listening to them for most of my life, I can't live off from them alone, man. I need more than just 55 minutes of admittedly awesome guitar melodies. That eventually gets overbearing no matter how great your chops are. I need sauce. I need a rhythm section that's more than just functional. I need lyrics I can actually connect with. I need a version of Welcome Home (Sanitarium) that doesn't have its second half so good that it makes the first half feel like a chore to get through. I need riffs that aren't necessarily just earworms. I need music to not treat me with oven mitts, but hit me hard enough that I forget who I am for a second. I need my metal fix from literally anyone else but Metallica.
xx keeps teasing you with it's stellar atmosphere, lovely production and clearly solid performances, but that's never enough to hide the fact this band can't write an actual hook into these tracks, most of which are at least 3 minutes long and yet still feel like they get cut off before they can actually develop into something. The only geniunely catchy moment in this is in the goddamn intro track, and even that one ends before you can get attached to it. It's honestly just sad, like watching a kid with talent deciding to give up too early into something.
There's a beautiful sense of taking on the whole world in Björk's first proper solo album. Perhaps I'm more of a sucker for house than the majority of people who listen to this album, but I deem this to be a more consistent album than some people give it credit for. Some would argue Venus As a Boy is enough of a heavy hitter to bury everything else, but as cute and sweet its lyrics are, I don’t find it that different from the two tracks that precede it (and it sure as hell isn't remotely her best, but that's more of a testament to her later efforts). Björk already shows perfect understanding of her own work from start to finish - this is an album meant to really blur the line between sensual pop records and dance music, and it should be treated as such. It ultimately doesn't matter much to me that Violently Happy isn't as obviously catchy as the triple-hit this album begins with, it manages to infect my brain just the same.
And where all other instruments fail, Björk's voice carries, making even a more generic beat like on There's More To Life Than This way more memorable than it has any right to be. Her voice is particularly young here, lively and a bit cocky, encouraging you to dance to the rhythm of the album's heartbeat, which can somehow be felt even in the non-dance numbers (except for the Anchor Song, but by then the album is coming to a close). As a result, I always feel obliged to listen to the entire thing, and I am still surprised by how much the incredibly minimal Like Someone In Love and Anchor Song managed to get stuck in my head. Which is very important, because neither her vocal range nor choice of instrumentation have as much variety as her subsequent efforts, instead keeping the focus on minimal and catchy tunes, many of which gain extra boost in memorability by not only her already beautiful voice, but also the little touches sprinkled all over, already hinting at what else she will do once she's finished warming up. It's not just a display of raw pop talent already blooming, but a worthwhile album to own by any disc jockey.
Some of the creative decisions get way less impressive once you listen to more art pop albums, including Björk's own, but at the same time, this type of sound is something she would never quite channel again, and it still stands out in her discography all these years later. Considering her portfolio, that's something worth celebrating.