Dan & Billy welcome back longtime friend & Nostalgia Test Podcast Allstar Jeremy Madson for the final episode of the Metallica Eras journey, The Legacy Era: Death Magnetic, Hardwired...to Self-Destruct, & 72 Seasons and put them to the ultimate test—THE NOSTALGIA TEST! “That's an interesting comparison, Metallica to The Beatles [...] The Beatles, depending on how you count them, were only around for, like, six or eight years, right? And they were hyper prolific. They put out all their shit, and that was basically Metallica from however you wanna measure it, from, from Kill 'Em All up to Black or even through Justice, right? They cranked out just, like, absolute pinnacle, God-level material. But instead of, you know, tearing each other down and going off and doing their own thing, they just decided to stick around.” -Jeremy Madson Dan, Billy, & Jeremy talk about the most recent albums of Metallica’s long and confusing career, Death Magnetic (2008), Hardwired... to Self-Destruct (2016), and 72 Seasons (2023). They try to figure out why Metallica made these albums, if they should’ve stopped after Death Magnetic, Metallica’s consistent cover art fails since Load, and why does Metallica insist on recording songs longer than 3.5 minutes at this point. Is Death Magnetics’ mixing really a problem, especially after Saint Anger or is it just some bulls**t to complain about? Their conversation inevitably returns to the influence of Lars on the band’s trajectory after the death of Cliff Burton and how the band might have imploded anyway if Cliff didn’t die. At the end of the episode, and this is an epic one so hang on and hangout, the guys give their individual rankings of all the studio albums from worst to best (minus LuLu, Garage Inc, & the live albums) and Jeremy creates an aggregate scoring of all 11 albums. We hope you enjoy this final episode. Grab your concert T’s, your closets Metal friends, push yourself through the pit, and let’s scream our heads off together. Come chill! Listen to the other Metallica Eras Episodes: 136:🤘Metallica’s Thrash Era w/ Longtime Friends Billy D'Elia & Jeremy Madson 142. 🤘Metallica's MTV Era: The Black Album, Load, & Reload 172. 🤘Metallica's Saint Anger & Some Kind of Monster Documentary Era: How Metallica Almost Died Listen to the episode that started it all: 128. 🤘Metallica's the Black Album w/ Longtime Friends Billy D'Elia & Jeremy Madson Email us (thenostalgiatest@gmail.com) your thoughts, opinions, & episode idea for The Wheel of Nostalgia! Suggest A Test & Be Our Guest! We're always looking for a fun new topic for The Nostalgia Test. Hit the link above, tell us what you'd like to see tested, and be our guest for that episode! Approximate Rundown 00:00 Pre Show Setup 00:23 Planning The Format 01:50 Ranking Metallica Albums 02:55 Zoom Tech and Sweater Talk 04:21 Legacy Era Intro 05:55 Skipping Lulu 06:51 Release Timeline Shift 09:38 Metallica As Corporation 11:28 Death Magnetic Relief 13:13 Rick Rubin and Album Length 16:45 Bob Rock Debate 19:34 Death Magnetic Track Takes 26:24 Unforgiven Three Debate 31:07 Production Loudness War 33:13 Producer Pop Quiz 33:48 Fidelman and Death Magnetic 34:24 Death Magnetic Nostalgia Test 35:53 Unforgiven III S&M2 Gem 36:30 Hardwired Facts and Setup 37:48 Double Album Debate 38:42 Cover Art Roast Session 40:27 Hardwired Track Highlights 45:13 Filler Songs and Titles 46:48 Every Song Gets a Video 50:52 Kirk Riffs Lost and Aging Band 52:52 Hardwired Nostalgia Verdicts 56:12 72 Seasons Stats and Awards 57:50 72 Seasons Cover and Anxiety 59:23 Song Titles and Vocal Critique 01:01:57 Lux Aeterna and NWOBHM 01:03:27 Riffs Tease Then Stop 01:05:08 Justice Tone Fan Remix 01:06:36 Why Make New Albums 01:09:34 Mustaine Stays in Metallica 01:10:45 Fixing Metallica Song Lengths 01:12:21 Cliff Bob Rock and Decline 01:13:44 Bands That Still Deliver 01:15:34 Radiohead as a Counterexample 01:16:19 Jason Rob and Lars Control 01:18:36 Do We Need New Albums 01:23:26 72 Seasons Live vs Studio 01:27:43 Meh Verdict and Listener Qs 01:31:47 Kirk Hammett Respect Debate 01:38:42 Ranking the Discography Begins 01:41:22 Reload Roasted 01:42:27 Ranking Number Nine 01:43:58 Hardwired Cover Jokes 01:46:59 Sevens and Sixes 01:48:42 Death Magnetic Cutoff 01:55:05 Black Album Line 01:59:09 Kill Em All at Four 02:01:07 Top Three Debate 02:05:41 Justice vs Puppets 02:11:03 Aggregate Scores Revealed 02:14:49 Series Wrap Up Book The Nostalgia Test Podcast Bring The Nostalgia Test Podcast's high energy fun and comedy on your podcast, to host your themed parties & special events! The Nostalgia Test Podcast will create an unforgettable Nostalgic experience for any occasion because we are the party! We bring it 100% of the time! Email us at thenostalgiatest@gmail.com or fill out the form at this link. LET'S GET NOSTALGIC! Keep up with all things The Nostalgia Test Podcast on Instagram | Substack | Discord | TikTok | Bluesky | YouTube | Facebook The intro and outro music ('Neon Attack 80s') is by Emanmusic. The Lithology Brewing ad music ("Red, White, Black, & Blue") is by PEG and the Rejected