If there was any rapper to work with Metallica, you'd want either DMX or Ja Rule just because they have thick deliveries and gravelly, throaty voices, and Ja Rule sounds pretty good over the chords. And the lyrics actually aren't terrible, lots of swagger and not a lot of that stupid "bling bling" crap. It's hard-ass rap, none of that "Feelin' On Yo Booty" R. Kelly crap. But let's face it, the real reason to listen to the song is the fact that producer Swizz Beats got his hands on some brand new, never-seen-the-light-of-day Metallica music and used it for the sample, and we all want to hear what it sounds like.

The music rocks, it's really heavy and not so involved and bluesy like "Load" or "ReLoad." Good old-fashioned head-banging stuff, I'd say. And as an added bonus, there's a quick bit of a vocal line from King Jaymz himself that sounds awesome. Near as I can tell he's saying "More than this...nevermore your whipping boy." His voice sounds really strong and pretty pissed off, too. It's a cool lyric, and the delivery of it has a nice metal melody and is catchy, in kind of a subtle way...no loopy nu-metal hook here at all. Also, Swizz Beats plugs it into the song in just the right places so it sounds good; the transition isn't awkward at all.

So overall I'm really happy with the song. I think we in Metalli-Land were all just really nervous about the rap connection and afraid this would be a ridiculous train-wreck of a song, some made-for-MTV piece of crap. But it's a solid piece of music, Ja Rule does good by the boyz in black, and if the sample is any indication of what the new album will sound like, I'm extrememly excited. I think it'll please a ton of fans; of course, the idiots who have been crying "sell-out" ever since the Black Album will keep whining that it doesn't sound like "Puppets," but haven't we all had about enough of those mullets anyway?
Review: MrPrez2024@aol.com