Load

Rock · 1996 · 13 tracks

Load

A pivot toward blues-infused hard rock and southern grit. Gone is the thrash speed, replaced by mid-tempo grooves, warm analog tones, and vulnerable storytelling.

Radical departure

A dusty, sweat-soaked swagger replaces the clinical armor of the past, trading machine-gun precision for a loose, bluesy roll that breathes with a distinctly human warmth. The guitars slide and bend through pentatonic grooves rather than locking into rigid downpicked sprints, while a rich, vulnerable baritone anchors the sprawling compositions. This is a deliberate step into a sun-baked desert rock landscape, where the focus shifts from technical aggression to raw, mid-life introspection.

Load · vs · Metallica

Brooding+2.6σ

Brooding saturates this record far more than the artist's norm.

Tracklist · 13 Tracks

01

Ain’t My Bitch

5:04

02

2 × 4

5:28

03

The House Jack Built

6:39

04

Until It Sleeps

4:30

05

King Nothing

5:28

06

Hero of the Day

4:22

07

Bleeding Me

8:18

08

Cure

4:54

09

Poor Twisted Me

4:00

10

Wasting My Hate

3:57

12

Thorn Within

5:51

13

Ronnie

5:17

14

The Outlaw Torn

9:50

Moments Worth Waiting For

14The Outlaw TornThe album's massive 79-minute runtime required the final track, 'The Outlaw Torn,' to be edited down by about a minute to physically fit on the CD format.

13RonnieA country-tinged narrative structure on 'Ronnie' showcases a radical departure into southern-fried storytelling and clean, twangy guitar textures.

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