New Metallica

A mysterious comment has suggested that I review the new Metallica album. Though I have a sneaking suspicion as to who this person is; it wouldn't make much sense for me to beg for you guys to post, and then not respond in some fashion when you do.
Chances are that if you are a Metallica fan, you have already heard the new Metallica album, and therefore have a made a judgment call of your own. However if for some reason you await my review before you listen to it then I have a couple of things to point out.
I have never been the biggest Metallica fan. I have been leisurely working my way through their catalogue for a little over a year now, and would consider myself a casual fan of their music. This is not to suggest that I do not understand and respect their influence on the genre of metal and music as a whole. I certainly understand the importance of Metallica, however the only knowledge of Metallica I had for a quite a while was a very skimpy and simple familiarity with the Black album through Reload. I was seeing Lars Ulrich on T.V. trying to condemn Napster and thinking to myself "Who the hell wants to download your ragged ass tunes anyway asshole?"
I know better than that know. I remember the first time I heard "Master of Puppets" and having a very immediate opinion change about Metallica after just 55 seconds. I know better now. As I stated before, I respect Metallica immensely for their contribution to metal. However at that point I had already been cutting my teeth on things like Choking Victim, Anti-Flag, Thursday, Thrice, and other bands (A lot of pop-punk) that just sounded different than Metallica, in some ways heavier (gasp) even. I had learned to listen past the screaming I was thought of as obnoxious and hear the music, and eventually came to love the screaming. Before the end of senior year I went to my first metal show and saw Scarlet, As I Lay Dying, and the namesakes of the blog Every Time I Die. A pretty kick ass first show I might add.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that I jumped onto the metal ship at a weird time, and it wasn't until I got into more types of heavy music that I listened further back into Metallica's catalogue and really gained an appreciation for it.

In review: missed the Metallica train, not the biggest fan.

Now, onto the new album. I streamed a couple of tracks online and was surprised and somewhat impressed with what I heard. But not long after it was released I found this article. Anyone who has talked to me about music for long enough has heard me talk about production qualities and how much I value them. The new Metallica album has become a victim of "the loudness war" and has had its production values compromised.
What does all this mean? It means that while someday I might own the new Metallica CD, it will never get a great review from me because of its production values (or lack thereof). "But how's the music?" you ask. I'll put it this way, Rick Rubin told Metallica to go and make "Master of Puppets" II, and this is obviously what they have tried to do on this album, and with some degree of success. If you like Metallica and aren't a stickler for sound quality then you will most likely like the new Metallica. If you haven't been a huge Metallica fan in the past, but like classic Metal (real metal, not hair metal, and as much as I love them Zeppelin are not classic metal) and again, are not a huge stickler for quality, then there is a good chance that you will like this album.