No, it's not a soundtrack, but it is other music. Somehow, one of my friends found the album and I've listened to the first 3 tracks. I could've listened to them all but I want to wait until I get the original. This stuff is GOOD. It sounds like older Metallica, from the 80s. Because of how horrible St. Anger sounded I had no intention to pick up Death Magnetic. But now I can't wait. The crazy guitar solos are back.

I've only heard the first single, "The Day That Never Comes" and...um, when did Hetfield totally forget how to sing? The solos were great though (and long...the last four minutes were jam packed) I'm proceeding cautiously into this one with the mentality that the less it resembles the last four steaming studio album piles of crap they've produced, the better.

I just heard "The Day That Never Comes", and it sounds like a combination of "The Unforgiven" and "Don't Fear the Reaper". The middle sections sound like earlier Metallica, which I guess is good if you're into that sort of thing, but I gave up on Metallica a while ago and this sure ain't gonna bring me back. I'm sure fans will be more than pleased, though, especially considering how poor their past several albums have been.

Funny you should bring this up. The one supervisor at work was playing something from one of their live albums and I totally wasn't impressed with Hetfield's singing.

This was the same impression I got when I heard this at work the other day before my coworkers destroyed the stereo with all threads because it wouldn't play any CDs. It really does sound like older Metallica at points but does that mean anything? It seemed pretty damn shallow and yes, Hetfield's vocals are extremely questionable IMHO.

Also, did we really need another Unforgiven? Ok, I'll admit I actually liked the second one but it still didn't hold anything on the original. Guess that's just another example of aging musicians that can't let anything be.

Now that I've listened to the original of Death Magnetic, I can say that I understand the negative reviews about the production quality. There is definitely something wrong. This wrongness becomes salient upon listening to another CD, something that is known to have a good production. I chose Pantera's Vulgar Display of Power as a good production reference album. The difference between Vulgar Display of Power and Death Magnetic is like the difference between the sound quality of the Sony Playstation and the Sega Genesis. It is quite apparent, even to an untrained ear. Or, as an analogous example, it is like the difference between DVD and VHS.

Death Magnetic needs to be remastered or reproduced because the songs are actually very good. As I had stated, it is reminiscent of Metallica's older albums. The complaints of many reviewers is that the album suffers from clipping. I'm not sure what that is, technically, but I can tell the quality is very poor.