ReLoad is made of the leftovers from the Load recording sessions, but it is the (marginally) better album. As expected, the material is very similar in style to its sister album.

While it pales when compared to the band’s earlier work, “Fuel” is heavier than anything from Load, and the same can be said of “Attitude”. Even “Better Than You” and “Prince Charming” rock pretty hard in the band’s newer groove-metal style. “Slither”, “Carpe Diem Baby”, and “Bad Seed” are less interesting examples of the same style. “Devil’s Dance” sounds a bit too much like a rewrite of “Sad But True”.

The ballads are also better than on the previous album, although “Hero Of The Day” sets the bar fairly high. “Low Man’s Lyric”, forgiving the country stylings, is the best showcase yet of the melodic side of Hetfield’s voice. Many of the lyrics on the last few albums have been deeply personal, but his pain is never more apparent than in his “please forgive me” wail in this song. The lyrical content meshes quite well with “The Unforgiven II”, which is better than “The Unforgiven” was. “Fixxxer” is a heavier style of ballad, more like “Fade To Black”. It is not nearly as interesting musically as that masterpiece, but the chorus hits you damn hard.

The band also tries some more experimental, almost psychadelic pieces. The attempt works reasonably well on “The Memory Remains”, but falls flat in “Where The Wild Things Are”.