How can something this good be so bad?
I saw the line up on this and just about shat myself, I mean seriously, Chuck Billy jamming on Seek and Destroy with Jake E Lee, this has to be good.

Or so one would think.

This album takes top musicians and great songs and makes them sound average. It is impressive in its ability to do so. One reason is the anemic production. Instead of drum kit destruction courtesy of Lombardo we get a kit that sounds like an average death metal band given too much money to spend on misguided studio production. Clear, but clicky and lacking any punch whatsoever. All style of the original drummers is drowned by the flattening production.

And so it is with the guitars as well. A collection of guitarists ranging from solid to solid gold (John Christ's shredding is baddass) they all have the same overly produced, undeniably cheap sounding tone. Riffs that should swagger, crush, inspire bedroom moshing and so forth are reduced to technical exercises.

Finally, there really is a feeling that none of these dudes were in the room at the same time - the lack of vibe and cohesion and passion on these songs is incredible.

Save your money. Listen to the originals and imagine how good this record COULD have been...

Way to make them sound even worse...
Metallica definitely has gone down hill since the marginally good "black" album. This album makes the songs that actually are good sound like crap. Contrary to what others have said, Dave Lombardo does not out drum Lars, and none of these musicians hold a candle to the original sound of the songs. Don't waste your money.

Mind Blowing Tribute Album!
I have no idea how this album is recieving any hate, but I am going to give my opinion regardless. This is the only tribute album that has this many well-known artists from some of the best hard rock and heavy metal bands covering Metallica songs. So many of these artists stand out like Dave Lombardo of Slayer doing the drums on "Battery"...he gives the song a totally new sound and I really think he outshines what Lars did on the original. Some other artists that I felt stood out were Whitfield Crane from Ugly Kid Joe doing vocals on "Sanitarium", Anthrax/S.O.D. guitarest Scott Ian gives his own flavor of rhythem on "Sanitarium" and on "Whiplash" while his bandmate Billy Milano from S.O.D. does the vocals; and former Anthrax singer Joey Belladonna is another worthy mention on "Sad But True". Another thing about the album which people may find very cool is that Rob Trujillo (THE NEW METALLICA BASSIST) does bass duties on the tracks "Battery" and "Enter Sandman" giving us Metallica fans an idea of what the future has to hold for this newly added Metallica bassist. The only drawbacks of this CD were that there could have been a few more tracks, and I also was pretty dissapointed being a Fear Factory fan of how Burton Bell did the vocals on "Enter Sandman", he sounded fine but it just really didn't fit the music. Over all though I'd say this album is with out a doubt worth any real Metallica fan's money. Not only do you get the artists I mentioned doing these classic tracks but some other standout artists are Eric Singer (one time drummer of Kiss), John Christ (of Danzig, who I must say plays an incredible guitar solo on "Enter Sandman"), Vernon Reid (from Living Colour) and Lemmy (bassist of Motorhead) amongst many others. I'd say almost every artist on this album makes their part very original and each song has a much different spin on what Metallica originally made.

Tributes can't get a break
This is the first, and really the only Tribute to Metallica done not only by established musical powerhouses, but that is in the same Genre as the band being given tribute (as opposed to the Death Metal Overload, the Techo "Blackest" Albums, and the Um, Punk um, Punk Tribute. Metallic Assault is a great album that any Metallica fan should at least give a listen to.

This may not be Kirk, James, Jason and Lars, but some of Metallica's best music has now has equally great performances by those who have toured with and grown to admire Metallica. Seek and Destroy and Battery are clearly equivilent or superior on MA than they were in their original rendition.

My only complaints are the choice for vocalists on For Whom the Bell Tolls, and the Thing That Should not Be; and the use of Lemmy Kilmister on Nothing Else Matters (couldn't they have adapted Disposable Heroes or Eye of the Beholder for to Lemmy's bass, like Metallica did to Motorhead's Overkill?)

DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS DOG!!!!!
As a die hard fan of old Metallica (pre load, reload and S&M) I figured I should buy this CD. I know and like almost every guest performer on this cd. With so many good players, one would think this would be a great cd. One would be wrong! It is hard to fathom how such good songs could be so butchered by such great players. My only guess would be the producers. Bruce Bouilette and Bob Kulick have somehow completely botched the entire project by putting performers together who have completely clashing styles.
I have heard bar bands do better covers of Metallica than any of the songs on this entire cd. If I could've given a negative rating for this P.O.S., I would have.
DON'T BUY IT! Also steer clear of ALL other tribute cd's that these two have compiled. They have done a Van Halen tribute that rivals this one in poor quality!