Load followed The Black Album as Metallica’s next studio album.
Released in 1996, Load was the band’s sixth studio album and arrived five years after Metallica. Bob Rock returned as producer, extending the working relationship that began with The Black Album.
The later record moved further toward hard rock and incorporated influences such as blues rock, Southern rock, country rock, alternative rock, and grunge. It therefore sounded different from the focused heaviness that had defined Metallica’s 1991 breakthrough, although the band retained its core lineup of James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett, and Jason Newsted.
Load and Reload originated from a large group of songs recorded during the same general period. The band split the material into two releases, with the second half appearing on Reload in 1997. Garage Inc. and S&M came later and were not the immediate studio successor.