Metallica albums Load (1996) and Reload (1997) are major sources of controversy due to their sound and the milestone they marked in the group's career. Furthermore, the album covers remain points of discussion among fans to this day, and apparently even among the band members themselves.
Artist Andres Serrano , responsible for the album covers, gave an interview to Metal Hammer and spoke about his work. He explained, for those who don't remember (or didn't know), that the artwork for Load featured a photo called Semen And Blood III , which consists of cow's blood and the artist's own semen. The cover of Reload features a similar photo by Serrano titled Piss And Blood XXVI.
At one point in the interview, Serrano is asked about the reception of the work by fans and the band members themselves. “I think the images were a success. I read a review once where the album Load was named number one on a list of best album covers. I know Lars [ Ulrich , drummer] and Kirk [ Hammett , guitarist] were happy with it, but James [ Hetfield , guitar/vocals] wasn't. I think James is still furious,” the artist stated.
James has already expressed his displeasure with the album covers. In a 2009 Classic Rock, Load was just a joke about all that. I just went along with all that stupid, crazy crap.”
Lars, however, disagrees with his bandmate and friend: “I’m not much of a favorite… the albums ‘Load’ and ‘Reload’ with the incredible artwork by Andres Serrano. Those [artworks] will always have a special place in my heart. I love him as an artist. I love the images. I love the fact that we had Serrano on the cover art for those two albums. Those are probably my two favorite [covers],” he stated in late 2018, in an interview with the Maxim website .
