Metallica (commonly known asThe Black Album) is the fifth studio album by Americanheavy metal bandMetallica. It was released on August 12, 1991, byElektra Records. Recording sessions took place atOne on One Recording Studios in Los Angeles over an eight-month span that frequently found Metallica at odds with their new producerBob Rock. The album marked a change in the band's music from thethrash metal style of their previous four albums to a slower, heavier, and more refined sound.
Metallica promotedMetallica with a series of tours. They also released five singles to promote the album: "Enter Sandman", "The Unforgiven", "Nothing Else Matters", "Wherever I May Roam", and "Sad but True", all of which have been considered to be among the band's best-known songs. The song "Don't Tread on Me" was also issued to rock radio shortly after the album's release but did not receive a commercial single release.
At the time ofMetallica's recording, the band's songs were written mainly by frontmanJames Hetfield and drummerLars Ulrich, with Hetfield being the lyricist.[11] The duo frequently composed together at Ulrich's house inBerkeley, California. Several song ideas and concepts were conceived by other members of the band, lead guitaristKirk Hammett and bassistJason Newsted.[12] For instance, Newsted wrote the main riff of "My Friend of Misery", which was originally intended to be aninstrumental, one of which had been included on every previous Metallica album.[13] The songs were written in two months in mid-1990; the ideas for some of them were originated during theDamaged Justice Tour.[14] Metallica was impressed withBob Rock's production work onMötley Crüe'sDr. Feelgood (1989) and decided to hire him to work on their album.[15][16] Initially, the band members were not interested in having Rock producing the album as well, but changed their minds. Ulrich said, "We felt that we still had our best record in us and Bob Rock could help us make it".[16]
Four demos for the album were recorded on August 13, 1990; "Enter Sandman", "The Unforgiven", "Nothing Else Matters" and "Wherever I May Roam". The lead single "Enter Sandman" was the first song to be written and the last to receive lyrics.[12] On October 4, 1990, a demo of "Sad but True" was recorded. In October 1990, Metallica began recording atOne on One Recording Studios in Los Angeles, California, to record the album, and also atLittle Mountain Sound Studios inVancouver, British Columbia, for about a week.[15] Additional overdubs and mixing took place atA&M Studios inHollywood towards the end of the album.[11] Hetfield stated about the recording: "What we really wanted was a live feel. In the past, Lars and I constructed the rhythm parts without Kirk and Jason. This time I wanted to try playing as a band unit in the studio. It lightens things up and you get more of a vibe."[17]
Because it was Rock's first time producing a Metallica album, he had the band make the album in different ways; he asked them to record songs collaboratively rather than individually in separate locations.[15] He also suggested recording tracks live and using harmonic vocals for Hetfield.[18] Rock was expecting the production to be "easy" but had trouble working with the band, leading to frequent, engaged arguments with the band members over aspects of the album.[15] Rock wanted Hetfield to write better lyrics and found his experience recording with Metallica disappointing: the recording experience was so stressful that Rock briefly swore never to work with the band again.[15][19][20] The tension between band and producer was documented inA Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica andClassic Albums: Metallica – Metallica.[11][12]
Since the band was perfectionist,[13][20] Rock insisted they record as many takes as needed to get the sound they wanted.[11] The album was remixed three times and costUS$1 million.[21] The troubled production coincided with Ulrich, Hammett, and Newsted divorcing their wives; Hammett said this influenced their playing because they were "trying to take those feeling of guilt and failure and channel them into the music, to get something positive out of it".[22]
The main riff in "Enter Sandman" can be heard in the beginning followed by the verse and the pre-chorus. The whole song evolved from the main riff, written by guitarist Kirk Hammett.[12]
"The Unforgiven" is rumored to contain a sample from "The Showdown", from theSergio Leone filmFor a Few Dollars More. The lyrics deal with the struggle of an individual against the efforts of those who would oppose him.[23]
The album was a change in Metallica's direction from thethrash metal style of the band's previous four studio albums towards a more commercial, heavy metal sound, but still had characteristics of thrash metal.[11][19][24] The band took a simpler approach partly because the members felt the songs on...And Justice for All were too long and complex. Hetfield said that radio airplay was not their intention, but because they felt "we had pretty much done the longer song format to death," and considered a good change doing songs with just two riffs and "only taking two minutes to get the point across".[17] Ulrich added that the band was feeling a musical insecurity — "We felt inadequate as musicians and as songwriters. That made us go too far, aroundMaster of Puppets andJustice, in the direction of trying to prove ourselves. 'We'll do all this weird-ass shit sideways to prove that we are capable musicians and songwriters'" – and Hetfield added he wanted to avoid getting stale: "Sitting there and worrying about whether people are going to like the album, therefore we have to write a certain kind of song — you just end up writing for someone else. Everyone's different. If everyone was the same, it would be boring as shit."[14]
Instruments not usually used by heavy metal bands, such as the cellos in "The Unforgiven" and the orchestra in "Nothing Else Matters", were added at Rock's insistence.[14] Rock also raised the volume of the bass guitar, which had been nearly inaudible on the previous album...And Justice for All.[18] Newsted said he tried to "create a real rhythm section rather than a one-dimensional sound" with his bass.[17] Newsted credited Rock with helping him find a sound that would work without killing thebass drum or messing with the lower end of the guitar, which Newsted claimed had always been a real big problem with him.[25] Ulrich said he tried to avoid the "progressivePeartianparadiddles which became boring to play live" in his drumming and used a basic sound similar to those ofthe Rolling Stones'Charlie Watts andAC/DC'sPhil Rudd.[18]
The lyrics ofMetallica written by James Hetfield were more personal and introspective in nature than those of previous Metallica albums; Rock said Hetfield's songwriting became more confident, and that he was inspired byBob Dylan,Bob Marley, andJohn Lennon.[19] According to Chris True ofAllMusic, "Enter Sandman" is about "nightmares and all that come with them".[26] "The God That Failed" dealt with the death of Hetfield's mother from cancer and herChristian Science beliefs, which kept her from seeking medical treatment. "Nothing Else Matters" was a love song Hetfield wrote about his recent ex-girlfriend while on tour.[27][failed verification] Hetfield said the album's lyrical themes were more introspective because he wanted "lyrics that the band could stand behind – but we are four completely different individuals. So the only way to go was in."[28]
Metallica had many discussions about the album title. The original working title was calledMarried to Metal as a result of Hammett, Ulrich and Newsted's divorces, but was downplayed as a "running joke", according to Ulrich.[29] Other names considered wereFive and the title of one of the songs, but eventually chose an eponym because they "wanted to keep it simple."[17] The album's cover depicts the band's logo angled against the upper left corner and a coiled snake derived from theGadsden flag in the bottom right corner. For the initial release, both emblems were embossed so they could barely be seen against the black background, givingMetallica the nickname "The Black Album". These emblems also appear on the back cover of the album. For later and current releases, both emblems are dark gray so they stand out more prominently. The motto of the Gadsden flag, "Don't Tread on Me", is also the title ofa song on the album. A folded, pageless booklet depicts the faces of the band's members against a black background. The lyrics and liner notes are also printed on a grey background.[11]
The cover is reminiscent ofSpinal Tap's albumSmell the Glove, which the band jokingly acknowledged in its documentaryA Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica. Members of Spinal Tap appeared on the film and asked Metallica about it, with Lars Ulrich commenting that British rock groupStatus Quo was the original inspiration as that band'sHello! album cover was also black.[11]
You think one day some fucker's gonna tell you, 'You have a number one record in America,' and the whole world will ejaculate. I stood there in my hotel room, and there was this fax that said, 'You're number one.' And it was, like, 'Well, okay.' It was just another fucking fax from the office.
"Enter Sandman" was released asMetallica'slead single on July 29, 1991; it reached number 16 on theBillboard Hot 100 singles chart and was certified Platinum by theRecording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[30][31] The follow-up single, "Don't Tread on Me", was released promotionally but did not chart.[31] The subsequent single, "The Unforgiven", was a Top 40 hit; it peaked in the Top 10 in Australia.[32]
Metallica was released on August 12, 1991,[33] and was the band's first album to debut at number one on theBillboard 200, selling 598,000 copies in its first week. It was certified platinum in two weeks and spent four consecutive weeks atop theBillboard 200.[34][35] Meanwhile, more singles were released to further success. "Nothing Else Matters" reached number six in the United Kingdom and Ireland,[36][37] and "Wherever I May Roam" peaked at number two on theHot Mainstream Rock Tracks singles chart,[31] although the 1993 single "Sad but True" charted only for one week on theBillboard Hot 100 at 98.[31] Almost all singles were accompanied by music videos; theWayne Isham-directed "Enter Sandman" promotional film won anMTV Video Music Award for Best Rock Video at the1992 MTV Video Music Awards.[38]
Metallica performing live "Of Wolf and Man" atO2 Arena, London in 2008
In 1991, for the fourth time, Metallica played as part of theMonsters of Rock festival tour. The last concert of the tour was held on September 28, 1991, atTushino Airfield in Moscow; it was described as "the first free outdoor Western rock concert in Soviet history" and was attended by an estimated 150,000 to 500,000 people.[61][62] Some unofficial estimates put the attendance as high as 1,600,000.[63] The first tour directly intended to support the album, theWherever We May Roam Tour, included a performance at theFreddie Mercury Tribute Concert, at which Metallica performed a short set list, consisting of "Enter Sandman", "Sad but True", and "Nothing Else Matters", along with Hetfield performed the Queen song "Stone Cold Crazy" withJohn Deacon,Brian May, andRoger Taylor of Queen andTony Iommi ofBlack Sabbath. At one of the tour's first gigs the floor of the "Snake Pit", an audience area completely surrounded by the stage's triangular catwalk, collapsed.[64] The January 13 and 14, 1992, shows in San Diego were later released in the box setLive Shit: Binge & Purge,[65] while the tour and the album were documented in the documentaryA Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica.[66]
Metallica's Wherever We May Roam Tour also overlapped withGuns N' Roses'Use Your Illusion Tour. Hetfield suffered second andthird degree burns to his arms, face, hands, and legs on August 8, 1992, during aMontreal show in the co-headliningGuns N' Roses/Metallica Stadium Tour. The tour includedpyrotechnics, which were installed on-stage. Hetfield accidentally walked into a 12-foot (3.7 m) flame shot from a pyrotechnic device during a live performance of the introduction of "Fade to Black".[65] Metallica left the stage and later updated the crowd on James' status. Guns N' Roses then delayed taking the stage for another two hours, resulting in fans becoming restless. The Guns' frontman, Axl Rose, stormed off the stage partway through their set, sending much of the frustrated crowd into a riot. Newsted said Hetfield's skin was "bubbling like onThe Toxic Avenger".[66] The tour recommenced on August 25 inPhoenix, and although Hetfield could sing, he could not play guitar for the remainder of the tour. Guitar technicianJohn Marshall, who had previously filled in on rhythm guitar and was then playing inMetal Church, played guitar for the recovering Hetfield.[66] Brazilian musicianAndreas Kisser fromSepultura was initially considered to join the tour, but Marshall was ultimately chosen.[67]
The shows inMexico City across February and March 1993 during the Nowhere Else to Roam tour were recorded, filmed and later also released as part of the band's firstbox set,[65][66] which was released in November 1993 and titledLive Shit: Binge & Purge. The collection contained three live CDs, three home videos, and a book filled with riders and letters.[68] Pressings of the box set since November 2002 includes two DVDs, the first one being filmed at San Diego on the Wherever We May Roam Tour, and the latter atSeattle on the Damaged Justice Tour.[66]Binge & Purge was packaged asa cardboard box resembling that of a typical tour equipment transport box. The box set also featured a recreated copy of an access pass to the "Snakepit" part of the tour stage, as well as a cardboard drawing/airbrush stencil for the "Scary Guy" logo.[64] The Mexico City shows were also the first time the band met future memberRobert Trujillo, who was inSuicidal Tendencies at the time.[69]
The final tour supporting the album, theShit Hits the Sheds Tour, included a performance atWoodstock '94 that followedNine Inch Nails and precededAerosmith on August 13 in front of a crowd of 350,000.[70][71] Some songs, such as "Enter Sandman", "Nothing Else Matters", and "Sad but True", became permanent staples of Metallica's concert setlists during these and subsequent tours. Other songs though, such as "Holier than Thou", "The God That Failed", "Through the Never", and "The Unforgiven" were no longer included in performances after 1995 and would not be played again until the 2000s, when Metallica began performing a more extensive back catalog of songs with Robert Trujillo on bass after he joined the band upon completion of the albumSt. Anger.[72]
After touring duties for the album were finished, Metallica filed a lawsuit against Elektra Records, which tried to force the record label to terminate the band's contract and give the band ownership of their master recordings. The band based its claim on a section of theCalifornia Labor Code that allows employees to be released from a personal services contractafter seven years. Metallica had sold 40 million copies worldwide upon the filing of the suit. Metallica had been signed to the label for over a decade but was still operating under the terms of its original 1984 contract, which provided a relatively low 14% royalty rate.[73] The band members said they were taking the action because they were ambivalent about Robert Morgado's refusal to give them another record deal along withBob Krasnow, who retired from his job at the label shortly afterwards. Elektra responded bycounter-suing the band, but in December 1994,Warner Music Group United States chairmanDoug Morris offered Metallica a lucrative new deal in exchange for dropping the suit,[74] which was reported to be even more generous than the earlier Krasnow deal. In January 1995, both parties settled out of court with a non-disclosure agreement.[75] Metallica played the album in its entirety during the2012 European Black Album Tour.[76]
Metallica was met with widespread acclaim from both heavy metal journalists and mainstream publications, includingNME,The New York Times, andThe Village Voice.[86] InEntertainment Weekly,David Browne called it "rock's preeminent speed-metal cyclone", and said, "Metallica may have invented a new genre: progressive thrash".[80]Q magazine's Mark Cooper said he found the album's avoidance of metal's typically clumsy metaphors and glossy production refreshing; he said, "Metallica manage to rekindle the kind of intensity that fired the likes of Black Sabbath before metal fell in love with its own cliches".[84]Select magazine's David Cavanagh believed the album lacks artifice and is "disarmingly genuine".[85] In his review forSpin,Alec Foege found the music's harmonies vividly performed and said that Metallica showcase their "newfound versatility" on songs such as "The Unforgiven" and "Holier than Thou".[87] Robert Palmer, writing inRolling Stone, said that several songs sound like "hard-rock classics" and that, apart from "Don't Tread on Me",Metallica is an "exemplary album of mature but still kickass rock & roll".[27] In his guide to Metallica's albums up to that point,Greg Kot of theChicago Tribune recommended the album as "a great place for Metallica neophytes to start, with its more concise songs and explosive production."[78]
Some reviewers had reservations. Jonathan Gold, in theLos Angeles Times, said that while Metallica had embraced pop sensibilities "quite well", there was a sense the group was "no longer in love with the possibilities of its sound" on an album whose difficulty being embraced by the "metal cult" mirroredBob Dylan going electric in the mid-1960s.[81] More critical wasRobert Christgau, who wrote in his "Consumer Guide" forThe Village Voice that he "put James Hetfield out of his misery in under five plays" of the album and that he "found life getting shorter with every song".[88] In his 2000 collectionChristgau's Consumer Guide, Christgau later gradedMetallica a "dud", indicating "a bad record whose details rarely merit further thought".[89]
Retrospective appraisals have been positive. In a retrospective article,Kerrang! saidMetallica is the album that "propelled [the band] out of the metal ghetto to true mainstream global rock superstardom".[90]Melody Maker said that as a deliberate departure from the band's thrash style on...And Justice for All, "Metallica was slower, less complicated, and probably twice as heavy as anything they'd done before".[90] In his review forBBC Music,Sid Smith said that although staunch listeners of the band accused them of selling out, Metallica confidently departed from the style of their previous albums and transitioned "from cult metal gods to bona fide rock stars".[91]Classic Rock called it "the absolute pinnacle of Metallica's long and successful career", and credited the album for inspiring 1990spost-grunge music and convincing the music industry to embrace heavy metal as a genre with mass appeal.[92]
Author and philosopher Thomas Walker wrote in 2020, "Its success at encapsulating...[individualist] ideas in musical form and bringing them to a global audience is truly unique."[93]AllMusic's Steve Huey believed the massive popularity ofMetallica inspired other speed metal bands to also embrace a simpler, less progressive sound. He deemed it "a good, but not quite great, album, one whose best moments deservedly captured the heavy metal crown, but whose approach also foreshadowed a creative decline [for Metallica.]"[77] Speaking inThe Independent, Metallica biographerPaul Stenning explained that Metallica created "a sound that had not really been heard in metal before, especially by a thrash band."[94]
Iron Maiden vocalistBruce Dickinson said that Metallica should be given huge credit for "grabbing the opportunity when it came up, taking the risk and deservedly reaping the enormous rewards", and that their achievement with the album cannot be underestimated. He also shared his thoughts on it as well, "It's one of those seminal albums that just gets it right. It's extremely well-produced, and every note on that album is totally under control. I admire how they did it, and what they did with the songs, and it was very effective: it undoubtedly did help push metal into the mainstream."[95]
To celebrate the 30th anniversary ofMetallica, a 53-track covers album titledThe Metallica Blacklist was released on September 10, 2021. The album features covers of songs fromMetallica from over 50 artists in various styles. All profits from the album are donated to the band's All Within My Hands Foundation as well as charities of each contributing artist's choice.[96][97]
Metallica was voted the eighth best album of 1991 in thePazz & Jop, an annual poll of American critics nationwide, published byThe Village Voice.[98]Melody Maker ranked it number 16 in the magazine's December 1991 list of the year's best albums.[90] In 1992, the album won aGrammy Award forBest Metal Performance.[99]
In 2000, it was voted number 88 inColin Larkin'sAll Time Top 1000 Albums.[100] In 2012,Rolling Stone rankedMetallica number 255 on "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time",[101] and then number 235 in a 2020 revised edition of the list.[9] It was also ranked 25th on the magazine's "100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time" (2017).[102]Spin ranked it number 52 on the "90 Greatest Albums of the '90s" (1999), with its entry reading: "this record's diamond-tipped tuneage stripped the band's melancholy guitar excess down to melodic, radio-ready bullets and ballads".[90]
Metallica featured inQ magazine's August 2000 list of the "Best Metal Albums of All Time"; the magazine said the album "transformed them from cult metal heroes into global superstars, bringing a little refinement to their undoubted power".[90] In 1999, eight years after the album's release,Metallica won aBillboard Music Award for Catalog Album of the Year.[103]
Metallica has beenreissued several times, including in 2008,[105] in 2010,[106] and in 2014.[107] To mark its 30th anniversary, aremastered edition was released on September 10, 2021. The album was remastered byBob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering, with all content overseen by executive producerGreg Fidelman. A limited edition box set was released, which includes the remastered album on a 180-gram double LP and a CD, as well as three live LPs, 14 CDs and six DVDs featuring unreleased content, and various other physical merchandise.[108][109]
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
^Hammett did not record on "Nothing Else Matters", but appears in the song's music video and performs the song live with the band, including playing the song's acoustic introduction on his own.[35]
^Tannenbaum, Rob (April 2001)."Playboy Interview: Metallica".Playboy. Archived fromthe original on October 26, 2009.Lars, Jason and I were going through divorces. I was an emotional wreck. I was trying to take those feeling of guilt and failure and channel them into the music, to get something positive out of it.
^Schmidt, William E. (September 29, 1991)."Heavy-Metal Groups Shake Moscow".The New York Times.Archived from the original on October 14, 2013. RetrievedJanuary 15, 2010.
^Walker, Thomas (Summer 2020). "The Earth Becomes My Throne': Individualism in Metallica'sBlack Album".The Objective Standard.15 (2). Glen Allen Press:28–32.
^"Metallica – Metallica".Amazon.com.Archived from the original on March 14, 2016. RetrievedJune 22, 2021.'The Black Album' is now be reissued as a Deluxe Vinyl edition (4LP) in honor of the 25th anniversary of 'Kill em All', Metallica's debut album.
^"Czech Albums – Top 100".ČNS IFPI.Note: On the chart page, select37.Týden 2021 on the field besides the words "CZ – ALBUMS – TOP 100" to retrieve the correct chart. Retrieved September 20, 2021.
^Pennanen, Timo (2006).Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava.ISBN978-951-1-21053-5.
^"European Top 100 Albums – 1991"(PDF).Music & Media. Vol. 8, no. 51/52. December 21, 1991. p. 24.OCLC29800226.Archived(PDF) from the original on January 1, 2022. RetrievedNovember 18, 2021 – via World Radio History.
^"The Gringos Are Coming!".Billboard. Vol. 106, no. 48. November 26, 1994. p. 73.Archived from the original on August 4, 2021. RetrievedJanuary 25, 2014.
^Radikal (January 20, 2010)."Metalcilere 'dört büyük' müjde".Milliyet (in Turkish). Archived fromthe original on March 3, 2021. RetrievedMarch 3, 2021.Metallica'nın 1991 albümü 300 bin kopya sattı Türkiye'de, AC/DC'nin öyle bir satış durumu da yok.
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