Metallica (The Black Album)

In 1991 the band released an album entitled simply Metallica which is commonly known as the Black Album. It went straight to number one and stayed there for four weeks, selling millions of copies worldwide and over 15 million in the US alone. This album marked a new direction for Metallica and the radio friendly tracks were hugely popular with the mainstream public. The album got terrific reviews from critics and Metallicaâ??s fan base grew dramatically over night.

The cover of the album is black with the Metallica logo top left and the coiled snake from the Gadsden flag bottom right, the Gadsden flag was one of the first US flags ever created and it was used during the American revolution, the original flag was bright yellow with the snake motif and emblazoned with the motto â??Donâ??t Tread On Meâ?.

The album was produced by Bob Rock and came in at just over 62 minutes with an array of popular tracks. Metallica released six as singles, more than they had from any previous album with Enter Sandman and Nothing Else Matters performing particularly well in the charts. For the Black album Metallica slowed their music down, the guitar and bass tracks were less complex and the songs featured fewer changes of pace with catchy hooks. The album was less thrash and more commercial rock and the inclusion of a ballad was indicative of the change within the band.

The album kicked off with Enter Sandman a melodic and catchy riff building into Hetfield’s alternately hushed and shouting lyrics. Followed with Sad But True a stripped down crunching riff and crashing drums before the short angsty religious burst of Holier Than Thou. The Unforgiven is a weaving track with great guitar and bass and thoughtful lyrics and Wherever I May Roam is classic power chord rock with a crunching bass backbone. Don’t Tread On Me is probably the weakest song on the album and Hetfield admitted himself that it is not one of his favourites musically and the band have never player it live. Through the Never is one of the heavier tracks perfect for some head banging before the gentle tones of Nothing Else Matters kick in revealing a softer vocal range in Hetfield who originally wrote the ballad for an ex-girlfriend and had to be persuaded by Ulrich to include it on the album. Of Wolf and Man takes us back to head banging territory before the lighter tracks The God That Failed and My Friend of Misery. The album is rounded with another heavy short burst called The Struggle Within.

This album may have made Metallica international superstars but it also alienated some of their original fans who were dismayed at the move towards mainstream rock. It may be less thrashy and more radio friendly than previous albums but thereâ??s no denying it is a great record. For disillusioned fans things were to get much worse after this and many people see this as Metallicaâ??s last decent album. Commercially speaking it was by far their most successful work.