Fade to Black (song)
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| "Fade to Black" | ||||||||||
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| Single by Metallica | ||||||||||
| from the album Ride the Lightning | ||||||||||
| Released | 1984 | |||||||||
| Recorded | Sweet Silence Studios Copenhagen, Denmark, 1984 | |||||||||
| Genre | Thrash metal | |||||||||
| Length | 6:56 | |||||||||
| Label | Megaforce, Elektra | |||||||||
| Writer(s) | James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Cliff Burton, Kirk Hammett | |||||||||
| Producer | Metallica, Flemming Rasmussen, Mark Whitaker | |||||||||
| Metallica singles chronology | ||||||||||
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"Fade to Black" is a song by heavy metal band Metallica from their second album, Ride the Lightning (1984). It was the first musical ballad released by the band and is considered[by whom?] to be the precursor to "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)", "One" and "The Day That Never Comes" due to strong similarity in sound, structure and subject matter. It peaked at #100 for a week in Switzerland.[1] It was ranked as having the 24th best guitar solo ever by Guitar World magazine readers.[2] It is one of Metallica's best-known songs.
The song is featured as a playable track in the video game Guitar Hero: Metallica.
[edit] Background
In an interview with drummer Lars Ulrich on the set of the production "MTV Icon: Metallica" in 2003, he recalls how he and bandmate James Hetfield were obsessed with death at the time the album and song were produced.
The lyrics suggest a man contemplating, then eventually committing, suicide. It begins with an acoustic guitar introduction and becomes progressively heavier as the song goes on.
Since its release, "Fade to Black" has been a fixture in Metallica's live performances. It was also the last song that Metallica performed live with former bassist Jason Newsted before he left the band. Jason's last gig was at the VH1 Music Awards on November 30, 2000. It was one of Newsted's favorite Metallica songs, and was said to be of great sentimental value to him, although it had been written before he had joined the band. Jason Newsted's previous band, Flotsam And Jetsam, performed a song called "Fade To Black" on their 1986 album Doomsday For The Deceiver before Jason left to join Metallica, although it bears no resemblance to the Metallica song.
[edit] Covers
- Disturbed on their live album Music as a Weapon II, but without the heavier second half of the song
- Apoptygma Berzerk on their studio album Welcome to Earth
- Apocalyptica on their album Inquisition Symphony
- Boy Sets Fire on Crush 'Em All Vol. 1, a two song split EP w/ Shai Hulud
- Sonata Arctica on "Victoria's Secret" and "Takatalvi" singles and for A Tribute to the Four Horsemen
- Steel Prophet covered the song on their 2006 album, Genesis, albeit with a different intro solo and outro solo.
- The Lemonheads covered the song with an acoustic version as a B side on their 1997 single "It's all true".
[edit] References
- ^ #100 in Switzerland @ finnishcharts.com Retrieved June 2009
- ^ [1]
