Metallica (album)
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| Metallica | |||||
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| Studio album by Metallica | |||||
| Released | August 12, 1991 | ||||
| Recorded | October 1990 – June 1991 at "One On One" studios, Los Angeles, California | ||||
| Genre | Heavy metal, hard rock | ||||
| Length | 62:31 | ||||
| Label | Elektra | ||||
| Producer | Bob Rock, James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich | ||||
| Professional reviews | |||||
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| Metallica chronology | |||||
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Metallica (also known as The Black Album) is the 1991 self-titled 5th studio album by the American heavy metal band Metallica.
Metallica was released on August 12, 1991 through Elektra Records, and is the band's best-selling album to date, with 15 million copies sold in the United States alone as of 2007 and 22 million copies worldwide. As of April 16th 2008, the album has sold 15,143,895 copies in the US.
On the cover, only the band's logo and a coiled snake (derived from the Gadsden flag) are visible. The motto of the Gadsden flag, "Don't Tread on Me", is also the title of a song featured on the album.
Metallica DVD-Audio 5.1 mix was released in 2004 through Elektra Records.
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[edit] History
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While the album and the band were critically praised and commercially successful, some fans expressed disappointment in the new direction taken by Metallica. Gone for the most part were faster staccato riffs during verses and throaty vocals found on the band's first four albums; the overall speed and complexity of the music was greatly reduced. The Black Album presented a more radio-friendly, commercially accessible Metallica, especially evidenced by the ballad "Nothing Else Matters". Moreover, following the success of "One," the breakaway single from their ...And Justice for All album, five videos were released from the Black Album. ("Enter Sandman", "Nothing Else Matters", "Sad But True", "Wherever I May Roam" and "The Unforgiven").
The lyrics of The Black Album, written by James Hetfield, were much more personal and introspective in nature than previous Metallica albums.[citation needed]. For example, "The God That Failed" dealt with Hetfield's mother's death from cancer and her Christian Science beliefs which kept her from seeking medical treatment. "Nothing Else Matters" expresses the connection Hetfield felt with a girlfriend while out on the road. The album ended Metallica's tradition of including a lengthy instrumental track on each album.
[edit] Reception
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Professional reviews:
- Rolling Stone (9/5/91) - 4 Stars - Excellent - Included in Rolling Stone's "Essential Recordings of the 90's" - "Several songs...seem destined to become hard-rock classics....[They] effectively bridg[e] the gap between commercial metal and the much harder thrash of Slayer, Anthrax and Megadeth."
- Spin (9/99, p.146) - Ranked #52 in Spin Magazine's "90 Greatest Albums of the '90s" - Spin (p.89) - "This record's diamond-tipped tuneage stripped the band's melancholy guitar excess down to melodic, radio-ready bullets and ballads."
- Entertainment Weekly (8/16/91) - "Rock's preeminent speed-metal cyclone...Metallica may have invented a new genre: progressive thrash." - Rating: B+
- Q (8/00, p.127) - Included in Q's "Best Metal Albums Of All Time" - "Transformed them from cult metal heroes into global superstars....bringing a little refinement to their undoubted power."
- Melody Maker (12/91) - Ranked #16 in Melody Maker's list of the top 30 albums of 1991 - "In a committed move away from their thrash roots, Metallica was slower, less complicated, and probably twice as heavy as anything they'd done before."
Firewind's Gus G. and Lacuna Coil's Cristina Scabbia both rate Metallica as being amongst the top five albums of all time.[1] When discussing Metallica in an October 2007 interview, Evile frontman Matt Drake revealed that he "loved" The Black Album. Deeming "everything" on the album as "just spot on" and that it was "probably the best sounding album I've ever heard", Drake also stated that the drums featured on The Black Album "produce the best drum sound" "ever heard on any album".[2]
[edit] Bob Rock
Metallica was produced by Bob Rock, who was originally asked to mix the album as the band was impressed with his work as producer on the Mötley Crüe album, Dr. Feelgood.[3] Initially, the band was not interested in having Rock produce their album, but changed their minds as Ulrich stated; "We felt that we still had our best record in us and Bob [Rock] could help us make it."[3] The Black Album's sound was a marked difference from the stripped down production of the previous album. Rock altered the band's working schedule and routine so much that they swore never to work with him again. Also on the this album he played 2nd guitar on Nothing Else Matters. The animosity and tension between band and producer was documented in the documentaries A Year And A Half In The Life of Metallica and Classic Albums: The Black Album. Both explore and document the intense and merciless recording process that resulted in the Black Album.
Despite the controversies between the band and Rock, he continued to work with the band up until, and including, the 2003 album St. Anger.
[edit] Tour
The world tour following the Metallica album, initially dubbed the Wherever We May Roam Tour and then later the Nowhere Else to Roam Tour, saw Metallica on the road for the next three years. The tour was in part documented in the A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica documentary, as well as the 3-CD, 2-DVD (or 3-VHS) boxset Live Shit: Binge & Purge.
[edit] Track listing
All songs written by James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich except where noted.
- "Enter Sandman" (Hetfield, Ulrich, Kirk Hammett) – 5:34
- "Sad but True" – 5:23
- "Holier Than Thou" – 3:48
- "The Unforgiven" (Hetfield, Ulrich, Hammett) – 6:27
- "Wherever I May Roam" – 6:46
- "Don't Tread on Me" – 4:01
- "Through the Never" (Hetfield, Ulrich, Hammett) – 4:03
- "Nothing Else Matters" – 6:29
- "Of Wolf and Man" (Hetfield, Ulrich, Hammett) – 4:17
- "The God That Failed" – 5:05
- "My Friend of Misery" (Hetfield, Ulrich, Jason Newsted) – 6:50
- "The Struggle Within" – 3:54
[edit] Bonus track (European and Asian editions)
- "So What?" (Nick "Animal" Kulmer, Chris "Magoo" Exall, Clive "Winston" Blake) – 3:09
[edit] Singles
- "Enter Sandman" – 1991
- "Don't Tread On Me" - 1991
- "The Unforgiven" – 1991
- "Nothing Else Matters" – 1992
- "Wherever I May Roam" – 1992
- "Sad But True" – 1992
[edit] Band Members
- James Hetfield – rhythm guitars, vocals, acoustic guitar on "The Unforgiven", rhythm and lead guitar on "Nothing Else Matters"
- Kirk Hammett – rhythm and lead guitars, Sitar on "Wherever I May Roam"
- Jason Newsted – bass
- Lars Ulrich – drums
[edit] Guests
- Michael Kamen – arrangement of orchestration on "Nothing Else Matters"
[edit] Charting
[edit] Album
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | The Billboard 200 | 1 |
| 1991 | The UK Album Chart | 1 |
[edit] Singles
| Year | Song | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | "Enter Sandman" | The Billboard Hot 100 | 16 |
| "Enter Sandman" | Mainstream Rock Tracks | 10 | |
| "Enter Sandman" | Modern Rock Tracks | 28 | |
| "Enter Sandman" | The UK Top 40 | 5 | |
| "Don't Tread on Me" | Mainstream Rock Tracks | 21 | |
| "The Unforgiven" | The UK Top 40 | 15 | |
| 1992 | "The Unforgiven" | The Billboard Hot 100 | 35 |
| "The Unforgiven" | Mainstream Rock Tracks | 10 | |
| "Nothing Else Matters" | The Billboard Hot 100 | 34 | |
| "Nothing Else Matters" | Mainstream Rock Tracks | 11 | |
| "Nothing Else Matters" | The UK Top 40 | 6 | |
| "Wherever I May Roam" | The Billboard Hot 100 | 82 | |
| "Wherever I May Roam" | The UK Top 40 | 25 | |
| "Wherever I May Roam" | Mainstream Rock Tracks | 25 | |
| "Sad But True" | The Billboard Hot 100 | 98 | |
| "Sad But True" | Mainstream Rock Tracks | 15 | |
| 1993 | "Sad But True" | The UK Top 40 | 25 |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Top 5 Albums. Live 4 Metal (2004). Retrieved on 2008-05-19.
- ^ Morgan, Anthony (2007-10). “Armoured Assault” - Evile frontman Matt Drake hails gargantuan Thrash masterpiece Enter the Grave. Lucem Fero. Retrieved on 2008-05-04.
- ^ a b Rosen, Craig. The Billboard Book of Number One Albums. Billboard Books, 1996 ISBN 0-8230-7586-9
| Preceded by Unforgettable... with Love by Natalie Cole |
Billboard 200 number-one album August 31 - September 27, 1991 |
Succeeded by Ropin' the Wind by Garth Brooks |
