All Nightmare Long
"All Nightmare Long" | |
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Song |
"All Nightmare Long" is the forty-fourth single by American heavy metal band Metallica, and the fifth from the band's ninth studio album, Death Magnetic. The single was released on December 15, 2008.[1] The song was used as the theme for the WWE's pay-per view event No Mercy 2008.[2]
Music video
This section needs additional citations for verification. (January 2009) |
The music video, directed by Roboshobo (Robert Schober)[3], debuted on December 7, 2008, on Metallica's official website and Yahoo Video.[4][5] The video, which does not feature the band, is an alternate-history narrative done in grainy mockumentary style, depicting a sequence of fictional events following the historic 1908 Tunguska event, at which Soviet scientists discover spores of an extraterrestrial organism, a small harmless thing resembling an armored worm.
However it turns out the incredibly hardy spores are able to reanimate dead tissue, and subjects turn violent sometime after exposure to the spores; the USSR adapts them as a bio-weapon and scatters them from balloons in a preemptive strike against the US, causing a localized zombie apocalypse before intervening militarily to distribute humanitarian aid. At the end of the video, a hybrid US/USSR flag is raised in the now-Soviet-ruled America, and a headless corpse is shown breaching containment and escaping from a Soviet bio-warfare lab.
Video origin
In a video from the website Metclub.com, Kirk Hammett explained the origins of the video. He bought the film from a fan for $5 in Russia and soon forgot about it. After digging it up and watching the animated film, he was fascinated by it, researched about its background, and asked a friend's Russian girlfriend to translate parts of it. Following this, Hammett had been trying to incorporate the film into one of the band's music videos.
Lyrical theme
In an interview, James Hetfield commented on the song's lyrical meaning:[6]
It was an attempt to get back to the H.P. Lovecraft mythos with "The Thing That Should Not Be", "Call of Ktulu".[sic] This was about the Hounds of Tindalos, which was another crazy mind fuck about these wolves that hunt through their nightmares and the only way you can get away from them is stay with angels. You can't even escape through sleep.
Some of the lyrics bear a striking resemblence to the lyrics of "Seek & Destroy", one of the fourth single from the band's debut album Kill 'Em All (specifically, the "All Nightmare Long" lyrics "You run, you hide/but will be found" is reminiscent of the "Seek & Destroy" lyrics "Don't try running away/'cause you're the one we will find").
Release versions
The single is available in three different editions.[1] The first edition was released as a digipack with the album version of "All Nightmare Long", along with the songs "Wherever I May Roam" and "Master of Puppets", recorded live in Berlin at the Death Magnetic release bash at the O2 World back in September 2008.[1] The second edition, which the record company calls a "J card", also has the studio version of "All Nightmare Long", along with the songs "Blackened" and "Seek & Destroy", also recorded at the Berlin O2 World.[1] The third edition features the song, along with a DVD, which includes a ten minute long mini-documentary about the bands' day in Berlin, along with twenty minutes worth of live tracks from that night's album release party, as well a fifteen minute long movie from the tuning room at the Rock Im Park.[1]
Track listing
Disc 1
- "All Nightmare Long" – 7:58
- "Wherever I May Roam [Live]" – 6:37
- "Master of Puppets [Live]" – 8:20
Disc 2
- "All Nightmare Long" – 7:59
- "Blackened [Live]" – 6:42
- "Seek & Destroy [Live]" – 7:45
Disc 3 [DVD]
- "All Nightmare Long"
- "Berlin Magnetic [Documentary]"
- "Rock Im Park 'Containter' Rehearsal"
Japanese EP
- "All Nightmare Long" – 7:58
- "Wherever I May Roam [Live]" – 6:37
- "Master of Puppets [Live]" – 8:20
- "Blackened [Live]" – 6:42
- "Seek & Destroy [Live]" – 7:45
Maxi Single
- "All Nightmare Long" – 8:01
- "Master of Puppets [Live]" – 8:20
- "Blackened [Live]" – 6:29
- "Seek & Destroy [Live]" – 7:45
Personnel
Metallica
- James Hetfield – vocals, rhythm guitar
- Kirk Hammett – lead guitar, backing vocals
- Robert Trujillo – bass, backing vocals
- Lars Ulrich – drums, percussion
Production
- Rick Rubin – producer
- Ted Jensen – mastering
- Greg Fidelman – mixing
Charts
Song | Chart | Peak |
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"All Nightmare Long"[7] | Spain Singles Top 20 | 1 |
Finland Singles Top 20 | 11 | |
Italy Singles Top 50 | 12 | |
Germany Singles Top 100 | 15 | |
Belgium Singles Top 50 | 27 | |
Dutch Top 40 | 38 | |
Sweden Singles Top 60 | 44 | |
Austria Singles Top 75 | 51 | |
France Singles Top 100 | 55 |
References
- ^ a b c d e "METALLICA: 'All Nightmare Long' Single Details Revealed". Blabbermouth. November 15, 2008.
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(help) - ^ "METALLICA's 'All Nightmare Long' is NO MERCY's Theme Song". Blabbermouth. September 12, 2008.
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(help) - ^ http://www.metalhammer.co.uk/news/metallica-video-director-exclusive-pic-and-interview/
- ^ http://rockdirt.com/metallica-all-nightmare-long-video/26682/
- ^ http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2008/12/08/metallicas-all-nightmare-long-video-premieres
- ^ http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Artists/M/Metallica/2008/12/08/7668306-sun.html
- ^ http://acharts.us/song/41129