Metallica

Metallica's self-titled fifth full-length album, also known as the "black album", is both loved and loathed by major sides of the wide world of metalheads. Some say it's a sellout album, some say that's bullshit. Personally, I'd say it's neither. While this of course takes Metallica in a far more acceptable, radio-friendly direction, it stays true to the roots of heavy metal, which unlike their previous thrash efforts is the genre where I'd place this release. The riffage of James Hetfield hammers on quite well every once in a while. "Enter Sandman" for example has some kickass chugging under-vers riffwork, but people forget this in favor of the groovy melodic material that helped in making the song a famous radio hit. And that stuff ain't bad either, honestly, just a bit on the friendly side. But that doesn't change the fact that it's really catchy, just like the majority of the album. It tries to be pretty evil, heavy and angry at times, but doesn't quite succeed. Instead, we have a barrel of fun, which most of the times works fairly well but is filled with minor songwriting flaws all over, unfortunately.

The absence of Cliff Burton on bass doesn't sting quite as terribly on this album as on "...And Justice For All". Here they seem to have recovered more after the loss, and don't suck at all as badly as on that album, and the bass is also far superior here- and you can hear it, too.
Like I said, most of the stuff here is good - not quite solid, though. Here and there, we get this annoying part in most every song that hugely detracts from the overall impression. "Sad But True" for example has some very nice, heavy riffage, but the chorus is just silly and the high-toned guitar effects just don't work, and it all comes out blurry and unfocused, which totally messes up the song, which could've been really good. Also, the song seems to drag on quite a bit, moving over 5 minutes with not more than one or two actual riffs. "Don't Tread On Me" is pretty much the other way around, with some nice melody work and a really catchy chorus, but the midpaced riffs are pretty damn boring and uninteresting.
The riff assault of former Metallica is definitely lost, in favour of being more catchy, and - yes, radio-friendly. I wouldn't be surprised if they'd planned "St. Anger" ever since the release of this album in a diabolical scheme to ultimately achieve the über suckage.

Overall though, there isn't one song on this album that I'd say is downright bad, except possibly the dull "The God That Failed" and the whiny "My Friend Of Misery".
Songs that stand out as highlights would be quite a few, since it's a pretty even album. Not great, just even, with lots of above-average tunes. "Enter Sandman" is really a very catchy song, just sadly overplayed. "Wherever I May Roam" has a very sweet, kickass atmosphere built up by that great intro, though like "Sad But True" it's a bit too long for the minimal amount of riffage. "Through The Never" is probably the thrashiest song on here, along with "The Struggle Within". Both of them works quite well. "The Struggle Within", the closing track, is more traditional Metallica, trying (but not quite succeeding, although on it's own it's a good song) to be another "Battery" or "Damage, Inc", while "Through The Never" mostly feels like a faster version of other songs on here, aside from the high-toned main riff, which seems to serve most for a build-up purpose.

But the highlight of the album is probably "Of Wolf And Man", which while not thrashy manages to be quite crushingly heavy at some moments, and features the catchiest vocal lines on the album, and further enhanced by a great sinister mood. The lyrics rock, too.
Then we have the two ballads, "The Unforgiven" and "Nothing Else Matters", and honestly, I've always been a sucker for these guys ballads. Both are pretty great, emotional stuff, featuring great acoustic guitarwork, memorable and well-done vocal lines by a James Hetfield who's softened and cleaned up his voice hugely with this album, especially on the ballads.

In conclusion, "The Black Album" ain't at all as bad as some metalhead elitists or thrash purists try to make it out to be. However, it showed the first oncoming signs of Metallica's selling out and becoming the band most worthy of loathing in the history of Heavy Metal as we know it. This is really a step up from the dreary ...AJFA, but it was all downhill from here, sadly. Oh, and the cover is stupid as hell.