Metallica

The “black album” has gone down in history as one of the most controversial heavy metal albums of all time. At the time of its release a lot of “Metallica’s” hardcore fans were largely disappointed. The reason was the huge turn in musical direction.

The band had already successfully positioned themselves in the highest ranks of heavy metal with back to back speed/thrash classics, “Ride the Lightning” and “Master of Puppets”. The highly technical and progressive thrash nature of “…And Justice for All” had put them well ahead of the metal scene at the time and fans eagerly awaited the follow up album.

To the hardcore fans’ disappointment the “Black Album”, as it has been called ever since its release in 1991 (due to its all-black cover), significantly deviated from the previous “Metallica” song writing formulas.

The album contained smaller in duration songs that were built in most cases around one riff. The songs were catchy with choruses that stayed with the listener long after the album had finished. Hell… that was nothing compared to the fact that the album enclosed for the first time ever a clear-cut ballad in “Nothing Else Matters”. That was something that a great deal of fans at the time were not ready to accept. “Metallica” had sold out…

The album is nowadays considered to be a modern classic even by many earlier disappointed hardcore fans. It contains classic “Metallica” hits such as “Enter Sandman”, “Sad But True”, “The Unforgiven” and “Nothing Else Matters” which have become a vital part of the band’s set list for live shows. Besides the obvious hits the album also contains compositions of great quality and depth. Songs such as “Wherever I May Roam”, “The God that Failed” and “My Friend of Misery” best illustrate “Metallica’s” ability in writing classic songs and arranging parts in such a way so that the individual talents of its members are fully utilized.

The “Black Album” contains some of Hetfield’s heaviest (neck-braking at times) riffs. Hammett provides some of his finest melodic solos. The album also includes the most interesting basslines Newsted ever recorded and Ulrich’s most straightforward playing (which still took him forever to finish according to one of the stories told in the “black album” classic series DVD). The emphasis is therefore put on the mighty riff, which assumes the leading role and on Hetfield’s passionate vocal performance that effectively connects to the listener.

As far as lyrics are concerned, the album contains both some childish fantasy Hetfield efforts as in “Enter Sandman” but for the most part “Metallica’s” main man effectively delivers passionate lyrics about his childhood in “The God that Failed”, the brotherhood bond between the band members in “Nothing Else Matters”, the life on the road in “Wherever I May Roam” and (a personal favorite) upbringing and conformance to society stereotypes and rules in “The Unforgiven”. The last song is the closest “Metallica” have ever got to be to their “Master of Puppets” and “…And Justice for All” albums, lyrically-wise.

One of the reasons this album is very often cited for, is its amazing production and mix. Bob Rock might as well have delivered the best sounding album ever in heavy metal’s almost 40 years of existence. Not only are all instruments clearly audible, they are also mixed in the most professional way to formulate three-dimensional sounding songs. One can easily hear the crunchy guitar sound above all instruments. Then right below the bass frequency plays its own important role adding both depth and the necessary melodic line, with the exceptional drum and cymbal sound complementing everything perfectly. The vocal harmonies are on top of everything else, sounding strong and driving all the songs to higher levels. This one is probably Hetfield’s best vocal performance to date.

The only serious drawback I find in this album is “Don’t Tread on Me” which I find to be a rather poor composition in comparison to the other songs. I think the album could easily afford lacking this one. Other than that I would say that “Metallica” as an album is not as good or as quality-oriented as any of the band’s previous recordings, song writing-wise. Still, no one can deny that this is the last great heavy metal album by the band.

Concluding, I would like to set the following questions:

How would you call an album so much debated upon its initial release?
How would you call an album which was hated immensely by many of the band’s hardcore fans?
Finally, how would you call an album that besides the aforementioned has effectively stood the test of time year after year and has managed to turn the haters into lovers?

I would call it a Classic Heavy Metal album.