August 12, 1991 - The Black Album

A little over a month after my last release and three years since "...And Justice For All", Metallica released their fifth album on August 12, 1991. It's technically called "Metallica" but due to the album cover it's more commonly known as "The Black Album". It marked a big shift for Metallica in many different ways, the biggest one being Metallica's popularity skyrocketing. "The Black Album" was Metallica's first #1 album on the charts and it brought Metallica from underground thrash metal band into arguably the biggest rock band on the planet. This newfound popularity is due to a marked shift in Metallica's style, as they largely moved away from the thrash metal that made them so awesome in the 80s to a more commercial-friendly style of metal. And while Jason Newsted was a member of the band on their last album, this would be his true debut with the band as you can actually hear his bass on this album! They also worked with a new producer for the first time, Bob Rock, and he and the band had a tumultuous relationship during recording. How will all these changes affect the great Metallica? Let's find out!

The album begins with "Enter Sandman" and it would become probably Metallica's most popular and most well-known song. This album in general has much shorter, more radio-friendly songs that Metallica had done in the past and this one would propel Metallica into the mainstream. James Hetfield opens it with a light guitar riff and the band does a nice job of slowly building things up: Lars Ulrich joins in with some epic drums, then Newsted's bass makes things sound a bit heavier and then finally Kirk Hammett's lead guitar completes the main riff. It's definitely a far cry from the thrash metal of last decade, but just because it's not blisteringly awesome doesn't mean it's not a solid and pretty damn catchy metal riff. Hetfield's voice sounds more polished and radio-friendly as well as he sings a nice verse to match this metal anthem. The chorus is easy to remember and song along to as James nicely belt's out "exit light, enter night, take my hand, we're off to never never land". A lot of Metalluca fans thought this album was when they "sold out", abandoning their thrash metal style so they could be adored by the masses with a much simpler metal style. While I certainly prefer their thrash-ier stuff, this album and this first single is still some high quality metal, it's just in a different style. Hammett gives us a brief tease of a solo after the first chorus but after another round through he delivers a much longer solo. It's pretty epic and amazing sounding as Kirk plays the perfect solo for this song and the end of it trails nicely into a new creepy part where Hetfield recites the lord's prayer, and had it echoed back by a little girl which makes things sound pretty creepy indeed. They shift nicely back to the main riff and after a couple choruses the song might seem to be ending, but they jam things out for over a minute more as things slowly and eventually fade to silence. The next song was also a huge radio hit, titled "Sad But True" and it too has a slower pace for Metallica, but it's driven by one hell of a catchy metal riff that it is hard not to headbang to. Both guitars and the bass all play the same thing to make it sound very forceful and heavy and Lars plays some pretty epic drums as well as they roll into a pretty sweet main riff. Hetfield sings nicely along to the bouncing rhythm and he has come a long way as a vocalist as he sounds like he's fully matured and is comfortable on this album. The chorus is similar but slightly different than the verse but it all sounds pretty cool and Hetfield is doing a great job on vocals and on guitar. Just like at the beginning, they stop everything for a few seconds after the second solo and it makes it that much more epic when they come thundering in for the guitar solo. Hammett delivers a sweet, fast solo overtop the main riff and after a short chorus by Hetfield he even rips off another quick solo! This solo leads perfectly back into the main riff as they nicely jam out a final verse and chorus and end this song on an appropriately epic note. Metallica may have shifted styles a bit, but they are still excellent songwriters. Track 3 is "Holier Than Thou" and it has what would be considered a more typical Metallica pace to it as Hetfield leads the way with a fast guitar riff. Hammett plays some trippy background guitar as they build things up to the main riff where Kirk syncs up with James for a forceful and cool main guitar riff. Hetfield sounds pretty great singing the verse but the chorus is a little repetitive, but the guitar is pretty good the whole time. Of course there's a solo midway through and Hammett delivers as he always does with a pretty cool solo. Following the solo Newsted gets the spotlight to himself for a second and his bass is pretty good! He keeps things humming along until the rest of the band joins back in for a final chorus to finish off this short song. The next song is "The Unforgiven" and it's only the first super popular song off this album with a much lighter feel to it than Metallica was previously known for. However, Metallica show that they can still sound great even in this much lighter style of metal as this is a pretty epic and cool song. Hetfield plays a quiet but nice rhythm guitar riff and Hammett comes in with some slow but epic sounding lead guitar before Lars plays a slow drum fill and Newsted joins in to complete the main riff. When Hetfield comes in to begin the verse the music shifts to a heavier version of the main riff and it and Hetfield sound pretty good. The mood shifts back to lighter in the chorus as James sings in a softer voice, but it fits the lighter music perfectly. They shift back into heavy gear for another verse and after another light chorus Hetfield plays some cool rhythm guitar that perfectly sets the stage for a typically loud and epic Hammett guitar solo. It's not a particularly fast solo, but it fits the song very nicely and still sounds great. After the solo we hear the chorus and then for the remainder of the song Hetfield continues to sing the end of the chorus and Hammett plays some final bits of cool guitar as they slowly fade to the finish. Track 5 is "Wherever I May Roam" and it begins with a creepy sounding guitar riff that just seems to hang in the air and they shift very nicely as they continue to play the same riff, but in a much heavier, pounding way that sounds pretty awesome. It's a very epic way to start the song and Metallica continue to really nicely segue between parts as they somehow speed up the riff greatly but make it a very smooth transition. They nicely break things back down to the slow and epic opening and finally Hetfield begins the first verse and he too sounds pretty epic, nicely yelling overtop this epic music. They kick back into heavy mode for the chorus and Lars drums sound pretty epic and cool throughout this one. After another verse they play a couple choruses the second of which leads right into Hammett's guitar solo. Kirk delivers a pretty sweet solo that starts fast, breaks down and then picks up again! They play a couple regular choruses but for the final minute and a half Hammett just solos overtop of the rest of the band jamming out the chorus. He plays a ton of awesome stuff in this closing solo as he seems to have an eternity to just rip off some cool stuff. A fine way to end a pretty great song. Up next is "Don't Tread On Me" and it's driven by a slow and simple guitar riff but Metallica do a great job of slowly building it up and Lars drums sound pretty epic. Eventually they settle into another slow but heavy main riff and Hetfield sounds pretty good half singing and half yelling the verse. This song has a nice swinging beat to it and it's hard not to headbang along to. Hetfield sings some fast lyrics in the chorus that sound pretty cool and of course Hammett is here to solo. As usual, he doesn't disappoint as he plays some pretty great guitar and words continue to do no justice to such a talented guitarist. They play a final verse and chorus to end this shorter song that shows Metallica's new style well: it's not fast and thrash-y but Metallica are still at the top of their game in this new style that's still plenty heavy.

Track 7 is called "Through The Never" and it's driven by a speedy and catchy guitar riff played by both Hetfield and Hammett. James' vocals continue to sound good as he sings nicely along to this fast-paced main riff. Hammett rips off some quick cool guitar bits in the verses and as usual he plays a pretty cool solo midway through. The end of the solo flows nicely into a groovy new riff as Hetfield plays some nice guitar and shouts the name of the song. They wrap up the song with a final chorus before James yells one final "never!" to end it. The next song is "Nothing Else Matters" and it would become a hugely successful single and concert mainstay for Metallica. It's a very slow song, but it sounds very dark, somber and quite epic and Hetfield begins the song with a light but cool guitar riff. He plays some slow and sweet stuff in this quiet opening and Lars loud drums signal the start of the first verse as James sings really nicely in a soft but epic voice. He sounds pretty good in this softer voice, and it makes his regular voice sound even better when he switches from half-whispering to full singing. The famed Michael Kamen (who also worked with Pink Floyd) conducts some orchestral music that we also hear in the background, making this quiet song sound even more full and epic. James is singing loudly in the chorus as he holds several long notes overtop the epic music, and they nicely quiet things down again as they move back to the main riff for the next verse. After a short verse and chorus they play a short instrumental interlude that sounds alright and then after another verse and chorus it's finally solo time. This solo is actually done by Hetfield instead of Hammett and the style is definitely different as James doesn't do anything fast at all. He still plays an epic solo that matches the mood of the song perfectly and then James sings a final soft chorus and they end the song as it began with Hetfield and Hammett both playing some cool light guitar. Track 9 is called "Of Wolf And Man" and things come crashing in heavily right from the start as they establish another pretty cool main guitar riff. Lars' loud, bouncing drums keep the headbanging beat and Hammett plays a catchy lead guitar riff while James sounds pretty good quickly yelling the verse. The chorus begins with Newsted yelling "shapeshift" before Hetfield comes in to sing the next line and Jason's vocals actually sound pretty similar to James! They do a nice back-and-forth in this chorus that ends with a cool "(back to the meaning) back to the meaning of... life!" and things roll right along to the catchy main riff. After another verse and chorus it's of course solo time and of course Hammett plays a pretty awesome guitar solo with some great shredding bits to it. After the solo things get quiet and James does a short talking part where he sounds pretty dark and creepy and they tie it perfectly back into the chorus! They jam out a final chorus but this time end it by singing the name of the song before nicely bringing things to a close. Up next is "The God That Failed" which Hetfield wrote about his mother. She was an extremely religious person, to the point that when she got cancer, she wouldn't seek any sort of treatment and she told James that it must be God's will. Not surprisingly, she passed away and James wrote this song as a tribute to her, and of course the God that failed her. Newsted opens the song with a low and dirty bass riff and this turns out to be the driving riff of the song when the guitars sync up with Newsted for a powerful and heavy main riff. James sings a verse that bounces along nicely to the beat and he holds some longer notes in the chorus. This song is a perfect example of how Metallica's new sound is still good, and plenty heavy, but there seems to be much less energy and bite to things as they jam along at a fairly slow pace. After another verse and chorus Hammett's solo starts off pretty slow and rather tame, but they do a nice Breakdown mid-solo and the end of it is much more like we're accustomed to Kirk playing. They finish things off with a final verse and chorus in this predictable song that by all means is still good, but I thought was one of the lesser songs on the album. Track 11 is "My Friend Of Misery" and it was originally supposed to be instrumental but wound up with lyrics in the end, thus making this the first Metallica album without an instrumental song. This is also the only song on the album where Newsted gets a writing credit and he opens the song with another slow but cool bass riff. It was this bass riff that inspired this whole song and Jason continues to play it while James and Kirk play some offbeat guitars that mix pretty well with it. Lars plays some slow but epic sounding drums that are on basically every track and James continues to sound great singing the verse and yelling the chorus. They slow things down and repeat the cycle and then we hear just Newsted's bass once again. Kirk and James play some slow trippy guitars overtop in this quiet bit, then they kick into the guitar solo. The first half is alright but fairly tame for Hammett, but they nicely shift gears for the second half as Kirk rails off some fast and epic guitar. This leads right into the chorus and then Hammett solos overtop of the chorus as they jam things out for a final minute with plenty more great guitar. The album finally wraps up with "The Struggle Within" and Lars plays some nice drums as they lead in with a heavy marching beat before segueing nicely into a fast-paced main riff. Hetfield sounds great singing quickly along to the fast riff and Newsted sounds alright as well singing backing vocals in the chorus. They use the same cool segue to start it all up again and after another verse and chorus you know it's time for a solo. Hammett delivers on this one as he gets time to play a lengthy solo with several awesome parts to it. They finally roll into the main riff and after a final verse and chorus they do the cool segue bit just when it would start up again they abruptly cut the song and the album off.

That is the end of "The Black Album" and I thought it was a pretty sweet album. Metallica managed to branch out to a much wider, much more generic audience while still keeping things very heavy metal. It's a testament to how amazing Metallica was in the 80s that I think this latest album is their worst one yet. This album is still an excellent album because Metallica are that much more talented than most other bands, but I am amongst the crowd that believes this shift to a slower and more accessible form of metal does not hold a candle to any of Metallica's first four albums: all of which feature mostly faster and more intense music. I'm a little sad about their shift in style, but Metallica are still kings amongst metalheads and there was still plenty of great music on "The Black Album".