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Metallica (album)

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Metallica, informally known as The Black Album, is the fifth album by the American heavy metal band Metallica, released August 13, 1991 through Elektra Records. The album features songs that are considered today among Metallica's most well-known tracks, with songs such as "Enter Sandman", "The Unforgiven", "Nothing Else Matters", "Wherever I May Roam" and "Sad but True".

It spent four consecutive weeks at number one on Billboard 200. Metallica is the band's best-selling album to date, with over 15 million copies sold in the United States. It is the best-selling album of the SoundScan era.[2][3] The album was certified 15x Platinum (Diamond) by the RIAA on November 13, 2009.[4]

Album information

The album cover features the band's logo, angled against the upper left corner, and a coiled snake (derived from the Gadsden flag) on the bottom right corner, both in a dark shade of gray in order to be made out against the black background. The motto of the Gadsden flag, "Don't Tread on Me", is also the title of a song on the album.

The cover is reminiscent of Spinal Tap's Smell the Glove album, something the band jokingly acknowledged themselves in their A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica documentary (where members of Spinal Tap appeared and asked them about it).

The album and the band were critically acclaimed and commercially successful. The band changed their sound from previous albums. The Black Album presented a more commercially accessible Metallica. 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 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. Another example is "Nothing Else Matters", which expresses the connection Hetfield felt with the band while out on the road. The album ended Metallica's tradition of including a lengthy instrumental track on each album until their 2008 album Death Magnetic.

Metallica was produced by Bob Rock, who was asked to mix the album as the band was impressed with his work as producer on the Mötley Crüe album, Dr. Feelgood.[5] 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."[5]

Rock altered the band's working schedule and routine so much that they swore never to work with him again [citation needed]. 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 recording process that resulted in The Black Album. Despite the controversies between the band and Rock, he continued to work with the band through the 2003 album St. Anger.

Metallica DVD-Audio 5.1 mix was released in 2001 through Elektra Records.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic [6]
Q
Rolling Stone [7]
  • Rolling Stone (9/5/91) - 5 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." In 2003, the album was ranked number 252 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
  • 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 magazine (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."

Tour

The world tour following the 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. It was during this time that Hetfield's voice slowly deteriorated[citation needed] from extensive touring, especially after blowing out his voice box[citation needed] during a 1992 performance of "So What?".

Some songs, such as "Enter Sandman", "Nothing Else Matters" and "Sad but True" would become permanent staples of the band's concert setlists during these and subsequent tours. Other songs though, such as "Holier Than Thou", "The God That Failed" and "Through The Never," by 1995, were no longer a part of any performances and would not be played again until more recent years when the band, with Robert Trujillo on bass, began performing a more extensive back catalog of songs.

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Enter Sandman"James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett5:32
2."Sad but True"Hetfield, Ulrich5:25
3."Holier Than Thou"Hetfield, Ulrich3:48
4."The Unforgiven"Hetfield, Ulrich, Hammett6:27
5."Wherever I May Roam"Hetfield, Ulrich6:44
6."Don't Tread on Me"Hetfield, Ulrich4:00
7."Through the Never"Hetfield, Ulrich, Hammett4:05
8."Nothing Else Matters"Hetfield, Ulrich6:29
9."Of Wolf and Man"Hetfield, Ulrich, Hammett4:17
10."The God That Failed"Hetfield, Ulrich5:09
11."My Friend of Misery"Hetfield, Ulrich, Jason Newsted6:50
12."The Struggle Within"Hetfield, Ulrich3:54
Japanese bonus
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
13."So What?"Nick "Animal" Kulmer, Chris "Magoo" Exall, Clive "Winston" Blake3:09

Personnel

  • Michael Kamen – orchestral arrangement on "Nothing Else Matters"

Charting

Album

Year Chart Position
1991 Billboard 200 1
The UK Album Chart
Australian ARIA Albums Chart

Singles

Year Song Chart Position
1991 "Enter Sandman" The Billboard Hot 100 16
Mainstream Rock Tracks 10
Modern Rock Tracks 28
The UK Top 40 2
"Don't Tread on Me" Mainstream Rock Tracks 21
"The Unforgiven" The UK Top 40 7
1992 The Billboard Hot 100 35
Mainstream Rock Tracks 10
"Nothing Else Matters" The Billboard Hot 100 34
Mainstream Rock Tracks 11
The UK Top 40 6
"Wherever I May Roam" The Billboard Hot 100 82
The UK Top 40 12
Mainstream Rock Tracks 25
"Sad but True" The Billboard Hot 100 98
Mainstream Rock Tracks 15
1993 The UK Top 40 25

Certification

Country Sales Certification
United States 15,525,000[8] Diamond (15x Platinum)
Canada 1,000,000+[9] Diamond
Austria 100,000+[10] 2x Platinum
France 438.200+[11] Platinum
Finland 112,856 2x Platinum[12]
Germany 1.000.000+ 2x Platinum[13]
Netherlands 200.000+ 2x Platinum[11]
Norway 100,000+ 2x Platinum[14]
Argentina 280,000 5x Platinum[15]
Australia 560,000 8x Platinum[16]
New Zealand 150,000 10x Platinum[17]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "Metallica.com". Metallica.com. 1991-08-13. Retrieved 2009-12-31.
  2. ^ "BLABBERMOUTH.NET - METALLICA's 'Black' LP Is Top-Selling Album Of SOUNDSCAN Era". Roadrunnerrecords.com. Retrieved 2009-12-31.
  3. ^ "Metallica: 'Black' LP Is Top-Selling Album Of Soundscan Era | News @". Ultimate-guitar.com. 1991-05-25. Retrieved 2009-12-31.
  4. ^ "Gold & Platinum - December 31, 2009". RIAA. Retrieved 2009-12-31.
  5. ^ a b Rosen, Craig. The Billboard Book of Number One Albums. Billboard Books, 1996 ISBN 0-8230-7586-9
  6. ^ Allmusic Review
  7. ^ Rolling Stone Review
  8. ^ BILLBOARD TOP SELLERS IN SOUNDSCAN ERA: Ask Billboard: Battle Of The Rock Bands, Part 2
  9. ^ "Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA): Gold & Platinum". Cria.ca. Retrieved 2009-12-31.
  10. ^ "IFPI Austria - Verband der Österreichischen Musikwirtschaft" (in Template:De icon). Ifpi.at. Retrieved 2009-12-31.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  11. ^ a b "InfoDisc : Les Certifications (Albums) du SNEP (les Disques de Platine)". Infodisc.fr. Retrieved 2009-12-31.
  12. ^ IFPI Finland Searchable database - Gold and Platinum. Retrieved July 7, 2009.
  13. ^ "Bundesverband Musikindustrie: Gold-/Platin-Datenbank". Musikindustrie.de. Retrieved 2009-12-31.
  14. ^ "IFPI Norsk platebransje". Ifpi.no. Retrieved 2009-12-31.
  15. ^ "Representando a la Industria Argentina de la Música". CAPIF. Retrieved 2009-12-31.
  16. ^ [1]
  17. ^ "Latest Gold / Platinum Albums - RadioScope New Zealand". 74.125.47.132. Retrieved 2009-12-31.
Preceded by Billboard 200 number-one album
August 31 – September 27, 1991 		Succeeded by
Preceded by UK number one album
August 24, 1991 – August 30, 1991 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Australian ARIA Albums Chart number-one album
August 25 – August 31, 1991 		Succeeded by
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