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Metallica (album)
Metallica (album)
Metallica 4. "Nothing Else Matters" Released: 1992 5. "Wherever I May Roam" Released: 1992 6. "Sad but True" Released: 1992
Studio album by Metallica Released Recorded August 12, 1991 October 1990 – June 1991 at "One On One" studios, Los Angeles, California Heavy metal 62:31 Elektra, Vertigo Bob Rock with James Hetfield & Lars Ulrich
Genre Length Label Producer
Professional reviews • • • • Allmusic link Kerrang! Metal Hammer Q Issue 253 (08/2007) link link
• Robert Christgau • Rolling Stone Metallica chronology …And Justice for All (1988)
Metallica (also referred to as The Black Album) is the fifth album by the American heavy metal band Metallica, released August 12, 1991 through Elektra Records. The album features songs that are considered today as Metallica’s most 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 and over 22 million copies worldwide. It is the second best-selling album of the SoundScan era. The album cover features only 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 featured on the album. The cover is very 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). Metallica DVD-Audio 5.1 mix was released in 2004 through Elektra Records.
Metallica (1991)
Load (1996)
History
While the album and the band were critically praised and commercially successful, some fans expressed disappointment in the new direction taken by Metallica. Gone for the most part were faster staccato riffs during verses and throaty vocals found on the band’s first four albums; the overall speed and complexity of the music was somewhat lessened.
Singles from Metallica 1. "Enter Sandman" Released: 1991 2. "Don’t Tread On Me" Released: 1991 3. "The Unforgiven" Released: 1991
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Black Album presented a more radiofriendly, commercially accessible Metallica, especially evidenced by the ballad "Nothing Else Matters". Moreover, 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 much more personal and introspective in nature than previous Metallica albums. 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. "Nothing Else Matters" expresses the connection Hetfield felt with a girlfriend 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 (album)
their thrash roots, Metallica was slower, less complicated, and probably twice as heavy as anything they’d done before."
Bob Rock
Metallica was produced by Bob Rock, who was originally asked to mix the album as the band was impressed with his work as producer on the Mötley Crüe album, Dr. Feelgood.[1] 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."[1] The Black Album’s sound was a marked difference from the stripped down production of the previous album. Rock altered the band’s working schedule and routine so much that they swore never to work with him again. 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 and merciless recording process that resulted in The Black Album. Despite the controversies between the band and Rock, he continued to work with the band up until, and including, the 2003 album St. Anger.
Reception
• 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
Tour
The world tour following the Metallica 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.
Track listing
# 1. Title "Enter Sandman" "Sad but True" "Holier Than Thou" Writer(s) James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett Hetfield, Ulrich Hetfield, Ulrich Length 5:31
2. 3.
5:23 3:48
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Year 1991 Chart The Billboard 200 The UK Album Chart Australian ARIA Albums Chart U.S. Billboard Top Rock Albums 4. "The Hetfield, Ulrich, Unforgiven" Hammett "Wherever I Hetfield, Ulrich May Roam" "Don’t Tread on Me" "Through the Never" "Nothing Else Matters" "Of Wolf and Man" Hetfield, Ulrich 6:26
Metallica (album)
Position 1
Personnel
• James Hetfield – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar in "The Unforgiven" • Kirk Hammett – lead guitar, intro sitar in "Wherever I May Roam", backing vocals • Jason Newsted – bass guitar, backing vocals • Lars Ulrich – drums, percussion
5.
6:45
6.
4:01
7. 8.
Hetfield, Ulrich, Hammett Hetfield, Ulrich
4:03 6:29
Guests
• Michael Kamen – arrangement of orchestration on "Nothing Else Matters"
9.
Hetfield, Ulrich, Hammett Hetfield, Ulrich
4:17 5:05
Charting
Album Singles
10. "The God That Failed" 11. "My Friend of Misery" 12. "The Struggle Within" # Title
Hetfield, Ulrich, Jason Newsted Hetfield, Ulrich
6:51 3:53
Certification
See also
• List of best-selling albums in the United States • Metallica to be Inducted into Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame FuseTV
Bonus track (Asian editions) Writer(s) Nick "Animal" Kulmer, Chris "Magoo" Exall, Clive "Winston" Blake Length 3:09 13. "So What?"
(AntiNowhere League cover)
References
[1] ^ Rosen, Craig. The Billboard Book of Number One Albums. Billboard Books, 1996 ISBN 0-8230-7586-9
Singles
• • • • • • "Enter Sandman" – 1991 "Don’t Tread On Me" –1991 "The Unforgiven" – 1991 "Nothing Else Matters" – 1992 "Wherever I May Roam" – 1992 "Sad but True" – 1992
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Year 1991 Song "Enter Sandman" "Enter Sandman" "Enter Sandman" "Enter Sandman" "Don’t Tread on Me" "The Unforgiven" 1992 "The Unforgiven" "The Unforgiven" "Nothing Else Matters" "Nothing Else Matters" "Nothing Else Matters" "Wherever I May Roam" "Wherever I May Roam" "Wherever I May Roam" "Sad but True" "Sad but True" 1993 "Sad but True" Sales 15,369,331 Chart The Billboard Hot 100 Mainstream Rock Tracks Modern Rock Tracks The UK Top 40 Mainstream Rock Tracks The UK Top 40 The Billboard Hot 100 Mainstream Rock Tracks The Billboard Hot 100 Mainstream Rock Tracks The UK Top 40 The Billboard Hot 100 The UK Top 40 Mainstream Rock Tracks The Billboard Hot 100 Mainstream Rock Tracks The UK Top 40 Certification Diamond
Metallica (album)
Position 16 10 28 2 21 7 35 10 34 11 6 82 12 25 98 15 25
Country United States Preceded by Unforgettable... with Love by Natalie Cole
Billboard 200 number-one album Succeeded by August 31 – September 27, 1991 Ropin’ the Wind by Garth Brooks Succeeded by Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat by London Stage Cast Succeeded by On Every Street by Dire Straits
Preceded by UK number one album Essential Pavarotti II by August 24, 1991 – August 30, 1991 Luciano Pavarotti Preceded by Unforgettable... with Love by Natalie Cole Australian ARIA Albums Chart number-one album August 25 – August 31, 1991
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metallica_(album)" Categories: 1991 albums, Albums produced by Bob Rock, Albums released on DVD-Audio, Elektra Records albums, Heavy metal albums, Metallica albums, Vertigo Records albums This page was last modified on 22 May 2009, at 04:52 (UTC). All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details.) Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a U.S. registered 501(c)(3) taxdeductible nonprofit charity. Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers
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