Metallica's Black Album officially turns 30 yrs old

[michael_bolton]

'tallica was the first thrash band I've heard (RTL to be specific). at the time my mind was blown, I actively seeked out and listened to their other stuff with MOP being my fav.

Then I moved on in two directions - "heavier" stuff (Slayer, Death, Napalm Death, German Thrash) and also early stuff (Zeppelin, King Crimson, Stones, Motorhead etc). When Justice came out I could care less. When Black Album came out - I saw the vids for Nothing Else Matters and Sandman before hearing the rest of the tunes. Was defo a WTF moment for me lol. I bought the vinyl eventually, played it a few times, there's a couple of decent tunes on there but that's about it in my book.

 

[SamSam]

Easily one of the greatest rhythm tones ever recorded. Not my favourite collection of Metallica songs by any means. But I can still remember the first time I heard Sad But True and that first chord stab is just immense.

 

[Viginez]

i remember, this was the album even non metal heads listened and liked most of the time

 

[Andromalia]

Funny thing is, the album at the time had a lot of negative press. I remember the concert programme being a collection of articles claiming Megadeth were the new kings of Metal (Their current was Rust in Peace or Countdown to Extinction I think). - I saw Metallica three times in that era, once in Monsters of rock in the open where they indeed didn't sound very good, and twice indoors where the sound was excellent -
All that to say that album did take a while to sink in. I definitely remember that not all my mates digged it.

 

[gnoll]

I don't like this album, I don't think the songs are very good and it's boring. Listening to all of it is kind of a chore, when you get to the last song it's like hell yeeeah FINALLY a song that's at least a LITTLE bit fast. And then you realize that the song kinda sux and it's like oh... oh well....

And can we stop the "yeahieyeaaahhh" please.

Sad But True is probably my favorite song here.

 

[Seabeast2000]

 

[Addie5150]

My grandpa and his friends have taken over this thread with their opinions on the black album

 

[gnoll]

Damn, whoever made that Hip to Be Square mashup is a genius, lol...

 

[teamSKDM]

Ima say it. black album has some of kirks best solos of all time. easily his most composed solos , alot of the others before this album could be pretty random / improv at times but every last solo on the black album is so geniunely tasteful and musical and compliment and elevate the songs and are plenty shreddy and memorable

 

[Accoun]

I'm gonna be honest: it's not *bad*, but it's actually my least favorite album of theirs. Not even saying it as some pre-BA hardliner. I just somehow never jelled with it, even if some songs are good.

 

[Randy]

I don't like this album, I don't think the songs are very good and it's boring. Listening to all of it is kind of a chore, when you get to the last song it's like hell yeeeah FINALLY a song that's at least a LITTLE bit fast. And then you realize that the song kinda sux and it's like oh... oh well....

And can we stop the "yeahieyeaaahhh" please.

Sad But True is probably my favorite song here.

I wouldn't go that far but it is a transitional album IMO and I think the ideas that came before it and after it were more fully formed. That's probably why it was so popular, because it had crossover appeal.

Metallica was a thrash and heavy metal band, and they became kind of an alt rock/metal band in the (Re)Load era. Black Album was fine when I was young and everything was new but as far as relistenability as an adult, too many of the songs feel like heavy metal ballads or like a simpler tune trying to be more complex 'just because'. If I'm looking for Metallica in a nutshell, I'm probably reaching for MoP and Reload versus that "kinda in between" sound.

I think my favorite track on there would be Of Wolf and Man.

 

[BMFan30]

My grandpa and his friends have taken over this thread with their opinions on the black album

Nice try Tim Handson

 

[Seabeast2000]

i remember, this was the album even non metal heads listened and liked most of the time

Yep, that is the precise and simple history as I remember it.
I look at it like this, without the Black Album to buoy them as a metal band across the changes in music directly ahead of that album, they wouldn't be the surviving institution they are today. I'll take successful 2020 Metallica over has-been, what-if Metallica 1991.

Damn, whoever made that Hip to Be Square mashup is a genius, lol...

Yeah, even more hiliarious is Megadeth and Judas Priest start showing up. Maybe some others too.

 

[Dooky]

Easily one of the greatest rhythm tones ever recorded. Not my favourite collection of Metallica songs by any means. But I can still remember the first time I heard Sad But True and that first chord stab is just immense.

That's what I enjoy most about the album most too. The tone and the overall production. I'm not a huge fan of the songs per say (not that I think they're rubbish by any means. They're great. But my jam is much more RTL and MOP), but like listening to things like the intro to Wherever I May Roam, Sandman when the heavy riff kicks in, Don't Tread On Me and a few others. They just sound massive and I think Hetfield's vocals sound great too.

 

[nightflameauto]

EDIT: I didn't realize I was going to get this deep when I started this. If you don't like rambling bullshit about personal feelings, feel free to skip this one.

I remember hearing all the negative slams on the Black Album at the time and didn't get it at all. It was different from the direction they had been heading from Kill -> Justice. That was a fairly smooth arc, and then *BAM* Black Album. So while I get long term fans having some questions about what happened, the songs were still enjoyable enough to listen to and nod your head.

Granted, the NEXT album I couldn't freakin' stand. Basic gutter trash by my standards at the time, and to this day I can't hear one of those tunes without having an internal violent reaction. It was, literally, a completely different band. The Black Album felt like Metallica having an experiment. Load felt like Metallica was gone and somebody else took their place. I get that bands evolve, but it was such a departure that even Metallica themselves at that point started talking in terms of "old fans" vs. "new fans."

I should caveat this by saying, I have very eclectic tastes. I was into everything from Winger to the death metal bands from Florida when that all kicked off. But seeing a single band turn that hard between a couple albums was a tough swallow. I mean, at this point I can shrug it off, but it felt pretty brutal at the time. Granted, I was also in the midst of one of the most devastatingly stupid relationships of my life and the breakup started during the Load era, so there's probably some of that lingering around me when it comes to those songs.

I should also add that this was a transitory time for a lot of the old metal stalwarts. So many of them turned tail at the same time and started putting out more "accessible" shit that it was incredibly frustrating as a dude just looking for something to bang his head and rage out to. Nothing seemed to fit the bill right when I needed it most. I was bitter over that for a long time, and blamed Metallica for the direction all those heavy bands were taking because of their success crossing over.

I set music aside for most of that decade due to my feelings about the heavy scene just disintegrating overnight. I didn't throw all my shit out and burn my shirts like one of my friends did, but I couldn't stomach listening to it for quite a while.

It all seems so silly looking back at it now, but that shit was literally my life line more times than I could count back in the day. I have zero doubts I would have flipped shit as a teen without that rage outlet and probably ended up a statistic or a news story. Thankfully, I matured enough by my twenties to just absorb most of it and rage silently over what I couldn't absorb until I aged out of anger and into acquiescence.

So, while I understand when people got upset by the transition, I can't imagine holding onto it at this point. Bands move on. Eventually even the most stubborn went looking and found new shit. And life spirals it's tendrils around those of us that are still here and pulls us along with it.

Jesus. Apparently I'm feeling chatty.

 

[donniekak]

The disappointment I felt when I first heard this record is hard to explain. Never felt more let down by a record in my life, except maybe Kiss' Dynasty.

I can relate 100%
From the perspective of a young listener going from mop to justice, an album of almost dream theater like prog metal riffs was expected, not a pop metal masterpiece.

But like much music I didn't appreciate at the time, it has grown on me because of the sheer quality of the songs.

 

[Louis Cypher]

I thought there would be a decent amount of negativity bout this one but not quite so much tbh.

It is a marmite album for fans of the band and metal fans in general. Personally as I said in the OP I still love it and feel proper ancient that it's now 30 yrs old

 

[Jarmake]

I remember when I was just a wee lad when my brother and sister played a lot metallica. Black album had just came out and my mother just loved nothing else matters. It was the first song I ever learned completely and I think it was the first one I tried learning when I was around 5 or 6.

It took me maybe 6 years to start playing properly and nem just had to be the first one. I remember playing it on christmas eve (I got my first electric guitar&amp that christmas, a red epiphone sg and a 15 watt crate!) for my family and relatives.

I still play nothing else matters to my mother, when I visit her or she visits us.

 

[jahosy]

Not the most technical music, but man, it has to be the most impactful release. The overall sound is just amazing, even 30 years on. It's an album that both casual and hardcore metal fans enjoy.



Just watched this the other day, and they really struck gold with Bob Rock.

 

[zappatton2]

One thing I kinda like about the Black Album is that, it's not as technical as their previous albums or most of the metal at the time, but it's just technical enough for guitar beginners to hone those initial chops.

I started playing around '91, so did a lot of my friends, and you can bet most of what we started out on was from this album.