Metallica - The "Black" Album

[Hatchetaxe&saw]

So, it's 20 years since this monster was released. Did this album open up the thrashier side of metal's rusty doors for you, like it did for me, or was it a sell-out and did they lose all the cred they had built up over the previous decade.....

 

 

If I hadn't heard this first I would never have gone near Ride The Lightning or Master of Puppets.

 

 

What say you?

[Albone2112]

I'd been a fan for about 4 years or so when this album came out, and I actually pre-ordered this one at my local 'Sound Shop'.

 

I liked the album for the most part, but once I got to 'Nothing Else Matters', I was deflated like a balloon that had the air let out of it. I still hate the song to this day because of it, and it was a piss-break song for me when they played it on the ensuing tour, and it's the only time I've ever left my spot during a set by a band, other than maybe a lackluster opener.

 

It's a great album other than that. 'Of Wolf And Man' and 'My Friend Of Misery' are my favorite album tracks.

[tangy]

i did not care for it, and i guess i do look at it as as sellout of sorts with all the lame videos they made. i know lots of people who love it to death so their must be some merit somewhere.

[Soni]

QUOTE (tangy @ Aug 15 2011, 05:25 PM)

i did not care for it, and i guess i do look at it as as sellout of sorts with all the lame videos they made. i know lots of people who love it to death so their must be some merit somewhere.

I agree with you

AJFA is much better, the only good album they did since the black is DM.

[Albone2112]

I will add that I knew Metallica was maturing and evolving, so I knew it was going to be a little different from the previous efforts. Those first four albums, plus 'Garage Days' were wore out when I was in high school (I graduated in '91). But a power ballad?!?!?!?!? PLEEEZ!!!!!

 

The first time I saw Metallica live was on the Monsters of Rock tour in '88 (my first rock show) at the Liberty Bowl in Memphis. I was really excited to see Metallica, and they stole the show in my opinion, but I remember seeing some people throwing paper cups at them with my future brother-in-law among them. Those people just didn't get it, while I and the rest of us who were banging our heads did.

 

Fast-forward to 1991, I go to visit my sister and brother-in-law at their first pad, and what do I see? I see a copy of the Black Album lying on top of their stereo. Bro-in-law said he liked some of the songs on the album, but still refused to give the earlier material a chance. To me it was like Metallica were pandering to the people who threw stuff at them in Memphis on that day, because I will still bet that 90% of those people bought the 'Black Album' when it came out.

[Stormtron]

I think I was 8 when this came out. It was one of the first metal albums I had, and I loved it then, but started to favor the thrashier stuff as I got older. I think it's a decent album...half good, half forgettable, but I don't hate it.

[Enemy Within 77]

Shitty album then and shitty album now.

[raptorcox]

The only plus I remember when it came out was that you could now hear Metallica on the radio. However, it was nice not hearing the same songs from them over and over and over again NOW on the radio played ad nauseum. There is a sound-wise improvement with Bob Rock's production that also raised eyebrows on the Black Album.. however, the classic Metallica sound still holds up on old tracks from Kill Em All, etc.

[treeduck]

QUOTE (Hatchetaxe&saw @ Aug 15 2011, 10:14 AM)

So, it's 20 years since this monster was released. Did this album open up the thrashier side of metal's rusty doors for you, like it did for me, or was it a sell-out and did they lose all the cred they had built up over the previous decade..... If I hadn't heard this first I would never have gone near Ride The Lightning or Master of Puppets. What say you?

I just don't get Metallica. When they first appeared around 1983 I actually thought they were a Spinal Tap parody band, only not as good as Spinal Tap. Even the name sounds like a metal parody.

 

More importantly though, I hate the songs, I hate the vocals, I hate the guitars. Kirk Hammet must be the most wah wah happy fool ever and he can't even play the bands own riffs! And don't even mention Lars Ulrich!!

 

Joke band!

 

[HemispheresserehpsimeH]

Awesome album, but I prefer Load.

[metaldad]

They became everything they said they were against. A crappy MTV band.

[Akron162]

if you are an original fan, since Kill em All, it surely feels like a kick in the balls when you hear it, i mean, try to compare Ride the Lightning with The Unforgiven, bastly different. Anyway, its not a bad album, but its not my favorite from Metallica. Edited August 15, 2011 by Akron162

[Tommy Sawyer]

Meh. Only Metallica album I've ever heard. Not a fan.

[LeaveMyThingAlone]

QUOTE (metaldad @ Aug 15 2011, 02:52 PM)

They became everything they said they were against. A crappy MTV band.

No way....the Black Album is freakin' phenomenal. Just because they made videos and make them radio friendly and shorter doesn't mean they sold out. The musicianship is still awesome.

 

"Wherever I May Roam" may be my favorite Metallica song.

[metaldad]

QUOTE (Tommy Sawyer @ Aug 15 2011, 03:48 PM)

Meh. Only Metallica album I've ever heard. Not a fan.

You Need to get Master Of Puppets right away

[metaldad]

QUOTE (LeaveMyThingAlone @ Aug 15 2011, 03:56 PM)

QUOTE (metaldad @ Aug 15 2011, 02:52 PM) They became everything they said they were against. A crappy MTV band. No way....the Black Album is freakin' phenomenal. Just because they made videos and make them radio friendly and shorter doesn't mean they sold out. The musicianship is still awesome.   "Wherever I May Roam" may be my favorite Metallica song. Well, if you shorten songs and make them radio friendly, you pretty much are selling out when you are a Thrash band As far as Musicainship? I think the drumming is weak and boring and the singing is not what fans were used too.

[Presto-digitation]

Long time Metallica fan and my favorite album of theirs. All this talk about sell-out and shit like that is abject non-sense. It's an excellent metal album, high on crunch, melody, texture, and a keen sense of structure and arrangement.

[Invisible To Telescopic Eye]

QUOTE (LeaveMyThingAlone @ Aug 15 2011, 04:56 PM)

QUOTE (metaldad @ Aug 15 2011, 02:52 PM) They became everything they said they were against. A crappy MTV band. Just because they made videos and make them radio friendly and shorter doesn't mean they sold out. I agree with both statements here. It did make them everything they were against, and just 'cuz they made shorter more commercial songs doesn't make them sell out.   If making shorter more commercial songs is selling out, let us not forget Hemispheres, to Perm Waves.   As for the record, I've never been much of a Metallica fan although I tried with And Justice For All and for a while liked The Black Album...well some of it.   In '86 I was attending the UCONN and had a friend who worked in a record store and was always ahead of the music curve. He listened to Metallica, Slayer, Marillion, Black Flag and just about anything else. He said he felt bad for Metallica 'cuz he thought they would never have a bigger selling record than Ride The Lightning, 'cuz they got no radio play, and regular stores didn't sell their records. I still email him and make him eat those words.

[The K Man]

Good album. I was never a fan of Nothing Else Matters or The Unforgiven, but Wherever I May Roam, Enter Sandman and Sad But True are all very good hard rock/metal tunes. And most of the non-radio tunes are great, especially Don't Tread on Me, My Friend of Misery and The God That Failed.

[GrandDesigner]

I love virtually everything Metallica has done. St. Anger blows, but the rest is gold to me. TBA is not close to being one of my favorites, but it is definitely a stellar album, with great songwriting, aggression, and musicianship.

 

The band decided they needed to shake up their sound after the AJFA tour where they noticed a lot of the fans yawning during the title track, as it was so expansive and long. They would get bored themselves playing the Justice songs (see the aborted Frayed Ends on the Seattle 1989 video.) They actually rebelled against a bunch of the Justice material on TBA tour, only including Harvester, One, a Justice Medley, and The Shortest Straw at the tail end. The album was virtually ignored during the 90's and early 00's, with it gaining a resurgence once Rob entered the band. This experience on the Justice tour made the band consciously focus their sound into shorter, more dynamic songs, which they accomplished beautifully on TBA, and the criminally underrated Loads.

 

I have no doubt they will out Frayed Ends in its entirety for the first time during their 30th anniversary shows this winter.

[raptorcox]

I saw Metallica twice on the And Justice... tour. The thing I liked was they would play the first few minutes of a track off the album, then switch up and play another track...

[Soni]

QUOTE (GrandDesigner @ Aug 16 2011, 01:37 AM)

I love virtually everything Metallica has done. St. Anger blows, but the rest is gold to me. TBA is not close to being one of my favorites, but it is definitely a stellar album, with great songwriting, aggression, and musicianship. The band decided they needed to shake up their sound after the AJFA tour where they noticed a lot of the fans yawning during the title track, as it was so expansive and long. They would get bored themselves playing the Justice songs (see the aborted Frayed Ends on the Seattle 1989 video.) They actually rebelled against a bunch of the Justice material on TBA tour, only including Harvester, One, a Justice Medley, and The Shortest Straw at the tail end. The album was virtually ignored during the 90's and early 00's, with it gaining a resurgence once Rob entered the band. This experience on the Justice tour made the band consciously focus their sound into shorter, more dynamic songs, which they accomplished beautifully on TBA, and the criminally underrated Loads. I have no doubt they will out Frayed Ends in its entirety for the first time during their 30th anniversary shows this winter.

That's called artistic integrety.

First 4 albums are brilliant, but they started to suck when began to do what they were told to. (singles, music video, wearing make up...)

[RUSHHEAD666]

This album was so overplayed 20 years ago that I had to give it a ten year rest or so.

Well I put the "Black" Album on a few months ago and I actually enjoyed it.

[GrandDesigner]

QUOTE (Soni @ Aug 15 2011, 08:06 PM)

That's called artistic integrety. First 4 albums are brilliant, but they started to suck when began to do what they were told to. (singles, music video, wearing make up...)

Nobody forced them to do anything they didn't already want to do. People are under the assumption that the band wanted to keep writing music like AJFA but then Bob Rock made them change it. The band needed a stylistic change in order to survive and grow, and the response from the songs live during the Justice tour confirmed that need to change.

 

Enter Sandman and the rest of the songs on TBA were written before Bob Rock was even in the picture. And if a video as graphic and disturbing as One is 'selling out', then holy shit, what the hell ISN'T selling out?

 

And the makeup was purely the idea of Lars and Kirk, NOT any outside influences. And by the time Load came out, I don't think they had to prove ANYTHING to ANYONE.

Edited August 16, 2011 by GrandDesigner

[Soni]

QUOTE (GrandDesigner @ Aug 16 2011, 03:29 AM)

QUOTE (Soni @ Aug 15 2011, 08:06 PM) That's called artistic integrety. First 4 albums are brilliant, but they started to suck when began to do what they were told to. (singles, music video, wearing make up...) Nobody forced them to do anything they didn't already want to do. People are under the assumption that the band wanted to keep writing music like AJFA but then Bob Rock made them change it. The band needed a stylistic change in order to survive and grow, and the response from the songs live during the Justice tour confirmed that need to change.   Enter Sandman and the rest of the songs on TBA were written before Bob Rock was even in the picture. And if a video as graphic and disturbing as One is 'selling out', then holy shit, what the hell ISN'T selling out?   And the makeup was purely the idea of Lars and Kirk, NOT any outside influences. And by the time Load came out, I don't think they had to prove ANYTHING to ANYONE. Well if you look at Slayer or Anthrax (sorry Megadave, I love you but you also sold out at one point), they always stuck to their guns and now, they enjoy a better reputation. True they're not as big as Metallica but they kept their credibily. Just look at Some Kind Of Monster... the label and Rock get in the way of everything!