5 Surprising Facts about Metallica’s Black Album
Metallica inspired today’s generation of rock bands with this infamous Black Album.
The Black Album is a big departure from Metallica's previous albums. The sound, structure, and the lyrics of its songs are far from their earlier works. James Hetfield and the rest of the band thought that their fans might not like the record and did not expect anything from it.
Many critics accused Metallica of turning its back from where it started. They completely dropped many of thrash metal’s elements such as the extremely fast riffs and complex song structures to embrace the radio friendly sound. Those accusations are evidently found on radio-friendly hard-rock anthems “Enter Sandman,” “The Unforgiven,” and “Nothing Else Matters.”
However, Metallica's Black Album became a huge success. It surprises everyone on its first week, its sales reach 650 million and it remains on the top of Billboard 200 for four consecutive weeks.
To celebrate one of the greatest albums in the history of heavy metal, here are 5 lesser-known facts about the infamous Black Album.
Metallica Decides to Record Shorter Songs
The length of the songs in the album is cut short because Metallica feels that their audience are starting to get bored every time they play their lengthy songs.
Many critics accused Metallica of turning its back from where it started. They completely dropped many of thrash metal’s elements such as the extremely fast riffs and complex song structures to embrace the radio friendly sound. Those accusations are evidently found on radio-friendly hard-rock anthems “Enter Sandman,” “The Unforgiven,” and “Nothing Else Matters.”
However, Metallica's Black Album became a huge success. It surprises everyone on its first week, its sales reach 650 million and it remains on the top of Billboard 200 for four consecutive weeks.
To celebrate one of the greatest albums in the history of heavy metal, here are 5 lesser-known facts about the infamous Black Album.
Metallica Decides to Record Shorter Songs
The length of the songs in the album is cut short because Metallica feels that their audience are starting to get bored every time they play their lengthy songs.
During a 1991 interview, Kirk Hammett says that they noticed that their fans are starting to get bored every time they are playing their lengthy songs.
“We realized that the general consensus was the songs were fucking long. Goddamn, they are not enjoying it as much as we are.”
-Kirk Hammett
At that time, he said that they are experimenting and the conclusion of the “And Justice for All” tour was to cut their songs short.
He also remembers one time when they completely regretted playing one of their songs and swear that it’s the last time that they are going to play it.
“I remember getting offstage one night after playing ‘Justice’ and one of us saying, ‘Fuck that’s the last time we ever play that fucking song!”
The first song is ”Enter Sandman.”
The first song is ”Enter Sandman.”
According to Lars Ulrich, they need to abandon the complex songs structures that they did for their last album. They wanted to simplify things and the result was “Enter Sandman.”
The song was written and completed in just 2 days. In fact, the main riff of the song was from Kirk Hammett and it's for his band Exodus. None of the band members expects the song is going to be their biggest hit.
Enter Sandman’s original concept was about crib death
The song was written and completed in just 2 days. In fact, the main riff of the song was from Kirk Hammett and it's for his band Exodus. None of the band members expects the song is going to be their biggest hit.
Enter Sandman’s original concept was about crib death
Metallica recorded Enter Sandman in just 2 days and the last thing that they did in the song was its lyrics. One of the band’s songwriters James Hetfield intentionally wants Enter Sandman to be a dark song about a dying baby in a crib.
Even if James Hetfield has already written its lyrics, Bob Rock didn’t think that the lyrics would be appropriate because Metallica and its management are planning to release Enter Sandman as the first single from their upcoming Black Album.
Bob Rock admits that James had written a good lyric but since they are moving into a new direction, he asked him to change its words and be more poetic.
Metallica Uses Three Different Guitar Tunings
Since the inception of hard rock and heavy metal, many bands are tuning their guitar as low as possible to achieve a heavier sound. However, Metallica keeps on using standard E tuning since their first album “Kill ‘Em All.”
The only exception was the two cover songs from “The $5.98 EP: Garage Days Revisited” and “The Thing That Should Not Be” from their 1986 album “Master of Puppets.”
The only exception was the two cover songs from “The $5.98 EP: Garage Days Revisited” and “The Thing That Should Not Be” from their 1986 album “Master of Puppets.”
In the Black Album, Metallica uses a D standard tuning while they are recording “Sad but true.”
Originally, “Sad But True” was played on E standard tuning. Bob Rock told the band that since they like Motley Crue’s Dr. Feelgood, why don’t they tune down their guitars to D standard?
The band agreed and the main riff became one of the most memorable and heaviest guitar riffs of all time. The other song that is recorded on an alternative tuning was “The God That Failed.”
The Black Album Has Ended 3 Marriages.
Aside from spending million dollars, the recording of the eponymous Black Album also cost three marriages. Metallica may seem invulnerable but Lars Ulrich, Jason Newsted, and Kirk Hammett were fighting an emotional battle while they are in the process of making the Black Album.
According to Kirk Hammett, the three of them poured their emotions while they are making music. The music that they created is full of emotions including guilt and failure. Also, James Hetfield has written the song “The God That Failed” to express his emotions after losing his mother.
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