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Product Details:
Audio CD Release Date:
August 12, 1991
Studio:
Elektra / Wea
Number Of Discs:
1
Average Customer Rating:
based on 1218 reviews
Description:
Called "the Black Album" by many (due to its monochrome cover), Metallica marks the group's entrance into the mainstream, with shorter songs, simpler song structures, and slower tempos overall. That said, this is an excellent album, featuring some of the best songwriting Metallica has ever done. "Enter Sandman," "Wherever I May Roam," and "God That Failed," despite being slower and more groove-oriented than the band's earlier work, feature the same heavy riffs and heavier rhythms that have always been a feature of Metallica's music. The band goes introspective with "Unforgiven," and proves that they can write a ballad with "Nothing Else Matters," which succeeds better than one might expect. Overall, this is a high-energy album despite its laid-back approach, and is in many ways superior to the previous . . . And Justice for All, which was weakened by overly complicated song structures and mediocre production. -- Genevieve Williams
Track Listing:
1.
Enter Sandman
2.
Sad But True
3.
Holier Than Thou
4.
The Unforgiven
5.
Wherever I May Roam
6.
Don't Tread On Me
7.
Through The Never
8.
Nothing Else Matters
9.
Of Wolf And Man
10.
God That Failed
11.
My Friend Of Misery
12.
Struggle Within
Customer Reviews:
Average Customer Review:
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Metal Militia SummonerAug 21, 2008 I see things from a different point of view to all those people saying Metallica sold out with this album. Yes, they did, but here's my view:
At my very 12 or 13 years I listened every crap radio threw me. But one day I listened to this "radio friendly" Metallica song Enter Sandman. It got me at once. I thought "man, this is what I really want to listen to from now on. What is this music? What is this group? What else have they made?" Sice that day I digged into the roots not only of metal, (I can not say I'm a die-hard metal fan) but into everything rock and good music meant. So, thanks Metallica, for selling out yourselves so I could step into the world of the best music! Your first four albums are just great, your music from Black Album on, it just sucks.
0 of 2 found the following review helpful:
This is easily a 5 star album don't listen to the criticsAug 12, 2008 I suck at writing reviews so I'll keep this short and sweet the majority of the people on here who gave it 1-3 stars are crybabies and that's that! Yea Metallica got a little softer but this album IS still metal and is one of the top 10 greatest albums of all time, in any genre! We are suppose to give ratings and reviews for the music on this cd and not what Metallica did afterwards cause yes they seem they money hungry a-holes but this album is still a masterpiece and EASILY 5 stars!
0 of 1 found the following review helpful:
The Black Album? How 'bout the BLAND Album?Aug 11, 2008 All right, even I can admit that this was one of the first "metal" CD's that I picked up, right alongside Judas Priest's "Sin After Sin" and "Unleashed in the East." This was a mere year and a half ago (yeah, little late to the party), and I thought it sucked then even after such little exposure to other music. AND I STILL THINK IT SUCKS NOW. In fact, this album almost ruined Metallica for me. I never even wanted to hear any other Metallica, I was so disappointed. It took me a whole six months or so til I gave in and bought Metallica's Master of Puppets on impulse. Now THAT is a metal classic! I'm so glad I bought that one! A lot of the songs seriously sound the same.
Now, WHY this CD sucks. It's just so boring. I don't even consider it metal, I call it "VERY hard rock." Master and ...AJFA have no filler tracks, just an hour or so of kickass music! The Black Album is just 12 tracks of filler tunes that probably didn't make it in those previously mentioned masterpiece albums, so they just clumped them all together for this one. And a lot of the songs seriously sound the same. They all lack the ferocity and anger that overtook (AGAIN) Master and ...AJFA. (man, I just love those two, don't I?). The lyrics lack meaning, like--- OH FER CHRISSAKE YOU SHOULD GET IT BY NOW! Master of Puppets and ...And Justice for All are masterful thrash albums! Get THOSE instead! Even if you got them already, GET THEM AGAIN! You'll probably wear them out cuz they're just THAT awesome! The Black Album however, is a sold-out atrocity.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
EPICAug 10, 2008 One of the best albums of all time, if not the best. Yeh.. it's not a heavy as the earlier albums, but a true masterpiece in every regard. The last great album from Metallica.
The Decline, Continued. Guitar fans: AVOID!!!Jul 29, 2008 Only the Gargantua stomp of Enter Sandman has much resemblance to the Metallica of classic yore. The formerly apocalyptic sounding aggression now sounds like crybaby drivel (examples: "The Unforgiven" and "Nothing Else Matters" grunge-y Metallica meets emo...wheee!).
Here we have also one of the most anti-traditional Metallica songs on here, "Don't Tread on Me" (listen to it after "Disposable Heroes" and "Fight Fire With Fire". You were warned.). Not to mention the song Hetfield himself admitted he wrote as filler, "Through the Never".
Never, as in never buy a Metallica album again.
One of the most crippling variables here is the lead guitar work of Kirk Hammett. Hammett used up any ability he had on (the SONGS) "Ride the Lightning" and "Fade to Black". He then began repeating himself extensively on "Master of Puppets" (the only good solo on that entire album was Hetfield on the title track). Thus, Hammett gets owned by ole laziness himself: Yngwie Malmsteen, in having run out of ideas after two full studio albums (whereas Yngwie arguably made it three-and-a-half: "Steeler", "No Parole For Rock 'n' Roll" and 1/2 of "Rising Force").
On this album Hammett pulls what he did on the only-slightly-better "...and Justice For All", using the wah-wah as a crutch to get him past his horribly indolent, recycled licka-ature. It's obvious that money completely changed his attitude toward the guitar (much like it did Jimmy Page and too many others); that is: play what you did before (doesn't really matter how well, since you're rich now and all those rock and roll kids won't know the difference).
Besides the aforementioned "Sandman" and perhaps "My Friend of Misery" (well...there's a distinct whine on that track as well), this album is without merit. I wouldn't reccomend it to beginners in metal, like many other reviewers here mentioned. Why shouldn't they start with "Master of Puppets " or "Ride the Lightning" first?
Bottom line, this is only for die hard fans of Metallica.
based on 1218 reviews
