10 Greatest Unsung Heroes In Rock And Roll

After years of being one of the most reliable touring acts in metal, Metallica seemed to be hitting a bit of a creative wall at the end of the '80s. Though one record after another was always the purest thrash metal they could make, they could feel that things were starting to get a little bit stale whenever they went out to perform the songs live. They needed a change of direction, and Bob Rock was just the guy to do it.

While Rock is also the man responsible for producing St. Anger, his contributions to the Black Album turned Metallica into the household name that they are today. When Rock first took the band under his wing, he wanted to capture the energy of the band playing live, and that meant everyone playing in a room together to get the right vibe. For all the naysayers saying that Bob took out the heaviness, Bob was pushing for more guterral sounds as well like tuning down the song Sad But True to give it a lot more power.

He also wasn't afraid to lay the criticism on pretty thick, including some parts in documentaries where you can see him chewing out Kirk Hammett to make something a lot better than the original solo for the Unforgiven. While it might seem a bit harsh on camera, he was right, as he frustrated Kirk so much to the moment when he actually made the classic solo that we now hear on the record. There's probably those thrash purists that are calling for Bob's head for helping them go mainstream, but there's a completely different audience that got turned onto metal music strictly because of what he did with this album.