10 Legendary Songs That Almost Weren't Released

As Metallica reached the '90s, they were looking to make some drastic changes to their sound. After spending the entirety of the '80s going pure thrash on Master of Puppets and Ride the Lightning, the complicated stylings of something like And Justice For All led to them making songs that were a lot more to the point. What no one expected was the massive shift into the realm of soft rock.

Though James Hetfield had already written a softer song for the Black Album with the Unforgiven, Nothing Else Matters was written as a fluke in between recording sessions. As Hetfield was talking on the phone one night, he started noodling around with the guitar on his lap before eventually stumbling upon the cascading guitar figure that we know today.

While Hetfield had never intended it to be a Metallica song, things started to turn a corner once Bob Rock listened to it. Looking to go even more experimental than before, Nothing Else Matters blossomed into one of the band's most user-friendly songs, with Rock going so far as to add an entire orchestra backing track into the mix. Once it was finally released, the age of thrash was beginning to turn a corner. It was time to move up to the big leagues now.