Total Cost: $1,000,000 + Metallica's self-titled fifth studio album (also known as The Black Album) marks the point when the band began to leave their thrash roots behind and move towards a more mainstream direction, writing hit singles like Enter Sandman and Nothing Else Matters. It's a good thing the album did well, because the band sacrificed a lot in order to get it made. The songs on the album were written, re-recorded and then re-written and re-recorded multiple times, in a quest for stronger lyrics and an attempt to get the correct sound. All in all the album was remixed by producer Bob Rock three times, costing upwards of one million dollars and resulting in one of the most expensive heavy metal records ever made. If you think the financial cost was high, though, so too was the emotional one. During the album's rather troubled production, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett and Jason Newsted all divorced their wives. They then attempted to channel feelings the subsequent feelings of guilt and failure into their playing.
