10 Perfect Rock Albums For Production

After the ‘80s had faded, Metallica were in dire need of an upgrade in the production department. Although And Justice For All was met with a fairly positive reception by the fans, time has not been kind to the mix in the slightest, sounding super thin with no bass and James Hetfield sounding like he’s on his last legs from a vocal standpoint. And for all of the naysayers that it gets to this day, The Black Album is still one of the best sounding albums that metal has ever produced.

Though Bob Rock takes a brunt of the blame for making Metallica more mainstream after the ‘80s, his vision was always to write the best songs they could, which resulted in one of the most diverse sounding records in Metallica’s catalog. In between the traditional ballads like The Unforgiven, Sad But True might be the heaviest that their guitars ever got, along with weird outlandish ideas that went over well, like using gunshots on The God That Failed and bringing in a gong, sitar, and a 12 string bass for Wherever I May Roam.

Even the much maligned Nothing Else Matters still sounds like a true Metallica song, shifting the focus from the heavy guitars to an entire orchestra, making for something that feels almost bigger than rock in its construction. And for all the times that it’s beaten into the ground on the radio, there’s a reason why Enter Sandman is what gets everything going for new Metallica fans, having the riff lure you in before kicking you in the face. Metallica could have just done another record like they always do, but living in a world without the teeth behind Sad But True just feels wrong now.