39. Metallica - Metallica - 1991
It was once written that if aliens visited our planet on a cultural fact-finding mission and asked for one album that defines each genre of music, then the release that would represent Heavy Metal, would have to be the monster that is Metallica's self-titled, fifth album, or 'The Black Album', as it universally known. It is pretty hard to argue with this choice, in all honesty. What Metallica did for heavy music with this record is monumental. Sure, Hard Rock had broken into the mainstream with bands like Def Leppard, Guns 'n' Roses, Aerosmith, Van Halen etc all enjoying widespread, commercial radio airplay but
proper, Heavy Metal, needed a representative that could duke it out with stadium fillers This was
the album that gate-crashed the party, and then pretty much took it over. The songs on offer here, just couldn't, and wouldn't, be ignored.
Although a hugely popular style of music, Heavy Metal, was still able to be, for the most part, kept at distance, with the bands mentioned above being at the heavier end of a non-Metal fan's listening habits. What 'The Black Album' did, was changed that, and forever! Drummer and band dynamo, Lars Ulrich had a clear vision of this from the start of writing for the album, and set about hiring a producer that could him achieve this goal. Bob Rock was chosen as he was the man behind more commercial Rock and Metal acts most successful, yet most meaty and thickest sounding albums. He was seen as the one person who could then take the band's aggressive, Thrash Metal background, and hone it to be more accessible, yet still heavier than a herd of elephants. The record took nine months from start to finish, cost a million dollars and saw three of the four band members go through divorce. Always a group that were used to getting their own way in and out of the studio, being involved in every aspect of their operations, Rock provided a shock to the system. He would regularly challenge the individual band member and as a collective about the ways in which they wrote and recorded music. Many heated arguments ensued and tempers flared but, retrospectively, the band admit this is exactly what they had lacked in the past and needed to make the album become what they envisioned. Rock had been used to working with big ego's (Bon Jovi, Motley Crue) and had no problem standing up to James Hetfield and Ulrich, if he felt that his point was for the good of the process. The band had, themselves, decided that the progressive side of their music had gone as far as it could on the previous two albums 'Master of Puppets' and '...And Justice for All', and wanted to make songs with shorter running times, less riffs and simpler structures. Rock was in the same school of thought and insisted that the bass guitar and drums form a proper rhythm section, which had never been the case before in Metallica. The bass was therefore pushed right up in the mix. Also what Rock did was have Hetfield record layer upon layer of guitars and in turn deliver what is, in some ways, Metallica's heaviest album. Vocally, was where his biggest achievement was to be found. Save for a few of the more "ballad-like" tracks from the bands past, Hetfield mainly yelled in key, but this time he was encouraged to actually sing. The grit and snarl of the front mans voice was still present but a more, soulful and heartfelt approach was needed as lyrically, the songs took on a much more, inward-looking, personal aspect, lyrically. Spawning five singles, including album opener, and world wide smash, 'Enter Sandman', all 12 songs are of a ridiculously high quality. 'Metallica' debuted at number one in 10 countries and has sold over 30 million physical copies worldwide. It is the biggest selling record of the SoundScan era, outselling country starlet, Shania Twain's, 'Come on Over'. What Metallica ultimately proved was that it was possible for a truly heavy band to be on the same circuit as the likes of U2, The Rolling Stones and other such rock royalty. Mainstream Radio stations and MTV now couldn't pretend the band didn't exist and the spotlight was shone on the genre as a whole, with many other Metal bands being investigated by a curious music fans that wanted to investigate the scene that had spawned their new favorite band. Thrash Metal, in-particular was now more popular then ever, with bands like Megadeth and Anthrax, now filling arenas, rather than the 1000 - 2000 capacity places they once inhabited. With the Seattle bands being the acceptable, Hard Rock, thing for alternative kids to be into, Metallica made sure that Heavy Metal wasn't forgotten about and the dude in the Metallica tee-shirt could hold his head up high in the sea of tie-dye wearing Nirvana fans that turned their noses up at the likes of Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. The production techniques and mix used on 'Metallica' is now a blueprint for countless bands and record producers, from the whole process to the thousands of drummers that have said "make my snare sound like 'The Black Album.'" Many, already successful, Thrash Metal bands, simplified their songs, slowed down and refined their songs, in an attempt to make their own version of this record. Some made their best record, others failed miserably and went back to their tried and tested style. The sheer number of young Metal heads that formed bands, off the back of hearing these songs, was staggering. It is always a positive thing when a release makes scores of young people learn to play instruments. The other positive was that it also encouraged them to learn how to play that bit more technically. The band toured the world for four, yes
four, years, such was the demand and amount of new fans coming on board as the album just kept selling and selling. They circumnavigated the globe several times in the tour that went from being called the 'Wherever We May Roam' tour, to the final leg being comically, but accurately, called the 'Nowhere Else to Roam' tour. If you don't own this record, then seriously, there is a huge, gaping hole, in your music collection.