By Aman Mittal
Metallica are considered as one of the best heavy metal bands to have taken the stage and I am sure everyone reading this knows at least one song from them. If you don’t, it is a shame. Get your music priorities straight cause you have evaded the greatness of a band. Here I am conjuring up something about their much debated and controversial album “ The Black Album” .
Probably for me, I did not realize it until sometime back that it was ‘this’ disheartening for the thrash fans of Metallica out there, that this particular album, they went a bit slow and it was labeled a sell-out album. For me, and I am sure for most of us, it was one of their best albums giving us singles like the ballad ‘Nothing Else Matters’ and ‘Enter Sandman’ . If you scrutinize the albums that came before this, for example, Master of Puppets, this was rather low key and it is understandable that fans who were following the band were upset. For me, it was much later than its release that I was listening to Metallica and then covering their songs on the guitar. Mind you, that being said, the tracks from this particular album were relatively easier to cover for they were not as fast and followed a symmetrical arrangement of riffs that didn’t change much throughout the songs.
Bob Rock, was the man who was blamed for it or in commercial terms, was behind the mass sales of the album. Having managed Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, 311 etc. he knew how to get the revenues up and well he did just that. For me, the album will always be amazing to say the least, as it would be for almost everyone my age. We started out with Metallica and the Black Album played a huge part. To put it simply, one instrument that I clearly missed was the bass. The bass arrangements were not that strong and progressive , it didn’t stand out except maybe in the track ‘The God that Failed’ and it is safe to say that Cliff Burton was THE BASSIST for a thrash metal band like Metallica.
The album won them the Grammy that had evaded them the previous year and it was this that changed the Metallica of old to the ‘Rockstar’ status. The boys had now grown up and were going to make big bucks using what they do best or well according to some hardcore fans not using what they do best. I am sure that now once you go through their previous albums and then go through this, you would see the difference. I didn’t hear it until I sat and was researching about writing something about this album. Surprisingly it was true, after all most of us just listen to few songs and then move on. This is not a review on the album but an insight as to how the band changed their styles and became diverse which I think is a good thing since I never considered Metallica as just a thrash metal band. They were always more than that and have gone onto incorporate different styles with the following albums as well. Maybe after reading this, the next time you do listen to someone religiously you give thought of how bands, people change with time and success and even age. Funny thing, this music business is even if it seems all star studded and easy. Sure it ain’t specially with Ultra fans ready to ostracize the band if you tweak your playing a bit. Metallica were bold with this album and it is safe to say that is why they are METALLICA.
Here is a video of Kirk writing the solo of The Unforgiven ( explains a lot what I share here )
Here is a video of Kirk writing the solo of The Unforgiven ( explains a lot what I share here )
The track listing
1. Enter Sandman
2. Sad but True
3. Holier Than Thou
4. The Unforgiven
5. Wherever I May Roam
6. Don't Tread on Me
7. Through the Never
8. Nothing Else Matters
9. Of Wolf and Man
10. The God that Failed
11. My Friend of Misery
12. The Struggle Within
Picture reference 1 : http://www.rankopedia.com/CandidatePix/70176.gif
Picture reference 2 : http://www.nuclearblast.de/static/articles/173/173461.jpg/1000x1000.jpg
Picture reference 3 : http://www.fanphobia.net/uploads/actors/5224/cliff-burton-profile-picture.jpg
1. Enter Sandman
2. Sad but True
3. Holier Than Thou
4. The Unforgiven
5. Wherever I May Roam
6. Don't Tread on Me
7. Through the Never
8. Nothing Else Matters
9. Of Wolf and Man
10. The God that Failed
11. My Friend of Misery
12. The Struggle Within
Picture reference 1 : http://www.rankopedia.com/CandidatePix/70176.gif
Picture reference 2 : http://www.nuclearblast.de/static/articles/173/173461.jpg/1000x1000.jpg
Picture reference 3 : http://www.fanphobia.net/uploads/actors/5224/cliff-burton-profile-picture.jpg