CoronaVinyl Day 332 (M): Metallica by Metallica

For an explanation of CoronaVinyl, click here.

My concert-and-work-induced hiatus from CoronaVinyl is over, and we're getting back into gear with a monster.  Today's CoronaVinyl category is "M," and I recently purchased Metallica's eponymous 1991 fifth studio album, better known as the "Black Album."

This is particularly timely for a couple reasons.  First, as I noted last month when I featured "Enter Sandman" on Retro Video of the Week and in this past week's Retro Video of the Week post detailing the many massive and groundbreaking albums that were released in August and September of 1991, the Black Album turned 30 on August 12.  Second, at this very moment, Metallica is playing a surprise show at The Metro here in Chicago that was just announced earlier this afternoon, and for which you could get a ticket for the whopping price of $20.  Had I not used up all my relationship capital by going to five nights of live music in the last six days, I would have gotten to The Metro as soon as I heard about it to try to get a ticket.  But alas, I'm sitting here blogging about it instead.

To call the Black Album a success would be a bit of an understatement.  It transformed Metallica from being darlings of the metal world to international superstars.  It was the band's first album to top the Billboard album chart, and it also went to #1 on the album charts in seven other countries and cracked the top ten in another seven.  It was the #8 album on the Billboard End of the Decade album chart for the '90s.  In 2019, it became only the fourth album in the history of the Billboard 200 album chart to remain on the charts for an amazing 550 weeks, and only the second studio album to accomplish that feat (Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon is heads and shoulders above the rest).  It is certified diamond in the U.S., where it has sold over 16 million copies, making it the first album in the Nielsen SoundScan era to reach that number and the best-selling album of the SoundScan era.  It's also one of the top 25 best-selling albums of all-time worldwide.

The album also featured the band's highest-charting single up to that time, "Enter Sandman," which went to #16 on the Billboard Hot 100.  Two other songs were Top 40 hits:  "Nothing Else Matters" (#34) and "The Unforgiven" (#35), and "Sad But True" and "Wherever I May Roam" weren't big chart hits (#98 and #82, respectively), but were fixtures on MTV and are now considered Metallica classics.

It won the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance, and has been a fixture on various "best of" lists throughout the years.

The version of the Black Album I bought is a remastered version that was released as part of the 30th anniversary of the album.  I somehow managed to pay less than $9 for it, as a result of what I can only assume was an unintended temporary glitch on Amazon (as soon after I put my pre-order in, the price rose to $22.99, and now it's at $39.99).  It is a double LP, but contains the original twelve songs from the album, just split into four sides.  All this does is allow me to highlight two more songs on the album than I would have otherwise been able to do.

Favorite Song on Side 1:  "Holier Than Thou"
While "Enter Sandman" and "Sad But True" are excellent songs and Metallica classics, "Holier Than Thou" has always been one of my favorite songs on the album.  It's a ballbuster with a great riff and a message of telling people not to be so damned self-righteous.

Favorite Song on Side 2:  "Don't Tread On Me"
I also skipped over two other Metallica classics -- "The Unforgiven" and "Wherever I May Roam" -- for a deep cut.  "Don't Tread On Me" is a plodding metal song that pays tribute to America, as the coiled snake from the Revolutionary War Gadsen flag is on the album cover, albeit muted.

Favorite Song on Side 3:  "Through The Never"
"Through The Never" is another hidden gem that kicks ass.  It's probably the most thrashy song on the album.

Favorite Song on Side 4:  "The Struggle Within"
The last song on the album, like "Don't Tread On Me," has some military connotations with its military snare drum intro.  Then it kicks into gear, and it's another badass metal song with an amazing guitar solo.