Metallica (album)

Lore & Background

Recording sessions took place at One on One Recording Studios in Los Angeles over eight months, frequently finding Metallica at odds with producer Bob Rock. The album's songs were written mainly by frontman James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, with contributions from lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Jason Newsted. Four demos were recorded on August 13, 1990, including "Enter Sandman," "The Unforgiven," "Nothing Else Matters," and "Wherever I May Roam." The album cost US$1 million to produce, and the troubled production coincided with divorces among Ulrich, Hammett, and Newsted.

The album's lyrics, written by Hetfield, were more personal and introspective than previous works, addressing topics such as nightmares, the death of Hetfield's mother from cancer, and a love song for an ex-girlfriend. Instruments not usually used by heavy metal bands, such as cellos and an orchestra, were added at Rock's insistence. The album's cover features the band's logo angled against the upper left corner.

Reader's Guide

Metallica (The Black Album) is significant as the album that broadened Metallica's audience and commercial reach, becoming their best-selling release with over 30 million copies worldwide. It debuted at number one in ten countries and spent four consecutive weeks atop the Billboard 200, making it Metallica's first album to top the charts. The album was certified 2× Diamond by the RIAA in 2025 and sold over twenty million copies in the United States, the first album in the SoundScan era to do so. Its five singles—"Enter Sandman," "The Unforgiven," "Nothing Else Matters," "Wherever I May Roam," and "Sad but True"—are among the band's best-known songs. The album's legacy includes being ranked number 235 on Rolling Stone's "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list in 2020 and becoming the fourth release in American history to enter the 550-week milestone on the Billboard 200 in December 2019. It was remastered and reissued as an expanded box set in 2021.

Did You Know?

• The album was originally given the working title 'Married to Metal' as a running joke due to divorces among band members.
• The song 'Don't Tread on Me' was issued to rock radio but did not receive a commercial single release.
• The band played the album in reverse order during the 2012 European Black Album Tour.
• The album became the second-longest charting traditional title in Billboard 200 history behind Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon.