Black Album

braintheory said:
Sad but true is good, but I think they’re most aggressive songs and sounds were on AJFA like Dyers Eve, Blackened or Shortest Straw. One of my favorite songs by them actually is Hit The Lights even though I don’t like the rest of that album much
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Yes AJFA is very heavy (but kind of thin production wise) and many good songs, wouldn't know that album (and the albums before that), if it wasn't for the black album. I am like @Soundstorm in that way. Sorry for my age;)
 
Soundstorm said:
I was 10 years old when the Black album came out. I had zero expectations or bias as it was the first Metallica I'd ever heard, so I listened with the open mind of a 10 year old kid that I'll never have again. It was the heaviest thing I'd listened to up until then and suffice to say it blew my fucking mind. I listened to it so much that I'm pretty sure that my mom, now in her 60's, still knows every goddamn word to the Black album by heart. I still love listening to it and all of their older material. Hell I even use it as one of my references when mixing and mastering. It was THE turning point album of my life and it forever turned me towards heavier and heavier music.
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pretty much the same here! but i might have not discovered it in 1991 more like 1995
 
valve said:
Yes AJFA is very heavy (but kind of thin production wise) and many good songs, wouldn't know that album (and the albums before that), if it wasn't for the black album. I am like @Soundstorm in that way. Sorry for my age;)
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I get that. It is thin and of course lacking bass lol, but very aggressive sounding. I’m younger than most here too, but still somehow was exposed to their earlier album’s songs first. I was lucky in that way. I learned a lot also from the Guitar Hero Metallica Edition video game LOL
 
braintheory said:
I get that. It is thin and of course lacking bass lol, but very aggressive sounding. ...
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yeah it's not too bad. It get's all relative after a few minutes.
Hate the production since hardwired though. Can listen too it for long.
braintheory said:
... . I’m younger than most here too, but still somehow was exposed to their earlier album’s songs first. I was lucky in that way. I learned a lot also from the Guitar Hero Metallica Edition video game LOL
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why lucky? if you're born in 2000 and love todays music (even current Metallica), you will have hell of a time discovering older music;):D
 
angelspade said:
Complicated issue: absolutely amazing production...Strong songwriting with great performances (even from Kirk and Lars)......But not the album that many of us expected or wanted. If you listen to the record (AJFA) that preceded it...Doesn't even sound like the same band in many aspects. That said, strategically it was the right move to put them on the path to becoming the biggest band on the planet.
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Not to mention thrash was dead with the arrival of grunge and other 90's sans real guitar playing material being embraced (apart from AIC, STP and a few other bands)
Not sure how many here had a buddy introduce you to Metallica with Kill em all on vinyl??? I did, thought it sounded raw and too punk for me at the time. By 1985 we were done with the cheesy 80's MTV hair stuff and fully got into Master of puppets


In any case, agreed it was the right album at the right time. Heck they even toured co headlining with GnR with both bands raking in cash
 
alund said:
The black album keeps my personal timeline in order. It came out when I started med school. The day my personal music died. I didn’t re-emerge for 12 years like the geico rock man. I was like the pimp who got out of jail from “I’m gonna get you sucka”.

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He was a good pimp with impeccable taste in footwear.
 
7704A said:
Was in a cover group where the executive decision was made to play "Sad But True" instead of "For Whom the Bell Tolls". :bash:
I'd say the songwriting went downhill with the black album, interesting to see others say the opposite.
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Load and Reload are a double album master piece . The triaxis abd 2c++ mix on load is so good . The tone on House that Jack Built is killer . Great albums
 
valve said:
yeah it's not too bad. It get's all relative after a few minutes.
Hate the production since hardwired though. Can listen too it for long.

why lucky? if you're born in 2000 and love todays music (even current Metallica), you will have hell of a time discovering older music;):D
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Well thankfully I’m older than that lol and haven’t liked much music at all that I recall from the last 15 years or so
 
Soundstorm said:
I was 10 years old when the Black album came out. I had zero expectations or bias as it was the first Metallica I'd ever heard, so I listened with the open mind of a 10 year old kid that I'll never have again. It was the heaviest thing I'd listened to up until then and suffice to say it blew my fucking mind. I listened to it so much that I'm pretty sure that my mom, now in her 60's, still knows every goddamn word to the Black album by heart. I still love listening to it and all of their older material. Hell I even use it as one of my references when mixing and mastering. It was THE turning point album of my life and it forever turned me towards heavier and heavier music.
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That’s cool and I totally get it. That would be a monster album for a 10 year old and a great springboard into heavier metal. I’m 54 and was into them since the release of KEA, so the Black Album was quite the disappointment, especially after an album as aggressive and angry as AJFA.
 
Beyond Black said:
That’s cool and I totally get it. That would be a monster album for a 10 year old and a great springboard into heavier metal. I’m 54 and was into them since the release of KEA, so the Black Album was quite the disappointment, especially after an album as aggressive and angry as AJFA.
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Huge shift coming from right after AJFA (for me their best and most distinctive album)
 
I consider myself lucky. I didn't discover Metallica until after Load came out. I got to hear Load and TBA basically at the same time with zero knowledge of what the band had done beforehand, which was great. Can't be disappointed if you have zero expectations!

Then after that I discovered Puppets and AJFA, both of which blew me away. AJFA is still my favorite Metallica record and one of my favorite metal albums of all time.

And I don't care what anybody says, Load is still one of the best sounding rock albums ever made, and TBA is one of the best sounding metal albums ever made.
 
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Soundstorm said:
I was 10 years old when the Black album came out. I had zero expectations or bias as it was the first Metallica I'd ever heard, so I listened with the open mind of a 10 year old kid that I'll never have again. It was the heaviest thing I'd listened to up until then and suffice to say it blew my fucking mind. I listened to it so much that I'm pretty sure that my mom, now in her 60's, still knows every goddamn word to the Black album by heart. I still love listening to it and all of their older material. Hell I even use it as one of my references when mixing and mastering. It was THE turning point album of my life and it forever turned me towards heavier and heavier music.
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they definitely alienated one group of people and pushed them away while simultaneously ushering in a new group.
 
valve said:
my girlfriend likes For whom the bell tolls, but sad but true is to aggressive for her so i never listen to it when she is around.
You're all a bunch of pussies too, i guess:D
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Sounds like she was just being sensitive to your feelings instead of saying what she really thinks of the black album.
 
311splawndude said:
they definitely alienated one group of people and pushed them away while simultaneously ushering in a new group.
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Absolutely. The mathematical arbitrage was simple: Alienate 30% of your current fans for a 2000% gain in new listeners. From a business standpoint this is not quantum physics. The speed / tempo alone of the the majority of the songs on previous albums insured they would hit a ceiling in terms of popularity. After watching what happened for Motley Crue on Dr. Feelgood, they made a decision to take measures to place them in a position to become an institution in the world of rock music. It worked, but as is often the case; it required compromise and they lost a little of themselves along the way. I still love MetallicA however, and Hetfield is the greatest frontman ever to walk out under the hot lights. Just my opinion.
 
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I'm like many of you guys, it was a massive WTF moment hearing Sandman for the first time. 'Sad But True' debut had some redeeming features of heaviness, but the foundations had shifted for me. I could see the crash coming. After AJFA and MOP it was a seismic shift to the OG fans. It was an undeniable sellout for them.
It sounded great production wise and sonically, but it's exactly as expected by using Bob, it sounds like Metallica playing their stuff on the Dr Feelgood set up. Lars just cut 'n pasted Tommy Lee's sound, or 'Soul Asylum" by The Cult on Sonic Temple, exact same snare and reverb.

I persevered through it and tried to accept it for what it was, then Countdown To Extinction hit and it was a 'Et tu Brute?" moment. Following RIP it was another brutal change of direction.
It felt at the time like they willingly handed they baton over to Korn, Sepultura and Pantera etc to carry on with the heavy stuff into the 90's.
Then Load came out and put another huge nail in the coffin. There was further proof they were on a set path to Dad Metal.

Time passed and I'd accepted and enjoy it for what it is and got my heavy fix elsewhere.
 
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7704A said:
Sounds like she was just being sensitive to your feelings instead of saying what she really thinks of the black album.
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:)
I am not sure you are on the right track. Nothing else matters would be her favorite metallica tune, and she likes the foo fighters. Throw in some robbie Williams and you get the picture.
There is a lot of late 60s/70s music we both like:)
 
i don't think it was all about money when they totally changed their style with load.
There is a kind of creepy moment on the Rick Beato interview when Kirk Hammet talks about how suddenly women appear in the audience and it's just not all dudes anymore. There was nothing else that got him this excited the rest of the interview.
Guess, they had to compensate for their dry phase in school time.
 
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