It’s time for one of the biggest albums in music history. This record literally conquered the world and made its makers one of the biggest acts in music history, a status they have not relinquished 32 years after the album’s release.

Metallica – self-titled, aka “The Black Album”

Released August 12 1991 via Elektra Records

My Favorite Tracks – Wherever I May Roam, Sad But True, The Unforgiven

Over the course of their prior two albums, Metallica had been stretching their songwriting and making longer and longer efforts with progressive twists and turns and other assorted things. When it came time to do the follow-up to And Justice For All, the group wanted to ditch the longer and complicated concept and keep things simpler.

The band hooked up with producer Bob Rock, based on what they’d heard from Mötley Crüe’s excellently-produced 1989 album Dr. Feelgood. Rock has recalled through interviews and documentaries that the process was long and difficult, not helped by the fact that 3/4ths of Metallica were going through divorces at the time.

In the end, Metallica got their album recorded and history was on offer. This has 12 songs at 62 minutes so there’s a bit to go over, not to mention the insane amount of accolades this album has racked up.

Enter Sandman

The lead single and one of the most-played songs in history (no citation for that, but it has to be). It is in stark contrast to stuff from the prior two albums – this is a simple riff and the song is basic as can be. But it works very well, and that’s why legions of people tuned in to Metallica when this song first hit in the all-important summer of 1991. Even though this is overplayed to absolute death I honestly still don’t mind hearing it.

Sad But True

This is another single and one of the album’s heavier tunes. It’s about the seedier side of life and being pulled into it by grim influences, it was apparently based on some old Anthony Hopkins movie I’ve never seen or heard of. This song absolutely crushes and is the true nexus for the marriage between ’80’s Metallica and ’90’s Metallica.

Holier Than Thou

This one holds a pretty good pace as it deals with self-righteous people in a religious context. I like the lyrics quite a bit, the song itself is ok but not my favorite. It is really, really simple and sometimes that can be a detriment, but there’s still a listenable quality to it.

The Unforgiven

Metallica have done ballads before and would again. Here the band flipped the typical ballad formula – it was hard-hitting verses and a quieter, somber chorus. This one is all about the perpetual struggle against the forces of control in life, and in this case it’s a losing battle. The picture is painted vividly through the words and music, this is truly soul-crushing stuff. Kirk Hammett reports struggling a lot with this solo before finally getting it right based on feel more than notation, something that would transform his guitar playing moving forward.

Wherever I May Roam

This gem features a few exotic instruments but is still fairly standard metal stuff. The song is all about its title -truly being a free wanderer who is at home wherever he happens to be. Perhaps this song indirectly inspired all of the van life stuff going around, or perhaps that’s our shitty economy, I don’t know. Awesome song here, though.

Don’t Tread On Me

A bit of good old American exceptionalism here, as James Hetfield crafted a song that pulls concepts from the American Revolution and celebrates the “kick their asses” mentality of US diplomacy. While today the phrase “don’t tread on me” has negative political connotations, this song was from a time well before anything said was taken as an absolute political stance so I don’t see it as a big deal. I also don’t see the song itself as that big of a deal, it’s fine but it’s not much to write home about.

Through The Never

This one is pretty hard-hitting and has a bunch of philosophical stuff in it that’s honestly above my head and probably also below my knees. I think the song is fine but I’m fairly indifferent to this one too, don’t go out of my way to hear it.

Nothing Else Matters

This was the really big topic of discussion when the album came out, Metallica had done a full on ballad – not the heavy metal sort of ballad they’d put on offer before, but just a regular old ballad. While my fandom usually falls on the metal side of things, this is a pretty well done song. Sure it was different, but a good song is a good song.

Of Wolf And Man

A mid-paced stomper about turning into a werewolf. It’s ok but doesn’t do a lot for me.

The God That Failed

This is a very nice, slow and heavy song. It deals with the let down of a god not providing the healing asked for, something that affected James Hetfield in his childhood. His mother died of cancer after not seeking treatment due to her strange sect of Christianity. The topic is grim and the song is pretty great.

My Friend Of Misery

This song’s about one of those awful people who drag everyone around them down. I like the concept and lyrics a lot. The song is a bit plodding but still pretty decent.

The Struggle Within

The closer gets a bit thrashy in spots as the bands kicks it in high gear to the finish line. Not entirely sure what’s going on lyrically but it’s clear someone is screwed up in the head to some degree. Pretty nice song to end on, I do go back and forth on how I feel about it at times.

“The Black Album” was every bit the success anyone hoped it would be, and then some. It debuted at the top spot on the Billboard 200 and stayed there 4 weeks. It would remain on the Billboard 200 for a very long time, being the second-longest charting album in history, behind only Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon.

In the US the album has been certified platinum 16 times and is likely up for 17 now. It is the best selling album of the Nielsen Soundscan era, outpacing ’90’s titans like Shania Twain and Alanis Morissette. Worldwide Metallica has sales over 30 million copies. It is truly one of popular music’s most accomplished records, and Metallica have been mainstay titans of music ever since.

Of course the debate over this album takes on another turn when it comes to the older part of Metallica’s catalog. A fair few of the band’s legions felt betrayed by the switch away from thrash and complex song arrangement. It’s no doubt that this album is a lot less, uh, noisy than the band’s first four. In fact a good portion of “first four fans” would pop up as Metallica grew in stature exponentially with the Black Album’s success. That argument still rages today, even though we’re now 30 years removed from the “big switch.”

For me personally I have no big beef against this album. This came out a week before I turned 14 and just before I started my freshman year of high school, so it was perfectly positioned to be a game-changing album for me. My friends and I played this over and over again, though I did wear out on it long before they did. While many others were still playing this multiple times daily in 1993, I was off chasing down heavier stuff like death metal. I do much prefer Metallica’s first four, as my ranking from awhile back clearly illustrates. But there’s enough good stuff here to appreciate this album too. I have literally heard this album to death and honestly I’ve only played it a handful of times in the 2000’s, but there is no arguing the mark this record made.