METALLICA’S BLACK REISSUED

+ Cover Album ft. Miley Cyrus Phoebe Bridgers +

Home page image: James Hetfield of Metallica; image above: Miley Cyrus performing a Metallica cover at Glastonbury Music Festival in 2019

BY: Tony Brown

In early 1991, despite being the reigning kings of thrash metal and touring buddies with ZZ Top, Bon Jovi, Van Halen, AC/DC, and Mötley Crüe, Metallica had not been embraced by mainstream radio and was only played on a handful of rock stations. However, this all changed on July 29th, 1991, with “Enter Sandman” (the first single from their eponymous fifth album).

Metallica had changed, and it entered the phase of a career all bands dream of, and none other has achieved. The song made it to No. 16 on the Billboard Hot 100. The single and the rest of the killer album launched the band into three consecutive years of touring. However, the band was no flash in the pan. According to Loudwire.com, just last year, Metallica became the first band to have a number 1 mainstream rock song in four different decades.

All of the band agree the eight months they spent recording Metallica, aka the Black Album, was hell. A few non-musical issues were at play: Hetfield, Ulrich, and Hammet were all in the middle of divorces, and there were (to put it lightly) addiction issues. On the musical side, the star producer hired was a pain in the ass.

miley cyrus — **Miley Cyrus live with Metallica at Glastonbury**

Metallica wanted to change things, but Bob Rock was super-pushy and pissed everyone off. In addition to forcing a drastic reduction in tempo, he insisted that Hetfield write better lyrics. This is laughable considering his vocals on “Eyes of a Stranger” that he recorded with his band The Payola$: “Can I touch you to see if you’re real, ‘Cause in nothing, there’s something I feel. In your lips I sense a danger, You’ve got the eyes of a stranger.” With all this said, whatever he did, it worked.

The Black Album made the boys a household name. Sure, some hardcore metalheads were miffed. However, the album made 1000s more life-long Metallica fans. Many of whom explored what the band had done before.

Metallica has inspired generations of musicians. So, this brings us to one of this year’s most anticipated releases: The Blacklist. 52 artists cover their favorite tracks from the Black Album. The lineup of artists is varied and diverse: Phoebe Bridgers, Dave Gahan, Tomi Owo, Mon Laferte, Juanes, Neptunes, YB, and, all on one track, Miley Cyrus, Elton John, Yo-Yo Ma, Robert Trujillo, and Chad Smith.