Metallica – Metallica

Hello everyone , i need help because i bought a version not mentionned on Discogs. Mine looks like a repress, with white center labels , like first european pressings, the cover and inner sleeves are glossy, the 2 discs are in 180g ; the label is Vertigo and the matrix is only stamped with this number : 510 027 - A 510 027 - B and 510 028 - C 510 028 - D - The sound is very good , so for me it's not a bootleg - COuld someone know which pressing is ?
Thank you.

The production is flawless, the performances are great. Most of the songs? Forgettable. This album single handedly killed thrash metal. With Metallica over saturation of MTV for years due to this albums popularity it caused other bands to try and follow its success. They failed. There are some great tracks on this album like The Unforgiven, Wherever I May Roam, Of Wolf and Man, The God That Failed and My Friend of Misery. Sad But True is OK, however the rest are boring songs that I have never once played on its own. Not once in my life did I wake up and say I must hear Don't Tread on me or Struggle Within.

You can say that this album is why Metallica got to huge. I do not agree. They were going to explode no matter what they released. We were all biting our nails with anticipation to get a new Metallica album. Metallica is popular because they were the first truly heavy metal band to have a sound that more people could get into. Even before this album. Most bands have something that throws the average person off about them. Average people listening to the radio do not like many metal bands for one reason or the other. Metallica had a sound that metal fans loved and the average person could hear and not cringe at whiny singing or guttural cookie monster style and satanic lyrics.

I put off owning this for 30 years.... 15 minutes in I realized I should have listened to my younger self. RIP Cliff.

I'll never forget waiting in line at the Record & Tape Traders to buy this album for the first time and it was the biggest anticipation of an album that I can "Yes" i was a little shocked at the change of direction as was my friends but just coundn't deny how great it was and was a bit sad that my band was everybody's favorite new band lol when they had 4 other albums to their lack of knowledge at the time"Posers"

Masterpiece and Benchmark of Heavy/Rock-Genre !! But i miss from now on the progressive Trash-Metal-Band Metallica !
I when release this Album: We all expect a Trash-Metal-Album like "Justice"... Metallica lost many of old Fans, but wins 10 Times more new Fans.

1986 marked a creative and commercial high point for Metallica, but this surge in popularity was tainted by the death of founding member Cliff Burton in a bus crash whilst touring. Still struggling with the loss though determined to carry on, the band hired his replacement Jason Newsted, though on the first record to feature him, “And Justice For All”, his presence was certainly not felt, but perhaps less in honour of Burton and more because of a hankering to transmogrify musically after three albums exploring similar themes. And so, they opted to evolve beyond their cemented disillusioned, aggressive slant by utilizing fervent progressive elements, faster tempos and long compositions alongside cerebral, politically-leaning lyrical content. It served the band well and proved that they were willing to experiment, but by this point the band indicated they were receptive to the tastes of mainstream record buyers and conscious of wide-ranging musical styles. However, not so on 1987's stopgap extended play "The $5.98 E.P.: Garage Days Re-Revisited", which featured unpolished yet accomplished Killing Joke, Budgie, Diamond Head and Misfits covers. This was a band unwilling to stay in their lane, and their 1988 phase heralded a drastic new framework for them as they refused to adhere to the unwritten rules of the music industry. By releasing an EP of covers displaying their 1970s influences, Metallica proved they were no longer musicians uncertain of their prowess, despite still being very impressive in that regard. They had a point to prove, but it did not relate to their reputation; they wanted to stretch their wings without abandoning their core sound. After an extended break, the band returned to the scene with a different image and material, this time aimed at the MTV generation. In fact, the band's current material was deemed so vendible, it was readily ed by MTV, who assisted them in their calculated entry into the public consciousness with appropriately moody obligatory promotional films. Metallica were on an upward trajectory and nothing could stop them.

Having already received invariable critical acclaim before Burton’s death, Metallica sought to fulfil their commercial aspirations as well as accomplish their long-standing vision of an album devoid of artifice and banality. Ably assisted and anchored in their operations by Bob Rock, the band managed such a feat, but it was by no means easy, with all suffering personally due to the extremely tense, stressful undertaking. Rock’s influence steered the band to not only express different modes, but to adapt to changing times and tastes, advising them to place more emphasis on emotionally charged lyrics, slower tempos and fervider instrumentation, mixed to punchy perfection with tighter arrangements. During the recording process, the band recorded together in the studio as a unit to generate a live, kinetic and monumental feel, thus impregnating the compositions with a discernible interplay and synergism. Between Newsted’s and Lars Ulrich’s thunderous rhythm section synchronising with James Hetfield’s harmonic vocals and Kirk Hammett’s less aggressive, complex riffs, Rock’s presence was of some assistance in expanding their musical horizons. The band’s simpler approach precipitated a decidedly more mature and hook-laden musical direction, and they subsequently transitioned further away from the ostentations of yore, focusing instead on the shorter song format, verse-chorus-verse structure and evolved, coherent songwriting. Intentionally linking their adventurous earlier and straightforward later years, the eerily romantic quality of the album is wonderfully atypical and stimulating in a way that seems defiant and gutsy, especially for an established thrash metal band more familiar with darkness and nihilism than introspection and misery. Somehow it all works, and results in something deeply satisfying and meaningful.

1991's self-titled "Black Album" amended their thrash style with slower, denser grittiness whilst retaining a modicum of their renowned progressive flourishes, finessed yet coarse riffs and snarling delivery. Perhaps stemming from a lack of from radio with their previous record, the band strived for maximum exposure. Metallica's popularization and invention of progressive thrash was, depending on your viewpoint, detrimental to the subgenre’s harshness and volatility. Once an inaccessible style of music becomes acceptable, its distinctiveness is lost, and Metallica’s original crop of fans were not pleased they had pandered to the masses and sold their souls. It was only a matter of time before others followed their lead - and they did, manifold, with all manner of formerly authentic artists - Slayer, Anthrax, Megadeth – prioritising songcraft over the loudness and speed of their shredding. Having said that, despite the respective divergence of those aforementioned contemporaries, none would achieve Metallica's legacy act status, which is largely attributable to the California quartet’s impeccable musicianship and unabashed pop sensibilities.

Upon gaining a new audience practically overnight with their most melodic, commercially viable tracks yet, "Enter Sandman", "Sad But True" and "Wherever I May Roam”, all of which showcased the band's dynamism and musical alchemy, their antecedent material was also rendered acceptable by mainstream standards. As conceptually ambitious, musically intricate and lyrically challenging as their previous records had been, their new fanbase cared not; in order to attend their concerts with some semblance of knowledge, they lapped them up, though not quite as much they did with the latest release. Owing to the band keeping it simple, as demonstrated in every aspect, including the cover art and title, Metallica’s fifth album was easier to market, and upon its release in 1991, the band had already been propelled from obscurity with their recent MTV exposure, enabling them to embark on free outdoor concerts in the Soviet Union, rock festivals and tribute concerts as part of their wider promotional tour. Now selling in excess of 40 million records and established as a far more lucrative live draw, the band pursued a higher royalty rate from their label, Elektra Records, with whom they signed a generous new deal as a means of settling the dispute. It was this newfound confidence and versatility that served them well with critics; praising the band’s avoidance of metaphors and clichés, which had dulled the intensity of many heavy metal acts, the album’s detractors were few. It appeared that, although the band had lost the respect of the metal cult, they were destined to play in arenas for their new legion of undemanding fans, who they felt intrinsically understood them. Introspective and soul-stirring ballads such as “The Unforgiven”, “The God That Failed” and “Nothing Else Matters” exhibited the band’s more serene, subtler condition and musical flexibility. It was this prevailing air of self-reflection and sombre tonality that many noted as being in stark contrast to the band’s once menacing image, controverted by the sheer velocity of “The Struggle Within” and explosively overdriven “Don’t Tread On Me”, both of which find the band incorporating their thrash roots.

After garnering success on a global scale and proving thrash metal had mass appeal, a creative decline ensued for Metallica. Despite being their most consistent, brilliantly stylized effort, “Metallica” is rarely considered as being comparative in of merit to their 1980s output, which is a shame. It is a collection of concise, expertly crafted, seamlessly fluid songs that cannot be singled out; the album is a cohesive and sweeping listen, from its refreshingly glossy production and pervading earnestness to the welcome addition of grand orchestras and string sections. It never strays from its fiery predication and finishes just as it began: with conviction and effectiveness. As a blistering and atmospheric redux of the band’s fierce, visceral aesthetic and elevated by conversely gentler, powerful, chaotic, and ostensibly well-executed moments that scale the gnarly, stunning and frantic heights expected on a Metallica record, this is an epic experience like no other in the band's catalogue.

Rating: 5/5

I have a 2008 vinyl reissue of this. My original copy was stolen in 1993 so naturally I was extatic to finally get a vinyl copy again and it sounds killer so I thought about replacing my original electra and megaforce copies with new ones but then I heard them and they sounded terrible! What’s the deal ?!!!! I hope the blackened versions of the first four vinyl lp’s sound better than the Warner bros versions as for me I’m sticking with my originals thank you but at least I have my warner brothers copy of the black album and it sounds good