Metallica - Black Album

Ahh yes. Another Metallica review. Most of you will recall my love for the 'Load' album. I gave that a great review and talked about how people think they're sell outs. Blah blah blah. I even went on a rant about it. It's true, look it up! Well, this was the original recording that die hards said they sold out. And it's not even really because they made tracks that are all that much different than previous, it's simply because 'Enter Sandman' became a radio sensation. Now sure, one could argue that the song is a little riff heavy and built for radio - but even so, who cares? The same thing could have happened with 'Seek And Destroy' years earlier. Because it didn't, the fans were pleased. Makes no sense. It's hard to find people who still love Metallica today. It seems that their most recent albums are pretty much considered a joke and the old stuff is the gold. I've heard Death Magnetic a couple times, and it wasn't that bad. Regardless, this is one of the best selling albums ever. It has sold over 15 million copies in the US alone. Crazy numbers. Since this sell out, they've battled the MP3 world, gone into rehab a multitude of times and even worked on solo stuff. Here is what I'm going to say about this record though, people think it's great. People think that it's got all these 'hits' and it's amazing. I'll tell you that this is the first Metallica record I owned. I'll tell you I loved it back in 1998. But looking at this now, I'm not that big of a fan. I think 'Load' is better, I think a couple other earlier records are better too. I think we've heard half these tracks so many times, they've lost their excitement. I don't get amped up when Enter Sandman is played anymore. It's lost that value for me. Top to bottom it's still really good, but it's not the 5+ star record you'd be led to believe by critics and certainly the sales numbers. Still very worth listening to today, but don't expect to rush out and buy it if you don't own it already. Happy Monday!

TRACK LISTING:
1. Enter Sandman
2. Sad But True
3. Holier Than Thou
4. Unforgiven, The
5. Wherever I May Roam
6. Don't Tread on Me
7. Through the Never
8. Nothing Else Matters
9. Of Wolf and Man
10. God That Failed, The
11. My Friend of Misery
12. Struggle Within, The

Listen To Samples

Top 3 Tracks:
1. Nothing Else Matters
2. The Unforgiven
3. Enter Sandman

FINAL RATING:
3.75 out of 5 stars