Metallica, also known as the Black Album, was the fifth studio album by Metallica, released on August 12, 1991 by Elektra Records. It received widespread critical acclaim and became the band’s best-selling album. Metallica produced five singles that are considered to be among the band’s best-known songs, which include “Enter Sandman,” “The Unforgiven,” “Nothing Else Matters,” “Wherever I May Roam,” and “Sad but True.” The album marked a change in the band’s sound from the thrash metal style of the previous four albums to a slower one.
Track listing
1.”Enter Sandman”
2. “Sad But True”
3. “Holier Than Thou”
4. “The Unforgiven”
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. “The God That Failed”
11.”My Friend of Misery”
12. “The Struggle Within”
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Metallica considered calling the album Five or using the title of one of the songs, but eventually chose an eponym because they "wanted to keep it simple.” The cover shows the band's logo and a coiled snake which are dark gray so they stand out against the black background, giving the album the nickname "The Black Album
SoundScan Era Photo By: Tony Mottram/Getty Images
Released on August 12, 1991 by Elektra Records, the album is one of the best-selling albums in the U. S. The album has sold over sixteen million copies in the United States, the first album in the SoundScan era to do so
390 Weeks Photo By: Tony Mottram/Getty Images
The album debuted at Number 1 in ten countries and spent four consecutive weeks at the top of the Billboard 200. The album spent over 390 weeks on the Billboard album chart making it the third longest charting album in the Nielsen SoundScan era, behind Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon and Carole King's Tapestry
6 Million Cassettes Photo By: Mick Hutson/Redferns/Getty Images
Of the total number of “Black Albums" sold, nearly 6 million were purchased on cassette. The album never sold less than 1,000 copies in a week, and moved a weekly average of 5,000 copies in 2016
The album was remixed three times, cost $1 million, and coincided with Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett, and Jason Newsted divorcing their wives. Hammett said this influenced their playing because they were "trying to take those feelings of guilt and failure and channel them into the music, to get something positive out of it
