History Music / MetallicaAlbum

''Metallica'', commonly known as "The Black Album", is Music/{{Metallica}}'s self-titled fifth studio album, released on August 12, 1991. It was the band's true commercial breakthrough, largely due to the lead single "Enter Sandman".

->''"Exit light\\
Enter night\\
Take my hand\\
We're off to never, never land"''

''Metallica'', commonly known as "The Black Album", is Music/{{Metallica}}'s self-titled fifth studio album, released on August 12, 1991. It was the band's true commercial breakthrough, largely due to the single "Enter Sandman".

#"Don't Tread On Me" (4:01)
#"Through The Never" (4:03)

#"Of Wolf And Man" (4:17)

#"My Friend Of Misery" (6:48)

* {{Eagleland}}: "Don't Tread On Me" is Type 1 all the way, even opening with the band playing the melody of "America" from ''Theatre/WestSideStory''.

* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent: "Of Wolf And Man".

* ReptilesAreAbhorrent: Subverted with "Don't Tread On Me", since the snake (also featured on the album's cover), taken from an early version of the US flag (the Gadsden flag, specifically), is supposed to represent strength and honor.

* {{Eagleland}}: "Don't Tread On Me" is Type 1 all the way, even opening with the band playing the melody from "America" from ''Theatre/WestSideStory''.

* ReptilesAreAbhorrent: Subverted with "Don't Tread On Me", since the snake, taken from an early version of the American Flag, is supposed to represent strength and honor.

* James Hetfield - rhythm guitar, vocals

* James Hetfield - Guitar/vocals
* Kirk Hammett - Guitar
* Jason Newsted - Bass
* Lars Ulrich - Drums

* MinimalisticCoverArt: It's called "The Black Album" for a reason. Reportedly, they were inspired by [[Film/ThisIsSpinalTap Spın̈al Tap]]'s "Smell the Glove". In "A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica", James even repeatedly jokes "none more black" when he first sees the cover mock-ups, and he and Kirk were later "confronted" by David St. Hubbins and Nigel Tufnel at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert for AIDS Awareness in London.

''Metallica'', also known as The Black Album, was Music/{{Metallica}}'s fifth studio album, released on August 12, 1991, and was their true commercial breakthrough, largely due to the single "Enter Sandman".

!!Tracklist

!!Personnel

* MinimalisticCoverArt: It's called "The Black Album" for a reason. Reportedly, they were inspired by [[Film/ThisIsSpinalTap Spın̈al Tap]]'s "Smell the Glove".

* IgnoredExpert: Ironically, a clip from the documentary "A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica" showed that Bob Rock who the band brought in to make their sound more accessible, favored releasing the much more aggressive "Holier Than Thou" as the first single instead of "Enter Sandman". James and Lars paid this suggestion no mind, and the rest is history.

* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: Mostly 6-8, though "The Unforgiven" is 4 and "Nothing Else Matters" is 3.

* TheDrifter[=/=]WalkingTheEarth: "Wherever I May Roam"

* EnterEponymous: "Enter Sandman"

* HeroicSelfDeprecation: The subject of "The Unforgiven"

* NewSoundAlbum: They slowed down to a degree, and the songs aren't as long as on ''...And Justice For All''. It's also the rare Metallica album without an {{Instrumental|s}}.
* NowILayMeDownToSleep: Quoted verbatim in the IronicNurseryTune "Enter Sandman."
* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent: "Of Wolf And Man"

* ReligionRantSong: "The God That Failed," about how James' [[MissingMom mother]] died of cancer because her Christian Scientist beliefs wouldn't let her accept medical treatment, is a Type 2.
* ReptilesAreAbhorrent: Subverted with "Don't Tread On Me," since the snake, taken from an early version of the American Flag, is supposed to represent strength and honor.
* SelfTitledAlbum: [[CaptainObvious Well, duh]].

* ThingsThatGoBumpInTheNight: "Enter Sandman"

* ThrashMetal: This is the album where they start to abandon the genre, in favor of a more TraditionalHeavyMetal sound. That said, traces of it remain here, most notably on "Holier Than Thou" and "The Struggle Within," songs that wouldn't sound too out of place on ''Master of Puppets'' or ''...And Justice for All''.
* WhamLine: "Sad But True"

''Metallica'', also known as The Black Album, was Music/{{Metallica}}'s fifth studio album, released on August 12, 1991, and was their true commercial breakthrough, largely due to the single "Enter Sandman."

* ThrashMetal: This is the album where they start to abandon the genre. That said, traces of it remain here, most notably on "Holier Than Thou" and "The Struggle Within," songs that wouldn't sound too out of place on ''Master of Puppets'' or ''...And Justice for All''.

* ThrashMetal: This is the album where they start to abandoned the genre. That said, traces of it remain here, most notably on "Holier Than Thou" and "The Struggle Within," songs that wouldn't sound out of place on ''Master of Puppets'' or ''...And Justice for All''.

[[caption-width-right:300:''"Off to never, never land!'']]

[[caption-width-right:300:Off to never never land]]
%%

* James Hetfield- Guitar/vocals
* Kirk Hammett- Guitar
* Jason Newsted- Bass
* Lars Ulrich- Drums

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/metallicaalbum.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:Off to never never land]]

[[YouBastard I'm you]]"

#"Enter Sandman"
#"Sad But True"
#"Holier Than Thou"
#"The Unforgiven"
#"Wherever I May Roam"
#"Don't Tread On Me"
#"Through The Never"
#"Nothing Else Matters"
#"Of Wolf And Man"
#"The God That Failed"
#"My Friend Of Misery"
#"The Struggle Within"

* MinimalisticCoverArt: It's called "The Black Album" for a reason. Reportedly, they were inspired by [[Film/ThisIsSpinalTap Spinal Tap]]'s "Smell the Glove".

* MinimalisticCoverArt: It's called "The Black Album" for a reason.

* MohsScaleofRockAndMetalHardness: Mostly 6-8, though "The Unforgiven" is 4 and "Nothing Else Matters" is 3.
* NewSoundAlbum: They slowed down to a degree, and the songs aren't as long as on ''...And Justice For All''. It's also the rare Metallica album with out an {{Instrumental|s}}.

I'm inside, open your eyes

It's just the beasts under your bed
In your closet in your head"

* SelfTitledAlbum: [[CaptainObvious Well, duh]].