18:56 Metallica is my life, and I recently re listened to the black album. This riff, I'm so glad you mentioned it , it never fails to get me to stop what ever I'm doing and headbang. Mad goosebumps everytime as well!! So cool to see someone else appreciating it 😁😁
I’ve finally gotten round to watching this and it’s brilliant dude! I’ll be listening to the album with a very different mindset from now on. I have always loved this album but I kinda love it even more now.
Only a few minutes in and this is already some of the best content I have ever seen in the Rock/ Metal scene on youtube. Your editing, writing, and narration are fantastic.
I’ve always related to James due to a similar personality and upbringing. Now knowing how deep and introspective his lyrics are on this record makes me love it even more. I used to think this album was overrated but now it’s one of my favs. Thanks to you. Great video 🤟🏻🤟🏻
Yeah, I don’t understand why an album they already admit they don’t like is something that upsets them. But that’s why metal elitist are kind of fucked up people. If you’re getting mad about what someone else is listening to their own free time, I think people like that need to go see psychiatric help .
With ya all the way, and I even have a soft spot for St. Anger (as much as people don’t like it). As long as you like the music, to hell with the pricks who try to say otherwise
I might not be a black album fan, but there are things i agree with you when it comes to these metal pricks that don't give an artist a chance to not only do new music but become successful which says alot why metal is not popular and evolving at all.
This is one of the best videos I've ever watched. You not only made me love the black album even more, you expressed my main gripe with most metallica fans, and fans in the metal community as a whole. People need to realize at the end of the day that bands can do whatever the hell they want, even if it makes me and most fans pissed
This might sound crazy, but this was the album Cliff would have wanted…contrary to popular opinion, Cliff wasn’t really a Metalhead! He wanted to cover Rush and Lynyrd Skynyrd, the latter being his favorite band. I just remember all my friends, including me saying “Cliff would be appalled” Now, looking back? Probably not
@@rodrigofonseca6241you talk as if you know cliff! He clearly loved all forms of music and encouraged every ballads especially that beautiful somber intro to the best metal song ever fight fire with fire, he loved his brothers in arms so much he would even be proud of all the ballad they incorporated in their discography as well as their inclusion of the symphony orchestra. Also there is the famous quote from him “If they consider that selling out then whatever” 😒
Yeah, never understood the people that makes the argument that they would’ve just rewritten battery 100 times if Cliff was still alive. Was the guy that got them to open up and get into different genres of music . he was the one that got James to start listening to a little little country music. I know James said that Cliff might not have been a fan of the load albums, but it’s not like James said for sure or not . Even when James said that he said it in a way that would lead you to think that there’s a chance cliff might not have like that, but Cliff was probably the most open-minded of the four guys back then. Even though they were all in the first half of their 20s, he seemed to have a very old soul and was a lot more mature about things it felt like.
Truth of the matter is, Metallica rules. I give mad props to a band for being willing to try new things, show they can do a whole lot more musically. Also I like St. Anger, yeah I said it.
Ok. Now I’m going to go listen to it again and melt my face. Thank you good, sir for just giving props where props are due and put the elitists in their place
Masterful video that truly expresses my love for this band in every sense of the word good or bad. I agree and barely disagreed with all of the opinions 😂
Thanks for this vid. The Black Album is pretty special, just in a different vein to their previous stuff. If they'd just released yet another ...And Justice, they'd have disappeared into irrelevance.
Exactly. I think metal wouldn’t have lasted up to now without it. I mean it’s on life support right now. Yes there are thousands of bands out there but other than when they’re playing one of these big metal festivals that’s three days long with 200 bands, most of them are going out on tour in front of of a few hundred people. I would never say the black album is the best album but when you look at the numbers, like yes, master of puppets is six times platinum, their first four albums have all sold millions of copies, but that wasn’t the case before the black album. And Justice For All was certified platinum one time and that was about it. This album made millions of people go not only by the first form Metallica albums, but it made millions of people go out and start buying albums from bands like Slayer and Megadeth. when people talk about all the great legendary 80s thrash metal albums none of those albums sold that many copies during the 80s. They all got their certifications after the black album came out. A lot of different bands ate off the success of the black album.
I’ve been looking for this video for a few months from when I first watched it. You just did a great job. You didn’t really defend all of their personal choices and actions. You just defended them as artist and that’s what makes this video great. Even Metallica has admitted that they have made mistakes and they have done things that they wish they didn’t, but that’s called being a human. I will never argue with anyone about whether they should like any album by any artist, but I really do believe that Metallica for better or worse or indifferent have always done with they wanted to do. You don’t put out an album like St. Anger if you’re out here, trying to please other people and trying to make money because to this day I can’t figure out the audience that that album was meant for whether you’re a fan of metal, punk, music, grunge, radio rock…… St. Anger does not fit in any of those. And yes, just like you I would have never have become a fan of metal music if it wasn’t for the black album. I was 12 when it came out and I remember seeing the music video for enter Sandman And I did every chore my parents asked me to do and went to work with my dad so I could get what little bit of money I could to start buying Metallica albums. Which led to me getting into other artist like Ozzy, Slayer, Guns N Roses, C.O.C. Megadeth, Type O Negative, Black Sabbath, Sepultura, RATM, Pantera, White Zombie, Fear Factory, Iron Maiden , etc.
The only and I do mean the only shroud of doubt I do have with the Bob Rock thing was to do with suggesting to the band to use lower tunings. I say this because The Thing That Should Not Be is played in D Standard on Master of Puppets and some of the Black Album demos had Sad But True in D Standard already from what I could find. Idk maybe the band members were just handed guitars and didn’t know much about tunings and thought "Hey this one sounds heavier than the other ones we've used" until Bob Rock explained it better?
I can't take anyone seriously who says anything bad about The Black Album - it's a masterpiece & the fact people even suggest otherwise is exactly why I don't like the metal scene - it's so pretentiously elitist. People wonder why mainstream rock is dead - I assure you that's a major factor, the crab mentality killed it years ago.
Great video man. You put a lot of thought and effort in this, it looks like a lot of work and time went into it. I really enjoy that you debunked that stupid argument. I'm a hardcore Metallica fan and I'm as well very happy with the black album, because it still had that gritty raw Metallica side but also the perfect sound and the songs were worked on and out and played and changed until they were perfect. He confronted them with their flaws and issues and made them think about themselves. Unlike their last albums. It's really needed nowadays.
Jason says it best about selling out. We sell out every night. Every seat sold out. While the black album is not my favorite in their catalog it sounds amazing and the recording techniques utilized here have become the genre standard for metal albums. Without this record far beyond driven wouldn't of sounded like it did. The black album set the bar for rock n roll up till today.
@blackmark878 so has every major act you get my point they have a huge audience and they make tons of money while remaining relavant 40 plus years later.
Just to add onto the whole make up wearing thing as something to be used against them as selling out…… the 80s hair metal bands wore makeup and teased their hair and dressed in high heels and thongs and pantyhose for their entire career. On every album cover, and every concert they played live they wore make up and tease their hair. Metallica eyeliner for one photo shoot for load and some of those pictures got used for metal edge posters as well but it’s not like if you went to see them live at a concert two weeks later they were never on stage wearing make up and dressed like they were on the load album cover. That was literally just art for the album cover. it’s not like you ever saw any of them dressed that way ever again or having the eyeliner on ever again it was for that one day. I actually went to see them on the load tour and other than having short hair they looked exactly the same. They did five years earlier. Just four guys out there in jeans, T-shirts, and sneakers.
I got my 1st Metallica tape in 86 (kill em all) . I was a die hard fan from then on, then the black album came out and slayer became my new favorite band
I never understood why the load albums were considered selling out no matter how you cut the definition of selling out, the load albums don’t really fall under that definition. Selling out is doing what everyone else wants you to do I mean when they went into the studio in 1995 to start if they wanted to cash out. Wouldn’t they make an album that was a mix between Justice and the black album? I mean if you just look at the album sales of the two loads going for a big paycheck was it then they would’ve done something that they did on puppets or justice or the black album because all of those albums outsold the load albums. And I’m sorry I don’t really hear any grunge in those records either I hear just hard rock with some blues influence and I’m glad that the band actually did something different whether it’s a plus and I like it like load or they try something different and it absolutely sucks. In my opinion like St. Anger, I would rather them do what they feel like they should do then keep making injustice for all over and over again for the safety of it because then you’re really not being true to the artist you are, if you’re doing stuff that everyone else wants you to do. on top of the whole grunge scene had pretty much died out by the time the albums were out. Is it that hard to believe that a bunch of guys that grew up listening to Black Sabbath, Lynyrd Skynyrd, AC/DC, motorhead might put out an album that sounds like the load album? He makes a good point think about the people that are hammering Home to you that Metallica sold out and look at the albums they cherish. Think about the other things in their life are these people you really see growing a lot? Hey, I love iron maiden but there’s a reason that a lot of modern metal fans don’t really care for iron maiden it’s because it’s a sound that fits best in the late 70s and early 80s . Those guys are phenomenal musicians, but if you never change, you don’t really give people a reason to go pick up a new album if all it is is the same album over and over again. That and if you’re the same guy at the age of 35 that you were when you were 18 you’ve missed the point of life. Which I guess why the saddest thing I’ve ever seen a grown man do is while at a bar one night sitting there minding my own business in a city I had never been to before drinking a corona watching a Lakers game. I noticed there are some guys that are probably 10 years older than me so they’re in their 50s And then there’s some guys that are probably 15 years younger than me in their early 20s. One of the younger guys was wearing a Metallica shirt but it was from the Load era. Now, keep in mind these younger gentlemen weren’t bothering anyone. They weren’t pulling a gun on the bartender and telling them that they had to play load and reload on. Repeat for the rest of the night, they weren’t being loud or obnoxious I was 20 feet away from them, and had no idea what they were even talking about because I couldn’t hear them. And out of nowhere this guy that had to be around the age of 53 or 54 starts yelling and nearly getting off the stool almost tripped on the barstool and starts losing his mind. I automatically am looking towards who is sitting next to him, because I’m just thinking these guys got drunk and started having a debate, and it went south, because they are under the influence. What was going on was this man in his 50s was losing his shit because someone who was 22 years old or 23 or however old he was was wearing a Metallica shirt from Load. This guy had to be escorted out of the bar by his friends, the bartender threatened to call the police. These guys were having a perfectly good evening, and one of them lost their shit because someone else was wearing a T-shirt that represented a piece of music. No one was forcing this guy to listen to. When you find yourself as a middle-age man, losing your shit and being threatened with law enforcement because somebody’s wearing a music T-shirt you don’t like you might want to spend the next week of evaluating what it means to be an adult.
I thought this was tabs for the album. But was pleasantly surprised with what the product actually was. On a side note, I always thought wolfman was about being out in nature and getting back to the meaning of life. But cool with a new perspective
Thanks so much for this video. There are many points made here that I've made to others when speaking on this topic. I'm glad you have all the best arguments here in a well produced, and funny, video. A couple observations of my own: 1. I always thought it was funny to call the Load/Reload period as sell out. Half of the songs are mid tempo bluesy numbers. And a few that are around the 8 minutes mark. Not very sell out material. And having Until it Sleeps as your first single? Ok. Lol Why didn't they just make a punk album. Green Day was still hot when they were recording this? Anyway, I agree with you. They could have made a fantastic single album. 10 - 12 tracks. Tops. 2. If someone is going to sell out and go against their own "code" and personal tastes just for money then it's hard to imagine Metallica did this by going by their filmed interviews. They're excited, engaged and ready to play this stuff live. I'd imagine it would be real tough to record an album of material you hated and sell it in an interview. But whatever.
i think if load/reload were 45 minutes each we'd all hail them as classics. because 76-79 minutes is way too long. and by these definitions than risk is much more of a sellout because dave really wasn't into making it all that much.
Funny how Metallica went from having the best produced metal album of all time to possibly the worst sounding metal album in St. Anger. God that failed, My Friend of Misery are my favorite songs. But yeah Newsted is heavily underrated as a bass player. Also Mustaine got his credit by teaching James Guitar and also for his songwriting roles in Kill Em all and Ride the Lightning. But yeah The Black Album is about as important to Metal as Black Sabbath’s Paranoid, Ozzy’s Debut album. Anyone that hates the Black album because it’s a “sellout” is really dumb..... however I do believe it’s overrated but still a good album and I will always respect it. Also this is a phenomenal video. You made a video that is about as long as a movie respect to you sir.
Hey! I know you from The Metal Meltdown's vids lol. Nice to see you found a way to my channel! Yeah. I didn't expect it to be this long (didn't expect to take 9 months on it either), but there's so much misinformation in regards to Bob Rock and the "sellout" stuff that I felt it was necessary to cross all the T's and dot all the i's, so to say. Glad you enjoyed it!
@@MadMike1 Yeah I went through the WHOLE morbid Angel Discog again. Giving them a 2nd chance and yeah they have grown on me a lot. After listening to Altars of Madness your vid on that album came recommended. And yeah I immediately subbed after seeing that well done and well spoken vid. Morbid Angel and Metallica have a lot in common tbh.
First of all,I want to say that for a such small channel the production value of this video is really great. Can't tell,how much time it took to edit this,but you did a great job with it. Second of all,I definitely agree with a lot of stuff you said here. People rightfully point out that Metallica was considered sellouts as far back as releasing Kill 'Em All in the first place. Sometimes it just feels that they are kept to a higher standard than any other thrash metal band out there. And while I can understand some people disliking Black Album and Load/Reload era (I have some issues with them as well) some of them also unfortunately go back and start to say that Master Of Puppets is "cookie cutter watered down thrash metal album,overrated trash",which is just pathetic to see. Third of all,I genuinely hope you don't lose the passion for making videos like this. It's obvious that you have strong feelings about things you talk about. Hell,your Morbid Angel video made me listen to Altars Of Madness and now it's one of my favourite death metal albums,your enthusiasm was so strong! Overall, great video. Hope you continue to grow and make videos as good as this
Thankfully for me, the view count or size of my channel won't discourage me. The reason I started this channel was to work on my writing/voicing/editing skills during the pandemic. I graduated film school last year, but unfortunately, the only area close to me that has available work in this industry also happens to be a covid hotspot, and that's not something I want to risk. So this channel was basically a way for me to keep my skills sharp while I wait for things to open up again. I'll still make stuff on here even if/when I start working in the industry because I do enjoy it. If my channel happens to blow up, great. If not, oh well. I'll still make videos on here either way. Thank you so much for liking my video. The kind words mean a lot!
@@MadMike1 Hi Mike, I'm your 180th subscriber and I want you to know that your content is really really good and appreciated. It's only a matter of time for your channel to grow. Keep working hard man!
mainly agreeing with these points. but i think some of their moves were a little too drastic and abrupt. maybe a little more of a gradual approach would've seemed a little less contrived. probably just one song on the black album that kicked the tempo up to thrash speed would've cut the sellout cries in half. i've never bought into the metallica hate. but load and re-load are weak albums for whatever reason. i get folks calling them sellouts at that point more than on the black album. but it is what it is. there are moments on st anger that i dig, but i can't with the production. and i do think it sounds like system of a down (who i don't like). from death magnetic on, i've like everything. my favorite metallica song (unforgiven iii) is on death magnetic. metal, hardcore and punk have always had issues with bands being successful. that's not likely to change.
I hate the "change" after AJFA because I was a huge diehard fan which led to judgement from the "mainstream". Just to see the same judgmental a$$holes listening to the black album. To put it in perspective look up heavy metal in the 80s I grew up in a small town where there is nothing but a Christian College AND Seminary. I had a group of college kids show up to my house to pray for me because I listened to metal.😂
26:39 For me it is kinda, whenever I feel down and have some sort of break up with some1 I was being in love with n specially wen I feel depressed when things hit the fan
I feel a lot of this mentality that Metallica sold-out is rooted in this idea that they were against the man. All these babies had to do was say they didn't like the music and move on.
In defence of Metallica stealing Dave’s riffs, for KEA it’s somewhat understandable. Even tho Dave specifically told them not to steal his riffs, it’s not like they had any other choice since they kicked him out almost a whole month before entering the studio (April 11 - May 10). It was either that or rewrite like half of the album in less than a month. Plus, they couldn’t just wait ‘till the album was finished cuz imagine having to deal with a drunk asshole in the studio. However, in the case of RTL yea I’d agree it’s pretty douchey. I guess you could argue that Dave was an asshole or that they still gave him songwriting credits on both albums even when they first released (I know this thanks to my step dad for not losing his og RTL copie). I’m not saying that stealing riffs is good, but at the end of the day, it’s not like Dave couldn’t come up with more and arguably better riffs to make up for those metallica stole, just listen to Megadeth.
I have felt the same way for 30 years. do I listen to this album as much as I do master of puppets or Justice? No but I’ve never thought it was a bad album. I think there are so many people in the metal community that I think if it’s not super technical then it’s not good. You can have brilliant songwriting, and not make it impossible to play. I mean they made four of the best thrash albums ever in the 80s and if they just wanted an album that was slower but heavier and if that’s what they really wanted to do then that’s what they need to do. I don’t think many metal fans that are the close minded type Understand the definition of selling out. Selling out is what you do when you do what everyone else wants you to do instead of what you want to do. So they should’ve made master of puppets part two? I mean all these metal heads that claim they sold out with this album how many of them do you hear raving about how great the albums from Slayer or Megadeth pass the mid 90s? Those bands went onto play for over a decade after that Megadeth is still playing. But the only albums the elites ever talk about the 80s albums and what they did in the early 90s. Not only that I don’t think many of them have stopped to think about what this actually did metal as a genre. You can’t on one hand wish everyone listen to the same music you did, and loved metal, but then on the other hand, the minute it starts getting popular you start running around, screaming at people with band T-shirts on that you don’t even know . Because here’s the thing the black album brought millions of people to metal yes were there people that just picked up the black album and maybe didn’t check out the others? Yes of course but go look at Metallica’s album sales from their 80s albums before the black album. And Justice For All was the only one that went platinum one time, and master of puppets had went gold. But after the black album, all the sudden Kill Em All went from selling under 200,000 copies to 3 million copies and is certified three times platinum. Ride The Lightning, Another great album but so many people didn’t know about it had maybe sold around 300 or 400,000 copies but when the black album came out it shot up to 6 million copies sold. Same with master of puppets. It went from 500,000 units sold to 6 million sold and Justice went to sell eight times as much as it did its first year. So that should tell you, millions of people that hadn’t listened to metal before listen to that album and went back and bought the first four albums. I’m one of those people. I was only 12 when the black album came out, my parents finally got cable and I remember watching the music videos on MTV , yes as a 12-year-old. The black album was my favorite album but I quickly got into the first four albums. But it wasn’t just Metallica that benefited from this go look at the cells from the 80s of bands like Megadeth, Sepultura, Slayer etc. none of them had albums that were certified gold or platinum. They weren’t even charted, but after the black album not only did those millions of fans that had gotten into Metallica go back and buy Metallica’s back catalog but they started buying up the back catalog of all the other metal bands that were relevant at the time. Overnight albums that were five and six years old that the bands really didn’t make that much money on all the sudden had hundreds of thousands of dollars flooding into their bank accounts. It also sent the stage for the newer generation of metal bands like Pantera , White Zombie, Rage Against The Machine and Type 0 Negative so they had an audience of millions that was ready to buy their albums. Metallica was almost the soul reason in the 90s people were getting into metal and supporting metal bands more than they had ever done before. We wouldn’t see a rise in people supporting metal music until the late 90s when Nu Metal hit the scene. But because the metal fans are dumb as fuck, the one thing they can’t stand our bands being successful. So everyone went completely out of their way to make sure their music had no groove to it, and not even slightly catchy, and since the early 2000s, most metal bands are extremely boring because they all make music that sounds the same, and all of their albums pretty much sound the same. Thank God for Metallica and the black because a lot of bands and a lot of fans got to enjoy the metal genre with a lot of cool tours and a lot of greater albums that were legendary. You remember how in the 70s and the 80s and the 90s they were filled with classic metal albums how many classic metal albums have come out in the last 15 years? If I was ranking all the metal albums that I liked know, the black album would not be ranked number one but I think it is probably the most important metal album because it did more for metal than any other album ever.
It's amazing how so many grown adults get their buttholes in a knot because a group of adults decided they didn't wanna make the same type of music they'd made for a decade, then turn around and bitch when they decided to return to that sound because they "were just trying to please their old fans". People don't really know what they want, do they? Well done, Mike!! Also, that Seth Putnam retrospective was sick af too 😁.
It should be rechristened as The Bland Album. A majority of the tracks are just beyond lame. It sold millions of copies but that's not how you measure a metal album's success.
The segment of selling out in regards to Metallica I have been shouting from the mountain tops since The Black Album was released. Metallica did not sell out. If Metallica released Master of Puppets part two they would have in my eyes sold out. In my opinion there were two instances of Metallica selling out. The first was Load. Not because of hair cuts or change of musical direction, but because of the injection of grunge with the change of direction. This instance I think isn't selling out. I mentioned two instances but there is a third. The second time was the added thought I had St. Anger. Not because of the terrible trash can snare or the over bloated songs or even the stripped down approach but no solos. Kirk said it in Some Kind of Monster, the no solos dates the album and puts into a specific time period. I don't know if those items became consequences but with other bands not doing guitar solos during that time and if anything were kinda late for the no guitar solo party. The third is thier most glaring accusation of selling out. Death Magnetic. The world was ready and begging for Metallica to return to thrash. Even though they did with St. Anger, Metallica bowed to the masses and did what the fans wanted. I defended Metallica during the Black Album, the Load era, St. Anger even but Death Magnetic is tainted. Everyone seems to love this album and sre it has good songs on it but the point is that they relented and gave the fans what they wanted. I was a blind fan boy at one time, but Death Magnetic just felt different. So I agree with you with your opinion. With Metallica being as huge as they are they will always be a prime example of being damned if they do damned if they don't. I still love this band maybe not as much as when I was in middle school to half way through high school, but I love them none the less. If it weren't for Metallica I don't know if I would love music and understand music the way I do if it were not for Metallica. I don't know if I would still be breathing if it weren't for Metallica.
The only album that i feel could really be labelled a 'sellout' album by Metallica is ReLoad, but i know im in a minority opinion. Regardless TBA has some standout thrash tracks like Through the Never, Holier than Thou and Struggle Within and some of the heaviest songs beyond that. Sure im not a fan of some if the more 'ballad-y' tracks but its a very diverse album. And better than Kill'em All imo.
So, the lesson from this is that Metallica has just sucked since 91. Look, bands do change. But the ones that change and do something that is actually good is awesome. But everything Metallica has done sucks. To me their last few albums sound like a parody. I only like one song they have done in the last 20 years and that's "All Nightmare Long". I will say this, their last album, 72 Seasons is good. It sounds like a band just jamming some good heavy metal and not trying to do something they are just unable to do any longer.
This video should be titled "81 Minutes of Exactly Why Metallica Are Poser Sellouts." lol. I am only kidding. I think the Black Album is phenomenal, and was a declaration - that Metallica had conquered the underground, and we're now out to takeover the mainstream. And they did. Prior to the release of this record, NO ONE in Metal had anything negative to say about this band. Everyone stood in awe as the Metallica juggernaut creeped across the land killing every other band. (ba dum tss) Anybody can watch the Seattle '89 show and watch as the band utterly destroyed anything else that was happening back then. The seismic shift that occurred can be witnessed by looking at how drastically heavy metal changed after the release of Justice and subsequently, The Black Album. People say Grunge killed Glam, and I disagree. Metallica killed Glam. Metallica showed the world that heavy metal bands didn't have to be cross-dressing pansies like Poison, Bon Jovi and Winger. Metallica effectively ENDED Motley Crue's reign on MTV. Motley, arguably the quintessential Glam Rock band, fucking dissolved under the weight of Metallica. Even Guns N Roses were crippled next to Metallica's immense stage presence. Look at every other band that put out an album within a few years of the Black Album, and ALL of them started adopting something from Metallica. Motley kicked Vince and went darker, but fumbled hard. Skid Row heavied things up on Slave, but still sounded weightless compared to Metallica. Ratt, Winger, Warrant, WASP... all of 'em got fucking DUSTED. Then look at all the new/breakthrough bands that came up next... all the albums that came out between 90-95... people had obviously sunk their teeth into Metallica and started biting into Danzig, Sepultura, Fear Factory, Machine Head and even Korn. Even the crossover bands like S.Tendencies, DRI and CoC started playing heavier, more metal style riffs in the wake that Metallica created. All of them followed in Metallica's footsteps. Shit, even Anthrax shed their "80's Metal" singer and recruited John Bush, who Metallica once tried to poach from Armored Saint! Testament shadowed Metallica for their first 5 albums, and of course who can forget fuckin' Dave Mustaine constantly hounding Metallica! To their credit, it seemed only Slayer was immune to Metallica's influence, though Slayer did benefit from an ever-growing fanbase of new metal fans recruited by Metallica. Most people discovered Metallica, then went on the hunt for ,ore, finding Slayer soon after. Like you mentioned in the video about the decision to start downtuning on Sad But True to create the heaviest Metallica song.... and what do ya know, everyone started down tuning religiously. Even the mighty Pantera took cue's from Metallica. Pantera took Metallica's playbook and built upon it. I would say that Pantera wouldn't have evolved out of being a group of Van Halen clones had they not started drawing on the well of Metallica, Slayer and that kind of thrash metal. Pantera's entire success was built upon the foundation that Metallica laid down. Look at Ozzy! No More Tears is a fantastic album, but is steeped in glitzy Hollywood style rock. The Black Album dropped and his next album was Ozzmosis. Ozzmosis was OBVIOUSLY influenced by the changes Metallica set in motion, and it wasn't long before Ozzy hauled ass back to Black Sabbath. People had gotten into Metallica and suddenly everyone's burnout stoner uncle was digging up their old Sabbath and Motorhead albums. The sphere of Metallica's influence is immeasurable.
I definitely agree. Metallica self titled prove that you can be agressive and mainstream without sounding like Motley Crüe or Def Leppard nothing against those bands.
The other thing is about the whole stupid sellout argument is you don’t know if an album is going to hit or not. It’s not like they had a magic crystal ball that said if you wrote these songs you’re going to have an album that goes diamond. Selling out is doing what other people want you to do instead of doing what you feel. I would rather have a band that I like go and try something new and if it works great if it doesn’t great but at least it’s them being true to their art. As someone that has been in for different bands, the minute you start writing songs worrying about if other people are going to think it’s metal enough then you’re not riding what you are feeling you’re writing out of fear.
I interpret Lars saying that they needed to change their sound was because they felt like they hit a peak with their thrash sound and it seems like they wanted to prove to themselves they could do more. Which they did. Besides I think there are later albums that would represent when they sold out or dropped off and I don’t think the black album was that album.
Nice strawman arguments. The real reason metalheads hate the black album is because they made their music definitively about themselves. They overshared. Their mystique took a blow and finally dropped dead on st anger when they were revealed as the spoiled brats that Newstead has always said that they were. Drawing back to your "write your childhood on a paper" argument, if I did that and published it the response would be a resounding "who gives a fuck?" And that is the reaction to the black album. Sounds nice, but who gives a fuck? Nobody gives a fuck about Metallica's feelings. Thats why we hate it.
53:37 “..they never did an MTV style video..”??!! How about “I disappear”??!! Or the reality show with a fake shrink to diss Mustaine, kick Newsted and vent out how lame they’ve gotten??!!. Yeah, ok: Mustaine was an idiot for walking right into it.
Can people just play what music they wanna play? It because their second best imo besides master of puppets. And anyway I think it's good they didn't make another thrash album idk that it would have been as good as AJFA. They have never made a good return to thrash a change is sound is necessary
![Learn the Alphabet with METALLICA! [Explicit]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/QOBcdP7Ty44/mqdefault.jpg)
18:56
Metallica is my life, and I recently re listened to the black album. This riff, I'm so glad you mentioned it , it never fails to get me to stop what ever I'm doing and headbang. Mad goosebumps everytime as well!! So cool to see someone else appreciating it 😁😁
I’ve finally gotten round to watching this and it’s brilliant dude! I’ll be listening to the album with a very different mindset from now on. I have always loved this album but I kinda love it even more now.
Oh wow. This is one of the best TH-cam videos I've ever seen! I know I'm 3 years late but damn, great job man!
I'm late to the party, too. But this looks promising.
You have a career ahead of you with this. You also have the perfect voice for it 🤘🏻You’ve got that JK Simmons energy
Not quite my tempo, prag
This is seriously one of the best TH-cam videos I ever watched
This video made me to revisit and listen to The Black Album all day long
Only a few minutes in and this is already some of the best content I have ever seen in the Rock/ Metal scene on youtube. Your editing, writing, and narration are fantastic.
Very good video. Keep it up, i really enjoyed this one👏🏼
"I'm surprised metal elitists don't give mustaine credit for i-"
I’ve always related to James due to a similar personality and upbringing. Now knowing how deep and introspective his lyrics are on this record makes me love it even more. I used to think this album was overrated but now it’s one of my favs. Thanks to you. Great video 🤟🏻🤟🏻
I love The Black Album, and Load and ReLoad..
I always have and i like that it makes those elitist mad
Great video..
Yeah, I don’t understand why an album they already admit they don’t like is something that upsets them. But that’s why metal elitist are kind of fucked up people. If you’re getting mad about what someone else is listening to their own free time, I think people like that need to go see psychiatric help .
With ya all the way, and I even have a soft spot for St. Anger (as much as people don’t like it). As long as you like the music, to hell with the pricks who try to say otherwise
Holier Than Thou, The God That Failed, Of Wolf and Man and The Struggle Within are some of the stand out tracks on this record.
I live wolf and man
Almost all of the black album tracks are literally god tier imo
They didn't sell out, but they did wimp out. And I like the black album.
Wow! Great video! Well done Mad Mike!You are gonna be huge after this! Subbed after the first 4 min. Greetings from Sweden
Nice. Love the vid.
Amazing videos dude love this and the alters one. Hope you do more death metal and thrash bands.
This is the best video I've ever seen about an album I don't like. Cheers, Mike!
My God dude. This is sooooooo well done. Like insanely well done. Kudos to you. All your hard work paid off.
I might not be a black album fan, but there are things i agree with you when it comes to these metal pricks that don't give an artist a chance to not only do new music but become successful which says alot why metal is not popular and evolving at all.
44:45 lol awesome
Keep making vids, man. This was really good.
Don't ever sell out.
:)
This is one of the best videos I've ever watched. You not only made me love the black album even more, you expressed my main gripe with most metallica fans, and fans in the metal community as a whole. People need to realize at the end of the day that bands can do whatever the hell they want, even if it makes me and most fans pissed
Fucking hilarious and SPOT ON Mike!! Really appreciate the research you put into this. Honestly. Great job 👍🖤
This might sound crazy, but this was the album Cliff would have wanted…contrary to popular opinion, Cliff wasn’t really a Metalhead! He wanted to cover Rush and Lynyrd Skynyrd, the latter being his favorite band.
I just remember all my friends, including me saying “Cliff would be appalled” Now, looking back? Probably not
Cliff was absolutely a metalhead, 90% of his collection was metal. th-cam.com/video/DjI0bi8SU4M/w-d-xo.html
You talk as if you ever knew him. Cliff was a headbanger on stage and he seemed to enjoy metal music - the best in the world. RIP Cliff.
You’re absolutely correct
@@rodrigofonseca6241you talk as if you know cliff! He clearly loved all forms of music and encouraged every ballads especially that beautiful somber intro to the best metal song ever fight fire with fire, he loved his brothers in arms so much he would even be proud of all the ballad they incorporated in their discography as well as their inclusion of the symphony orchestra. Also there is the famous quote from him
“If they consider that selling out then whatever” 😒
Yeah, never understood the people that makes the argument that they would’ve just rewritten battery 100 times if Cliff was still alive. Was the guy that got them to open up and get into different genres of music . he was the one that got James to start listening to a little little country music.
I know James said that Cliff might not have been a fan of the load albums, but it’s not like James said for sure or not . Even when James said that he said it in a way that would lead you to think that there’s a chance cliff might not have like that, but Cliff was probably the most open-minded of the four guys back then. Even though they were all in the first half of their 20s, he seemed to have a very old soul and was a lot more mature about things it felt like.
Incredible video man. Truly wishing there were more thoughtful passionate and well executed videos like this on TH-cam.
Well it is weird how they hated Ratt and Poison and then specifically heard Dr. Feelgood and went "we want that!"
I think they were moreso impressed by the production value. Dr. Feelgood sounds massive and I'm a certified Crue hater.
They wanted Tommy's drum sound and a more in your face guitar sound.
Brilliant work
Great video, this and your tier list with Metal Trenches. Think I'm gonna re-listen to some Metallica.
I unapologetically love the Black Album. Being a huge hard rock fan I feel that it ticks all the boxes.
Really Well done! Not a huge Metallica fan, Listened to them here and there, but this video kept me interested! Such a unique era of music History!
Bro this is fucking awesome I can’t believe I didn’t see this tell a hole year after it came out lol
Truth of the matter is, Metallica rules. I give mad props to a band for being willing to try new things, show they can do a whole lot more musically.
Also I like St. Anger, yeah I said it.
Ok. Now I’m going to go listen to it again and melt my face. Thank you good, sir for just giving props where props are due and put the elitists in their place
Load and reload are great.
Not really a Metallica fan but enjoy documentaries and the like. You did a great job and tons of respect to all of the research and presentation.
Masterful video that truly expresses my love for this band in every sense of the word good or bad. I agree and barely disagreed with all of the opinions 😂
Nicely Done.
Thanks for this vid. The Black Album is pretty special, just in a different vein to their previous stuff. If they'd just released yet another ...And Justice, they'd have disappeared into irrelevance.
Exactly. I think metal wouldn’t have lasted up to now without it. I mean it’s on life support right now. Yes there are thousands of bands out there but other than when they’re playing one of these big metal festivals that’s three days long with 200 bands, most of them are going out on tour in front of of a few hundred people.
I would never say the black album is the best album but when you look at the numbers, like yes, master of puppets is six times platinum, their first four albums have all sold millions of copies, but that wasn’t the case before the black album. And Justice For All was certified platinum one time and that was about it. This album made millions of people go not only by the first form Metallica albums, but it made millions of people go out and start buying albums from bands like Slayer and Megadeth. when people talk about all the great legendary 80s thrash metal albums none of those albums sold that many copies during the 80s. They all got their certifications after the black album came out. A lot of different bands ate off the success of the black album.
I’ve been looking for this video for a few months from when I first watched it. You just did a great job. You didn’t really defend all of their personal choices and actions. You just defended them as artist and that’s what makes this video great. Even Metallica has admitted that they have made mistakes and they have done things that they wish they didn’t, but that’s called being a human.
I will never argue with anyone about whether they should like any album by any artist, but I really do believe that Metallica for better or worse or indifferent have always done with they wanted to do. You don’t put out an album like St. Anger if you’re out here, trying to please other people and trying to make money because to this day I can’t figure out the audience that that album was meant for whether you’re a fan of metal, punk, music, grunge, radio rock…… St. Anger does not fit in any of those.
And yes, just like you I would have never have become a fan of metal music if it wasn’t for the black album. I was 12 when it came out and I remember seeing the music video for enter Sandman And I did every chore my parents asked me to do and went to work with my dad so I could get what little bit of money I could to start buying Metallica albums. Which led to me getting into other artist like Ozzy, Slayer, Guns N Roses, C.O.C. Megadeth, Type O Negative, Black Sabbath, Sepultura, RATM, Pantera, White Zombie, Fear Factory, Iron Maiden , etc.
The only and I do mean the only shroud of doubt I do have with the Bob Rock thing was to do with suggesting to the band to use lower tunings.
I say this because The Thing That Should Not Be is played in D Standard on Master of Puppets and some of the Black Album demos had Sad But True in D Standard already from what I could find.
Idk maybe the band members were just handed guitars and didn’t know much about tunings and thought "Hey this one sounds heavier than the other ones we've used" until Bob Rock explained it better?
Besides that agree with all of your points with your video
I can't take anyone seriously who says anything bad about The Black Album - it's a masterpiece & the fact people even suggest otherwise is exactly why I don't like the metal scene - it's so pretentiously elitist. People wonder why mainstream rock is dead - I assure you that's a major factor, the crab mentality killed it years ago.
Great video man. You put a lot of thought and effort in this, it looks like a lot of work and time went into it. I really enjoy that you debunked that stupid argument. I'm a hardcore Metallica fan and I'm as well very happy with the black album, because it still had that gritty raw Metallica side but also the perfect sound and the songs were worked on and out and played and changed until they were perfect. He confronted them with their flaws and issues and made them think about themselves. Unlike their last albums. It's really needed nowadays.
Jason says it best about selling out. We sell out every night. Every seat sold out. While the black album is not my favorite in their catalog it sounds amazing and the recording techniques utilized here have become the genre standard for metal albums. Without this record far beyond driven wouldn't of sounded like it did. The black album set the bar for rock n roll up till today.
@blackmark878 so has every major act you get my point they have a huge audience and they make tons of money while remaining relavant 40 plus years later.
@@winstonslone2797 They're as relevant as Cycle Sluts From Hell.
Just to add onto the whole make up wearing thing as something to be used against them as selling out…… the 80s hair metal bands wore makeup and teased their hair and dressed in high heels and thongs and pantyhose for their entire career. On every album cover, and every concert they played live they wore make up and tease their hair.
Metallica eyeliner for one photo shoot for load and some of those pictures got used for metal edge posters as well but it’s not like if you went to see them live at a concert two weeks later they were never on stage wearing make up and dressed like they were on the load album cover. That was literally just art for the album cover. it’s not like you ever saw any of them dressed that way ever again or having the eyeliner on ever again it was for that one day. I actually went to see them on the load tour and other than having short hair they looked exactly the same. They did five years earlier. Just four guys out there in jeans, T-shirts, and sneakers.
Great fucking video my dude. Keep it up! Love your videos
Awesome video
:) im gonna enjoy watching this because some people really believe that this is an opinion based conversation insted of a factual one
I got my 1st Metallica tape in 86 (kill em all) . I was a die hard fan from then on, then the black album came out and slayer became my new favorite band
Def good videos so far. You remind me of YMS except for with music and I'd probably say a lot more editing:) good stuff dude keep em coming:)
I never understood why the load albums were considered selling out no matter how you cut the definition of selling out, the load albums don’t really fall under that definition. Selling out is doing what everyone else wants you to do I mean when they went into the studio in 1995 to start if they wanted to cash out. Wouldn’t they make an album that was a mix between Justice and the black album? I mean if you just look at the album sales of the two loads going for a big paycheck was it then they would’ve done something that they did on puppets or justice or the black album because all of those albums outsold the load albums.
And I’m sorry I don’t really hear any grunge in those records either I hear just hard rock with some blues influence and I’m glad that the band actually did something different whether it’s a plus and I like it like load or they try something different and it absolutely sucks. In my opinion like St. Anger, I would rather them do what they feel like they should do then keep making injustice for all over and over again for the safety of it because then you’re really not being true to the artist you are, if you’re doing stuff that everyone else wants you to do. on top of the whole grunge scene had pretty much died out by the time the albums were out.
Is it that hard to believe that a bunch of guys that grew up listening to Black Sabbath, Lynyrd Skynyrd, AC/DC, motorhead might put out an album that sounds like the load album?
He makes a good point think about the people that are hammering Home to you that Metallica sold out and look at the albums they cherish. Think about the other things in their life are these people you really see growing a lot? Hey, I love iron maiden but there’s a reason that a lot of modern metal fans don’t really care for iron maiden it’s because it’s a sound that fits best in the late 70s and early 80s . Those guys are phenomenal musicians, but if you never change, you don’t really give people a reason to go pick up a new album if all it is is the same album over and over again. That and if you’re the same guy at the age of 35 that you were when you were 18 you’ve missed the point of life.
Which I guess why the saddest thing I’ve ever seen a grown man do is while at a bar one night sitting there minding my own business in a city I had never been to before drinking a corona watching a Lakers game. I noticed there are some guys that are probably 10 years older than me so they’re in their 50s And then there’s some guys that are probably 15 years younger than me in their early 20s. One of the younger guys was wearing a Metallica shirt but it was from the Load era.
Now, keep in mind these younger gentlemen weren’t bothering anyone. They weren’t pulling a gun on the bartender and telling them that they had to play load and reload on. Repeat for the rest of the night, they weren’t being loud or obnoxious I was 20 feet away from them, and had no idea what they were even talking about because I couldn’t hear them. And out of nowhere this guy that had to be around the age of 53 or 54 starts yelling and nearly getting off the stool almost tripped on the barstool and starts losing his mind. I automatically am looking towards who is sitting next to him, because I’m just thinking these guys got drunk and started having a debate, and it went south, because they are under the influence. What was going on was this man in his 50s was losing his shit because someone who was 22 years old or 23 or however old he was was wearing a Metallica shirt from Load. This guy had to be escorted out of the bar by his friends, the bartender threatened to call the police. These guys were having a perfectly good evening, and one of them lost their shit because someone else was wearing a T-shirt that represented a piece of music. No one was forcing this guy to listen to. When you find yourself as a middle-age man, losing your shit and being threatened with law enforcement because somebody’s wearing a music T-shirt you don’t like you might want to spend the next week of evaluating what it means to be an adult.
I hate music snobbs. The black Album was the first cd i ever owned, and i love it as much now as i did then.
I thought this was tabs for the album. But was pleasantly surprised with what the product actually was.
On a side note, I always thought wolfman was about being out in nature and getting back to the meaning of life. But cool with a new perspective
Thanks so much for this video. There are many points made here that I've made to others when speaking on this topic. I'm glad you have all the best arguments here in a well produced, and funny, video.
A couple observations of my own:
1. I always thought it was funny to call the Load/Reload period as sell out. Half of the songs are mid tempo bluesy numbers. And a few that are around the 8 minutes mark. Not very sell out material. And having Until it Sleeps as your first single? Ok. Lol Why didn't they just make a punk album. Green Day was still hot when they were recording this? Anyway, I agree with you. They could have made a fantastic single album. 10 - 12 tracks. Tops.
2. If someone is going to sell out and go against their own "code" and personal tastes just for money then it's hard to imagine Metallica did this by going by their filmed interviews. They're excited, engaged and ready to play this stuff live. I'd imagine it would be real tough to record an album of material you hated and sell it in an interview. But whatever.
i think if load/reload were 45 minutes each we'd all hail them as classics. because 76-79 minutes is way too long.
and by these definitions than risk is much more of a sellout because dave really wasn't into making it all that much.
Funny how Metallica went from having the best produced metal album of all time to possibly the worst sounding metal album in St. Anger. God that failed, My Friend of Misery are my favorite songs. But yeah Newsted is heavily underrated as a bass player. Also Mustaine got his credit by teaching James Guitar and also for his songwriting roles in Kill Em all and Ride the Lightning. But yeah The Black Album is about as important to Metal as Black Sabbath’s Paranoid, Ozzy’s Debut album. Anyone that hates the Black album because it’s a “sellout” is really dumb..... however I do believe it’s overrated but still a good album and I will always respect it. Also this is a phenomenal video. You made a video that is about as long as a movie respect to you sir.
Hey! I know you from The Metal Meltdown's vids lol. Nice to see you found a way to my channel!
Yeah. I didn't expect it to be this long (didn't expect to take 9 months on it either), but there's so much misinformation in regards to Bob Rock and the "sellout" stuff that I felt it was necessary to cross all the T's and dot all the i's, so to say. Glad you enjoyed it!
@@MadMike1 Yeah I went through the WHOLE morbid Angel Discog again. Giving them a 2nd chance and yeah they have grown on me a lot. After listening to Altars of Madness your vid on that album came recommended. And yeah I immediately subbed after seeing that well done and well spoken vid. Morbid Angel and Metallica have a lot in common tbh.
I see St. Anger as them going for a raw unfiltered direction, really just a bunch of guys getting together to jam.
52:42 james sounds like markiplier
Only the Goats recognize The Planets by Holst
U should do one on Megadeath
Where’s the tabs? ☹️🎸
First of all,I want to say that for a such small channel the production value of this video is really great. Can't tell,how much time it took to edit this,but you did a great job with it.
Second of all,I definitely agree with a lot of stuff you said here. People rightfully point out that Metallica was considered sellouts as far back as releasing Kill 'Em All in the first place. Sometimes it just feels that they are kept to a higher standard than any other thrash metal band out there. And while I can understand some people disliking Black Album and Load/Reload era (I have some issues with them as well) some of them also unfortunately go back and start to say that Master Of Puppets is "cookie cutter watered down thrash metal album,overrated trash",which is just pathetic to see.
Third of all,I genuinely hope you don't lose the passion for making videos like this. It's obvious that you have strong feelings about things you talk about. Hell,your Morbid Angel video made me listen to Altars Of Madness and now it's one of my favourite death metal albums,your enthusiasm was so strong!
Overall, great video. Hope you continue to grow and make videos as good as this
Thankfully for me, the view count or size of my channel won't discourage me. The reason I started this channel was to work on my writing/voicing/editing skills during the pandemic. I graduated film school last year, but unfortunately, the only area close to me that has available work in this industry also happens to be a covid hotspot, and that's not something I want to risk. So this channel was basically a way for me to keep my skills sharp while I wait for things to open up again. I'll still make stuff on here even if/when I start working in the industry because I do enjoy it. If my channel happens to blow up, great. If not, oh well. I'll still make videos on here either way.
Thank you so much for liking my video. The kind words mean a lot!
@@MadMike1 Hi Mike, I'm your 180th subscriber and I want you to know that your content is really really good and appreciated. It's only a matter of time for your channel to grow. Keep working hard man!
Your voice sounds great 💦
Sellout or not, their early stuff is still the best according to me.
46:47
Smitty Werbenjägermanjensen
He was number 1!
Elitist metalheads are like flatearthers.
Great video!
My favourite metal album btw. I'm serious here folks.
The Black Album would've been better if bob rock allowed Metallica to keep their song "mad mike is gay"
mainly agreeing with these points. but i think some of their moves were a little too drastic and abrupt. maybe a little more of a gradual approach would've seemed a little less contrived. probably just one song on the black album that kicked the tempo up to thrash speed would've cut the sellout cries in half. i've never bought into the metallica hate. but load and re-load are weak albums for whatever reason. i get folks calling them sellouts at that point more than on the black album. but it is what it is. there are moments on st anger that i dig, but i can't with the production. and i do think it sounds like system of a down (who i don't like). from death magnetic on, i've like everything. my favorite metallica song (unforgiven iii) is on death magnetic. metal, hardcore and punk have always had issues with bands being successful. that's not likely to change.
Metallica did sell out
They sell out everywhere they go. Every stadium. Every night.
Black Album was great.
Only 7000 views? Yt is cruel.
I hate the "change" after AJFA because I was a huge diehard fan which led to judgement from the "mainstream". Just to see the same judgmental a$$holes listening to the black album.
To put it in perspective look up heavy metal in the 80s
I grew up in a small town where there is nothing but a Christian College AND Seminary. I had a group of college kids show up to my house to pray for me because I listened to metal.😂
you should do one of these on cryptopsy!
maybe none so vile
13:56 lmao
26:39 For me it is kinda, whenever I feel down and have some sort of break up with some1 I was being in love with n specially wen I feel depressed when things hit the fan
is Def Leppard considered 'heavy metal'?
No way
I feel a lot of this mentality that Metallica sold-out is rooted in this idea that they were against the man. All these babies had to do was say they didn't like the music and move on.
In defence of Metallica stealing Dave’s riffs, for KEA it’s somewhat understandable. Even tho Dave specifically told them not to steal his riffs, it’s not like they had any other choice since they kicked him out almost a whole month before entering the studio (April 11 - May 10). It was either that or rewrite like half of the album in less than a month. Plus, they couldn’t just wait ‘till the album was finished cuz imagine having to deal with a drunk asshole in the studio. However, in the case of RTL yea I’d agree it’s pretty douchey. I guess you could argue that Dave was an asshole or that they still gave him songwriting credits on both albums even when they first released (I know this thanks to my step dad for not losing his og RTL copie). I’m not saying that stealing riffs is good, but at the end of the day, it’s not like Dave couldn’t come up with more and arguably better riffs to make up for those metallica stole, just listen to Megadeth.
he had no legal leg to stand on as those were metallica songs.
I have felt the same way for 30 years. do I listen to this album as much as I do master of puppets or Justice? No but I’ve never thought it was a bad album. I think there are so many people in the metal community that I think if it’s not super technical then it’s not good. You can have brilliant songwriting, and not make it impossible to play.
I mean they made four of the best thrash albums ever in the 80s and if they just wanted an album that was slower but heavier and if that’s what they really wanted to do then that’s what they need to do. I don’t think many metal fans that are the close minded type Understand the definition of selling out. Selling out is what you do when you do what everyone else wants you to do instead of what you want to do. So they should’ve made master of puppets part two?
I mean all these metal heads that claim they sold out with this album how many of them do you hear raving about how great the albums from Slayer or Megadeth pass the mid 90s? Those bands went onto play for over a decade after that Megadeth is still playing. But the only albums the elites ever talk about the 80s albums and what they did in the early 90s.
Not only that I don’t think many of them have stopped to think about what this actually did metal as a genre. You can’t on one hand wish everyone listen to the same music you did, and loved metal, but then on the other hand, the minute it starts getting popular you start running around, screaming at people with band T-shirts on that you don’t even know .
Because here’s the thing the black album brought millions of people to metal yes were there people that just picked up the black album and maybe didn’t check out the others? Yes of course but go look at Metallica’s album sales from their 80s albums before the black album. And Justice For All was the only one that went platinum one time, and master of puppets had went gold. But after the black album, all the sudden Kill Em All went from selling under 200,000 copies to 3 million copies and is certified three times platinum. Ride The Lightning, Another great album but so many people didn’t know about it had maybe sold around 300 or 400,000 copies but when the black album came out it shot up to 6 million copies sold. Same with master of puppets. It went from 500,000 units sold to 6 million sold and Justice went to sell eight times as much as it did its first year.
So that should tell you, millions of people that hadn’t listened to metal before listen to that album and went back and bought the first four albums. I’m one of those people. I was only 12 when the black album came out, my parents finally got cable and I remember watching the music videos on MTV , yes as a 12-year-old. The black album was my favorite album but I quickly got into the first four albums.
But it wasn’t just Metallica that benefited from this go look at the cells from the 80s of bands like Megadeth, Sepultura, Slayer etc. none of them had albums that were certified gold or platinum. They weren’t even charted, but after the black album not only did those millions of fans that had gotten into Metallica go back and buy Metallica’s back catalog but they started buying up the back catalog of all the other metal bands that were relevant at the time. Overnight albums that were five and six years old that the bands really didn’t make that much money on all the sudden had hundreds of thousands of dollars flooding into their bank accounts.
It also sent the stage for the newer generation of metal bands like Pantera , White Zombie, Rage Against The Machine and Type 0 Negative so they had an audience of millions that was ready to buy their albums.
Metallica was almost the soul reason in the 90s people were getting into metal and supporting metal bands more than they had ever done before. We wouldn’t see a rise in people supporting metal music until the late 90s when Nu Metal hit the scene. But because the metal fans are dumb as fuck, the one thing they can’t stand our bands being successful. So everyone went completely out of their way to make sure their music had no groove to it, and not even slightly catchy, and since the early 2000s, most metal bands are extremely boring because they all make music that sounds the same, and all of their albums pretty much sound the same.
Thank God for Metallica and the black because a lot of bands and a lot of fans got to enjoy the metal genre with a lot of cool tours and a lot of greater albums that were legendary. You remember how in the 70s and the 80s and the 90s they were filled with classic metal albums how many classic metal albums have come out in the last 15 years?
If I was ranking all the metal albums that I liked know, the black album would not be ranked number one but I think it is probably the most important metal album because it did more for metal than any other album ever.
It's amazing how so many grown adults get their buttholes in a knot because a group of adults decided they didn't wanna make the same type of music they'd made for a decade, then turn around and bitch when they decided to return to that sound because they "were just trying to please their old fans". People don't really know what they want, do they?
Well done, Mike!! Also, that Seth Putnam retrospective was sick af too 😁.
Lars' face triggers me:)
It's a great Heavy Metal record, but it's in no way a Thrash Metal record.
It should be rechristened as The Bland Album. A majority of the tracks are just beyond lame. It sold millions of copies but that's not how you measure a metal album's success.
The segment of selling out in regards to Metallica I have been shouting from the mountain tops since The Black Album was released. Metallica did not sell out. If Metallica released Master of Puppets part two they would have in my eyes sold out. In my opinion there were two instances of Metallica selling out. The first was Load. Not because of hair cuts or change of musical direction, but because of the injection of grunge with the change of direction. This instance I think isn't selling out. I mentioned two instances but there is a third.
The second time was the added thought I had St. Anger. Not because of the terrible trash can snare or the over bloated songs or even the stripped down approach but no solos. Kirk said it in Some Kind of Monster, the no solos dates the album and puts into a specific time period. I don't know if those items became consequences but with other bands not doing guitar solos during that time and if anything were kinda late for the no guitar solo party.
The third is thier most glaring accusation of selling out. Death Magnetic. The world was ready and begging for Metallica to return to thrash. Even though they did with St. Anger, Metallica bowed to the masses and did what the fans wanted. I defended Metallica during the Black Album, the Load era, St. Anger even but Death Magnetic is tainted. Everyone seems to love this album and sre it has good songs on it but the point is that they relented and gave the fans what they wanted. I was a blind fan boy at one time, but Death Magnetic just felt different.
So I agree with you with your opinion. With Metallica being as huge as they are they will always be a prime example of being damned if they do damned if they don't. I still love this band maybe not as much as when I was in middle school to half way through high school, but I love them none the less. If it weren't for Metallica I don't know if I would love music and understand music the way I do if it were not for Metallica. I don't know if I would still be breathing if it weren't for Metallica.
Napsta Napsta.
Wheres that cash that ive been after.
Napsta Napsta.
Whom that stole my pride.
The only album that i feel could really be labelled a 'sellout' album by Metallica is ReLoad, but i know im in a minority opinion. Regardless TBA has some standout thrash tracks like Through the Never, Holier than Thou and Struggle Within and some of the heaviest songs beyond that. Sure im not a fan of some if the more 'ballad-y' tracks but its a very diverse album.
And better than Kill'em All imo.
So, the lesson from this is that Metallica has just sucked since 91. Look, bands do change. But the ones that change and do something that is actually good is awesome. But everything Metallica has done sucks. To me their last few albums sound like a parody. I only like one song they have done in the last 20 years and that's "All Nightmare Long". I will say this, their last album, 72 Seasons is good. It sounds like a band just jamming some good heavy metal and not trying to do something they are just unable to do any longer.
This video should be titled "81 Minutes of Exactly Why Metallica Are Poser Sellouts." lol. I am only kidding.
I think the Black Album is phenomenal, and was a declaration - that Metallica had conquered the underground, and we're now out to takeover the mainstream. And they did. Prior to the release of this record, NO ONE in Metal had anything negative to say about this band. Everyone stood in awe as the Metallica juggernaut creeped across the land killing every other band. (ba dum tss) Anybody can watch the Seattle '89 show and watch as the band utterly destroyed anything else that was happening back then. The seismic shift that occurred can be witnessed by looking at how drastically heavy metal changed after the release of Justice and subsequently, The Black Album.
People say Grunge killed Glam, and I disagree. Metallica killed Glam. Metallica showed the world that heavy metal bands didn't have to be cross-dressing pansies like Poison, Bon Jovi and Winger. Metallica effectively ENDED Motley Crue's reign on MTV. Motley, arguably the quintessential Glam Rock band, fucking dissolved under the weight of Metallica. Even Guns N Roses were crippled next to Metallica's immense stage presence. Look at every other band that put out an album within a few years of the Black Album, and ALL of them started adopting something from Metallica. Motley kicked Vince and went darker, but fumbled hard. Skid Row heavied things up on Slave, but still sounded weightless compared to Metallica. Ratt, Winger, Warrant, WASP... all of 'em got fucking DUSTED.
Then look at all the new/breakthrough bands that came up next... all the albums that came out between 90-95... people had obviously sunk their teeth into Metallica and started biting into Danzig, Sepultura, Fear Factory, Machine Head and even Korn. Even the crossover bands like S.Tendencies, DRI and CoC started playing heavier, more metal style riffs in the wake that Metallica created. All of them followed in Metallica's footsteps. Shit, even Anthrax shed their "80's Metal" singer and recruited John Bush, who Metallica once tried to poach from Armored Saint! Testament shadowed Metallica for their first 5 albums, and of course who can forget fuckin' Dave Mustaine constantly hounding Metallica! To their credit, it seemed only Slayer was immune to Metallica's influence, though Slayer did benefit from an ever-growing fanbase of new metal fans recruited by Metallica. Most people discovered Metallica, then went on the hunt for ,ore, finding Slayer soon after.
Like you mentioned in the video about the decision to start downtuning on Sad But True to create the heaviest Metallica song.... and what do ya know, everyone started down tuning religiously. Even the mighty Pantera took cue's from Metallica. Pantera took Metallica's playbook and built upon it. I would say that Pantera wouldn't have evolved out of being a group of Van Halen clones had they not started drawing on the well of Metallica, Slayer and that kind of thrash metal. Pantera's entire success was built upon the foundation that Metallica laid down. Look at Ozzy! No More Tears is a fantastic album, but is steeped in glitzy Hollywood style rock. The Black Album dropped and his next album was Ozzmosis. Ozzmosis was OBVIOUSLY influenced by the changes Metallica set in motion, and it wasn't long before Ozzy hauled ass back to Black Sabbath. People had gotten into Metallica and suddenly everyone's burnout stoner uncle was digging up their old Sabbath and Motorhead albums.
The sphere of Metallica's influence is immeasurable.
I definitely agree. Metallica self titled prove that you can be agressive and mainstream without sounding like Motley Crüe or Def Leppard nothing against those bands.
Spot on Dog
The black album imo is the best album they did. Change my mind
The other thing is about the whole stupid sellout argument is you don’t know if an album is going to hit or not. It’s not like they had a magic crystal ball that said if you wrote these songs you’re going to have an album that goes diamond.
Selling out is doing what other people want you to do instead of doing what you feel. I would rather have a band that I like go and try something new and if it works great if it doesn’t great but at least it’s them being true to their art. As someone that has been in for different bands, the minute you start writing songs worrying about if other people are going to think it’s metal enough then you’re not riding what you are feeling you’re writing out of fear.
the best album of Metallica and one of the highest grossing metal album of all time so....this is the best album..no more questions
If anything, Metallica sold out with 72 Seasons by making an album that you can easily forget about and ignore, lol.
The closest Metallica ever came to "selling out" was Puppets.
Metallica sold out.
A lot of shows
Legitimately, my only issue with the black album is that it's overplayed.
Metallica deliberately watered down their sound to appeal to a mainstream audience. That's what sellout means.
I interpret Lars saying that they needed to change their sound was because they felt like they hit a peak with their thrash sound and it seems like they wanted to prove to themselves they could do more. Which they did. Besides I think there are later albums that would represent when they sold out or dropped off and I don’t think the black album was that album.
Maybe they just played what they want to and guess what, its their second best album
Rage against the machine. Is over. So metalica can fire Lars and get Brad Wilk. And Lars can play in $lipknot
This is annoying…
Ok
Nice strawman arguments. The real reason metalheads hate the black album is because they made their music definitively about themselves. They overshared. Their mystique took a blow and finally dropped dead on st anger when they were revealed as the spoiled brats that Newstead has always said that they were. Drawing back to your "write your childhood on a paper" argument, if I did that and published it the response would be a resounding "who gives a fuck?" And that is the reaction to the black album. Sounds nice, but who gives a fuck? Nobody gives a fuck about Metallica's feelings. Thats why we hate it.
53:37 “..they never did an MTV style video..”??!! How about “I disappear”??!! Or the reality show with a fake shrink to diss Mustaine, kick Newsted and vent out how lame they’ve gotten??!!.
Yeah, ok: Mustaine was an idiot for walking right into it.
I love your rage dude I agree with alot of what you say the black album is a fuckin masterpiece
Scream all you want. Still a sell out. They tried to do the rock/ballad thing to get massive but they (kinda) came back to the good old thrashing.
Can people just play what music they wanna play? It because their second best imo besides master of puppets. And anyway I think it's good they didn't make another thrash album idk that it would have been as good as AJFA. They have never made a good return to thrash a change is sound is necessary