Metallica -“Black Album” and S&M

After …And Justice for All,  the band was primed to return bigger than ever. They had headlined their first tour and they were among the first to be nominated for a Grammy in the Heavy Metal category.  The timing was theirs and all the stars and planets aligned for Metallica. The band entered the studio in 1990 with producer Bob Rock. Bob Rock had produced mainstream hard rock artists like Motley Crue, Kingdom Come, the Cult and Bon Jovi and engineered albums by Loverboy, Aerosmith, Krokus and Honeymoon Suite.  I was a little hesitant about Metallica’s new choice of producer. After all, the bands that Metallica had rebelled against in their early days were the kind of bands that Bob Rock had produced.  At the same time, RIP magazine had become a new Hard Rock publication for people like me who were tired of the same old rehashed articles that Hit Parader and Circus magazines had been selling.  Metallica chose editor Lonn Friend and RIP magazine to document the band at One-on-One Studios in 11 installments of “Metalli-watch” that would include stories surrounding the making of the 1991 self-titled album also known as “The Black Album”

In September of 1990, Dusty asked if I was interested in working at his Grand Island store as a full-time employee.  I had graduated from college in August of 1990 and was fully expecting to be employed right after college in my field of study(Broadcasting).  Of course, I always loved my days working for Dustys Records in college. So, I was absolutely willing to continue working for Dusty.  That year I worked from 1990 to 1991 at the GI store was a blast. There was just a bunch of music I was excited about that year. Of course, my tastes were mostly in the fields of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal.  So, I was thrilled about Queensryche’s Empire, Mr Big’s Lean into it, Megadeth’s Rust in Peace and Van Halen’s For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge and Metallica’s “Black Album”.  You may not like those albums. But, they were everything to me that year. I followed all the RIP magazine “Metalli-watch” updates for the 11 months up to the release.  I was excited about the album. But, I was a bit apprehensive about what to expect.  Megadeth had released Rust in Peace shortly after I graduated from college. I remember seeing the MTV news report on the album and the video clip of Holy Wars..the Punishment Due.  That album was brutal and laced with precision playing and headbanging time signatures that shifted and pounded throughout the album.  I thought if the Megadeth album is this good, then hopefully Metallica’s new album is twice this good.
The Dusty’s store in Grand Island was located in the Webb Plaza.  In the same plaza was a Video Kingdom store.  At the time, I was living on a local farmer’s land in a rental house.  There was no satellite TV or cable out there. So, I did not have the luxury of watching MTV.  So, when the video for Enter Sandman was released two weeks before the album, I had to see the premiere of the video. I took a videocassette down to Video Kingdom and was going to set a timer on a VCR to record it.  Funny, since it probably became the most overplayed Metallica song ever.  I don’t have a statistic on that. It just seemed to be everywhere for about the next year and a half after it was released. I wasn’t blown over by the first song. Truthfully, I was hoping that the album would be more like Megadeth’s Rust in Peace.  But, as I listened to it, the music grew on me. The band as a unit were growing. I wanted faster. But, the band found that if they beef up the bottom end and intensify the “heaviness”, the music would translate on a wider scope. The day the album was released, the GI store sold this album like crazy. This was the year where the Soundscan system tracked album sales very accurately.  That year saw a bunch of albums debut at the #1 spot on the Billboard album chart.  Metallica was one of those albums. We had the in-store CD player on repeat for the majority of the day. From there, we listened to the album over and over and over that day. 
In September of 1991, Dusty made the decision to close the Grand Island store. So, I had to look for work yet again. I was able to find work in Omaha working for the Trans World Music Corporation chains of stores that included Record Town, Tape World, Great American Music and Music Avenue(lease operated store located in Montgomery Wards)  In the fall of 1991, the “Black Album” was all of a sudden the hard rock/heavy metal album of the year.  That fall also saw the rise of the new “grunge” movement out of Seattle with bands like Nirvana, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains and Pearl Jam.  So, these bands that were underground in the late 80’s were now mainstream popular.  The people that had chastised me for being a Metallica fan were now fans of the band and influx of heavier music. I should have felt somehow justified. But, I didn’t. I had moved into an apartment complex in November of 1991. When I looked at the first available apartment, the apartment manager told me that I was above an elderly woman who did a lot of complaining. So, he showed me an apartment above a tenant that had lived there for about 8 years and never complained. Even though the downstairs tenant wasn’t known for complaining, I was hesitant about the volume of the music I listened to. I didn’t want to offend anyone with the volume I would listen to music…especially Heavy Metal. So, I opted to listen to a lot of Blues artists and more “groove” oriented stuff with a blues flavor like Blues Traveler.  I still liked my Metal. But, it seemed more mainstream and since I considered myself an early fan of Metallica and I didn’t like being a fan of something that was popular….and I was absolutely sick of Enter Sandman. The non-comformist rebelled again.  I also felt that I was now out of college and in the working world. I would be 25 years old in 1992 and I didn’t feel like a “young tough livin’ in a world of hate”.  All of a sudden, they had videos for Enter Sandman, The Unforgiven, and Wherever I May Roam all over MTV. I was working in the Music Avenue store at the Montgomery Wards store in the Westroads Mall. I just figured that Metallica wasn’t appropriate to be playing in a Mall store…even though it was selling rather well. Right around Thanksgiving, Metallica played the Omaha Civic Auditorium. My family was in town for the big meal at my older sister’s house. So, I elected to spend time with the family instead of catching Metallica live.
As my time in Omaha grew, I put my love of harder edged stuff on the back burner. Metallica was everywhere in the media. MTV was playing them. The radio was playing their music. They played the Freddie Mercury Tribute concert in April of 1992. Even the dorky kid that worked for me at the music store was a sycophantic fan. In 1992, the band released a two videocassette documentary called A Year & a Half in the life of Metallica.  I still considered myself a fan and I bought the videos.  The first videocassette documented the making of the album and the second videotape was the band on tour from 1991 into 1992. As I watched the first videocassette, I became excited about the album again.  I could see where the band was coming from.  The other thing I noticed was that in simplifying everything, it made it seem heavier. The bass was clear in the mix and it seemed heavier. The guitars seemed heavier. Lars’ drumming was sparse yet heavy and his snare drum sounded like f***in’ shotgun. The band was growing in their playing. As a musician, I understood why the complicated time signatures and complex parts would be hard to remember onstage while playing.  Also, if you’ve ever played in a band, there is no other feeling to lay down a great drum beat that grooves no matter what the tempo.  There is something to be said in the phrase “LESS IS MORE!”

Watching the documentary, all four members of the band come across as distinct characters. Guitarist Kirk Hammett is a team player that tries a little too hard to please but makes excuses for himself as seen in the recording of the guitar solo in the Unforgiven. Looking back, bassist Jason Newsted is lovable as the new guy that takes all kinds of grief from the rest of the band. Drummer Lars Ulrich had been a longtime favorite of mine. But, more and more seemed like a narcissistic egomaniac that embodied the persona of someone who says “I don’t care what people think” and yet looked for all attention on him. In the end, frontman/vocalist James Hetfield came across as the everyman that I felt was instantly identifiable. In 1001 Albums, contributor–Bruno McDonald writes….

“…but the star is James Hetfield. His vocals (terrifying yet tasteful), crunching guitar (see ‘Sad but True’), and eloquent lyrics (setting Metallica far above Zeppelin, AC/DC, and Gn’R) are a lethal cocktail turned the likes of ''Enter Sandman’ into instant classics”

Hetfield had been writing the lyrics for the band and his lyrics weren’t the usual “Metal” lyrics. There wasn’t the Dio-like tales of swords and sorcery. There wasn’t any talk of Satan and Devil stuff.  Hetfield had tackled issues like drug addiction(Master of Puppets), War(One, Disposable Heroes) and the controversy of the TV Christian evangelism(Leper Messiah). But, on the “Black” album James showed growth in his lyrical writing.  My personal favorites would be Sad But True, Of Wolf and Man, Wherever I May Roam, and Holier than Thou! 
Even when I moved back to Kearney in 1994, I was surprised to find my college friend Mark P was now a Metallica fan. When I met him in the fall of 1989, he was a fan of the Rolling Stones after seeing them live on the Steel Wheels tour.  My earliest memories of Mark were him being a fan of movies…mostly sci-fi and action movies. His musical tastes were more classic rock of the 60’s like the Stones and the Beatles.  Of course, I knew his tastes had changed a bit. He came to see me when I was living in Omaha when he came to see Guns N’ Roses at the Omaha Civic Auditorium.  But, one of the first days when I was back working at Dustys, Mark came in to the store to put up some flyers that he was looking for people to start a band.  And the band he was into at the time was Metallica. Especially, the stuff from the Black Album.  I was a little surprised. But, I found it kind of cool that Mark’s musical tastes were continuing to expand.  Of course, Mark was excited to have me back in Kearney.  We talked about putting a band together.  It never really materialized. But, we definitely did some jamming. We jammed with his friend Larry on bass and I invited my brother Mike to come over and jam too.  In between “jams”, my brother started playing this lone bass line. It seems kinda swinging the way he was playing. So, I started playing a very swinging jazz beat on the drums. We stopped and I asked Mike, “What was that you were playing?”  Mike (who had become a big Jaco Pastorius Jazz fusion fan) said, “That was Enter Sandman!”  Obviously, by Metallica. I had this crazy idea about making an album of swinging Metallica songs or at least a swing version of Enter Sandman.  Not long after that, 50’s white boy and all around nice guy Pat Boone released an album called In a Metal Mood: No More Mr. Nice Guy.  This was to be a heavy metal album done in a big band/swing style.  So, my idea was already being done. Among the covers on the album were Smoke on the Water, Holy Diver, Crazy Train, You’ve Got another Thing Comin’ and Enter Sandman!  I thought the idea was a novel and very funny one. Of course, other artists followed. As I’ve told this story through the years, I have been told that the artist Richard Cheese followed this format and it is very funny too.
Metallica released a live set in 1993 called Live Shit: Binge and Purge which consisted of a 2 CD live concert, a videocassette of the band on the Damaged Justice Tour and a videocassette of the Wherever We May Roam Tour.  They didn’t release a new album until 1996’s Load then followed by 1997’s Re-Load.  Many die-hard Metal heads accused Metallica of going “Alternative”. The band members collectively cut their long hair and the material didn’t seem as angry as it had been. I honestly didn’t have an opinion on it. Dustys Records had closed in August of 1995 and a lot of my excitement about music had died too. I kept up with what was going on with Metallica. My buddy Mark was (and is) a big fan of the band. So, I would always get his take on their stuff. In 1998, The band released their double CD of covers called Garage Inc. which featured some stuff they had recorded back in the 80’s as part of their Garage Days Re-revisited album. They also included new covers including stuff by Thin Lizzy, Lynyrd Skynryd and Bob Seger.  BOB SEGER?…and Metallica? 

In 1999, the band decided to record a live album of their songs with the San Francisco Symphony.  Both Lars and James were famous for stating in the VH1 Behind the Music episode that they were proud of always doing things THEIR way. So, here they were recording an album with a Symphony. I actually thought it was a great idea. To add to the “credibility”, they had the symphony conducted Michael Kamen. For myself, Michael Kamen had my respect because he had worked with Pink Floyd on the Wall. He had done the conducting for Eric Clapton’s orchestra nights for his 24 Nights album and He orchestrated Aerosmith’s Dream On performance for an MTV broadcast. So, I was excited to hear this one. The band’s original bass player Cliff Burton was a big fan of classical music and had the idea to combine Heavy Metal with an “epic Classical approach”. The band were also big fans of Hard Rock forefathers Deep Purple and their 1969 classical opus Concerto for Group and Orchestra.  The songs performed spanned from Metallica’s second album Ride the Lightning through ReLoad.  They even had an orchestral cover Ennio Morricone’s The Ecstacy of Gold from the movie The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
I had just started dating my (now ex) wife - Crystal.  So, I had expressed my desire to have this CD. So, she got it for me as a Christmas gift on our first Christmas together. I have a memory of the two of us listening to the CD while she unpacked her stuff when she moved into a new apartment about 2 blocks away from where I was living.  By this time, I was working at local ABC affiliate NTV. A lot of my music listening was while driving to work from Kearney to the TV station 14 miles south of Kearney. I would take my CD’s to work and listen to them on the CD drive on my work computer. My listening experience of this album was usually during work hours with headphones on or with the volume turned down. Once again, didn’t want to disturb my co-workers with my Heavy Metal tastes.
The album started off after The Ecstacy of Gold and Call of Ktulu into the heavy striking power chords of Master of Puppets. 

What follows is the power of Of Wolf and Man and Thing That Should Not Be.  Then the album ventures into the songs I had known from the Metallica albums Load and Re-Load.  My excitement and fervor for Metallica had waned to the point of indifference. So, a bunch of the songs were ones I knew but not to a greater extent. I knew Fuel, The Memory Remains and Hero of the Day from the two albums. But, I really wanted to hear the symphonic treatments to Battery, One and For Whom the Bell Tolls.  I wanted to hear how the power of the symphony would add to the weight and emotion of some already great songs.
What resulted in the S&M album was a really great live set of Metallica songs from their 90’s catalog with the added depth of a symphony.  I felt like this was kind of a middle finger to my uppity music professors in college that frowned at me and the rebellious metal that was part of my college years. I felt like that this music was as powerful as any symphony from the classical age or as weighty and emotional as ….say…something like Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite.  I’m sure there are classical music aficionados that wanted to put down the idea of a bunch of Heavy Metal bashers with “real” musicians.  But, I enjoyed it immensely! I don’t listen to it as much as I wish I did. It has to hit me in the right mood. As I’m writing this, I am watching the videos for the songs on YouTube.  I remember just before I received the CD thinking how cool this sounded with strings, brass, woodwinds, and crashing orchestral percussion. 
As I write this blog, I’m reminded of how empowered I feel when I listen to Metallica. Whether it’s listening to the symphonic strains of S&M or the steady full speed ahead locomotive groove “the Black Album”, I still do get excited about this band. I never bought a physical copy of their 2008 release Death Magnetic.  I downloaded the album through Amazon.com.  But, it was filled with such aggressive power and…well…"testicular fortitude" that it motivated me as I biked, worked out and started my commute to work! I anticipate future albums now more than ever!
In 2009, Metallica was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I had watched parts of the speeches and the performances and they were just amazing and moving to watch. I just recently watched the induction speech by Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. His speech is an articulate way to explain the magic and power of Metallica.