Metallica - Metallica (The Black Album)

Here comes the cavalry.  It feels like that I’ve had to listen to a few albums I wouldn’t have chosen to in this series, but now I get to review a really great album. 

 

While Master of Puppets is Metallica’s masterpiece, the Black Album is still a classic.  They deliberately wanted to write shorter songs on this album and be more succinct (although none are 3-minute pop songs).  They definitely succeeded.  Enter Sandman, Sad But True, Unforgiven, Nothing Else Matters.  It’s all pretty great.

 

It feels like they harnessed their sound from earlier albums and focussed it into more easily digestible songs.  Earlier albums had a tendency to be filled with endless noodling, but here they are reigned in and the songs are all the more powerful for that. 

 

Sometimes I write a short review because there isn’t much to say about the album.  This time it’s a short review because there’s nothing else to add.  The Black Album is great