𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐑𝐘𝐏𝐓𝐒 - 𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐀𝐋𝐁𝐔𝐌 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐊 & 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐘 𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐋…
August 12, 1991 — Metallica released their fifth studio album, Metallica (commonly referred to as The Black Album because of its packaging design) via Elektra Records. (Listen: Apple Music or Spotify)
Its recording took place at One on One Studios in Los Angeles over an eight-month span which frequently found Metallica at odds with their new producer Bob Rock.
The album marked a change in the band's music from the Thrash Metal style of their previous four albums to a slower, heavier, and more refined sound.
Metallica promoted Metallica (The Black Album) with a series of tours. They also released five singles to promote the album: Enter Sandman (Watch video), The Unforgiven (Watch video), Nothing Else Matters (Watch video), Wherever I May Roam (Watch video), and Sad but True (Watch video), all of which have been considered to be among the band's best-known songs. The song Don't Tread on Me was also issued to rock radio shortly after the album's release but did not receive a commercial single release.
Metallica (The Black Album) received widespread critical acclaim and became the band's best-selling album. It debuted at No. 1 in ten countries and spent four consecutive weeks at the top of the Billboard 200, making it Metallica's first album to top the album charts.
Metallica (The Black Album) is one of the best-selling albums worldwide, and also one of the best-selling albums in the United States since Nielsen SoundScan tracking began. The album was certified 16× platinum by The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 2012, and has sold over sixteen million copies in the United States, being the first album in the SoundScan era to do so.
Metallica played Metallica (The Black Album) in its entirety during the 2012 European Black Album Tour.
In 2020, the album was ranked No. 235 on Rolling Stone's The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list.
In December 2019, Metallica (The Black Album) became the fourth release in American history to enter the 550-week milestone on the Billboard 200. It also became the second longest-charting traditional title in history, and the second to spend 550 weeks on the album charts.
Background & Recording:
At the time of Metallica's recording, the band's songs were written mainly by frontman James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, with Hetfield being the lyricist.
The duo frequently composed together at Ulrich's house in Berkeley, California. Several song ideas and concepts were conceived by other members of the band, lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Jason Newsted.
For instance, Newsted wrote the main riff of My Friend of Misery, which was originally intended to be an instrumental, one of which had been included on every previous Metallica album.
The songs were written in two months in mid-1990; the ideas for some of them were originated during the Damaged Justice Tour. Metallica was impressed with Bob Rock's production work on Mötley Crüe's Dr. Feelgood (1989) and decided to hire him to work on their album.
Initially, the band members were not interested in having Rock producing the album as well, but changed their minds. Ulrich said, "𝚆𝚎 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚞𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙱𝚘𝚋 𝚁𝚘𝚌𝚔 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙 𝚞𝚜 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚒𝚝".
Four demos for the album were recorded on August 13, 1990; Enter Sandman, The Unforgiven, Nothing Else Matters and Wherever I May Roam.
The lead single Enter Sandman was the first song to be written and the last to receive lyrics. On October 4, 1990, a demo of Sad but True was recorded. In October 1990, Metallica began recording at One on One Recording Studios in Los Angeles, California, to record the album, and also at Little Mountain Sound Studios in Vancouver, British Columbia for about a week. On June 2, 1991, a demo of Holier than Thou was recorded. Hetfield stated about the recording:
"𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕. 𝙸𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚜𝚝, 𝙻𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚑𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚖 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝙺𝚒𝚛𝚔 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙹𝚊𝚜𝚘𝚗. 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚛𝚢 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚞𝚗𝚒𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚍𝚒𝚘. 𝙸𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚞𝚙 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝚟𝚒𝚋𝚎."
Because it was Rock's first time producing a Metallica album, he had the band make the album in different ways; he asked them to record songs collaboratively rather than individually in separate locations.
He also suggested recording tracks live and using harmonic vocals for Hetfield. Rock was expecting the production to be "𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚢" but had trouble working with the band, leading to frequent, engaged arguments with the band members over aspects of the album.
Rock wanted Hetfield to write better lyrics and found his experience recording with Metallica disappointing. Since the band was perfectionist, Rock insisted they record as many takes as needed to get the sound they wanted.
The album was remixed three times and cost US$1 million. The troubled production coincided with Ulrich, Hammett, and Newsted divorcing their wives; Hammett said this influenced their playing because they were "𝚝𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏 𝚐𝚞𝚒𝚕𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚎𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚌’ 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚒𝚝".
Rock altered Metallica's familiar recording routine and the recording experience was so stressful that Rock briefly swore never to work with the band again. The tension between band and producer was documented in A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica and Classic Albums: Metallica – Metallica, documentaries that explore the intense recording process that resulted in Metallica.
Despite the controversies between the band and Rock, he continued to work with Metallica through to the 2003 album St. Anger. After the production of St. Anger, the fourth and final Metallica record Rock would produce, a petition signed by 1,500 fans was posted online in an attempt to encourage the band to prohibit Rock from producing Metallica albums, saying he had too much influence on the band's sound and musical direction. Rock said the petition hurt his children's feelings; he said, "𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚜, 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚊𝚌𝚑, 𝚊 𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚖 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙𝚜 𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎."
The Songs:
According to Robert Palmer of Rolling Stone, "𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚘𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚍 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚒𝚗 𝚎𝚡𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛 𝙱𝙿𝙼𝚜, 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚌 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎".
The album was a change in Metallica's direction from the Thrash Metal style of the band's previous four studio albums towards a more commercial, Heavy Metal sound, but still had characteristics of Thrash Metal.
Many fans consider the album to be a transition from the often ostentatious compositions of Metallica's previous releases to the slower, divested style of the band's later albums, where "𝚘𝚕𝚍" and "𝚗𝚎𝚠" Metallica are distinguished from one another.
Instruments not usually used by Heavy Metal bands, such as the cellos in The Unforgiven and the orchestra in Nothing Else Matters, were added at Rock's insistence.
Rock also raised the volume of the bass guitar, which had been nearly inaudible on the previous album ...And Justice for All. Newsted said he tried to "𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚊 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕 𝚛𝚑𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚖 𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚊 𝚘𝚗𝚎-𝚍𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍" with his bass.
Newsted credited Rock with helping him find a sound that would work without killing the bass drum or messing with the lower end of the guitar, which Newsted claimed had always been a real big problem with him.
Ulrich said he tried to avoid the "𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝙿𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚊𝚗 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚍𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚑 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎" in his drumming and used a basic sound similar to those of the Rolling Stones' Charlie Watts and AC/DC's Phil Rudd.
The band took a simpler approach partly because the members felt the songs on ...And Justice for All were too long and complex. Hetfield said that radio airplay was not their intention, but because they felt "𝚠𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚢 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑," and considered a good change doing songs with just two riffs and "𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚝𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝 𝚊𝚌𝚛𝚘𝚜𝚜".
Ulrich added that the band was feeling a musical insecurity — "𝚆𝚎 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚝 𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚊𝚜 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚗𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜. 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚞𝚜 𝚐𝚘 𝚝𝚘𝚘 𝚏𝚊𝚛, 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝙼𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝙿𝚞𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙹𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚎, 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚟𝚎𝚜. ‘𝚆𝚎‘𝚕𝚕 𝚍𝚘 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚒𝚛𝚍-𝚊𝚜𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚝 𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚙𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚗𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜."
– and Hetfield added he wanted to avoid getting stale:
“𝚂𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚊 𝚌𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚐 — 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚞𝚙 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚎𝚕𝚜𝚎. 𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎‘𝚜 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝. 𝙸𝚏 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚖𝚎, 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚝."
The lyrics of Metallica written by James Hetfield were more personal and introspective in nature than those of previous Metallica albums; Rock said Hetfield's songwriting became more confident, and that he was inspired by Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, and John Lennon.
According to Chris True of AllMusic, Enter Sandman is about "𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖". The God That Failed dealt with the death of Hetfield's mother from cancer and her Christian Science beliefs, which kept her from seeking medical treatment. "Nothing Else Matters" was a love song Hetfield wrote about missing his girlfriend while on tour. Hetfield said the album's lyrical themes were more introspective because he wanted "𝚕𝚢𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚍 – 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚠𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚍𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚜. 𝚂𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚘 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚗."
Album Art & Layout:
Metallica had many discussions about the album title; the members considered calling it Five or using the title of one of the songs, but eventually chose an eponym because they "𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚒𝚝 𝚜𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎."
The album's cover depicts the band's logo angled against the upper left corner and a coiled snake derived from the Gadsden flag in the bottom right corner. For the initial release, both emblems were embossed so they could barely be seen against the black background, giving Metallica the nickname "The Black Album".
These emblems also appear on the back cover of the album. For later and current releases, both emblems are dark gray so they stand out more prominently. The motto of the Gadsden flag, "Don't Tread on Me", is also the title of a song on the album. A folded, pageless booklet depicts the faces of the band's members against a black background.
The lyrics and liner notes are also printed on a grey background. The cover is reminiscent of Spinal Tap's album Smell the Glove, which the band jokingly acknowledged in its documentary A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica.
Members of Spinal Tap appeared on the film and asked Metallica about it, with Lars Ulrich commenting that British rock group Status Quo was the original inspiration as that band's Hello! album cover was also black.
Touring:
In 1991, for the fourth time, Metallica played as part of the Monsters of Rock festival tour.
The last concert of the tour was held on September 28, 1991, at Tushino Airfield in Moscow; it was described as "𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚛𝚎𝚎 𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚍𝚘𝚘𝚛 𝚆𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚗 𝚛𝚘𝚌𝚔 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚛𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚂𝚘𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢" and was attended by an estimated 150,000 to 500,000 people.
Some unofficial estimates put the attendance as high as 1,600,000.
The first tour directly intended to support the album, the Wherever We May Roam Tour, included a performance at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, at which Metallica performed a short set list, consisting of Enter Sandman, Sad but True, and Nothing Else Matters, along with Hetfield performed the Queen song Stone Cold Crazy with John Deacon, Brian May, and Roger Taylor of Queen and Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath.
At one of the tour's first gigs the floor of the stage collapsed.
The January 13 and 14, 1992, shows in San Diego were later released in the box set Live Shit: Binge & Purge, while the tour and the album were documented in the documentary A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica.
Metallica's Wherever We May Roam Tour also overlapped with Guns N' Roses' Use Your Illusion Tour.
Hetfield suffered second and third degree burns to his arms, face, hands, and legs on August 8, 1992, during a Montreal show in the co-headlining Guns N' Roses/Metallica Stadium Tour.
The tour included pyrotechnics, which were installed on-stage. Hetfield accidentally walked into a 12-foot (3.7 m) flame shot from a pyrotechnic during a live performance of the introduction of Fade to Black. The show was cut short shortly after this accident, so that Guns N' Roses began their concert to malicious reactions from fans.
Newsted said Hetfield's skin was "𝚋𝚞𝚋𝚋𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚘𝚗 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚃𝚘𝚡𝚒𝚌 𝙰𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛". The tour recommenced on August 25 in Phoenix, and although Hetfield could sing, he could not play guitar for the remainder of the tour. Guitar technician John Marshall, who had previously filled in on rhythm guitar and was then playing in Metal Church, played guitar for the recovering Hetfield. Andreas Kisser from Sepultura was initially considered to join the tour, but Marshall ultimately was chosen.
The shows in Mexico City across February and March 1993 during the Nowhere Else to Roam tour were recorded, filmed and later also released as part of the band's first box set, which were also released on Live Shit: Binge & Purge (released in November 1993). The collection contained three live CDs, three home videos, and a book filled with riders and letters.
Pressings of the box set since November 2002 includes two DVDs, the first one being filmed at San Diego on the Wherever We May Roam Tour, and the latter at Seattle on the Damaged Justice Tour. Binge & Purge was packaged as a cardboard box resembling that of a typical tour equipment transport box.
The box set also featured a recreated copy of an access pass to the "Snakepit" part of the tour stage, as well as a cardboard drawing/airbrush stencil for the "Scary Guy" logo. The Mexico City shows were also the first time the band met future member Robert Trujillo, who was in Suicidal Tendencies at the time.
The final tour supporting the album, the Shit Hits the Sheds Tour, included a performance at Woodstock '94 that followed Nine Inch Nails and preceded Aerosmith on August 13 in front of a crowd of 350,000. Some songs, such as Enter Sandman, Nothing Else Matters, and Sad but True, became permanent staples of Metallica's concert setlists during these and subsequent tours.
Other songs though, such as Holier than Thou, The God That Failed, Through the Never, and The Unforgiven were no longer included in performances after 1995 and would not be played again until the 2000s, when Metallica began performing a more extensive back catalog of songs with Robert Trujillo on bass after he joined the band upon completion of the album St. Anger.
After touring duties for the album were finished, Metallica filed a lawsuit against Elektra Records, which tried to force the record label to terminate the band's contract and give the band ownership of their master recordings. The band based its claim on a section of the California Labor Code that allows employees to be released from a personal services contract after seven years.
Metallica had sold 40 million copies worldwide upon the filing of the suit. Metallica had been signed to the label for over a decade but was still operating under the terms of its original 1984 contract, which provided a relatively low 14% royalty rate. The band members said they were taking the action because they were ambivalent about Robert Morgado's refusal to give them another record deal along with Bob Krasnow, who retired from his job at the label shortly afterwards. Elektra responded by counter-suing the band, but in December 1994, Warner Music Group United States chairman Doug Morris offered Metallica a lucrative new deal in exchange for dropping the suit, which was reported to be even more generous than the earlier Krasnow deal. In January 1995, both parties settled out of court with a non-disclosure agreement.
Notice: Any reviews shared here are for historical reference. The views and opinions expressed within are not always supported (in full or in part) by Into the Wells. — E.N. Wells
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