Celebrating 25 Years of METALLICA's Black Album

25 years ago, a great album was released. The album name is Metallica but commonly known as The Black Album. The eponymously titled fifth studio album by American heavy metal band Metallica. Released on August 12, 1991, by Elektra Records.

It became the band's best-selling album and received widespread critical acclaim. Five singles of this album are still considered to be among the band's best-known songs: "Enter Sandman", "Sad but True", "Nothing Else Matters", "The Unforgiven", and "Wherever I May Roam". "Don't Tread on Me" was also issued to rock radio shortly after the album's release, but the song did not receive a commercial single release.

The album marked a change in the band's sound from the thrash metal style of the band's previous four albums to a heavy metal. Metallica promoted the album with a series of tours. In 2003, the album was ranked number 252 on Rolling Stone's 500 greatest albums of all time.

The recording of Metallica was troubled; the band frequently entered conflicts with Bob Rock, the band's new producer, during production. The album debuted at number one in ten countries and spent four consecutive weeks at the top spot of the Billboard 200, making it Metallica's first album to top album charts. By February 2016, the album spent 363 weeks on the Billboard album chart, making it one of the ten longest running discs of all time. Metallica is one of the best-selling albums worldwide, and the best-selling album in the United States since Nielsen SoundScan tracking began.

To date, worldwide, “The Black Album“ has sold over 30 million copies. In 2014, it became the first record to sell over 16 million copies since SoundScan started charting record sales in 1991. In addition, the disc has spent the most weeks, 307, on the Billboard 200 chart during the SoundScan era. That makes it the third-longest-charting studio album behind Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon and Carole King’s Tapestry. And according to Billboard, as of February 2014, the record was selling an average of two to three thousand copies per week.

Album Info:
Released: August 12, 1991
Recorded: October 6, 1990 – June 16, 1991 on One on One Recording Studios Los Angeles, California
Genre: Heavy metal
Length: 62:31
Label: Elektra
Producer: Bob Rock James Hetfield Lars Ulrich

Track listing
Total length:62:31
1. "Enter Sandman" - James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett - 5:29
2. "Sad but True" - James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich - 5:24
3. "Holier Than Thou" - James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich - 3:47
4. "The Unforgiven" - Hetfield, Ulrich, Hammett - 6:26
5. "Wherever I May Roam" - James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich - 6:42
6. "Don't Tread on Me" - James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich - 3:59
7. "Through the Never" - Hetfield, Ulrich, Hammett - 4:01
8. "Nothing Else Matters"  - James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich - 6:29
9. "Of Wolf and Man" - Hetfield, Ulrich, Hammett - 4:16
10. "The God That Failed"  - James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich - 5:05
11. "My Friend of Misery" - Hetfield, Ulrich, Jason Newsted - 6:47
12. "The Struggle Within"  - James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich - 3:51

Other news related to black album anniversary:

• Metallica's Black Album: 10 Things You Didn't Know
• Jason Newsted on Metallica's 'Black Album,' 25 Years Later: 'The World Was Ready for the Sound'
• Back to Black: Remembering Metallica’s ‘Black Album,’ 25 Years Later
• 25 Years Ago: Metallica Release ‘The Black Album’
• Metallica’s ‘Black Album’ Turns 25: Disturbed, ADTR, Deftones, Shinedown + More Reflect
• 7 Fast Chart Facts About Metallica's 'Black Album,' 25 Years Later

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