255 - Metallica - (eponymous - aka "The Black Album")

This is one of the last albums that I bought on cassette upon release. My recollections of the album were that I liked it quite a bit at the beginning, but soon got to where I only listened to the first side. Much of the second half of the album was a rediscovery for me during this review.

The self-titled album condensed Metallica's sound. With the arrival of grunge and the popularity that genre had, it is hard to fathom that Metallica would have sold many CDs/cassettes if they did another version of Master of Puppets. Don't think this was a HUGE jump. The change had far more to do with how the songs were now much shorter than they used to be. There aren't any songs on Metallica that contain multiple movements or multiple guitar solos.

The album starts off hitting hard with "Enter Sandman" and "Sad But True." "The Unforgiven" is the song that sounds most to what the "Metallica sound" had evolved to being. The second side ended up verifying my recollection. Despite attempts to listen to the latter half with interest, I found myself repeated unimpressed with that section of songs.

Looking at the album math, Master of Puppets and ...And Justice For All had 8/9 songs and lasted for about an hour. Metallica was the same length, but with the shorter songs, they ended up with a dozen songs on the album. For me, apparently I handle the fewer, longer songs better.

Songs I knew I liked: "Enter Sandman," "Sad But True," and "The Unforgiven"

Songs I didn't know but now like: None

Songs I can go the rest of my life without hearing again: "Holier Than Thou," "Nothing Else Matters" (Metallica power ballad), and "Of Wolf and Man"