Classic Albums – Metallica: The Black Album
Netflix
DVD
Directed by Matthew Longfellow
Starring James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett, Jason Newsted, Bob Rock
Eagle Rock Entertainment
Originally Released: November 06, 2001

With the buzz surrounding Metallica‘s upcoming movie, Through The Never, I thought I’d take a glance back at the band during a major turning point in their career that would see them go from heroes of the Thrash Metal scene, to a worldwide phenomenon. The Black Album became Metallica’s springboard to international recognition, propelling into the mainstream, an accomplishment that still largely divides fans to this day.

Prior to 1991, Metallica’s reputation was legendary among metalheads following underground movements. During the Eighties, as far as MTV was concerned, Heavy Metal was all glam and hair; with bands such as Ratt and Poison taking a front seat in the mayhem mainstream. But elsewhere, metalheads knew there was far more to the rapidly growing genre, and that there was more variety in the scene that involved less hairspray and less lipstick.

The undisputed kings of heavy metal, Metallica, made their very first appearance at San Diego Comic-Con today. All four members of the icon band – James Hetfield (vocals, guitar), Lars Ulrich (drums), Kirk Hammett (lead guitar), and Robert Trujillo (bass) – came to the convention center’s Hall H to promote their upcoming 3D film, Metallica Through The Never. Director/writer Nimród Antal (Predators) and producer Charlotte Huggins (Journey to the Center of the Earth) also appear on the panel, which revealed the world premiere of the film’s theatrical trailer and poster, as well as exclusive preview footage.

Check out the theatrical trailer and poster here below.

The movie stars the band in concert performance sequences, along with actor Dane DeHaan (from The Amazing Spider-Man 2) as Trip, a roadie who is sent on an urgent mission to pick up a bag during one of the band’s sold-out shows. Tripp’s mission gets diverted after his van crashes; when he emerges from the wreck, the city seems to have gone mad, with rioting and a masked horseman riding through the streets hacking at and lassoing the citizens. But Tripp still has his job to do and the audience is left to wonder, what’s in the bag?

Any of you out there old enough to remember a time when Metallica proclaimed that they would never make music videos? That was a long time ago, back before they did their first video for the song “One” off their 1988 album …And Justice For All (and what an awesome video it was). Since then, they’ve made plenty more, some of which we probably could have done without (“Until It Sleeps”?).

For St. Patrick’s Day in 1999, Metallica released the music video for their cover of Irish rockers Thin Lizzy’s rendition of the Irish traditional tune “Whiskey in the Jar.” The song was one of 27 tracks off the band’s cover album, Garage Inc., and went on to earn Metallica a Grammy in 2000 for Best Hard Rock Performance. The video for “Whiskey in the Jar” features the members of Metallica — including Jason Newsted on bass — performing as the band at a rowdy all-female house party.

Watch the Metallica “Whiskey in the Jar” video here below.

This week, Metallica‘s Black Album is on sale in MP3 format for only $2.99. The CD is currently $13.25.

Of all Metallica albums, this one is not my favorite, but everyone in the universe loves it, thanks to hits like “Enter Sandman,” and the ballads “The Unforgiven” and “Nothing Else Matters,” but the tracks I really dig are “Wherever I May Roam,” “Through The Never,” and “Of Wolf and Man.” For three bucks, you cannot go wrong with getting this album (it works out to 25 cents each for 12 songs).

Browse all 100 albums on sale this month for only $5 each, as well as several albums on sale this week for only $2.99.

The Beatles. The Monkees. The Village People. Cinema history is rife with tales of legendary music groups who made an epic stab for celluloid stardom. Many have tried. Some of them failed. Have you ever seen Can’t Stop the Music?

The latest super group to see their future in big screen exploits is Metallica. Having previously starred in the brilliant 2004 documentary Some Kind of Monster the band, which consists of guitarist and lead singer James Hetfield, drummer Lars Ulrich, lead guitarist Kirk Hammett, and bassist Robert Trujillo, have announced that they will hired award-winning filmmaker Nimrod Antal to direct them in an upcoming 3D feature film that will blend narrative filmmaking and concert footage.