Metallica's self titled (of course, more well known as The Black Album) is both a landmark release in the band's discography, and one of the most contentious. For every person who hails it as a classic, there's another that deems it to be the point where the rot set it. Of course, no review of The Black Album would be complete without mentioning just how successful it was. After ...And Justice For All had elevated them to one of the biggest metal bands in the world, The Black Album made them one of the biggest bands in the world, regardless of genre. Purists can scoff all they like at Bob Rock polished sound and the more streamlined music, but to do so is to judge the record on the wrong terms entirely. This is intended to be an all out assault on the mainstream, and never claims to be anything else.

Those who can't handle that are missing out on five of the biggest metal singles of all time. Enter Sandman is the mega-hit here, and if you haven't heard it yet, I'm genuinely surprised that you're reading this review. Truth be told, it's probably the weakest single here, though as with any mega-hit, my judgement is clouded by the fact that it's so commonly played. It feels a bit irrelevant talking about it when you probably know the song inside and out, so I'll move on to the next single. Sad But True is one of the heaviest, most crushing tracks on the album (that intro could implode buildings) and an odd choice for a single, although it's a stormer. Shame about it's sampling by gurning rap-metaller turned gurning country-rocker Kid Rock, mind. The Unforgiven, despite it's sequels turning it into a bit of a joke among Metallica fans, is a strong semi-heavy ballad, and easily outshines Nothing Else Matters. Shows that Hetfield can still write a decent set of lyrics, although there are some moments which pander too much to heavy metal cliches elsewhere on the album. Wherever I May Roam is a mid-paced headbanger in the vein of Enter Sandman, though with a little more bite and heaviness to it. Nothing Else Matters is the other big ballad, and to be honest, it's not one of their best, despite the interesting use of orchestrations.

But there is a lot more to this album beside its singles, and those who would dismiss it as pop-metal trash, will be pleasantly surprised here, I hope. Don't Tread On Me has never been played live, which is a shame as it might be my favorite track here, sounding anthemic and poweful without ever getting a little silly. Shame about the somewhat silly lyrics, which come off as more than a little jingoistic and embarrassing today. It's a far cry from the anti-war anthems of For Whom The Bell Tolls and Disposable Heroes, that's for sure. For those of you who simply must have something vaguely old-school sounding, there's Through The Never and The Struggle Within. The latter is the thrashiest song they'd write until Death Magnetic, and I dare say the band's most overlooked track.

Of course, there are flaws here. The album weighs in at over an hour, and there are a few songs which comfortably could have been cut. Of Wolf And Man seems to have been written for a mid-concert bathroom break, and as for the lycanthropy themed lyrics... Well, they're not Ulver, to say the least. My Friend Of Misery is Jason Newsted's baby, and erm, it's not very good and goes on way too long for it's own good. Skip it. The rest though? If this is fast food metal, it's as tasty as fast food gets. The only other complaint I can level at the band is that some of the instrumental performances aren't up to par. Kirk is on autopilot, and as for Lars' drumming... He goes from the semi-technical (albeit accomplished with studio wizardry) drum work of Justice to what amounts to an hour-long soundcheck. Imperfect it may be, but when you look at the overproduced dross that shifts bucketloads today, you could certainly do a lot worse.