RobinH
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The release of Metallica's so called "Black Album" saw them projected in popularity from that of fellow Thrash bands, Slayer, Anthrax and Megadeth and into the area of multi-platinum record sales.
In listening to this album over the course of a week I came to realise just how much it reminds me of late 70's and early 80's British Metal. I feel that the overall reduction in speed that this album took, seems to cause the band's early influences to come forward through the music.
I don't know if anyone else has the same experience, but I hear bit's of Wishbone Ash around the time of the "Just Testing" album. Also, when I hear the opening refrain from "Nothing Else Matters", it makes we want to play NWOBHM classics such as "Free Man" by Angel Witch and "Strange World" by Iron Maiden.
I know the band was influenced by Diamond Head and so it was no surprise that I had the strong urge to check out some Diamond Head around the time of the so called "White Album", particularly the rifforama that is "Am I Evil".
I was thinking about what I would consider to be Metallica's best album and initially I though "Master Of Puppets", but then I remembered how much I enjoyed the speed and aggression of "Kill Em' All", in fact, I have a huge soft spot for all the début albums from the "Big Four of Thrash", even though they went on to all record more 'defining' albums.
I think you have to give Metallica full credit for expanding the sound palate of what most metal bands had utilised up until that point, and showing what could be achieved commercially, while still retaining a crushing sound.
Bizarrely, the first track I heard off this album was the hidden track, Endless Nameless. It's one of those moments when I can remember where I first heard it. I was standing in the old HMV in Crawley, UK, and this strange track came on the shop's sound system, I ended up having to ask who the artist was.
At the time, I had no strong interest in Nirvana, not because I was anti-grunge, but that most of the Metal/Heavy Rock magazines that I was reading seemed to be pushing Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains, and Soundgarden. In addition, the year that the album came out (1991), saw the release of Sepultura's 'Arise' and Metallica's bestseller. So, it was not until "In Utero", that I properly picked up on the band.
Listening back to this album for the first time in a few months, I had forgotten how polished the album sounds. Of course, all the familiar thoughts/observations come flooding back, the quiet/loud, the separation on instrument/vocal tracks, the tales of how Butch Vig would trick Cobain into doing vocal overdubs, the claims of plagiarism by Killing Joke over the riff to Come As You Are, just how pumped up Territorial Pissings makes me feel, and so on.
As I was listening to the album and reading various articles about it's recording, I noticed that The Smithereens were mentioned as having some influence on the album, along with REM and The Pixies. So I dashed off to YouTube and re-lived their appearance on the UK music show The Tube in 1987, playing 'Behind The Wall Of Sleep' which is the period that I remeber them best. I really had to control myself to avoid going off on a tangent and revisiting The Byrds. Well I suppose it won't hurt to have a little peak.
Discover Nirvana!
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Actually Cody, I may have failed to mention that the book which the list is taken from runs chronologically and I am working backwards through it. Why backwards, well I felt my memory of relatively recent events might help trigger other memories when I get further back in time.
Oh, ok, now I get it. I thought it was a ranking. Fair enough. On with the show. Spice Girls aside, I thought this was the last Great Rock Hope. Truly a record all the kids grabbed onto. I remember being at a mostly hip hop dj thang in Chicago when this was out. Mixed crowd (black/white) mostly teen/college and tunes from Nevermind galvanized 'em all. I just don't think it's possible for that to happen again with a rock band.
So following on from my previous post.... http://mog.com/RobinH/blog/185484
I must confess to never really getting big into Gangsta Rap, G-Funk, or Rap, for that matter. Sure, I got interested in Hip-Hop around the time of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five's, 'The Message' and again around Salt'n Pepper's, Push It. But, of course, it's a million miles away from Dr Dre's, 'The Chronic', and despite being exposed to bands such as NWA and Public Enemy via friends who had got into hip-hop/rap from Public Enemy's association with Anthrax. I still find it a challenge to listen to such bleak descriptions of daily existence and personal relationships.
I just can't seem to identify with any of the lyrics, but then I suppose that's a bit difficult when you are sitting in a bungalow in a quiet village in Sussex with a cup of Camomile tea to help you wind down after a day spent sorting out computer problems. The two don't really mix. The only Gangster you would want to be, in my scenario, is a Gangster of Love.
But the music, well that is another matter. I am really impressed by the arrangement of samples on tracks and the way Dre has chosen rappers whose delivery suits the themes, arrangements and grooves so well. If you are interested in what is used sample-wise, and where, check out the entry for the album on wiki. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chronic#Track_listing
I must admit the album did stimulate a lot of interesting questions in my mind, such as, "is Dre simply placing a mirror up against our misogynistic, xenophobic and materialistic society", "at what point after this did the concept of 'pimp chic' appear in popular culture". I'm still mulling over these questions after several days. If the album was designed to get me thinking about how we relate as 'social groups' to 'other', then it did its job.
I also got thinking about what I was listening to at this time which would caused me to completely miss this album, ahhh, I was big into Rage Against The Machine and Therapy?
Discover Dr. Dre!
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Excellent Post! I think Dre is, above all things, a pop record producer who made an excellent album of material he thought would sell. In the 80's he was a gheri-curled cat making electro records which were the thing of the moment and the furthest you could get from G-Funk. If it sounds that way, I don't mean it negatively, I mean that he's one of the rare folks who know what the people want, before they even want it.
Enjoying what I hope will be a series.
I didn't even own this until about a month ago when my brother (who listens to hardcore and is in a band, also very far away from rap) gave me a copy.
Great dissection of an album. I've enever been able to hear it because all those samples make it sound like a poor Parliament/Funkadelic record to me...but I've loved just about everything he's touched since this. Maybe I should put it on while I'm cleaning the house or something.
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"It's so black, it's like, how much more black can this be? And the answer is..none"
Yes, a classic
But when I think of black I think of this...
"I shall need to get the black out."
Robin, the Fast Show clip is just a perfect reference!