DELUXE EDITION DREAMLAND: Metallica – Metallica (aka The Black Album)

In the late summer of 1991, Metallica unleashed an album that would change their fortunes forever.  Their fifth album, a self-titled record lovingly nicknamed ‘The Black Album’ by fans and critics alike, pushed the band from being a successful thrash metal band to the big leagues. The record made them a band with a record that was far broader in appeal and helped by a handful of hit singles, the album went on to sell tens of millions worldwide.

Despite this success, the most commonly available CD pressing of the album does not differ from the one which first appeared in 1991.  Metallica have reissued the record, yes –  a gold CD pressing with printed signature sleeve; part of a tin can box set, designed to appeal to the fan with a very deep pocket – but have never issued it with extra material.

Given that Metallica are business minded chaps and given that they played the whole album on tour in 2012 to celebrate its twenty-first anniversary, its absence on the “deluxe edition” market is strange.  In addition to the album, there exists a disc’s worth of b-sides and extra material from out of print CD singles, and three hours of “making of” footage surrounding the album, issued on VHS in the early 90s, but yet to make it to an official digital release in the UK and Europe…

In this ‘Dreamland’ post, Real Gone imagines what a multi-disc ‘Black Album’ might look like.  While none of the featured material is unreleased, the potential for such an item definitely exists – it would be easier to hear the extra tracks in one go, and a long-overdue reissue of ‘A Year and a Half’ video would be enough for most fans to make the upgrade.


METALLICA – Metallica: Deluxe Edition

Disc One: The Original Album
01.  Enter Sandman
02.  Sad But True
03.  Holier Than Thou
04.  The Unforgiven
05.  Wherever I May Roam
06.  Don’t Tread On Me
07.  Through The Never
08.  Nothing Else Matters
09.  Of Wolf and Man
10. The God That Failed
11.  My Friend of Misery
12. The Struggle Within

Disc Two: None More Black
01. Holier Than Thou [Work In Progress]
02. Enter Sandman [Demo]
03. Nothing Else Matters [Elevator Version]
04. Sad But True [Demo]
05. Creeping Death [Live]
06. Harvester of Sorrow [Live]
07. The Unforgiven [Demo]
08. Nothing Else Matters [Demo]
09. Human [Live]
10 Enter Sandman [Live at Wembley, April 27th 1992]
11 Sad But True [Live at Wembley, April 27th 1992]
12 Nothing Else Matters [Live at Wembley, April 27th 1992]
[nb: This does not represent all b-sides. Three cover tunes -‘Killing Time’, ‘Stone Cold Crazy’ and ‘So What’ – have been omitted to contain the extra tracks on a single disc.  These tracks have, of course, appeared in “album context” as part of the double set ‘Garage Inc.’]

Disc Three: The DVD
A Year and a Half In the Life of Metallica, Parts 1 & 2.  [Full running time, 236 mins]
Plus promo clips for ‘Enter Sandman’, ‘Sad But True’, ‘Nothing Else Matters’ and ‘Wherever I May Roam’.