Metallica – Self-Titled Review

Where their first four albums had instrumental consistency and a few golden lyrical moments, the self-titled work from Metallica hears the band at the peak of their popularity. Ugly it may be to use streaming services in this day and age but the numbers don’t lie. Metallica is the crowning moment for the James Hetfield-fronted band and listeners would do well to remember this when they listen to the much superior Ride the Lightning. But what is it that this self-titled effort can offer that other albums in their discography, and that of other bands, cannot? There must be some reason for this being the popular album that modern-day fans head to outside of Enter Sandman and Nothing Else Matters. There is, clearly. Paranoia oozes from Metallica, it’s the defining tone of their twelve-track thrill ride. You can hear the band pushing for this softer metal style on …And Justice for All, but it’s here where they iron out the best of that sound. Streamlined, sure, but certainly as complete a sound as Metallica would get to kick off the 1990s.  

Given how frequently it’s made its way into pop culture, particularly as a tremendous experience for hardcore wrestling fans with The Sandman, Enter Sandman still holds up. Not that the passage of time would age it, but because overexposure to a song with simpler instrumental sections compared to the fretwork heard on earlier albums would, you would think, strip away at the quality. Not so for Metallica, a very best of their works not just because it stands the test of time but because of the storytelling it embeds. A spoken word pop here, and echoed, tinny voice there, there are hidden layers to Enter Sandman that are tucked away, safe from passive conversations on hit rock tracks. There’s a better balance here than there was on …And Justice for All, with even the band suggesting the songs dragged on too long. It isn’t the length that’s the problem for Metallica, it’s the variety. They hit on that well with this self-titled offering. Songs like Sad but True and Holier Than Thou are that nice balance between solid guitar rock work and a buffer between two all-time greats.  

Wailing guitar work on Holier Than Thou saves the song somewhat, though it, like Sad but True, acts as a transition from one great song to another. All of the instrumental work on Metallica sounds big, larger than life material with promised depths. Some of it is a tad hollow, the work on Wherever I May Roam feeling more like rock stock than anything else. Fine guitar work is not quite enough to keep the spirit of this self-titled album alive. Don’t Tread on Me has little going for it, the instrumental spirit and rebellious tone done better, elsewhere, on this album. What begins as a very strong album loses its way rapidly, the band never quite managing to pull themselves away from a stagnant rock and roll sound. Metallica’s greatest strength is in their instrumental difference, the unique thrills to be had with their work are absent in the latter half of their self-titled release.  

Of Wolf and Man, for instance, has all the riffs and powerful drumming you’d want from the band, but it sounds indifferent. There’s little in the way of poignant meaning or powerful suggestiveness. It gets too bogged down in a story of shapeshifting which The Wolf Man managed decades before. Metallica are hardly convincing here, though it highlights Kirk Hammett’s love for Universal horror. That’s not meant to be the point of the song, though it’s clearly why he built such a garish guitar. What follows is decent but never all that brilliant. Metallica starts strong, those songs will be enough to carry this album through, but the latter half is all out of quality. My Friend of Misery is a late-stage pitch for some solid work once more, but it’s too late to shake the feeling of a missed opportunity. Solid work, as expected, but the beginning of the end for Metallica as an innovative band.