Customer Reviews

Classic Albums - Metallica: Metallica

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Was really wanting some actual full length music videos allong with this but it did not deliver. When the cover says "cuts from" thats what they mean. It was interesting to watch to see how the band started with thir first album and how they progressed. Seems like I would have watched this on "Behind the Music". Man I wish they had included the actual music videos on this. Why did they classify this as UMD Music when all it is is a documentary.

So all you get is the main feature running about 40 something minutes going over the five singles from the Black Album. Enter Sandman, Sad but True, The Unforgiven, Wherever I may roam, and Nothing Else Matters. And it has Im guessing another 40 something minutes in some additional interviews.

It wouldn't have taken much to put the actual music or even the video's on this UMD MUSIC selection.

Kinda dissapointed but still an innteresting watch. You do get to hear some of the origional riffs and clips of the progression of the making of the songs.

The "Classic Albums" release about Metallica's so-called Black Album has a wealth of good information and interesting tidbits on it; it's just a shame we've seen so much of it before. Much of the footage is recycled from the "A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica" VHS/DVD release, and I suppose that was to be expected. What the disc does provide, however, are plenty of new interviews with the band that better tell the story of how this record was made.

The bits that are especially interesting are those in which the guys sit at the mixing board with Bob Rock and Randy Staub, isolating different parts of each song and letting us hear things we've never heard before, like a particularly good solo from Kirk Hammett that was muffled as "Wherever I May Roam" faded out. These parts of the documentary are too few; I for one want to get a shot to get in that room and play with that mixing board for hours, dissecting each song.

Then there's also some really strange moments where the guys talk about having drinks after recording, including one where James comments that he didn't remember the story Lars and Bob Rock are talking about because he was drinking, as illustrated by the usual hand-to-mouth invisible beer can gesture. This was recorded not too long before James checked himself into rehab, so it's really interesting to see this side of him.

Even better than the main 45-minute documentary are the outtake interview segments, which run almost a full 50 minutes. This lets us hear more detail about certain aspects of the production than the rest of the show. Particularly interesting here is Jason's revelation that "My Friend of Misery" was originally intended as that album's instrumental track -- and his snide comment that it was his second full writing credit in his five years in the band, reminding us that this was also recorded not too long before Jason left the band.

All in all, an essential addition to the collection of a die-hard Metallica fan, even if some of the material is recycled.

First my standard warning:
The Classic Album series by Eagle Eye Media is a series of DVD documentaries about the *making* of classic albums. These are not DVDs of videos and music. This series will probably be of highest interest to musicians and recordist. And it's an excellent series with quality production.

Now the review:
The DVD actually documents the making of 7 tracks on the black album and touches on interesting aspects of the production of each song. There a hella lot of footage and interviews here since the bonus interviews actually comprise half the DVD. James & Lars discuss songwriting and drum recording techniques. Kirk talks about how Bob Rock pushed him to the brink of insanity to get some good solos on tape. What I love most about this DVD is seeing the band sit around the mixing console with engineer Randy Staub as they listen to the original mixes and solo things like the vocal and drum tracks. It's pretty cool to here the band members' tracks isolated like that. They also listen to some demos and discuss those. There's tons of comments about the many decisions that Rock and the band had to make to create this album and why they made those decisions. Also interesting was the story behind Michael Kamen's orchestral score of Nothing Else Matters and his later work with the band. And last but not least, there's a bunch of studio footage from the period and much praising of Bob Rock--you'll have to judge if the praising is justified. I know a lot about how Metallica works as a band so a lot of this info wasn't new to me, however I have to admit I gained more appreciation of the immense effort these guys made to put this album on tape--quite an incredible process. And I'm looking forward to more documentaries in this series, especially the making of Nirvana's Nevermind.

Metallica's self-titled DVD on one of their albums, which is known as "The Black Album"( album is actually self-titled, but because the front and back of the album is all black, it earned it's reputation as "The Black Album")is one of the best music DVDS on the market. This DVD goes behind the scenes into the making of the album; there are interviews with band members James Hetfield, Jason Newsted, Kirk Hammet, Lars Ulrich, and producer Bob Rock. You get to listen to previously unheard demo recordings, and the five singles off of "The Black Album" are on this DVD: "Enter Sandman", "Holier Than Thou", "Sad But True", "The Unforgiven", and "Nothing Else Matters". I also enjoyed the exteneded interviews for the DVD, and it was very interesting when James Hetfield told the behind the scenes stories for when he wrote "Nothing Else Matters" and "The God That Failed". Hetfield also talked about how he and the band members in Metallica faced difficulties in their childhoods( parents getting divorced, family members dying)and how music was what guided them through all the tough times in their childhoods. If you enjoyed "The Black Album", you definitely don't want to miss the DVD.

I watched this at a friends and will probably eventually buy it but I have a few other Metallica videos I want to replace with DVD first.

First off, this DVD doesn't get ratings for the videos from the Black Album, it's a documentary...if you want music videos or sessions, buy A Year and A Half... There's no comparison between the two. ;) If it contained most of the same material, I think that would be a bigger waste of money.

This was a good documentary of Metallica about one of their best if not the best album they made "The Black Album" but if you had allready saw lots of documentary and know a lot about Metallica this video won't be as interesting to you, well I find it good but I allready knew a lot about what they were saying but if you like to know more about them, you are a huge fan of Metallica and would like to know how they made the Black Album well you would like this documentary!

This Metallica DVD chronicles the making of the Black Album through exclusive interviews, archive footage and performances with the band members and producer Bob Rock. Most of the archive footage is [taken] from the other videos tapes, but there are some new items in there with the band almost 10 years after the fact.

If you are a Metallica fan, you'll want to own this DVD. If you are not, don't waste your money.

I actually got this dvd for my birthday, and i wasnt really sure if it would be good coz i'm not a huge fan of documenteries, but i gotta say i was not disappointed with it.
Although i would've liked to see maybe more of the video clips for the singles instead of just little clips from them it was interesting hearing them talk about songwriting and how they wrote the album etc.
It's also their 1st album with producer Bob Rock and he has some interesting things to say.
Some highlights are Kirk's solo on wherever i may roam, watching them at the mixing boards playing around with the sound and hearing all the seperate guitar parts, and all the little clips of their live shows. It also explains what inspired the S&M concert.
If you're a die-hard Metallica fan or interested in songwriting and good music, then i reccomend this dvd.

The interviews in this program feature the four members of Metallica, producer Bob Rock, assistant producer Randy Staub, and some short interviews with various people in the music industry regarding Metallica's 1991 release "Metallica", best known as "The Black Album". The album has been an amazing success comercially, selling over 10 million albums in the U.S. alone, and brought Metallica into the mainstream.

The main issue I have with this video is that Jason Newsted seems to be the only guy who is having fun making the interviews. Jason, as always, is very animated and warm, while everyone else looks tired, bored, and somewhat agitated. I love it when Lars Ulrich starts to ramble on and on, causing the other guys to turn away, scratch their faces, and basically ignore him. All toghether, the band members seem very distanced from each other, which is understandable considering that Jason was to leave the band soon after the 2001 Playboy article in which the guys stated that they were at each other's throats.

My favorite part is when they dissect songs in the mixing room, bringing to light the strange guitar and sound effects that get buried underneath the overdriven rhythm guitar. Clips of some early demos also get played, which is great and shows how the songs existed before they were shaped into the final product. This was the best part of the program for me, and I wish there were more material of them playing with the mixes and demos.

If you are a Metallica fan, you will really enjoy this DVD, and even though it 'recycles' material from "A Year and a Half", I would say that the program is about 10% recycled, 90% new stuff. Including the bonus material, there is over an hour and a half of great interviews and insights into the album that marked a major change in Metallica's music.

If you like Metallica, and you enjoy Behind the Music-Type documentaries, this one is great. It's a bit on the short side, but it does have a lot of material that fans have never seen before. Most die hard fans might think this is just a re-hashing of A Year and a Half..., and to some extent it is. It does have it's moments, though, and it's a great purchase for a die-hard fan.