Danmnit, I didn't need to be reminded that I'm old enough for that to be 30 years old.

If it ain't Cliff...

Yep. AC/DC is awesome, but they do what they do. Nothing wrong with it. They found what worked for them and leaned into it 100%. Metallica, and a lot of bands, have changed over time which will always piss some people off.

Frok said:

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The Metallica fans that only wanted the 80s thrash metal have been complaining for 30 years now.

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Haha...yep. There's two on this thread.

I always felt like the OG Metallica fans wanted to keep the band to themselves and not share them with the rest of the world. Rabid fan base that was almost cult like. The Black album may have been thrash for the masses, but calling them sellouts was ridiculous. It's not like they were making pop music. They were approaching their 30s and their net worth probably quadrupled after that album. To be honest, their music was starting to get formulaic after album number 4.

Bruce Almighty said:

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Outside of maybe 66-70, 1991 is the greatest year in music history.

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I always had 91 as the second best year. Following 1994

Green Day "Dookie"
Weezer "Blue"
Nofx "punk in drublic"
Pavement "crooked rain, crooked rain"
And a crapton more


And back on point I listened to the Black album for probably six months straight when it came out. But still put MoP and RtL ahead.

Bruce Almighty said:

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I always felt like the OG Metallica fans wanted to keep the band to themselves and not share them with the rest of the world. Rabid fan base that was almost cult like. The Black album may have been thrash for the masses, but calling them sellouts was ridiculous. It's not like they were making pop music. They were approaching their 30s and their net worth probably quadrupled after that album. To be honest, their music was starting to get formulaic after album number 4.

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The quote below best fits what OG Metallica fans want. And really, it's all OG fans from any band. I don't always like the music but I always celebrate a band selling out. That is the American dream.

"Y'know, one day, Tito Puente will be dead, and you'll say, "Oh, yes, I've been listening to his work for years."

I didn't realize so many people liked the blech! album. Or at least still did.

BBRex said:

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I didn't realize so many people liked the blech! album. Or at least still did.

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Really? All you had to do was look at sales figures.

Creed has three multi-platinum records that nobody admits to buying. "Cracked Rear View" is the No. 10 selling album of all time*, but not a soul ever bought a Hootie and the Blowfish record, either. I figured the black album was also in this category.

(* U.S. sales. I guess it was beat out by David Hasselhoff in Germany or whatever. And I never owned the album, but I don't mind some Hootie and the Blowfish every once in a while.)

It has regularly sold ~5k copies a week (about 1/3 of them physical) a week for the last two decades.

BBRex said:

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Creed has three multi-platinum records that nobody admits to buying. "Cracked Rear View" is the No. 10 selling album of all time, but not a soul ever bought a Hootie and the Blowfish record, either. I figured the black album was also in this category.

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Cracked Rear View is actually a really good album. Am I not cool because I listen to other music besides thrash and death metal? I stopped thinking in that way around 14 or 15 years old.

Creed sucks balls though. I'll give you that.

BBRex said:

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Creed has three multi-platinum records that nobody admits to buying. "Cracked Rear View" is the No. 10 selling album of all time, but not a soul ever bought a Hootie and the Blowfish record, either. I figured the black album was also in this category.

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In the words of a beastie boy "Where'd you get your information from huh??

On what list is CRV the 10th best selling album of all time? Because it's not even close.

And I don't know anyone that won't admit they bought the black album.

https://www.businessinsider.com/50-best-selling-albums-all-time-2016-9#10-hootie-and-the-blowfish-cracked-rear-view-41

It is according to the link I posted. There is no way I would have believed that.

Ghost of Andrew Eaton said:

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https://www.businessinsider.com/50-best-selling-albums-all-time-2016-9#10-hootie-and-the-blowfish-cracked-rear-view-41

It is according to the link I posted. There is no way I would have believed that.

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Ok, so yeh that's only in the US. Big asterisk you missed.

For worldwide they aren't even in like top 30.

62strat said:

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Ghost of Andrew Eaton said:

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https://www.businessinsider.com/50-best-selling-albums-all-time-2016-9#10-hootie-and-the-blowfish-cracked-rear-view-41

It is according to the link I posted. There is no way I would have believed that.

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Ok, so yeh that's only in the US. Big asterisk you missed.

For worldwide they aren't even in like top 30.

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I didn't look too in depth but you are correct. It's still crazy to think that it's top ten in the U.S.

Updated to say U.S. sales for Hootie.

Some Junkie Cosmonaut said:

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BBRex said:

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Creed has three multi-platinum records that nobody admits to buying. "Cracked Rear View" is the No. 10 selling album of all time, but not a soul ever bought a Hootie and the Blowfish record, either. I figured the black album was also in this category.

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Cracked Rear View is actually a really good album. Am I not cool because I listen to other music besides thrash and death metal? I stopped thinking in that way around 14 or 15 years old.

Creed sucks balls though. I'll give you that.

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I listen to a wide variety of music. But I'll be honest and say that when I listen to Metallica, I'm most likely to listen to "Kill 'Em All." But that's just me. I know a lot of guys who liked "AJFA," but that album didn't do much for me, either.

I actually listen to everything before the black album way more than anything after but I can still absolutely love those songs as well.

What don't you like about it? Slower, more bass, wider array of vocals?

Metallica had 5 incredible albums without a single bad song on them.

Then they had a long string of crap. Some of it was decent (to quite good) compared to other things being made at the time, but all of it was crap compared to the bar they had set.

Slower, for sure. And probably a bit of over-saturation.

Also, my favorite song on that album is probably "Don't Tread on Me," but thematically, it's a bit of a departure from "One." I hate the word "sellout," but it seems they changed a lot of stuff to make a best-selling album.

That was all Bob Rock who I think has produced every album since.

Load is better than the Black album. Deal with it.

Metallica is releasing a podcast this week where they discuss the Black Album. Should be a good listen.

The Metallica Podcast: Volume 1: The Black Album

November 11, 1992, my first rock concert in Shreveport:

Ozzy/Alice In Chains, it was great to be a teenager during the early 90s!!!