Bob Rock Shares Memories Of Making Metallica's "The Black Album" 

That's awesome metallica supports trans people.

@@123612100 the mentally ill?? i dont think so....

Love both those songs, especially The Unforgiven, one of the best, imo, that Hetfield has written lyrically.

The detractors of The Black album where essentially Metallica fans that refused move being their teenage years AND ears.

@Warren Johnson You want some peanut butter to go with that jelly?

@Warren Johnson Slash sucks? Pass whatever the fuck you're smoking because apparently it's some fire shit.

What does this have to do with the original comment?

I'm glad to hear at least one person who has grown to see how great this album is. Most people hold the opinion they had when it was released, "Love it!" or "Hate it! SELL OUTS!" It's definitely more commercial and easier for a broad range of listeners to hear but it is a fantastically written and produced record. I wouldn't call it better or worse than anything before it, it was just a different musical direction.

It also shows how immature the fans where as well. Metallica released 4 badass albums and decided to take it easy on one album and we freak out. Also don't forget they lost Cliff 4 years prior. Yes that does matter because they were still healing from that.

@@TML0677 because Black Album is the best sounding and composing Metallica record.

@@TML0677 please

Agreed, Bob's gibson interview is worth a listen.

Exactly. Some people think they have nothing to contribute to life, nobody ever really knows what influence they truly have on the world!

How do you know it was the most important decision he ever had to make…? Maybe he made even more important ones!

@@hellaacapella You must be fun at parties

@@andrewalexb not really, people usually leave when I come up to them at parties for some reason

@@hellaacapella Ouch :(

Oh yeah. Heaviest sounding album of all time.

@@stephenc.4319 you never heard Endgame then

Bro your joking

@@sethheaddress2651 joking in what way? I mean there's the new Born of Osiris albums production. But as a vocalist my ears hear things perhaps differently than some. I'm drawn to the sound of an SSl if you know what I mean.

@@H.E.M. thanks I'll look them up

Same here. Brings back memories

Me too, brother. I was 11 in 1991 and when I told my much older brother that I liked them, he said to me, "you know that's heavy metal, right?", cause I grew up listening to country. And I remember having that sudden realization that, yeah, I like heavy metal!!

Pity about the songs.

@@kindregardless The songs are amazing! I would love to see you do better.

Load and Reload sound way better on the bottom end. Don't kid yourself, son.

Digital production and CDs became a thing after Black. It was the best. The game changed. And Metallica proved the new recording wasn’t better.

No I think that Bruce Dickinson´s "Chemical Wedding" is way better.

listen to 'Master of Puppets'... then listen to the 'Black Album'... 2 different bands

@@TML0677 My Friend of Mystery too?

What's why? He said a hundred things...

Yeah, if you say so Dr. Arbiter.

@@morbidmanmusic to be exact: Bob Rock's contribution to the album, that human feel to the album. Also, his remenicences made me think about Jim Morrison, ha!

I saw them when they did the stadium tour w/ GnR. Metallica were so good, it made GnR anticlimactic.

Lars drumming certainly was more appreciated back then, as lomg as you where creative, nowdays you gotta belong to certain school of drumming

There's no doubt Lars was a good drummer for the reasons Bob listed. Lars gets a lot of shit these days because he clearly doesn't practice anymore. All his peers from the 80s have gone on to become better and better as the years rolled by. Lars on the other hand seems to not care about maintaining his drum skills which is sad since he is the drummer for one of the biggest bands of all time.

bpr154 lazyness is a big factor for sure. Even kirk. If he put in more effort he would have created more melodic solos, he definately has the aptitude for it, instead he gives us a lot of the random same pentatonic licks. Lars is unlistenable live due to playing shit fills and tempo inconsistencies. But in the records his percussion added a lot of character, groove, proper accents, interesting fills, meter variations etc

@@p90ischeap81 good for him. He's probably seen all those 'Lars fails' compilations and finally pulled his finger out.

@@timsanchez6485 I'm sure I read that even back in the justice days they had to splice tapes etc almost on a gnr late-Steven Adler period scale to get usable tracks, so most of the things you mention in the last point would likely be a product of that editing as much if not more than some great talent of LU

The whole story is a lie

@@xiyx9748 Yeah some dipshit in the YT comment section is more trustworthy than a notable, accomplished producer lol

They performed on the Grammys during the AJFA era. That's as mainstream as it gets.

@@ktw70 they did one was pretty popular it was their first music video so it got them more exposure. They were trending upward before the black album but it took them to the stratosphere.

Maybe someone would of made them even bigger. Who knows. It is possible.

That is true, James Hetfield once said in an interview that Bob Rock told Metallica guys that they haven't make an album yet, and that basically got them worked harder on the black album, although I still like their 80s album more

whatever album Metallica would put together instead of the Black Album but without Bob would be a huge let down even for hardcore fans

IMO, Metallicas first 4 albums was definitely more than enough to make them the biggest band ever.

@@lyganvarff8543 Your opinion SUCKS.

The black album was 30 years ago today

@@badumtss3067 he was referring to St Anger.

@@allsystemsgo8678 St. Wanker

Then you're obviously not a musician lol

@@adampennington8954 I am a musician. All the ignorant Lars hate. Where are all of your multi platinum albums and iconic songs? What is your contribution to music that's so amazing that you put down an iconic figure in the history of music?

Where are yours? See, I can play that game too. Just because I'm not a famous drummer doesn't mean that I can't have an opinion about one. Lars is, by far, the weakest musician in Metallica. His meter sucks and his style is stagnant.

@@adampennington8954 I don't go around RU-vid watching videos of someone I don't like leaving hate comments. Lars has more talent in one of his turds than you do in your whole body!

@@TheNothing6 no he doesn't. Also Kirk sucks too. James and Rob are caring the band on their back.

At what

@@Rambo33868 At drumming there is no better.

@@raffiequler7510 You don't know much about drumming, do you

No

@@Rambo33868 suing people lol

Bobs production on Aerosmiths Permanent Vacation was very good as well.

Technically Bob was using pro tool techniques on Lars's parts. They'd record a bunch of parts and splice together different things. So in a way you have Lars to thank for pro tools style editing lol

Also, Rick Rubin sucks. The real magic man behind his classic albums is Andy Wallace.

@@faberbootlegs Have you seen, Year and a Half in Life of Metallica. If i remember correctly, the entire album was recorded on tape. ... I'm even pretty sure that Pro Tools didn't exist in 1991.

In the Unforgiven solo video, Bob mentions that Hetfield puts a lot of work in 'Nothing' as an example for Kirk who 'didn't do his homework'.

James played solo in one take and stared Bob down til he said he was fine with it.

Ha!

I have thought about this as well. Before the Black Album was released, while Metallica was a fairly popular metal band, they weren’t the behemoth of success that we think of now. Bob was still able to be the guy in control to some extent, because they hadn’t seen that success yet, and there weren’t those massive egos present. By the time they were working on ST. Anger, they were arguably the biggest metal band on earth. There was no one to tell them “no.” Bob’s role in the St Anger sessions was to hit the record button and find tones. He wasn’t in charge. I think that was partially the difference honestly.

@@dalefleenor_ in my opinion he became SUCH friends with the band, that he got caught up in that therapy desaster wich resulted in st.anger, and he wasnt a producer anymore there are clips where he try´s to get lars to properly record a beat and lars is just huffing and puffing like a girl , and when he try´s to reason with hetfield on why kirk should play certain parts papa het would get salty as f+ck and in the end get his way ... the guys from "Metal up your Podcast" have some veeeeery interesting and detailed episodes on bob rock and st.anger in general .. very much worth listening

@@dodge5570 Yeah I think that was kind of where I was trying to go when saying that there was nobody to tell them “no.” I don’t think Metallica has heard “no” in 30 years. Lol. Bob was definitely too involved on a personal level by then, as they had been working together for a decade, but I’m sure even he knew that if he resisted too much on their ideas then he would be canned for somebody else. They were too personally involved by then and Bob assumed the role of the “yes man.” In my opinion.

St. Anger sounds exactly like James and Lars wanted it to. It's in your face and very garage-y. It is an incredible sounding album in my opinion.

When the Black Album sessions started Bob was willing to put on with Metallica´s bull crap, nagg them and push them to their limit, the guys where very close to each other (even Jason) at the time so great chemistry, great thinking, great song dynamics, amazing guitar playing and stuff, also the Black album vision was "to be the greatest Metal album of all time" whether it is it or not it can be denied that is a huge contender for that title (to me is MoP) and the band came fresh from killing hit after killing hit, heck they realesed Eye of the beholder as a single instead of Blackened and even that worked!, also lots of instruments, great studio to work, a million bucks where invested and Metallica and Bob will do anything to keep achiving greatness... they did. Fast forward five years and Load and ReLoad came algong, Bob was not willing to get all the crap he got from the Black Album again, Metallica was not willing to put anotehr "Metallica" album over again, Lars and Kirk got very alternative, James was very bluesy and Jason was made aside, so naturally there was a gap between band members Lars and Kirk guiding the future of the band wile James and Jason would do their thing one apart from each other, Jason was heavly into new projects (IR8, Papa willie´s and eventually sexoturica, thoug i cant remember if this last one was before or after he left the band). Less production time and value was invested on those albums, those been recorded in Lars dungeon (his basement) and honestly, they are amazing albums, but you immediatly notice the production is not as top notch as the BA and are very experimental, however that was Lars and Kirk´s intentions. Fast forward another five years, fan base mad, the Napster thing, Jason left the band, James interned for alcoholism, Kirk solo Banned from the album... Bob was alone on that one with Lars who couldn´t really get a grip on everything that was happening and Kirk who was just happy to be alive. Bob was older and definetly not willing to put on with whatever crap they were going through, he won´t abandon them though, but will not put his hands in the fire for them. James cames back, there´s a ton of tention, the band is closer to ending rather than recording a new album, somehow they push through and they go with this idea "Let´s make and album that soounds not like Metallica, but like some dudes putting together some shit in the garage" And that is exactly what the album end up been. Truth be told, this album is not good, but is way to bashed, mostly because came at the most controvertial time for the band, a time where they would be picked for everything they did, and they did a lot of shit, there´s even theories about how the snare would be popular if it wasn´t played by Lars. Bob at this time was just happy to have a job tbh, St Anger was marked for "sound failure" but hardly has anything to do with him.

If I not mistaken Lars wanted to work at night and James in the morning so he literally never got any sleep lol

Well you’re also looking at technology limitations of the day too. I believe that the album was still recorded the old way of reel to reel, as they didn’t have digital recording capability yet.

@@ryanatorryanson9535 Digital recording technology came out in the mid to late 70's. The Black Album was recorded from 1990 to about the summer of 1991. The band chose to record to reel to reel tape. Albums recorded on tape can yield a good warm dynamic sound. Some digital recordings I've heard sound compressed and or brittle. That is not to say all digitally recordings sound bad.

@@The90sGamingGuy I didn’t realize digital recording was an option then. I read in interview with Phil Anselmo where he talked about VDOP being recorded r2r and saying that’s how it was still done then, in 1992.

@@ryanatorryanson9535 Panteras Vulgar Display of Power is my favorite of theirs great song after great song on that album. In the early 90s it was a little less time consuming to record to r2r since computers processing power was not where it is today. Krist of Nirvana said in an interview it would take 3 or 4 hours for a song to render in Pro Tools in 1991 and i believe him. Digital and r2r recordings have their limitations. Many great albums have been recorded on both formats. It comes down to which format you prefer analog records or CDs, i personally listen to both.

@@ryanatorryanson9535 Have you heard any good remasters or remixes of classic albums? Im always on the search for something new or upgrading an original.

steve langford ? what ?

People think he is from Vancouver he is actually from Langford. Go look on Google Maps if you are American. 😂

By dumbass read “heaven and hell” I’m like when tf did he work with Sabbath?

Bits were used from the ICONS interview Whole thing is on RU-vid. All of those ICON interviews are fantastic.

@@ryj44 including Kirk Hammet's as well. Great stuff.

It's on the 'Classic Albums' DVD, in the extra's section

Technical Gene Hoglan plays like an air drummer on drums.

"best sounding album ever. Bob is a genius". And you, obviously, are not.

Don't blame the recording engineers, mixers or mastering engineers. That was all the band members' doing, just like always.

Didn't they have rick rubin and Greg fieldman? They did a great job on a slipknot album...subliminal verses was it? Lars just can't help himself when it comes to the final mix.

"Not so fast, not so heavy, dumb down those lyrics - you're writing for mainstream radio now!"

@@realmchat6665 Exactly.

It's chaos yet in time. I'm a drummer and that's a more than fair comparison. He's not talking about a drum battle between the two. Moon would kill him.

I definitely see a similarity between the two in that just as Lars can only really play to James, Keith could only really play to Pete Townshend.