THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Metallica mark the 30th anniversary of its self-titled fifth album — aka The Black Album — with two landmark releases: A 30th-anniversary expanded edition and the tribute album The Metallica Blacklist.
The Black Album is one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed records of all time. Its 1991 release gave Metallica its first No. 1 album in no fewer than 10 countries, including a four-week run at No. 1 in the U.S. And its unrelenting series of singles — Enter Sandman, The Unforgiven, Nothing Else Matters, Wherever I May Roam and Sad But True — fueled the band’s rise to stadium headlining, radio and household-name status. The album’s impact and relevance continue to grow, as proven by one indisputable fact: The Black Album remains unchallenged as the best-selling album in the history of Nielsen Soundscan, outselling every release in every genre over the past 30 years.
To commemorate its 30th anniversary, the Grammy-winning, 16x platinum-certified Black Album has received a definitive re-release. The Limited Edition Deluxe Box Set contains the album remastered on vinyl, a picture disc, three live LPs, 14 CDs (containing rough mixes, demos, interviews, live shows), six DVDs (containing outtakes, behind the scenes, official videos, live shows), a 120-page hardcover book, four tour laminates, three lithos, three guitar picks, a lanyard, a folder with lyric sheets, and a download card.
Much more than a mere tribute album, The Metallica Blacklist celebrates the enduring influence of this musical milestone with one of the most ambitious projects ever conceived by the Metallica team: An unprecedented 50+ artists spanning an unbelievably vast range of genres, generations, cultures, continents and more, each contributing a unique interpretation of their favorite Black Album cut.
The Metallica Blacklist offers up new dimensions of the record whose gravitational pull first drew the mainstream to Metallica — and provides new insights into the universal and timeless appeal that kept it there: the boundary-smashing influence these 12 songs have had on fans and musicians of all stripes. The Metallica Blacklist’s 53 tracks find singer songwriters, country artists, electronic and hip hop artists sharing their love of these songs alongside punk rockers, indie darlings, icons of rock, metal, world music and many, many more — and for 50+ good causes: Profits will be divided evenly between charities of the artist’s choice and Metallica’s All Within My Hands Foundation.
The Metallica Blacklist is a fitting and limitless homage, one that features bands who’ve shared stages with Metallica alongside artists who are younger than the original album. It’s a truly staggering, at times mystifying assemblage of musicians, dozens of whom have little to nothing in common other than the shared passion for the music that’s united them for this album: One Album. 12 Songs. 53 Artists. Unlimited possibilities.
