The all-time greatness of Metallica's Black Album December 21, 2022 – Posted in: Books, Uncategorized – Tags: 33 1/3, Avopolis, Metallica, book, Music
The Director of Metal Hammer Greece Kostas Chronopoulos prefaces the Greek edition of the book written by David Masciorta about the eternal greatness of Metallica's Black Album.
Spinning an album on a turntable at a constant speed of 33 1/3 revolutions per minute is a move that marked pop culture.
The Acid publications, in collaboration with Avopolis, are delighted to present to the Greek public the internationally beloved music book series ''33 ⅓'', which focuses on landmark records of rock – and not only – music, by Beatles, their Rolling Stones, their Led Zeppelin, him elvis presley, him Bob Dylan and the Miles Davis up to them Joy Division, their Public Enemy, their Metallica, him Tom Waits him Brian Eno and many more. Through interviews with creators and contributors, personal narratives and in-depth musical analyses, writers and critics contribute to the series ''33 ⅓'' illuminating the historical and artistic context of each record, as well as unknown aspects of the composition, recording and impact of the albums that marked the world music scene, gave the impetus for artistic and social movements, had a catalytic effect on modern music history and adorn the vinyl record racks of millions of music lovers around the world.
In the context of their Greek edition, edited by Makis Milatos, the books have been translated by music connoisseurs and prefaced by renowned Greek music journalists, whose texts - a combination of deep knowledge and love for the subject - deserve a special mention in themselves.
We're hosting some of these prefaces with the thought that these fascinating stories of iconic discs might give you the idea to gift a book in the series to a loved one or yourself this Christmas. Today it's his director's turn Metal Hammer Greece, of Costas Chronopoulos, for his eternal greatness Black Album of Metallica.
Summer of '83: No Remorse.
Somewhere in the western suburbs of Athens. A little boy dreams. His peers do the same in the working-class neighborhoods that are their haunts. It is the time of incandescent adolescence and the search for identity. They do not like academic admonitions intended to save them, to set them on the right path. They make their own way Motörhead. THE Lemmy enough and more if they want a compass. They have for their flags Iron Maiden, him Ozzy, him God, their Judas Priest, their Saxon, their AC/DC, their Accept. They don't care much about the looks of disdain they receive from the neighborhood. Not even for ID busts by cops. They got used to it. They are looking for their own walk in life and the bridle of propriety is not to their taste. Not even the swagger of the new wave fringe who wears t-shirts with the phrase "no problem". What no problem, dude?!? Do you work for us? In their daily life they only face problems. That's why they chose to listen to music that talks about their lives. Their dreams. The escape from what neither fits nor wants them. Contemporary metal offers this option.
At that timing his fuse is lit “Kill 'Em All” of Metallica. And the adrenaline rushes. My generation is in a thrash metal vertigo with a crowbar in hand. We hear NWOBHM played at five times the speed. From a group of children whom we see for the first time in the photo on the back cover of the record. The joy on the faces of the band confirms what the music testifies. We are close in age, they feel and talk like us. They understand us, we understand them. OK, weigh it "Whiplash" again and again, until dawn!
Summer of '84: For Whom the Bell Tolls
How much does someone grow in a year? I don't know the answer for everyone. However, my boss at the time and my co-worker, we definitely didn't grow up much. Not in the mind, not in experiences. Which is rather normal. And now in our hands they are tied to his electric chair "Ride the Lightning". And now here, we have to manage a giant band step that distributes shock and awe, in all directions.
We are impressed by what thunders at us from the speakers. But one question trills our minds. It is created by the sudden ripening of Metallica: "Are they the same guys who released 'Kill 'Em All' last year?" For sure;" A summer ago they had a different sound and were talking about “Metal Militia”, “Hit the Lights” and "Motorbreath". Delightful nitroglycerine thrash metal anthems, made for the teenager we'll always harbor in our heads. But without underestimating the beginning of the scheme, let's say it as it is. Such unripe verses cannot be compared to what would be given to us by Hetfield from now on. Do you want two examples? In its title "RtL" it describes to us the agony and despair of the death row inmate, directly challenging the death penalty as a punishment by the Justice system. In his age-old saga "For Whom the Bell Tolls", inspired by his novella Ernest Hemingway about the Spanish Civil War and take a song in which lyrically the protagonist is self-sacrifice and the futility of death in a war conflict. How can you not wonder? Does he write last year's and this year's? How is it done “Kill 'Em All” and "Ride the Lightning" to have such a spectacular distance between them?
We were young in age and experience, but we understood it. The Metallica they had ripened far beyond the reasonable limit, within 365 days. And this didn't just happen in the lyrics. It happened in all their aspects. In the "RtL" the format is infinitely more ambitious, with a far-reaching vision in sound and career targeting. Everything here was different. They essentially took a giant leap of no return. In the compositional ability, in the orchestrations, in the playing, in the production, in the awe that the atmosphere gives you. They no longer wanted to simply be the best thrash metal band. They aimed to conquer the top of the world. And it was now a matter of a few years for them to settle there.
Summer of '91: And the Earth becomes my throne…
They arrive at the beginning of the '90s by fire and iron. He preceded his milestone "Master of Puppets" which on the ubiquitous lists of the best metal albums of all time, will always flirt with No.1. They have experienced the bitter sting of his death Cliff Burton. They have in their quiver the amazing, even without bass sound, "...And Justice for All". They have his iconic anti-war video-clip "One". Along the way, they have demonstrated immense consistency, talent, hard work and dogged determination. They have already grown a lot in size and audience and now the time has come to unlock the door that leads to the top of the world. They will do it with an excellent heavy metal record. And it will happen to them from the first moment of its release "Black Album".
The “Enter Sandman”, “Wherever I May Roam”, “Nothing Else Matters”, “The Unforgiven”, they are played everywhere! Not only in the haunts of those whom we met in the summer of '83 and were surprised in the summer of '84. They are played non-stop in everyone's hangouts. Their dominance is absolute and sweeping. No one can resist them. World, television, radio, press, at the four points of the horizon, all are justly magnetized and this is a conquest entirely their own. Nothing was given to them. Nothing was granted to them. They conquered everything! Here, both the disc and the shape, turn into a global and eternal metal embassy. Maybe the biggest one we have. Which will bring new listeners to the metal fields until the Sun goes out. It will always bleed our space. It will always represent us as an aesthetic to those beyond our circle.
Whatever I hear from then to this day, that the Metallica in '91 they had to radically change their face in order to conquer all of this... Those of us who have lived through them from the beginning and also those who are willing to carefully study their path, can understand that this did not happen in 1991. '91 is another thing it happened There they reaped the fruits they sowed step by step. The leap in vision took place several summers ago… And it took place well. Not only for them Metallica. For the entire heavy metal universe.
Kostas Chronopoulos, Director of Metal Hammer Greece
The METALLICA – Metallica of David Masciotra, from the music book series “33 1/3” released in translation Thanos Karagiannopoulos, from the Acid publications and Avopolis.
The all-time greatness of Metallica's Black Album.
