When I was in second grade, my best friend handed me his headphones and said, “Check this out.” When he pressed play on his Walkman, I heard the opening riff of “Master of Puppets.” Over the next few minutes, I fell in love with Metallica and thrash metal. After years of listening to classic country music and hair bands from the 1980s, this was a revelation. They’ve continued to be one of my favorite bands for nearly three decades, and their first four albums are still my go-to records when I want a dose of nostalgia. However, there are a handful of songs from their discography that I never need to hear again.
Videos by American Songwriter
I don’t think these are bad songs. Like many Metallica fans, I’ve just heard them so many times that they went from being killer tunes to automatic skips. Even great songs can get old after you hear them one too many times.
[RELATED: The Song Metallica Allegedly Wrote About Axl Rose After Touring with Guns N’ Roses]
1. “Enter Sandman” from Metallica/The Black Album
“Enter Sandman” was the lead single from Metallica’s 1991 self-titled album. Anyone who listened to rock radio or watched MTV heard the song multiple times a day. Decades later, it remains one of their most popular and most overplayed songs. At the time, it was awesome to hear a band I was passionate about on the radio and see them jamming on TV. Now, though, I could go the rest of my life without hearing this track again.
Driven by the success of its lead single, The Black Album topped charts in multiple countries. It was their first No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. In short, “Enter Sandman” marked the beginning of the band’s mainstream success.
2. “St. Anger” from St. Anger
I remember hearing several other Metallica fans complain about Load and Reload in the 1990s. They believed Metallica had “sold out” after the success of The Black Album or were chasing the popularity of grunge and alt-rock bands. I felt like I was one of the few fans who would admit to liking those albums for what they were. Then, they released St. Anger in 2003. Like so many others, I hated it.
St. Anger, in my opinion, is the worst thing the band has ever released, and the title track is an example of everything wrong with the rest of the record: tinny snare, lackluster songwriting, and a lack of guitar solos. I could honestly go the rest of my life without hearing anything from this album again.
3. “The Unforgiven II” from Reload
Like I said, Reload was a solid Metallica album. It band kept things interesting with the blues-infused alt-rock sound, and the songwriting was top-notch. Even now, I thoroughly enjoy most of the tracks from the record. However, I tend to skip “The Unforgiven II” when I put the record on.
“The Unfogiven” is one of my favorite tracks on The Black Album, and hearing a sequel of sorts to the song was so cool to me when I first got my hands on Reload. Over the years, though, the song lost its shine. As much as I liked the song in the late 1990s, I tend to skip it today.
4. “Turn the Page” from Garage, Inc.
Garage, Inc. is a killer covers album. Metallica puts their stamp on songs from Blue Öyster Cult, the Misfits, Mercyful Fate, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and many more. However, the most popular track from the album was their cover of Bob Seger’s “Turn the Page.” It was cool at the time. My dad was a huge Seger fan, and this tune helped me convince him that metal was more than just noise. However, this ode to life on the road quickly got old.
Featured Image by Steve Jennings/Getty Images
Leave a Reply
Only members can comment. Become a member. Already a member? Log in.