In the new Wikimetal poll, Metallica's Black Album was voted the best metal album of the 90s, with 21% of the votes. Iron Maiden's "Fear Of The Dark" came in second and third place with 13%, and Judas Priest's "Painkiller" with 12%.
Released on August 12, 1991, Metallica's self-titled album became one of the best-selling albums of all time, with an impressive record of over 25 million copies sold. Even more remarkable, the Black Album currently sells approximately 5,000 copies per week.
The album, still considered controversial for launching Metallica's career into a more commercial era, was produced by Bob Rock and acclaimed in various publications, ranking 252nd on Rolling Stone's list of the best albums of all time. The British magazine Q says that the Black Album "transformed Metallica from cult metal heroes into global stars, bringing a refinement to their undeniable power .
In an interview with Billboard, Lars Ulrich says that when recording the album, the band already knew they had something big ahead of them: "We knew, when we were making the album, that there was some alignment of the planets ." The album, which features classics from the band such as Enter Sandman, The Unforgiven, Nothing Else Matters, Wherever I May Roam, Sad but True , and many others, took 10 months to record and cost approximately US$1 million.
