Metallica’s self-titled 1991 album, referred to as The Black Album, is the highest-selling heavy metal album of all time, and it sounds like crafting the momentous record wasn’t as hard as you’d think. In fact, during a recent conversation with Metal Hammer magazine, Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett revealed that the album’s “solos wrote themselves.”
Hammett’s comment came after he was asked which album from his career he thinks is the best example of him at peak performance. “It’s weird, because my opinion of that changes all the time,” he said. “I don’t sit around listening to Metallica, so sometimes something comes on and I’m, like, ‘I haven’t heard this in fucking five years. I forgot about that sound.’ I don’t look in the rear-view mirror too often.”
“The whole band is like that — we just move on,” Hammett continued. “What’s the next cool thing we can do? It’s just how we are. But I will say, there was a period where I thought my playing was fucking spot on, and that was The Black Album. Those solos wrote themselves. Almost all of them worked out instantly.”
“There were only a few things I wasn’t prepared for, and that was ‘The Unforgiven’ solo, which is pretty well documented,” Hammett added. “And the solo for ‘My Friend Of Misery’. But because the solo of ‘The Unforgiven’ ended up being so spontaneous, that made me want to do them all like that from that point on.”
Fans can hear songs from The Black Album on Metallica’s big world tour, which next stops off in Atlanta, Georgia. Check out the full list of upcoming tour dates below:
Metallica 2025/26 World Tour Dates
6/3 Atlanta, GA Mercedes-Benz Stadium (w/ Pantera & Suicidal Tendencies)
6/6 Tampa, FL Raymond James Stadium (w/ Limp Bizkit & Ice Nine Kills)
6/8 Tampa, FL Raymond James Stadium (w/ Pantera & Suicidal Tendencies)
6/14 Houston, TX NRG Stadium (w/ Pantera & Suicidal Tendencies)
6/20 Santa Clara, CA Levi’s Stadium (w/ Limp Bizkit & Ice Nine Kills)
6/22 Santa Clara, CA Levi’s Stadium (w/ Pantera & Suicidal Tendencies)
6/27 Denver, CO Empower Field at Mile High (w/ Limp Bizkit & Ice Nine Kills)
6/29 Denver, CO Empower Field at Mile High (w/ Pantera & Suicidal Tendencies)
7/5 Birmingham, England Villa Park
11/1 Perth, Australia Optus Stadium
11/5 Adelaide, Australia Adelaide Oval
11/8 Melbourne, Australia Marvel Stadium
11/12 Brisbane, Australia Suncorp Stadium
11/15 Sydney, Australia Accor Stadium
11/19 Auckland, New Zealand Eden Park
12/3 Sakhir, Bahrain Beyon Al Dana Amphitheatre
12/6 Abu Dhabi, UAE Yas Island – Abu Dhabi F1 Grand Prix
5/9 Athens, GR Olympic Stadium (w/ Gojira & Knocked Loose)
5/13 Bucharest, RO Arena Națională (w/ Gojira & Knocked Loose)
5/19 Chorzów, PL Stadion Śląski (w/ Gojira & Knocked Loose)
5/22 Frankfurt, DE Deutsche Bank Park (w/ Gojira & Knocked Loose)
5/24 Frankfurt, DE Deutsche Bank Park (w/ Pantera & Avatar)
5/27 Zurich, CH Stadion Letzigrund (w/ Gojira & Knocked Loose)
5/30 Berlin, DE Olympiastadion (w/ Gojira & Knocked Loose)
6/3 Bologna, IT Stadio Renato Dall’Ara (w/ Gojira & Knocked Loose)
6/11 Budapest, HU Puskas Arena (w/ Pantera & Avatar)
6/13 Budapest, HU Puskas Arena (w/ Gojira & Knocked Loose)
6/19 Dublin, IE Aviva Stadium (w/ Gojira & Knocked Loose)
6/21 Dublin, IE Aviva Stadium (w/ Gojira & Knocked Loose)
6/25 Glasgow, UK Hampden Park (w/ Gojira & Knocked Loose)
6/28 Cardiff, UK Principality Stadium (w/ Gojira & Knocked Loose)
7/3 London, UK Stadium (w/ Gojira & Knocked Loose)
7/5 London, UK Stadium (w/ Pantera & Avatar)
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