Tomorrow sees the release of The Metallica Blacklist, a massive new record that features more than 50 contemporary artists laying down covers of every song off of Metallica, a.k.a The Black Album, a.k.a. the 1991 record that made the group internationally famous and saw Metallica cross over into mainstream success. It’s difficult to overstate just how massive the album and its enduring popularity really are: Not only has it been certified 16 times platinum, it has sold more than 30 million copies worldwide, and still remains the best-selling album in the United States ever since Nielsen began its Soundscan tracking in 1991. Put it this way: Metallica has never sold fewer than a thousand copies a week since it was released 30 years ago. That’s serious staying power.
In honor of that album’s third-decade anniversary, Metallica’s label is putting out this new collections of covers, from a wildly eclectic—sometimes bordering on downright unusual—arrangement of musicians. The names range from pop stars (Alessia Cara, J Balvin) to fellow headbangers (Off!, YB) to Latin music artists (Juanes, Jose Madero) to rappers (Flatbush Zombies) to indie rockers (Diet Cig) and pop super-producers The Neptunes. In one of the oddest collaborations, Miley Cyrus teams up with Yo-Yo Ma, Elton John, Chad Smith from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, producer Watt, and Metallica’s own bassist, Robert Trujillo, for a take on “Nothing Else Matters.” And it’s all for a good cause—or causes, rather: All profits from The Metallica Blacklist will be split evenly between Metallica’s All Within My Hands Foundation and 50-plus charities chosen by the artists who play on the album.
Some of these cover versions are tweaked to fit the artists’ preferred styles of music. Others are downright faithful recreations of the original. (Would it surprise anyone to learn that Weezer chose sonic fidelity) But some are thrilling reinventions, playing with the melodies and moods of the band’s work to transform the piece into a vibrant new form. One thing’s for sure: 53 cover versions of 12 songs is too damn many. So we sat down and went through each one in painstaking detail, in order to arrive at this: A version of The Metallica Blacklist that only features the best cover of each track, the better to provide an alternative iteration of Metallica. The full listing can be found at the end of our Power Hour below, but these are the musicians that took Metallica’s material and did something great with it.
“Enter Sandman”: Rina Sawayama
While at first it seems as though Sawayama is planning to do a fairly straightforward take on the album opener, her “Enter Sandman” quickly reveals itself as a more industrial-music reworking of the material. It’s faithful to the vocal melodies, but there’s a host of little additions and musical flourishes that drop in and out of her electronics-aided workout. She even mixes in and mutates the original vocals at points, along with her own inspired, octave-higher performance. Plus, she’s the only one who actually sings the Lord’s Prayer during the bridge, instead of whispering it. Frankly, this kicks ass; it’s a wonderful introduction to the covers project.
“Sad But True”: Jason Isbell And The 400 Unit
This is the sound of a musician taking a song and completely making it his own, à la Johnny Cash’s version of Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt.” But unlike that slow and mournful reinterpretation, Jason Isbell turns the slow headbanger of a track into a rousing honky-tonk hoedown, like the sound of a country band going nuts during Friday night last call at a dive bar. From the ferocious pedal-steel guitar to the distorted, rough production values that give it an appealingly ramshackle quality, this is nothing like the original song’s tenor or tone—in the best possible way.
“Holier Than Thou”: Off!
Want a totally frenetic, borderline-unhinged take on Metallica’s four-on-the-floor stomper Off! has got you covered. Presumably to very little surprise, the punk-rock supergroup blows the material out of the water, taking everything that was already fast-paced and pummeling about the song and infusing it with hardcore intensity (“hardcore” in both senses of the word). Keith Morris’ sneering take on the vocals blends nicely with the band’s hyperspeed—plus, the corny and endearing video sees Jesus coming back to earth to approvingly endorse Off!’s cover.
“The Unforgiven”: Moses Sumney
At first, it almost seems as though Moses Sumney has forgotten what he’s doing in the studio: Meandering bass lines, oddly structured vocal riffs… at one point, it sounds like he’s actually scatting. But then, after that extended intro, it all comes together: Spacey and minimalist, Sumney’s sparse arrangement reworks the wall-of-sound bombast of the original into a hushed, pained confessional. Singing quietly with an edge of desperation, he infuses the song with a spirit that feels true to Metallica’s intended vibe, yet is remarkably different in style. It’s a ghostly, ambient interpretation you won’t soon forget. (It’s also one of the tracks that hasn’t been released ahead of the album, unfortunately.)
“Wherever I May Roam”: J Balvin
Consider this less of a cover, and more a case of an artist using the earlier song as a source of inspiration to do something completely different. Using the opening riff as a sample, Balvin crafts a dark, throbbing hip-hop track, an almost two-minute delivery system for his distinctive flow. Then, things get a little odd: Almost two minutes in, he brings the original song back, for nearly 30 seconds of uninterrupted original material, before returning to his beat and cutting it out again. It’s not exactly inspired, but it’s better than the couple other versions of the track. If anything, it sounds like a B-side to the Judgment Night soundtrack.
“Don’t Tread On Me”: Volbeat
If you’re going to faithfully cover a beloved heavy-metal track, why not try and tighten it up a little That’s the approach wisely taken by Danish rock band Volbeat, who change “Don’t Tread On Me” ever so slightly, giving it more of a lumbering, “For All The Cows”-style rhythm than the metronome-beat flow of the original. There are also some synth flourishes, adding a polished sheen of color to the refrains that sound like the definition of a Euro-glam take on heavy metal. It’s not all that different, but it sneakily compresses some of the riffing in potent and cool ways.
“Through The Never”: Tomi Owó
A slinky, R&B-influenced number may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think “Metallica cover,” but Tomi Owó’s unexpected reworking of the song does just that. The singer breathes beautiful life into the melody, crafting a soulful and genre-mixing variation on the original “Through The Never.” But she also nods to the track’s heavy-metal origins, bringing in some nicely jarring samples of the riff and integrating an almost industrial throb at points. It’s the kind of pleasant surprise that covers collections all too rarely provide.
“Nothing Else Matters”: Igor Levit
There are twelve—yes, twelve—covers of “Nothing Else Matters” on The Metallica Blacklist. Most of them are even pretty good, from Phoebe Bridgers and Depeche Mode’s Dave Gahan delivering stirring piano renditions to My Morning Jacket transforming the song into a sunny, Beach Boys-like pop ditty. But the winning entry goes to Igor Levit, a Russian-German pianist normally more famous for his interpretations of Bach and Beethoven than adaptations of bombastic metal. But his sensibilities work in his favor, as he strips away all the bells and whistles—and even words—to get at the heart of the earworm-like appeal of the dark and foreboding track, and stretching it into something new. (This track has not been issued prior to the album’s release tomorrow.)
“Of Wolf And Man”: Goodnight, Texas
Hope you like acoustic-campfire-ditty versions of Metallica songs, because in the case of “Of Wolf And Man,” it’s the only option you’ve got. Happily, Goodnight, Texas’ folksy Americana rendition of the song ends up being pretty good, with the group’s voices harmonizing nicely over their spare arrangement. Some minimal drums enter after the first chorus, providing some thump as the instrumentation fills out as the song progresses. It may take a little while to settle into the vibe of this one, but it eventually finds its groove.
“The God That Failed”: IDLES
Okay, now this is some good fun. Chaotic and noisy, and only periodically returning to the meat of the song, the British post-punk outfit transform “The God That Failed” into something that sounds like it was always theirs, rather than a Metallica cover. Pummeling drums, jagged guitars, slashing bass thrums, and Joe Talbot’s angry, hectoring yell-sing vocals layered over the entire enterprise, the band’s take on the material is appropriately disrespectful—which ends up feeling like more of a proper homage than many of the more blandly iterative offerings contained on the record.
“My Friend Of Misery”: Kamasi Washington
… And the award for best cover track on this album goes to Kamasi Washington. A fully reimagined jazz version of the song, it somehow both remains faithful to the arrangements of the original yet completely reworks it into an exciting and vital new interpretation. Smoky vocals, stunning solos from horn players, drums as electric as any of the lead instruments, and a punishing intensity that ebbs and flows as the song progresses. It’s one hell of an achievement from the saxophonist and bandleader, and it makes one long for more such ambitious and creative experiments from Washington and his fellow musicians.
“The Struggle Within”: Rodrigo Y Gabriela
Rodrigo Y Gabriela are no stranger to covers of Metallica songs, having done a version of “Battery” on their Mettal EP two years ago. (They’ve also done a medley of Metallica songs in their live show, including one with Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo himself.) So it’s not surprising to see them turn up here—and as the only ones to offer up a cover of “The Struggle Within,” it becomes the default closer to this compilation. And happily, it’s a lively one, as the Mexican acoustic guitar duo delivers a sprightly, percussive instrumental take on the last song from the album. It’s simple but appealing, with a clever arrangement and riffing about as hardcore as an acoustic guitar can get.