Ten facts about The Black Album

In the second of our Metallica-themed blogs in celebration of our exclusive Black Album Covered CD - out now in all good newsagents -  we scratched our minds to come up with 10 essential facts about their classic 1991 album. Here we go...

1. Metallica began recording the Black Album at Los Angeles' One On One studio on October 6, 1990. They finished the album on June 16, 1991. That's 253 days. Or just over 21 days per song.

2. While the band were holed up in the studio, Lars Ulrich chose to record his drum tracks at night and would often wander the facility in a cotton dressing gown. This clearly annoyed James Hetfield, who mocks his choice of nightwear on the band's documentary A Year And A Half In The Life Of Metallica Part 1.

3. The songs on the Black Album are shorter and punchier, simply because the band got sick of performing the lengthier tracks from their 1988 album ...And Justice For All every night. When the band hit the road again in 1992, the shorter songs gave Lars Ulrich more time to get up from behind his kit and strut around the stage in those ridiculous black leggings.

4. My Friend Of Misery features former bassist Jason Newsted's only songwriting credit on the Black Album. During their lengthy world tour in support of the album, he would incorporate his bassline into an extended solo, which often ended with him headbutting his instrument. Don't try this home. It really hurts.

5. After freaking out more sensitive fans with their creepy 1989 video for the single One, the band shot a less frightening follow-up for Enter Sandman with director Wayne Isham in June, 1991. It features a wrinkly old man and a child having nightmares.

6. As of June 1, 2012, the band have performed Enter Sandman 1,087 times.

7. The late composer Michael Kamen provided the orchestral arrangement on Nothing Else Matters. He also created the music for the first three films in the Die Hard series and later worked with the band on their symphonic1999 album, S & M. If you listen closely to the album and can hear Bruce Willis yell 'Yippie ki-yay', you're clearly imagining it.

8. The Black Album's mainstream success also had its downsides. Wrinkly crooner Pat Boone recorded a lounge version of Enter Sandman for his 1997 In A Metal Mood album. We'd post a link to it, but it would only make you sad and want to smash your monitor. Oh, alright. Here it is. Deep breaths.

9. The coiled snake from the album artwork is taken from the Gadsden flag, a symbol of American independence. The accompanying motto, 'Don't Tread On Me', is probably what a snake would say in a crowded room. But it can't. Because it's a snake.

10. The running time of the Black Album is 62 minutes 33 seconds. That's 62 minutes and 33 seconds of uninterrupted success, right there.

For more information on this week's issue and your exclusive Metallica: The Black Album Covered, click here.