Rating: 
Summary: Great Retrospective
Review: If you like Metallica, and you enjoy Behind the Music-Type documentaries, this one is great. It's a bit on the short side, but it does have a lot of material that fans have never seen before. Most die hard fans might think this is just a re-hashing of A Year and a Half..., and to some extent it is. It does have it's moments, though, and it's a great purchase for a die-hard fan.
Rating: 
Summary: One Of The Best Music DVDS On The Market
Review: Metallica's self-titled DVD on one of their albums, which is known as "The Black Album"( album is actually self-titled, but because the front and back of the album is all black, it earned it's reputation as "The Black Album")is one of the best music DVDS on the market. This DVD goes behind the scenes into the making of the album; there are interviews with band members James Hetfield, Jason Newsted, Kirk Hammet, Lars Ulrich, and producer Bob Rock. You get to listen to previously unheard demo recordings, and the five singles off of "The Black Album" are on this DVD: "Enter Sandman", "Holier Than Thou", "Sad But True", "The Unforgiven", and "Nothing Else Matters". I also enjoyed the exteneded interviews for the DVD, and it was very interesting when James Hetfield told the behind the scenes stories for when he wrote "Nothing Else Matters" and "The God That Failed". Hetfield also talked about how he and the band members in Metallica faced difficulties in their childhoods( parents getting divorced, family members dying)and how music was what guided them through all the tough times in their childhoods. If you enjoyed "The Black Album", you definitely don't want to miss the DVD.
Rating:
Summary: Great for die-hard fans
Review: The "Classic Albums" release about Metallica's so-called Black Album has a wealth of good information and interesting tidbits on it; it's just a shame we've seen so much of it before. Much of the footage is recycled from the "A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica" VHS/DVD release, and I suppose that was to be expected. What the disc does provide, however, are plenty of new interviews with the band that better tell the story of how this record was made.The bits that are especially interesting are those in which the guys sit at the mixing board with Bob Rock and Randy Staub, isolating different parts of each song and letting us hear things we've never heard before, like a particularly good solo from Kirk Hammett that was muffled as "Wherever I May Roam" faded out. These parts of the documentary are too few; I for one want to get a shot to get in that room and play with that mixing board for hours, dissecting each song. Then there's also some really strange moments where the guys talk about having drinks after recording, including one where James comments that he didn't remember the story Lars and Bob Rock are talking about because he was drinking, as illustrated by the usual hand-to-mouth invisible beer can gesture. This was recorded not too long before James checked himself into rehab, so it's really interesting to see this side of him. Even better than the main 45-minute documentary are the outtake interview segments, which run almost a full 50 minutes. This lets us hear more detail about certain aspects of the production than the rest of the show. Particularly interesting here is Jason's revelation that "My Friend of Misery" was originally intended as that album's instrumental track -- and his snide comment that it was his second full writing credit in his five years in the band, reminding us that this was also recorded not too long before Jason left the band. All in all, an essential addition to the collection of a die-hard Metallica fan, even if some of the material is recycled.
Rating:
Summary: Great for die-hard fans
Review: The "Classic Albums" release about Metallica's so-called Black Album has a wealth of good information and interesting tidbits on it; it's just a shame we've seen so much of it before. Much of the footage is recycled from the "A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica" VHS/DVD release, and I suppose that was to be expected. What the disc does provide, however, are plenty of new interviews with the band that better tell the story of how this record was made. The bits that are especially interesting are those in which the guys sit at the mixing board with Bob Rock and Randy Staub, isolating different parts of each song and letting us hear things we've never heard before, like a particularly good solo from Kirk Hammett that was muffled as "Wherever I May Roam" faded out. These parts of the documentary are too few; I for one want to get a shot to get in that room and play with that mixing board for hours, dissecting each song. Then there's also some really strange moments where the guys talk about having drinks after recording, including one where James comments that he didn't remember the story Lars and Bob Rock are talking about because he was drinking, as illustrated by the usual hand-to-mouth invisible beer can gesture. This was recorded not too long before James checked himself into rehab, so it's really interesting to see this side of him. Even better than the main 45-minute documentary are the outtake interview segments, which run almost a full 50 minutes. This lets us hear more detail about certain aspects of the production than the rest of the show. Particularly interesting here is Jason's revelation that "My Friend of Misery" was originally intended as that album's instrumental track -- and his snide comment that it was his second full writing credit in his five years in the band, reminding us that this was also recorded not too long before Jason left the band. All in all, an essential addition to the collection of a die-hard Metallica fan, even if some of the material is recycled.
Rating:
Summary: Must Have for Metallica Fans
Review: The interviews in this program feature the four members of Metallica, producer Bob Rock, assistant producer Randy Staub, and some short interviews with various people in the music industry regarding Metallica's 1991 release "Metallica", best known as "The Black Album". The album has been an amazing success comercially, selling over 10 million albums in the U.S. alone, and brought Metallica into the mainstream. The main issue I have with this video is that Jason Newsted seems to be the only guy who is having fun making the interviews. Jason, as always, is very animated and warm, while everyone else looks tired, bored, and somewhat agitated. I love it when Lars Ulrich starts to ramble on and on, causing the other guys to turn away, scratch their faces, and basically ignore him. All toghether, the band members seem very distanced from each other, which is understandable considering that Jason was to leave the band soon after the 2001 Playboy article in which the guys stated that they were at each other's throats. My favorite part is when they dissect songs in the mixing room, bringing to light the strange guitar and sound effects that get buried underneath the overdriven rhythm guitar. Clips of some early demos also get played, which is great and shows how the songs existed before they were shaped into the final product. This was the best part of the program for me, and I wish there were more material of them playing with the mixes and demos. If you are a Metallica fan, you will really enjoy this DVD, and even though it 'recycles' material from "A Year and a Half", I would say that the program is about 10% recycled, 90% new stuff. Including the bonus material, there is over an hour and a half of great interviews and insights into the album that marked a major change in Metallica's music.
Rating:
Summary: A must for Metallica fans -- Everyone else shouldn't bother
Review: This Metallica DVD chronicles the making of the Black Album through exclusive interviews, archive footage and performances with the band members and producer Bob Rock. Most of the archive footage is [taken] from the other videos tapes, but there are some new items in there with the band almost 10 years after the fact. If you are a Metallica fan, you'll want to own this DVD. If you are not, don't waste your money.
Rating: 
Summary: Good but...
Review: This was a good documentary of Metallica about one of their best if not the best album they made "The Black Album" but if you had allready saw lots of documentary and know a lot about Metallica this video won't be as interesting to you, well I find it good but I allready knew a lot about what they were saying but if you like to know more about them, you are a huge fan of Metallica and would like to know how they made the Black Album well you would like this documentary!
Rating:
Summary: Metallica - VH1 Classic Albums (The Black Album)
Review: This was released in Europe a while ago and I recieved a copy ( I have an all region player) and I can say that this is a remarkable documentary which should be part of every metallica fans collection.
Rating: 
Summary: This was a complete [disappointment]
Review: This was the biggest [disappointment]. There is not one complete track and the packaging promises seven. Don't buy this unless you want a very [pricey] version of some rock gossip rag. If they had included the videos or even studio film of a recording sesion it might be worth it but this was the pits. I'm surprised they let this go out.
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