This album sits in a strange place for me. Being raised in rural Iowa, this was the first mainstream music exposure I had to something vaguely counterculture. I loved the album and picked up some earlier Metallica albums, Puppets, Kill 'Em All, Lightning.... And it was then that I realized Metallica in the 80's was so much better. I was in my early teens and I did not understand how such a heavy fast band could tone down their music so much. I wanted to love the Black album again, but I couldn't. It just didn't compare to Puppets.
It wasn't long after that my musical tastes changed. I heard Nine Inch Nails, Wumpscut and Apoptygma Berzerk. That latter being one of my favorite bands to this day ( I even had the pleasure of booking and promoting a concert for them in Omaha, really wonderful nice people). Apop does an amazing cover of Fade to Black and Nothing Else Matters, further proof to me that the musical journey I was on made sense.
I still look back on the black album with nostalgia and fond memories, but more for where it's taken me. It was my starting point into my love of music. It's tyre what they say, you never forget your first Metallica album.