Moshtalgia - Episode 09 - Metallica - The Black Album

This is Moshtalgia. A podcast about albums we love, albums that were important to us growing up. 

As the tightly riffed strains of 'Enter Sandman' filled the airwaves in August of 1991, a generation of teenagers found a voice that echoed their own angst and dreams. On today's episode of our podcast, we plunge into the depths of Metallica's seminal work, the Black Album, a record that not only defined an era but also shaped the lives of two young men growing up on Ireland's east coast.

Through the lens of our mightly Moshtalgia, we dissect the album track by track, uncovering the layers of raw energy and emotion that have cemented its place in rock history. From the hefty plodder 'Sad But True' to the soul-stirring get-yer-lighter-out ballad 'Nothing Else Matters,' we explore the evolution of Metallica's sound and the tenacity of producer Bob Rock.

But this episode isn't just about the music. It's a tapestry woven with the threads of our personal stories, the trials of adolescence, and the bittersweet memories of secondary school. We share anecdotes of creeping into school grounds, the nervous anticipation of exam results, and the camaraderie of listening to this groundbreaking album with friends.

Join us as we take you back to a time when music wasn't just background noise but the soundtrack to our lives. We'll laugh, we'll debate, and we might even shed a tear as we revisit the days when the Black Album reigned supreme. Tune in and let the power of Metallica's magnum opus transport you back to your teenage years, no matter where you grew up.

There's absurdity, snark, and blistering twin-microphone facts from Taylor and Bourney, fully harmonised with double-tracked wailing and complaining. We men do play on ten, to Valhalla and back.

Best served with beer and a side of silliness. Lie back and enjoy it. Come join us on a review of those now-vintage LPs we loved in the 1980s from the bands that parted us from our money.

It isn't just two friends chatting in front of microphone about their long-haired heavy metal days. Well it is, but also it's much more.

Dive deep into the spurious subconsious of two middle-aged metallers regaling the days of their youth with squirming stories, analogue anectodes, and antsy accusations from the east coast of Ireland. We name and shame, mostly ourselves. 

Remember that first metal album? First concert? The rock ballad you first copped off to on a disco dancefloor with nervous hands and dry lips? Yeah, you do. 

We let the hair on down the back, steal tapes, photocopy covers, and even buy a bullet-belt. We deftly sew patches on our denim jackets, and pilfer magazines in the shop.

Offering our metal heroes no quarter. We praise and prosletyse, we ridicule and rile. We spar with each other and the teenage illusions we had when hearing these masterpieces.

Armed with a sonic scalpel, we cleave our way through track by track, appraise hits and filler a generation on. Who dared battle the Saracen? Who gave love a bad name? Who danced on glass? Listen and find out.

Tune in to rock radio again, hear it as it was, all entombed by fat and freckled guitar segues brought to you by our resident riffer, that man from Annamoe; Pat 'The Fingerer' Shaughnessy! 

We rifle through the pages of once-mighty UK rock organ Kerrang for hot takes of the late Eighties. Hear the words of Malcolm Dome, Dante Bonutto, Sylvie Simmons, Howard Johnson, Chris Watts, Alison Joy, and Mick Wall as they gurn over the news, interviews, and reviews of the day.

Moshtalgia exposes many a metal mistake, a misheard lyric, and as much madness as your mind can muster. You will hear the voices of the bands giving comment directly here on our podcast. Their voices voiced through our own larynxes that is.

Hear the doyen of UK rock radio, Tommy Vance, along with producer Tony Wilson, deliver rock and metal weekly for a scant-ye