The Metallica Blacklist
by Various Artists
Metascore
66

Generally favorable reviews - based on 10 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 10
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 10
  3. Negative: 0 out of 10
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  1. Variety
    Sep 16, 2021
    86
    For a package so long and with so many diverse artists, anyway, there aren’t many missteps on this “Blacklist.” It could have been a mess; instead, taking their cues from Metallica, the curators and cover artists of “The Metallica Blacklist” have worked like alchemists to turn base metal into spun gold.
  2. Classic Rock Magazine
    Sep 9, 2021
    80
    predictable guests like Royal Blood, Biffy Clyro and Slipknot's Corey Taylor deliver disappointingly straight, dutifully respectful covers. Fortunately, artists less bound by metal convention fare better. ... The album's less celebrated deep cuts also encourage adventurous reworkings. [Sep 2021, p.84]
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  3. The Independent (UK)
    Sep 9, 2021
    80
    The Metallica Blacklist serves as concrete proof, if any was really needed, of just how influential Metallica have been outside of metal. ... You still wonder if it was absolutely, 100 per cent necessary to include quite so many covers. But there’s no doubting the passion that has gone into such an ambitious project. Headbangers at the ready.
  5. Rolling Stone
    Sep 10, 2021
    70
    Like most tribute albums, it’s a study in the art of rearrangement, in how an artist can rethink (or overthink) a song from the ground up without sacrificing something essential about the original recording. The Metallica Blacklist is also a tribute to a musical moment when that which was once considered alternative was apparently everywhere all along, a moment for pop music that felt revolutionary that fans and bands would be thinking about 30 years on.
  6. The Line of Best Fit
    Sep 9, 2021
    70
    There are some excellent discoveries waiting to be heard across a surprisingly wide array of artists and (sub-)genres. The collection features everything from safe recreations (White Reaper’s “Sad But True”) to left-field rejiggering (J Balvin’s rap reimagining of “Wherever I May Roam”).
  7. Clash Music
    Sep 9, 2021
    70
    Bar a couple of underwhelming or wholly unoriginal takes, 'The Metallica Blacklist' is a surprisingly solid listen considering its breadth. While the snobbier rock connoisseur out there might still view Metallica’s king-making album as when they ‘sold-out,’ this set just shows how malleable, how influential, and just how damn fun these songs still are.

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User Score
5.0

Mixed or average reviews- based on 12 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 12
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 12
  3. Negative: 5 out of 12
  1. Panchogul
    Oct 1, 2021
    3
    Totalmente innecesario y fuera de lugar, los covers por sí solos no son taan malos, pero juntos en un álbum queda espantoso.
  2. MusicGuyMack
    Sep 22, 2021
    5
    Though the sheer volume and variety of voices and sounds on display here undeniably fascinate as an exploration of Metallica's continuedThough the sheer volume and variety of voices and sounds on display here undeniably fascinate as an exploration of Metallica's continued influence in all corners of modern music, the record's status as a disposable novelty above all else is highlighted by the scant smattering of truly brilliant hits among a sea of misses, with most of the covers here presented getting bogged down by either/both excessive reverence for the original 1991 version and/or the artist/group proving a poor match for their chosen song.

    Choice Cuts: "Enter Sandman (Rina Sawayama)," "Sad But True (Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit)," "Nothing Else Matters (Chris Stapleton)," "The Unforgiven (Cage the Elephant)," "The God That Failed (Idles)"    … Full Review »
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