‘The Black Album’ Turns 30

August 12, 1991. Metallica releases their fifth album, turning the worlds of their long-time fans upside-down, while simultaneously igniting a new generation of fans.

We've marked the 30th anniversary of The Black Album by talking about what a game-changer it was for both the band and the music industry. We've also looked at how it was the first of a half-dozen albums to release over an insane 44-day stretch in 1991. But what we haven't done is dug into the videos.

MTV was 10 years young in 1991 and still trafficked in music videos. And you'd be a fool to think they weren't a driving force in Metallica's rise to superstardom. The Black Album yielded five singles, and all five music videos featured prominently on the network. Do you remember them? Keep scrolling; you will.

The clip for lead single "Enter Sandman" hit MTV a day after the song debuted on rock radio: July 30, 1991. Directed by Wayne Isham--who made his bones in the '80s making music videos for Bon Jovi, Motley Crue, Def Leppard and others--it was the first taste fans got of what The Black Album would look and sound like.

"The Unforgiven" had a decidedly different look: stark, bleak, out-of-focus. It was the product of director Matt Mahurin, whose distinctive style permeated music videos in the '90s. Clips from Soundgarden, Alice In Chains, and Bush all come to mind.

1991: The year Metallica wrote a proper ballad. This was a bone of contention for die-hard Metallica fans at the time, but given the fact that the Adam Dubin-directed clip, which features footage of the band recording The Black Album, is up over ONE BILLION views on YouTube, I'd say history will judge it as a good move.

Fun fact: Bands in the '80s and '90s who were lucky enough to go four singles deep on an album were contractually obligated to make a "performance montage" video for the fourth single. At least that's what I heard.

The band reunited with Wayne Isham for the fifth and final video from the album.