Like it or not, Metallica's 1991 Metallica album was (and still is) an absolute behemoth of an album. The record propelled Metallica even further into stardom, and I'm sure still cuts some nice paychecks for the band. However, frontman James Hetfield doesn't sound like he was too keen on that direction at the time, and he doesn't think Cliff Burton would've been either.
Hetfield uses some interesting language in his interview with Metal Hammer too, namely the word "ally." The implication there being that maybe Hetfield also didn't really want to do Metallica either?
"Well, I certainly would have thought there would have been some resistance, for sure. I think The Black Album was a great album and I appreciate the fact that we did have the balls to do that and have [producer] Bob Rock to work with us. It had to be, it really did. You know, when I go back and I listen to [previous album] …And Justice For All, it couldn’t have stayed on that path. We needed to bring in another set of trusted ears. [But] I think Cliff would have probably interjected some different stuff, getting his bass heard and some more musically challenging things, probably. I would certainly think that the Load and Re-Load [era], I would have had an ally that was very against it all – the reinvention or the U2 version of Metallica."
Hetfield adds later on that he thinks Metallica has some great songs on it, but the sheer amount of music took some of the bite out of the album. He also says that he doesn't really like the band's imagery either at the time.
Honestly, I think the band's path would've diverged even before Metallica. I think …And Justice For All would've been extremely different, and would've pushed the band into new waters. Burton's input on that album was only on "To Live Is To Die." So if he were alive, where would Metallica really be now?
