Happy Anniversary: Metallica, “Enter Sandman”

24 years ago today, Metallica released the first single from their self-titled album and officially began their transformation into worldwide superstars.

Not that the band hadn't already been working their way up the ladder of success - their 1988 album …And Justice for All and its epic single (and accompanying video) “One” had provided them with their first top-10 album and their first top-40 single, respectively - but “Enter Sandman” was very much a corner-turning moment for Metallica. The song's dark but insidiously catchy hook pummeled listeners into submission almost immediately, sending the band hurtling into the top 20 in the US and, even more impressively, providing them with a top-5 single in the UK.

As it happens, “Enter Sandman” was the first song written by the band for the Metallica album, emerging from a Kirk Hammett riff, but it was one of the last songs on the album for which James Hetfield wrote lyrics, and even at that, the lyrics you hear aren't the ones he originally wrote for the song. In the documentary When Metallica Ruled the World, Hetfield explained that the song felt so “catchy and kind of commercial” that he felt obliged to deliver dark lyrics to offset the tone, but when his efforts led bandmate Lars Ulrich and producer Bob Rock to basically say, “You can do better,” he took another shot at it.

With its “wall of guitars,” as Hetfield has described his work on the song, and a drum sound that took Ulrich a reported 50 takes to get it how he wanted it, “Enter Sandman” struck a chord with listeners immediately, but better than that, it stands the test of time. Seriously, go listen to it right now: it's been more than two decades since its release, and it'll still kick your ass.