According to Blabbermouth.net, Metallica performed its top-selling 1991 LP, "Metallica", a.k.a. "the black album," in its entirety for the first time ever on Monday, May 7 at the opening show of the band's European tour at Synot Tip Arena in Prague, Czech Republic.
The band played the LP backwards, starting with closing number "The Struggle Within" and ending with "Enter Sandman".
Asked why Metallica decided to play the "black" album in its entirety on the current tour, the band's drummer, Lars Ulrich, explained: "The people at [the U.K.'s] Download [festival] asked. It wasn't our idea."
He added, "The thing is, although we haven't played at Donington for six years, we have been to the U.K. pretty much every single summer since then. So they wanted us to do something different, and that's what they came up with. I quite like the fact that come [this] summer it'll be the 21st anniversary of the "black album", not the 20th."
Asked whether he and his bandmates would have to re-learn the two songs from the record - "Don't Tread On Me" and "The Struggle Within" - that Metallica had never played live before, Lars said, "Yeah. Although to be honest with you, a song like 'The Struggle Within' is a lot easier to re-learn than 'The Frayed Ends Of Sanity'." He added, "I don't think it's going to be too difficult for us to figure out these songs."
Metallica will play the complete "black album" at its own Orion Music + More festival, scheduled for June 23-24 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Metallica is headlining both days and will perform its entire 1984 album "Ride The Lightning" for the first time ever on the other day of the festival.
Fan-filmed video footage of the "The Struggle Within" can be seen below.
Hard to believe that this is the first ever live performance of Struggle Within. Its a great song, I cant believe this is the first time played live. Better late than never I guess!
