“Nothing Else Matters” by Metallica

"Nothing Else Matters" is the sound of Metallica lowering their voice without losing their nerve. It sits on the band's self-titled fifth album, out in August 1991, and went out as its third single in April 1992: a full-blown power ballad, and a risky one.

James Hetfield wrote it on tour in 1990, homesick and down about being away, and he wrote it for himself, tinkering with it alone after shows. He wasn't sure it belonged anywhere near Metallica; it felt too exposed for a band whose songs, as he put it, were about wrecking things and banging heads. Then Lars Ulrich heard it, and suddenly it was in the running for the album. The writing credit went to the pair of them.

Hetfield sings lead and plays guitar with Kirk Hammett, the picking spare and fragile at first before the whole band leans in, Jason Newsted's bass and Ulrich's drums rolling in like a slow tide. Hetfield and Ulrich produced it with Bob Rock, with Randy Staub recording and Mike Tacci assisting, and the sheen is rich without going soft. It reached number six in the UK, topped the chart in Denmark, and has been a fixture of their live shows ever since.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.