Here's a fun fact. When Metallica were recording their Black Album, and James Hetfield had to really croon on tracks like ‘Nothing Else Matters’ and ‘The Unforgiven,’ Hetfield looked to Chris Isaak for inspiration.
Isaak had a huge hit at the time with the track "Wicked Game." If you don't remember it, here's the video.
This is how Hetfield wanted to sing. At least according to producer Bob Rock. Rock appeared on the Chris Jericho podcast and said the following:
“He [Hetfield] said, ‘Bob, I’ve never really sang before — I’ve just kind yelled,’” Rock recalled. “He played me a Chris Isaak record, and he said, ‘On ‘Nothing Else Matters’ and ‘The Unforgiven,’ I want to sing. How do you sing like this?‘”
Rock continues, “I said, ‘I’ll get you a great vocal sound, so you don’t have to double your vocals. What you hear in Chris Isaak’s voice is the nuances when he sings — he isn’t doubled. He’s actually performing. You perform.’ We set it up so he was comfortable and had a great vocal sound, and then he sang. Every day he got better, and he got comfortable with it. He became a great singer.”
You can hear the entire episode of the podcast below:
[via Loudwire]
