My old music teacher said that, if they were alive today, Mozart would be a huge pop star, but Bach and Beethoven would be metalheads.

Biggest memory of this song: in a car with a few friends jamming to this album/song while a giant black storm line was moving across the sky, we were trying to make it home while it was "chasing" us...we were goin nuts screaming "WE'RE GONNA DIIIIIEEE" ..having a blast in 1992! Memories 😂

The song is about nuclear warfare and the devastation of our planet so when Lex said it was about nukes at the end, she was right!!!

Brad will never love metal it seems, but I appreciate his willingness to listen and understand.

I love how Brad really tries to delve into the lyrics and work out the songs meanings, yet misses...while Lex bounces around paying more attention to the vibe and musicality of the songs...and gets it every time.

I love the look of true joy on Lex’s face as she jams along. Your reactions are 🔥. I always look forward to the next one!!!

Nicotine: when in doubt, always go with “it was a metaphor”. 😊

This whole album is a masterpiece

You’re way too hung up on that nicotine line lol. It’s just symbolism. Metallica is loaded with poetic metaphors, that’s why they’re awesome.

Forests are often called the lungs of the Earth. That's why the nicotine metaphor.

One of the greatest albums of all time. Listen to frayed ends of sanity. Great song

You guys need to watch the documentary “Hypnotizing Power: The Story of Master of Puppets” it’ll open your eyes to the band significantly. Great video.

I am so glad I found this channel. I’ve spent the last 3 hours of my life (that I do not want back) going through your videos love you guys. Keep it up

...and Justice For All is Metallic’s best album. “Eye of the Beholder” is the song that got me into them. Then “Harvester of Sorrow” and “The Frayed Ends of Sanity”. Damn this is a good album! And you already reacted to “One.”

Kirk's masterpiece solo & my favorite from him of all time. Also the song structure beneath it is amazing. This song also contains my favorite drum fill from Lars (which I've never heard him do live 😕) right after James says "See our mother die"

Welcome to one of kirk’s greatest solos. Beast of a song

The Lead player Kirk Hammett said "This song took a very long time to work out, it wasn't easy."

As a teenager in the 1980s, the nuclear war meaning of the song was glaringly obvious. It was hardly the first metal song to give voice to the underlying fears of nuclear annihilation during that era (e.g. Iron Maiden's "2 minutes to midnight" and Megadeth's "Set the World Afire" come to mind, as well as it being a running theme in Nuclear Assault's stuff, not surprisingly). I guess the nuclear war imagery just isn't as potent for generations that don't remember the Cold War and the paranoia of those years.

During the 'And Justice for All' tour they opened with this one. When the opening notes started fading in the crowd went BANANAS. One of the two best shows I've seen in my life. The song's basically about the destruction of the environment. Nuclear war specifically, but I always understood it to cover all of the jacked up stuff we do to the planet.

It’s about nuclear war, there are references to nuclear winter, the nicotine reference is just a metaphor. The picture they are painting is of the world dying in nuclear fire.

This song is off the album ‘And Justice for All’, their most complex album up until then. The song ‘frayed ends of sanity’ hadn’t been played live up until recently. Hope one day you two get to react to that song (you’ll definitely need to take a few breaks in between)

It's about the death of our planet as we tear down our forests. Each Metallica album has a different sound.

It is so sad, over 30 years after this song was recorded, and humans continue to destroy our only home, Mother Earth.

I think Brad was a metronome in his previous life. The only motion he can of doing when he is trying to catch the groove is side to side, like a mechanical metronome.

"And Justice For All..." is probably my most favorite album from Metallica. The whole album is awesome. To me they haven't recreated the sound they had on this album since. React to any of the songs on this album and it would be awesome. Keep up the good work you two. I love the energy from Lex, Brad .... your coming along nicely too. 😆

Such a great album. The one thing I love about it is that James' vocals are so powerful and full of anger, and you can just feel it, especially on this song.

Lars’s drums and James guitar are the main things we hear just makes it sound crisp lmao 🤣🤣🤣 the drums in the beginning of “harvester of sorrow “ I think it was, maaaaan I use to play the tf out of that song on the drums when I was a kid🤣

This song was my introduction properly to Metallica, couple months after the album came out - i'd heard bits of some of their earlier songs...sitting in a friend's room with his new sound system and he put it on...when that breakdown kicked in after the 2nd chorus my jaw hit the floor...i had to skip back the track several times before i could move on to the next track...

Best memory was seeing it live at the actual damaged justice tour. Fayetteville, NC 1989. Opening song. Faded in totally blacked out. Then soon as the drums hit the lights came on.

You can tell this dude loves his girl because of how he lets her figure out the answer on her own. He knew what she was thinking with the whole intro flipping thing was wrong but instead he agve her an alternate possibility "maybe it was reversed"? He didn't need to feel superior, nor did he want here to feel dumb, so he presented another option in a slick way. I have a lot of respect for that way of being. That shows a lot about a person.

This was the first Metallica song I ever heard when a friend suggested I buy And Justice For AKK. After this song I was a Metallica fan and metalhead for life. That was 33 yrs ago.

🤣😂🤣😂Couldn't tell if you guys were jumpin on the couch, or it was me shaking my tablet,cause I was jumpin on my couch. Awesome classic Metallica!! Yesshh!!

You guys need to check out the live version of this from Seattle 1989 (I think!) They play it faster with so much energy, it's amazing!

I think you need to do the studio and then the live cause they're so amazing, Lex needs to see. Do both!!!! Like you did with some of they're other songs, c'mon now yall!! Cause this is one of they're most A-M-A-Z-I-N-G songs live!

In my younger years, this was one of my favorite songs to dance to. The beat is epic and charged!!

Alot of people argue about the meaning of the song but James said himself it was written to bring extra awareness to smoking and the dangers of it, after seeing his mom pass from lung cancer caused by smoking

This song was written near the end of the Cold War when the possibility of mankind eradicating itself with an all out nuclear exchange was a very real possibility. Metallica are a thematically very deep band.

Thrash metal is almost like a faster, heavier punk rock. That off-beat snare is a key cog in thrash metal and that came directly from punk rock

its hilarious how often she's right and he convinces her otherwise 💀💀 She gotta start trusting herself 😂

The great thing about a lot of Metallica songs is when you realize the lyrics are written in a way to be interpreted in many ways. While generally the song sounds like a song about nuclear war ending the earth, it also has hints about his mother dying from lung cancer.

Blackened was written at the tail end of the Cold War era and is about Nuclear War.

Blackened is one of my all time favorite Metallica songs. Blackened is about nuclear war. Great reaction! And Lex, definitely listen again, and again, and again... Lol 🤘🏻

The intro was a separate recording, which they then reversed and faded it in. Worth a look at the multitude of videos with it unreversed.

I have a suggestion that will blow each of your minds. Death - Voice of the Soul. Lex will love it for the guitars - you can see she feels in her bones when a lead is about to happen and Brad you will have your mind blown because it’s instrumental and it still tells a story that instruments represent perfectly. Also, Opeth - Ghost of Perdition live at Red Rocks. Not their best song but it’s an amazing live performance. Great job by both of you.

Seattle 89 needs to be watched

The backwards effect is incredibly easy to do production-wise. With my old 4-track cassette recorder, all you had to do was play the B side of the cassette and it played the entire A side backwards. Lex is right. They recorded the notes descending down the scale, so reversed, it sounds ascendant. It turned out really well because they are excellent musicians.

Kirk’s solo is pure 🔥on this song & this album is such a powerhouse work of art!

I love how Lex gets into the music and her looks on her face!! Totally Awesome!!

"nothing left to kill" - when we end up at that point, that we can't even kill each other (which we seem to be doing with great effort and commitment), then we're really done for good as a species. I believe that is what this song is about.

The whole of humanity. Ash. The whole the earth. Charred. The life of your lungs. Burnt. Fire. A whipping dance. Darkest emotions boiling over. The dead husk of flamed out life. Smoldering decay. Blackened.

This is my favorite metallica song. I used this song as my entrance music when I was an indy wrestler in the early 2000s

I remember all too well when we lost Cliff and I really wondered how the guys would deal with it and what they would do. And then And Justice For All came out and I went and bought it that very day, brought it home, put the needle on side 1 and heard this gem and knew that they were going to be ok!

Sometimes the context matters. This album came out in 88, which was during the cold war during which US and Russia flirted with nuclear war that could've destroyed the planet. A lot of metal bands, particularly from Europe, made whole albums about that in the 80s

I bought this 30 years ago. This whole album got me through some difficult times. Thanks for the react.

I remember the day this album came out. I was working in NYC and sat in Battery park during my lunch hour. Of course I was late for work. And Justice for all was much different sound for them. And I WAS STILL HAPPY!

'Orion' and 'The Call of Ktulu' are two of the best songs you'll ever hear by Metallica🤘

What an intro to an album... i can imagine just setting the needle at the edge and the sound just gets louder and LOUDER consuming until full blown thrash!!

I've been listening to Metallica since 96 and I ALWAYS associated Blackened with Battery. Both are very hard and fast album intros, only to be outdone in speed and hardness by Dyers Eve and Damage, Inc, respecrively, which I also always associated because they are probably the hardest and fastest Metallica songs. And Lex gets the connection on her first listen. She is such a gem. So intuitive.

.... And justice for all is an amazing feet of music. "Shortest straw" has a Brad solo!

"I do not know what thrash is. It's a word that you guys toss around and that's it" I'll have to steal this quote sometime. It's perfectly encapsulates my understand of some genres. 😅

Metaphor dude, Metaphors - I highly suggest a documentary called Metal evolution that way you understand the different types of Metal.

The way Lex is describing her getting to like Battery, it was like she telling story of me becoming a metalhead.

Well i'm down in the metallica youtube rabbit hole again and just come across this channel first time here and oh my god I absolutely loved the journey this Lex lady lead me on, I wanted to close my eyes and enjoy the song and listen to your feed back but I couldn't take my eyes off of her reaction, my god you absolutely went on a journey there, instant sub!

Lex, you are a genuine metal head! Guitar Solos get you every time 👍👍👍

You both are cool to watch, but Lex is without a doubt the most entertaining reactor on KZfaq. Before every song ever starts she has a smile so wide it looks like her face is about to rip open like a kid about to open their presents on Christmas morning.

Metallica just rocks period end of story 😎 And I’ve seen them twice and there are no breaks. You will be standing in the bathroom line rockin bc if you wait for a break it never comes. 🔥

Sing is about mankind reaping the Earth of its resources thus ruining the plant (“mother” Earth).

The lyrics can be interpreted how you want. The music and the transitions are amazing. From a music perspective this is fantastic. Love y’all, keep going!

You gotta remember in the 80s the cold war was still real and the threat of nuclear war was there. This song paints a picture of what that would look like: burning, massive destruction, nuclear winter. . . . Think Terminator 2 when Sarah Connor has her nightmare about the playground.

Brad got so hung up on one word that he could not move foreword and comprehend the simple message of the song. Dude just relax and take a stab at listening and feeling. Don't over complicate, although metal lyrics can be ambiguous and complicated at times this song is not.

The saddest thing with this song is that the bass is so low that you can't hear it. The main riff was written by the bass player, Jason Newsted.

The intro was simply played in reverse. It sometimes is called "backmasking" due to all the allegations in the 70s/80s of rock band putting backwards messages in the album recordings.

I can watch her headband all day long!!🤘🏻🤘🏻

This and Four Horsemen are my favorite Metallica songs.

one of my favorite metallica songs. lets go

Just think nuclear annihilation of the human race and mother earth. The nicotine reference was just a metaphor that fit in the rhyme.

Much love for listening to blackened. One of the best albums from Metallica

No one can resist head banging to this

Lex, you make ME smile every time you light up with your smile at the guitars :) Another great reaction Brad & Lex. Keep on Rockin!!! \m/

Lex’s rock face n Brad’s stone face is a match made n heaven, love all tht u do n much appreciated n cn’t wait until u jmp into more Live Metallica reactions even the songs uve already covered, so worth it....

Oh snap been waiting for this one

You Definitely Need to See Metallica LIVE!!! They are One of The Best Live Bands Around!! I have seen them a few times and WOW!!! Amazing!!

I love this song because the first time time you hear it... you don't know what happened. It's prog rock hitting you with time signatures that you don't get, and then you realize how hard it is to play.

I binged about 20 of your vids in a row… mostly Metallica… lol, You’re doing something right.

The word blackened is referring to the scorched earth after a nuclear winter/end of the world. This song came out during the cold war.

Brad needs to listen to this with earphones on all night long and wake up a change man😁🤘🏼

Lovely Lex Bringing meaning of a tune out!

Lex seems to be really getting the beauty of metal in a experiential/emotional way.

By far one of the most hardest songs to play in history

Blackened is quadruple-entendre- Our souls our bodies our actions our earth

Oh my Gerrrrd!! You two!! Every time I get on KZfaq … you two on “my” KZfaq!! Let’s fucking go. Seriously?!! Let’s. GO.

This song is fucking magnificent

Nuclear War/War in general is what the song is about. Came from the Album "And Justice for All"....all songs on that album have to do with War in some form.

I checked this CD out from the library as a kid and never returned it. Such an amazing album. The And Justice for Jason version is so much better. There’s also a KZfaq playlist of this one guy playing bass along with the album and it’s mixed beautifully.

Lex has enough reaction and emotion for both :) Awesome.

It's about how we are killing mother earth. Leaving it blackened

Y'all HAVE to react to songs from the 1989 Seattle concert!!! It will absolutely blow you away!!!

When that album came out , Drum magazines and some metal drummers were stunned by Lars creativity and drum performances. Even as sonics , by 1988, a lot of Power - Thrash - Hardcore - death metal records got that kick drum sound. Even Snare . Watchtower control and resistance , Pantera Power Metal , Riot Thundersteel , Obituary Slowly we rot .... I think as musical display metallica in a new level and Lars drumming at that time( whatever shit or retro active shit people make today for fashion ) broke a door and showed a new direction.. For example the way that song is arranged , the reactions . A lot of rudimental based stuff here. Off time stuff , triplet fills snare and flam triplet , 16 th double bass , burst by continued sextolets , 4 roofs double bass , the break before the build up if solo parts , the placement of it . 5 coordination : 4 arms + Feet with syncopation with kick and flam , a Quad then flam hi hat. I see a lot of people saying Lars never knew much. You don't thoses various fills , time changes and arranging if you don't know shit. At the contrary , when someone does that , he knows perfectly what he was doing , and Lars knew perfectly what he was doing for making arrangements and drum patterns for thoses iconics at least for the 5 first albums. Especially on this . What i love also on And Justice that nobody talks about its the tom work and tuning. Its really, really melodic on that album. The drum pattern on the title track , but also check the shortest straw and Frayed ends of sanity

This song is such a brilliant journey. Always one of my favorites.

I think the line about "deadly nicotine" was just referring to poison / pollution in general, and "nicotine" was just chosen for the rhyme with "might have been."