TOP 5
04
Nothing Else Matters
“Nothing Else Matters” is from Metallica’s self-titled album Metallica, also known as the Black Album. For the first time in Metallica’s career, they had released this song that went against their standard look and sound. It was “Metallica’s final innovation in a decade of incalculable influence that no metal band would ever equal: popularizing singing about one’s ‘feelings’ in heavy metal, which would pave the way for an increased level of introspection in a notoriously posturing, masculine genre” (“All 151 Metallica Songs, Ranked”). Similar to “Master of Puppets,” “Nothing Else Matters” is set in the key of E minor and suggests to the listeners that they should be honest with themselves and others. It is a strong message that can be enjoyed by all listeners of music and is able to stray away from the typical thrash metal feel while still holding on to Metallica’s songwriting.
This song was made by Hetfield while on the phone with his girlfriend and expresses how he missed being back home. This is seen in the lyrics at the beginning with him saying:
So close, no matter how far
Couldn't be much more from the heart
Forever trusting who we are
And nothing else matters
With this in mind, the timbre of the song is very relaxed and almost sad. What’s equally important is the change of rhythm for this piece. This song, which is the slowest on this list, comes in at forty-six beats per minute. Although the song may be slow the rhythm is still able to stay complex as instead of playing with a pick, the song requires finger playing on multiple strings. The next portion is the dynamics that stay generally quiet and soft throughout the piece until the end which includes a solo from James Hetfield. The solo is heard with the other distorted guitars at four minutes and fifty-five seconds. This song made it to the fourth spot because this mix is very constant compared to the complex variations seen in the higher spots. Lastly, the texture is the thinnest on this list with a homophonic melody. This means that there is one melodic tune, but there are other harmonics and portions in the background to support it. One can hear the iconic homophonic melody between the beginning of the song up to the thirty-seven-second mark.
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