The Unforgiven (song)
| The Unforgiven | |
|---|---|
| Metallica | |
| publication | October 28, 1991 |
| length | 6:27 |
| Genre (s) | Heavy metal |
| Author (s) | James Hetfield , Lars Ulrich , Kirk Hammett |
| album | Metallica |
The Unforgiven ( Engl. For " The Unforgiven ") is a song by American Metal band Metallica . It was released as the third single from the fifth studio album Metallica . The song has two successors on later albums with The Unforgiven II by ReLoad and The Unforgiven III by Death Magnetic .
Music genre
The song is a half ballad or power ballad, together with the even quieter Nothing Else Matters, one of the stylistic innovations that brought the Metallica album . It begins with an intro played on the acoustic guitar, which is introduced with a horn opening. The latter comes, as James Hetfield later explained in the making-of Classic Albums: Metallica - Metallica , from a Western , but was turned around so that its origin remained hidden. Metallica has never officially confirmed the exact origin, so there are only guesses as to which film it is.
For the song, the band reversed the classic scheme, in which a verse is acoustic and reserved and the chorus is played with distorted guitars. The song was the band's third Top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 , where it peaked at number 35.
text
According to the band, the song is about the fact that there are people who never take the initiative in their lives and only follow in others' footsteps or let others plan their lives for them.
Live performances
The Unforgiven was played live on the Nowhere Else to Roam tour for the 1991-1993 black album. 2003-2004 it was played again on the tour Madly in Anger with the World for the album St. Anger as well as on the tour Escape from the Studio 2006. The song was also in the live program on the World Magnetic tour for Death Magnetic . The live performances have an additional solo at the end of the song.
Music video
The music video is in black and white. It shows a little boy who lives in a cave carved in stone. As the video progresses, the boy gets older and eventually turns into an old man. He tries to create a bulge or a window in the rock. He has an amulet that he reaches for occasionally. At the end of the video, he has the breakthrough, he can pass his amulet through. Then he dies. There is an extra-long version of 11:33 minutes that contains an action that precedes the short version, which lasts several minutes. This version is also included on the video compilation The Videos 1989-2004 .
Cover versions
The song was covered by Doug Pinnick , Vernon Reid , Frankie Banali and Tony Franklin on the tribute album Metallic Assault: A Tribute to Metallica .
There are also covers from other music styles, such as bluegrass . The Unforgiven was reenacted by Iron Horse on the album Fade to Bluegrass: The Bluegrass Tribute to Metallica . A Gregorian version of Gregorian appeared on the Masters of Chant Chapter V album .
The Swiss pop singer Stefanie Heinzmann also covered the song as part of a “German Tribute to Metallica” project. It appeared on the deluxe version of their album Masterplan and was also released as a single. Lars Ulrich met Heinzmann in Berlin and said that he liked the version.
The Finnish cello rock band Apocalyptica covered the piece on Plays Metallica by Four Cellos . The Metallica tribute band Harptallica recorded a harmonica version on Harptallica: A Tribute .
The Unforgiven II
| The Unforgiven II | |
|---|---|
| Metallica | |
| publication | February 23, 1998 |
| length | 6:36 |
| Genre (s) | Hard rock , heavy metal |
| Author (s) | James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett |
| album | ReLoad |
The Unforgiven II was written like the first part by James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich and Kirk Hammett and released on the album ReLoad . Musically the song is structured in a similar way and also begins with the horn prelude, the chord progression is also similar, but here the verse is quieter and the chorus is played loudly. The band also made a music video for the song.
The Unforgiven II was initially only played live at the 1997 Billboard Music Awards after the band won the "Artist of the Year" award. In 2015 the song was played live for the first time since 1997 at the Rock im Revier festival. It was also included on the set list for the Rockavaria festival .
A decade later, The Unforgiven III followed on the album Death Magnetic .
The Unforgiven III
| The Unforgiven III | |
|---|---|
| Metallica | |
| publication | September 12, 2008 |
| length | 7:46 |
| Genre (s) | Heavy metal |
| Author (s) | James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett, Robert Trujillo |
| album | Death Magnetic |
The Unforgiven III was written by James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo as another sequel. The song is structured similarly to The Unforgiven , it also has a distorted verse and an acoustically played chorus. The piece does not have a horn prelude, but instead has an acoustic / piano intro with brass in the background. It was not released as a single. Nevertheless, it reached number twelve on the charts in Switzerland. The production of a music video for the song also did not take place. It was performed for the first time in Oslo on April 14, 2010 . In 2010 the song was also nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Hard Rock Performance category.
Chart placements
The Unforgiven
| country | placement | Weeks |
|---|---|---|
| Germany | 47 | 6th |
| Great Britain | 15th | 4th |
| United States | 35 | 17th |
The Unforgiven II
| country | placement | Weeks |
|---|---|---|
| Germany | 23 | 9 |
| Austria | 18th | 11 |
| Great Britain | 15th | 4th |
| United States | 59 | 15th |
The Unforgiven III
| country | placement | Weeks |
|---|---|---|
| Switzerland | 12 | 7th |
Cover versions
| country | placement | Weeks |
|---|---|---|
| Germany | 10 | 17th |
| Austria | 30th | 10 |
| Switzerland | 20th | 11 |
Individual evidence
- ↑ www.metallica.com: The Unforgiven ( Memento of the original from April 10, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed June 28, 2011
- ↑ www.allmusic.com: Metallica review , accessed December 11, 2010
- ↑ a b Chart sources: Germany - Austria - Switzerland - UK - USA
- ↑ Malcom Dome, Mick Wall: Metallica Story & Songs Kompakt , 2007, ISBN 3865432735 , p. 64.
- ↑ www.br-online.de: Stefanie Heinzmann: The Unforgiven ( Memento from December 7, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from January 18, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ www.blabbermouth.net : METALLICA Performs 'The Unforgiven III' Live For First Time; Video Available - Apr. 14, 2010 ( Memento of the original from May 26, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed December 11, 2010
- ↑ http://www.rockonthenet.com/grammy/hardrock.htm
