Enter Sandman
Metallica | Artist Essentials
First released: 1991 (year verified)
Original 1991 studio single recording
MusicAtlas editorial note: The restrained opening makes each new layer of the riff feel heavier.
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Release evidence and recording details
First released: 1991 (year verified)
The official original single precedes its album within 1991. The year is verified without assigning the album day to the single.
Recording: Original 1991 studio single recording
Credit: Metallica
Role in this collection: Primary artist
Original single: Enter Sandman
Metallica - official early singles index
Enter Sandman 1991 and Until It Sleeps 1996 precede their albums within those years. One 1989, Nothing Else Matters 1992 and Fuel 1998 are later single releases of earlier album recordings. | Reviewed 2026-10-17
Metallica - official original album tracklist
Original album tracklist and recording identity. Original release year is established by the separate official album index; session, copyright and remaster dates are not substituted for release. | Reviewed 2026-10-17
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About Metallica
Metallica began in Los Angeles in 1981 when James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich joined forces, then relocated to the Bay Area. With Cliff Burton and Kirk Hammett, the early albums combined fast, tightly articulated guitar parts with increasingly extended arrangements. The 1991 self-titled album introduced a fuller production style and more direct song structures with producer Bob Rock. Later records continued to vary that balance, while changes in the bass position brought Jason Newsted and then Robert Trujillo into the group.
Artist background sources
Metallica - official band history
Hetfield and Ulrich formed the band in Los Angeles in 1981; the move to the Bay Area, Burton and Hammett in the early album lineup, later bass changes, and the broader arrangements of the 1991 album. Original album years corroborated independently of later reissues. | Retrieved 2026-10-17
Profile reviewed: 2026-10-17. Artist background does not establish a song's creative origin or release date.
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