Check out this cover of Metallica’s “The Struggle Within” by Mexican acoustic guitar duo, Rodrigo y Gabriela. The track appears on The Blacklist a collection of covers of song from Metallica: The Black Album performed by over 50 artists from around the world.
Rodrigo Sánchez and Gabriela Quintero adapt the track to acoustic guitars with Sanchez replicating the lead break expertly and the duo recreating Hetfield’s vocal melody with clean guitar progressions.
Sánchez explains that the solo was not complicated for him to transcribe,
“Coming from the metal world we know how important solos are for the fans,” he says. “So I knew I was going to do that. And I started out playing thrash-metal tunes on guitar, and I spent my first 15 years as a musician playing metal. So I have all these techniques quite settled in my bones. Also, I’ve known this song from forever.”
We one day away from the release of the 30th anniversary edition of Metallica, the band’s 1991 self titled release that quickly became known as The Black Album because of the iconic, spartan cover art. The album spawned 5 single and took the band to even greater heights. Now thirty years have passed and Metallica are releasing a limited edition deluxe numbered box set of Metallica which includes the album remastered on 180-gram double LP and CD, “Sad But True” picture disc, three live LPs, 14 CDs and six DVDs featuring unreleased content (live shows, rough mixes, demos, etc), MP3 download card of all audio, four tour laminates, lanyard, three lithos, three guitar picks, lyric folder and sheets, and a 120-page hardcover book with never-before-seen photos + stories from those who were there.
Then There is the Blacklist. The Metallica Blacklist celebrates the 30th anniversary and enduring influence of this musical milestone with one of the most ambitious projects ever conceived by the Metallica team: An unprecedented 50+ artists spanning an unbelievably vast range of genres, generations, cultures, continents and more, each contributing a unique interpretation of their favorite Black Album cut. The four CDs will be housed in 10-panel digipak with a booklet. Artwork by David Turner.
