If you grew up on Metallica’s Black Album, there’s a good chance you’ve spent years chasing those riffs and solos, trying to get them just right.
For many guitarists, a good tab book can be the difference between nailing the feel of “Sad But True” and getting lost in a mess of wrong notes and bad fingerings.
This particular Metallica – Metallica (The Black Album) (on Amazon) tab book has been around for years, and for a lot of players it’s become a go‑to reference. If you’re wondering whether it’s worth picking up—or dusting off your old copy—this breakdown is for you.
Overview / First Impressions
This book has been in regular use for well over a decade, and it holds up surprisingly well. Among the many Metallica tab books out there, this one stands out for one key reason:
The transcriptions are, overall, very accurate.
- Most of the rhythm parts are very close to the album.
- The solos are generally well done. A few aren’t perfect, but nothing that will derail your learning.
- The feel and structure of the songs are captured faithfully enough that you can play along with the record and it makes musical sense.
If you’ve ever bought a tab book only to discover entire riffs written wrong, you’ll appreciate how much that matters.
Build Quality & Design
Physically, this is a pretty standard songbook: notation and tab printed clearly on the page, with all the Black Album tracks laid out.
From a design perspective, it’s mostly solid, but there are a couple of quirks:
- Clear notation and layout: For the most part, it’s easy to follow. Riffs and sections are broken up in a familiar way, so once you know the song, you can jump to what you need.
- Readable tab: The tablature itself is printed clearly and is easy to track while you play.
Where it stumbles is in how it mixes notation styles and handles harmonies.
Features & Functions
Here’s what you get when you work with this book:
- Full album coverage – All the main riffs, rhythms, and solos from the Black Album.
- Standard notation + tab – You get both, which is useful if you read music.
- Good rhythmic information – The notation helps you understand rhythm and timing more precisely than tab alone.
However, there are some choices that can be frustrating—especially for guitarists who rely on tab.
The Sheet Music vs. Tab Issue
One of the biggest annoyances is the book’s inconsistent use of tablature:
- Some sections are in standard notation only, with no tab.
- Other sections switch back to traditional tab.
If you’re primarily a tab reader, this can be jarring and inconvenient. You might find yourself thinking, “Why not just be consistent and include tab for everything?”
For a kid or beginner, this can be especially discouraging. You’re there to learn Metallica, not to decode notation mid‑song.
How They Notate Harmonies
Another design quirk is how the book handles dual‑guitar harmonies:
- Instead of putting the two guitar parts on separate staves, they often cram both lines onto a single staff.
- This makes it harder to visually separate what Guitar 1 and Guitar 2 are doing.
It’s not unusable—it just isn’t as clean or intuitive as it could be. You’ll sometimes need to slow down and mentally sort out which notes belong to which guitar.
How It Sounds / Use Cases
From a guitarist’s perspective, the most important question is: Can I use this book to sound like the record?
In most cases, yes.
Rhythm Guitar
For James Hetfield–style rhythm work:
- Riffs are very close to what’s on the album.
- You can confidently use this book to:
- Tighten up your picking patterns
- Learn proper chord shapes and voicings
- Practice palm‑muting and groove in context
If you’re working on your right‑hand precision, this book is a great way to internalize those classic down‑picked rhythms.
Lead Guitar
For Kirk Hammett’s solos:
- Most lead lines and licks are captured accurately enough that you can study phrasing, bends, and scale choices.
- A few solos are not 100% perfect, but they’re close enough for:
- Learning the structure of the solo
- Understanding where on the neck things are played
- Getting the overall feel and vocabulary
If you’re a stickler for note‑for‑note perfection, you might eventually tweak a few spots by ear. But as a learning and practice tool, it does the job well.
Who This Book Is Best For
- Intermediate guitarists who want to learn the Black Album properly.
- Rhythm players who want accurate riffs and tight arrangements.
- Lead players who are okay with “very close” on some solos rather than forensic‑level transcription.
- Metallica fans who want a reliable reference for jamming along with the record.
Limitations / Things to Know
Before you buy or commit to working through it, it’s worth being aware of a few limitations:
- Inconsistent tab usage
- Some sections appear only in standard notation.
- If you don’t read notation, these parts can slow you down or force you to learn by ear.
- Crowded harmony notation
- Dual‑guitar harmonies are sometimes stacked into a single staff, which can be visually confusing.
- You may need to take extra time to separate the parts mentally.
- A few imperfect solos
- While most solos are solid, a handful aren’t perfectly accurate.
- Advanced players or purists may want to cross‑reference with live videos or their ears.
None of these are deal‑breakers, but they’re worth knowing so you’re not surprised.
Final Thoughts
Among the many Metallica tab books floating around, this Black Album book is one of the better, more accurate options. The riffs are tight, the arrangements are faithful, and the solos are good enough to seriously improve your playing and understanding of the record.
The main downsides—occasional sheet‑music‑only sections and slightly awkward harmony notation—are annoyances rather than fatal flaws. If you’re a guitarist who loves the Black Album and wants a reliable way to study it, this book is absolutely worth having in your collection.
Use it to:
- Lock in your rhythm chops
- Learn classic metal lead vocabulary
- Train your ear alongside written music
Just be prepared to navigate the occasional layout quirk.
Resources & Further Study
If you’re using this book to dive deeper into Metallica’s music, it helps a lot to understand the fretboard and basic harmony, not just memorize shapes.
A helpful resource mentioned alongside this book is a Fretboard Memorization Cheat Sheet available at:
- TravelingGuitarist.com – A cheat sheet that lays out:
- Major and minor triads in every key
- How to map them across the neck (including through octave‑based “mapping” techniques)
- How to use triads as the foundation of chords, improvisation, and harmony
There’s also a forum at:
- forum.travelingguitarist.com – A place to talk about guitar, music, and related topics with other players.
Combining a solid tab book like this with focused fretboard and triad study is a powerful way to move beyond just copying riffs and start really understanding what you’re playing.