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Nothing Else Matters

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Wikipedia article




{{Infobox song

| name = Nothing Else Matters

| cover = Metallica - Nothing Else Matters cover.jpg

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Metallica

| album = Metallica

| B-side = *"Enter Sandman" (live)

*"Harvester of Sorrow" (live)

*"Nothing Else Matters" (demo)

| released =

| recorded = May 30, 1991

| studio = One on One, North Hollywood, California

| length = 6:28

| label = Elektra

| writer = *James Hetfield

*Lars Ulrich

| producer = *Bob Rock

*James Hetfield

*Lars Ulrich

| prev_title = The Unforgiven

| prev_year = 1991

| next_title = Wherever I May Roam

| next_year = 1992

| misc =

}}

"'Nothing Else Matters'" is a song by American heavy metal band Metallica. It was released in 1992 as the third single from their self-titled fifth studio album, 'Metallica'. The song peaked at number 11 on the 'Billboard' Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, number 6 on the UK Singles Chart, number 1 in Denmark, and reached the top ten on many other European charts. "Nothing Else Matters" was featured as a playable track in the music video game 'Guitar Hero: Metallica'. Recognized as one of Metallica's best known and most popular songs, the power ballad has become a staple in live performances.

History



Lead singer and rhythm guitarist James Hetfield wrote the song (credited to Hetfield/Ulrich) in 1990 while on tour, when Hetfield "was bumming out about being away from home." Initially, the song was not meant to be released, as Hetfield had written it for himself, but after drummer Lars Ulrich heard it, it was considered for the album.

Demo



The song's demo was recorded in Ulrich's home studio The Dungeon on August 12, 1990.

Composition





Its intro is an E minor arpeggio (transposed one half-step lower on stage performances) beginning with the open low E followed by the open G, B and high E strings.

It is one of the few Metallica songs in which Hetfield plays the guitar solo. Guitarist Kirk Hammett does not play on the studio recording, making it one of the few in the whole Metallica repertoire, along with Cliff Burton's "(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth", in which he does not appear. Hammett stated he did not learn how to play the song until they were well into the tour for the album.

The orchestral arrangements were written by award-winning composer Michael Kamen, who would later go on to collaborate with the group on 'S&M'.

Music video



The music video premiered on MTV on February 26, 1992. It was directed by Adam Dubin, and edited by Sean Fullan. The clip consists of parts of the 'A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica' documentary, which was shot during the recordings of 'Metallica'. One of them shows Hetfield playing a Gibson EDS-1275 guitar during the second chorus. MTV will not air the video during daytime hours anymore because it features nudity in the form of pin-up posters and 'Playboy' centerfolds that are taped up in the studio. It also has a picture of Winger's Kip Winger which Ulrich is seen throwing darts at. On the band's 2006 music video compilation DVD, the posters are censored, as was done with the nudity featured in the music videos for "Turn the Page" and "Whiskey in the Jar".

On August 1, 2021, the music video hit 1 billion views on YouTube, making it Metallica's first music video to ever hit one billion views on YouTube.

Live



The song has now become a staple in Metallica's live performances, and has been dedicated to their fans. When played live nowadays, Hammett does the first part of the intro, and Hetfield joins in for the second, to then sing and play it alone until after the first chorus, when the whole band kicks in. Also, the last verse is left out, ending the song with the heavily distorted guitar solo by Hetfield, and usually fading into "Enter Sandman". A live version in which this can be heard can be found on the CD/DVD 'Orgullo, Pasin y Gloria: Tres Noches en la Ciudad de Mxico'. Other live recordings can be found on 'Live Shit: Binge & Purge', on 'S&M', 'Cunning Stunts' DVD, the DVD/Blu-ray 'The Big 4 Live from Sofia, Bulgaria' as well as on the soundtrack for the band's feature film 'Through the Never', and also featured on 2019 'S&M' follow-up live album, S&M2.

Track listing



* This version was released in Europe April 27, 1992,[http://www.metallica.com/releases/live-at-wembley-stadium.asp Live at Wembley Stadium release date] and it contained the three songs Metallica played at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert on April 20, 1992, at Wembley Stadium.

Charts



Weekly charts



Year-end charts



Certifications



Personnel



* James Hetfield vocals, lead and rhythm guitars

* Jason Newsted bass guitar

* Lars Ulrich drums

'Additional personnel'

* Michael Kamen orchestral arrangement

* Bob Rock - production

Alternative versions



"Nothing Else Matters '99"



For its appearance on 'S&M', its orchestration was arranged by Michael Kamen conducting the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. This live version is featured on the album 'S&M'. It was also released as the single "Nothing Else Matters '99", which included the b-sides "-Human", and the 'S&M' version of "For Whom the Bell Tolls", on November 22, 1999.[http://www.metallica.com/releases/nothing-else-matters-s-and-m.asp Nothing Else Matters '99 release date] This version was also played with guitars tuned to E.

Charts



'Weekly charts'

'Year-end charts'

"Elevator Version"

There is also an acoustic remix of "Nothing Else Matters" that is called "Elevator Version", with no electric guitars (replaced by acoustic guitars, even for the solo), Kamen's orchestrations, and Hetfield's voice only; it appears as the B-side to "Sad but True".

'Jungle Cruise' version

An instrumental version of "Nothing Else Matters" appears on the soundtrack of the 2021 film 'Jungle Cruise'. The band collaborated with the film's composer James Newton Howard to record a new orchestral arrangement of the song for the film.

Lucie Silvas version



"'Nothing Else Matters'" is a special Europe-only single by British singer-songwriter Lucie Silvas. It was released in exactly the same way as "Don't Look Back", with the same B-sides and artwork.

Track listing



Charts



Gregorian version



Gregorian is a German band headed by Frank Peterson that performs Gregorian chant-inspired versions of modern pop and rock songs. In 1999, they recovered their version to be included on their album 'Masters of Chant'.

Miley Cyrus version



{{Infobox song

| name = Nothing Else Matters

| cover =

| border = yes

| type = promo

| artist = Miley Cyrus featuring Watt, Elton John, Yo-Yo Ma, Robert Trujillo and Chad Smith

| album = The Metallica Blacklist The Lockdown Sessions

| released = June 22, 2021

| length = 6:35

| label = Blackened

| writer =

| producer = Andrew Watt

| misc =

}}

On January 7, 2021, it was announced that Miley Cyrus would be releasing a cover version that would feature Elton John on piano, drummer Chad Smith from Red Hot Chili Peppers, current Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo and cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Cyrus also announced in October 2020 that she plans to release a full album of Metallica covers. Cyrus previously covered "Nothing Else Matters" during her 2019 set at Glastonbury. The cover, produced by Andrew Watt, was released on June 22, 2021, as a promotional single from Metallica's tribute album 'The Metallica Blacklist', released on September 10. The video for this version was uploaded the same day on Cyrus' YouTube channel. The cover is also featured on John's album 'The Lockdown Sessions', which released on October 22.

Charts

{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" style="text-align:center;"

! Chart (2021)

! Peak
position

|-

! scope="row" | New Zealand Hot Singles (RMNZ)

| 26

|-

|-

|}

Other cover versions



* 'The Metallica Blacklist' features multiple cover versions by a variety of artists, including Cyrus, Phoebe Bridgers, Dave Gahan, Mickey Guyton, Dermot Kennedy, Mon Laferte, Igor Levit, My Morning Jacket, PG Roxette, Darius Rucker, Chris Stapleton and Tresor.

* Today Is the Day recorded a cover version of the song, which was released on the Undecided Records compilation 'The Old, The New, The Unreleased: Undecided Records Sampler'.

References



Category:1990s ballads

Category:1990 songs

Category:1992 singles

Category:1999 singles

Category:Elektra Records singles

Category:Mercury Records singles

Category:Hard rock ballads

Category:Heavy metal ballads

Category:Live singles

Category:Metallica songs

Category:Number-one singles in Denmark

Category:Song recordings produced by Bob Rock

Category:Songs written by James Hetfield

Category:Songs written by Lars Ulrich

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