“The Unforgiven” is the third single from Metallica’s self-titled album, Metallica (also known as the Black Album). Released in 1991, it is notably one of the slower songs on the album and considered a power ballad.
Drummer Lars Ulrich explained that the band wanted to try something new with the idea of a ballad – instead of the standard melodic verse and heavy chorus (as evidenced on their previous ballads “Fade to Black,” “Welcome Home (Sanitarium),” and “One”), the band opted to reverse the dynamic, with heavy, distorted verses and a softer, melodic chorus, played with classical guitars and James Hetfield’s new-found singing voice crooning “So I dub thee unforgiven.”
The horn intro was essentially taken from a Western movie and then reversed so its source would be hidden, as Hetfield later explained on Classic Albums: Metallica – The Black Album. While Metallica has never disclosed what movie the horn was taken from, it is believed to be from a piece of music called “The Showdown,” which was composed by Ennio Morricone for the 1965 Clint Eastwood “spaghetti western” film, For a Few Dollars More.
“The Unforgiven” was played live as part of Metallica’s Nowhere Else to Roam world tour which lasted from 1991–1993, in support of the Black Album. It was played again on the Madly in Anger with the World world tour in 2003–2004 and the Escape from the Studio ‘06 tour. It has most recently been played as part of the Sick of the Studio tour. Also, the song was the band’s third Top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #35.
The live version of “Unforgiven” includes a second solo near the end of the song, something the original recording did not have.
The song has had two sequels of sorts, in the form of “The Unforgiven II,” from the album ReLoad, and “The Unforgiven III’” from the album Death Magnetic.
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