There are countless classic Metallica tracks that gained worldwide recognition that the band’s staple in their setlist that is often performed with every member of the audience and even known by non-Metallica fans, furthermore, by people who don’t even listen to rock and metal music. Being one of the greatest bands in music history, Metallica members managed to create signature songs that are the world’s favorite throughout their career that spans over forty years.
There’s no doubt that the list of favorite Metallica songs goes forever with iconic tunes such as ‘Battery,’ ‘For Whom The Bell Tolls,’ ‘One,’ and endlessly more. However, there’s one track that made it to the fans’ favorite list with every different version released by the band and managed to turn itself into a power ballad, standing out among other classics.
That is obviously ‘The Unforgiven’ which was first released as the second single from their eponymous fifth album, also known as ‘The Black Album,’ on October 28, 1991, and the track has been continued to be played during all of the bands’ tours since the first time it was released due to the fact that how legendary it was to the fans thanks to its heavy ballad and impressive lyrics.
The track was so iconic that it has since spawned two sequels, it was released in Metallica’s seventh studio album in the name of ‘The Unforgiven II’ on February 23, 1998, despite the similarity in the musical theme and chord progression to the previous song, this version of the track still managed to become a signature Metallica song that adored by the band’s fans.
A brand new version of the track named ‘The Unforgiven III‘ from the band’s ninth studio album ‘Death Magnetic’ was released on September 12, 2008, which was structurally similar yet having a softer verse and a heavier chorus. In an old interview with MTV, lead vocalist James Hetfield stated that all three tracks represent a storyline about sin, forgiveness, and unforgiveness which was felt by their fans as the whole continuation gave a unique and touching story to them.
Now that it’s a widely known fact that a brand new version of ‘The Unforgiven’ has been released with every other studio album and Metallia released ‘Hardwired…to Self-Destruct’ after ‘Death Magnetic,’ fans’ expectations got higher for a ‘The Unforgiven IV’ with the upcoming album supposedly in the making. Despite not making an official announcement, the band has been dropping hints for a new studio album, therefore, fans have to wait and see if the future record includes a brand new version of the legendary track and if the story of unforgiveness ended with the third track.
You can listen to all three versions of ‘The Unforgiven’ down below.
