True fact: The first time I heard Metallica was when Omaha’s Sweet 98 played “Enter Sandman” sometime in 1991. Up until then, I only knew Metallica from the t-shirts worn by some of my school’s less savory individuals. Bob Larson had convinced me that heavy metal like Metallica’s was the devil’s music, and I think I only got halfway through “Enter Sandman” before I turned off the radio to preserve my eternal soul.

Jump ahead a year or so. I’d grown less concerned that simply listening to music would result in my eternal damnation when a friend gave me a dubbed cassette copy of Metallica’s self-titled juggernaut. Perhaps this makes me a poser, but it remains the only Metallica album that I listen to with any regularity, and to my ears, the band has never written heavier riffs than those in “Sad But True.”

Bassist Jason Newsted was often derided while in Metallica, but his low-end is fundamental to the song’s success, giving it an earth-shaking weight and solidity. Meanwhile, James Hetfield’s sneer is perfect for the lyrics (which could be about addiction, self-deception, surrendering to darker impulses, or some combination thereof) and Kirk Hammet’s wild, frantic solo is the icing on the heavy metal cake.