Friday Song: “Enter Sandman”

This one is a bit of a head fake. You’ve been warned.

Metallica’s 1991 song about nightmares and things that go bump in the night was originally much darker until their producer suggested they make the lyrics more abstract. James Hetfield agreed, and removed references that might have made the song hard to stomach.

While referencing Peter Pan (“we’re off to Never Never Land”), the song is made of much stronger stuff than the children’s fantasy.

“Enter Sandman” was the first track on Metallica’s self-titled album, known as The Black Album. Their fifth album was a landmark release, becoming their most popular by selling a stunning 16 million copies in America and many more worldwide. In 2009, Nielsen announced that it had surpassed Shania Twain’s 1997 album Come On Over to become the best-selling album since they began tracking sales for Billboard on March 1, 1991.

There have been many covers of the song, including a hilarious, Vegas-drenched one by Pat Boone for his album, In a Metal Mood.

But one superior cover gets attention today. It’s by the Warning, a rock group consisting of three sisters from Monterrey, Mexico. The cover featured here was recorded a decade ago, when the sisters were 14, 12, and 10 years old.

Inspired by parents passionate about music, early lessons, and finally by the video game Rock Band, the girls formed a power trio in 2013, and began posting videos of their performances on YouTube. Their 2014 performance of “Enter Sandman” went viral with more than 26M views, and caught the attention of Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett, who was quoted as saying, “The drummer kicks maximum ass!”

The sisters list great musical influences — Metallica, Muse, My Chemical Romance, Pink Floyd, Queen, Neil Peart, Paramore, Sheila E., and Lzzy Hale, to name a few.

Known for their use of Rock Band as they found their way, the game designers included two songs from the Warning in Rock Band 4.

• As one admirer noted, “Rock isn’t dead. It just moved to Mexico.”
  • In a nice bit of rock ‘n’ roll snark, the sisters named their 2023 tour “The Error Tour,” poking fun at a bigger pop tour on the landscape at the time.
• Rock isn’t dead. In fact, it is experiencing a resurgence, according to ChartCipher, with the genre more than doubling its representation in the Billboard Hot 100 since 2020, and rock streams increasing by 81% over the same time. More rock music is being made, and rock radio stations have increased in marketshare from 6% in 2020 to 17% in 2024.

Last year, in addition to releasing an album and touring extensively — including opening for Lzzy Hale and Halestorm — the Warning were featured at the MTV Video Music Awards, playing their song, “EVOLVE.” That video is also featured below. It is a tour de force of rock performance and musicianship.

• If you like it, also check out:
  • their performance of “MORE” from the same show
  • a live performance of “DISCIPLE” that will have you peeling yourself off your chair
  • a performance of “Hell You Call a Dream” — amazing on multiple levels
  • a performance of “Automatic Sun” from Jimmy Kimmel Live! this summer (with drop-A tuning and a “genius vocal composition”)
  • their updated and expanded cover of “Enter Sandman”
  • either their first or second TEDx Talk from 2016-17

The Warning is one of the hottest bands around right now. The way their drummer “kicks maximum ass” with a girlish grin is just one of the many reasons.

You have been Warned!

Enjoy!

• Fast-forward a decade . . .

Thanks to a reader for this recommendation. If you have ideas for songs or groups to feature, please let me know.