# Was "the black album" based on Spinal Tap's "Smell the Glove"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 20, 2003, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-black-album-based-on-spinal-taps-smell-the-glove/208488 "2003-10-20T10:28:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Short\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Short\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Short_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-black-album-based-on-spinal-taps-smell-the-glove/208488/1 "2003-10-20T10:28:03Z")
The thread about colourful album covers mentioned the cover to Spinal Tap’s “Smell the Glove”, which, as you may know, is all black. Now here’s something I’ve been wondering for a long time: was the cover to Metallica’s eponymous album (frequently referred to as “the black album”) some sort of tribute or reference to Smell the Glove? I know the black album isn’t completely black, as you can see “Metallica” and a picture of a snake on it if you hold it to the light, but still. Does anyone know? ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-black-album-based-on-spinal-taps-smell-the-glove/208488/2 "2003-10-20T14:24:23Z")
I thought this was going to be about Prince’s _The Black Album_. It’s very possible that Metallixa was influenced by Spinal Tap for theri album cover, but other all-black covers had been done before. Comedian Murray Roman’s album _Blind Man’s Movie_, from circa 1969 or '70, not only had an all-black gatefold cover, but even had all-black pages bound inside. There was also a popular Beatles bootleg that closely parodied the “White Album” cover (complete with inserts and embossed logo), only in black. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-black-album-based-on-spinal-taps-smell-the-glove/208488/3 "2003-10-20T14:30:30Z")
I thought this was going to be about Prince’s _The Black Album_. It’s very possible that Metallixa was influenced by Spinal Tap for theri album cover, but other all-black covers had been done before. Comedian Murray Roman’s album _Blind Man’s Movie_, from circa 1969 or '70, not only had an all-black gatefold cover, but even had all-black pages bound inside. There was also a popular Beatles bootleg that closely parodied the “White Album” cover (complete with inserts and embossed logo), only in black. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-black-album-based-on-spinal-taps-smell-the-glove/208488/4 "2003-10-20T15:39:02Z")
Strange–I definitely hit “Submit” only once, but it was taking so long to post that I finally had to log off and leave for work. But even with the double post, the Cafe Society page says there are no replies. So I’m only posting this to bump the thread up so **Short Guy** will know his question hasn’t been ignored! ---
**Author:** ![Short\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Short\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Short_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2003, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-black-album-based-on-spinal-taps-smell-the-glove/208488/5 "2003-10-21T07:39:57Z")
😃 Thanks for the info, **Biffy**. I sort of had the feeling there had to be other “black albums” before that. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2003, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-black-album-based-on-spinal-taps-smell-the-glove/208488/6 "2003-10-21T07:49:21Z")
Didn’t AC/DC have an album cover that was totally back with just an embossed AC/DC on it? Or was I high? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2003, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-black-album-based-on-spinal-taps-smell-the-glove/208488/7 "2003-10-21T07:51:19Z")
Read “back” as “black” – which reminds me… ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2003, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-black-album-based-on-spinal-taps-smell-the-glove/208488/8 "2003-10-21T09:34:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Larry Mudd \* > \*\*Didn’t AC/DC have an album cover that was totally back with just an embossed AC/DC on it? Or was I high? \*\* Yes and yes. **Back in Black** had a cover that was all… umm… black. hrh ---
**Author:** ![Kantalooppi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a5b964/32.png) [@Kantalooppi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kantalooppi)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2003, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-black-album-based-on-spinal-taps-smell-the-glove/208488/9 "2003-10-21T09:39:35Z")
> [@](#): > > Yes and yes. Back in Black had a cover that was all… umm… black. What about the back? ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2003, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-black-album-based-on-spinal-taps-smell-the-glove/208488/10 "2003-10-21T16:11:34Z")
Talking Heads’ _Fear of Music_ was all black, except for the band name and title in the corner. The LP did have a simple repetitive pattern embossed on the cover, though that was also black. That came out in 1979. ---
**Author:** ![hanza](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/eb8c5e/32.png) [@hanza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hanza)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2003, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-black-album-based-on-spinal-taps-smell-the-glove/208488/11 "2003-10-21T22:05:55Z")
I have seen the members of Metallica and Spinal Tap discuss this very point. Both bands played at the Freddie Mercury tribute concert that took place shortly after his death. It was a huge event in England, and was broadcast live on T.V. Quite what Spinal Tap were doing there I don’t know- but anyway. They had a backstage chance meeting with Metallica, and one of the Tap boys did raise the issue of Metallica “stealing” their album cover. Metallica seemed to take it well, and did, if memory serves me correctly, suggest it had been meant purely as a “tribute” to the mighty Spinal Tap, although I think they were rather bemused that Tap were there too. You have to ask yourself, “how much more black could it be? And the answer is none. None more black.” ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2003, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-black-album-based-on-spinal-taps-smell-the-glove/208488/12 "2003-10-22T01:59:10Z")
I guess I will be the first to mention the obvious: The Beatles’ album know as “the white album” had not title other than “The Beatles”, which was embossed (not printed) on the plain white cover. Metallica’s album was most likely based on that, except using black instead of white. Not that they were necessarily the first to do so. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2003, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-black-album-based-on-spinal-taps-smell-the-glove/208488/13 "2003-10-22T02:02:33Z")
Believe it or not, English is my first language :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-black-album-based-on-spinal-taps-smell-the-glove/208488/14 "2025-07-01T12:14:35Z")
I’m resurrecting this thread rather than create a new one. I liked that Smell the Glove had the blank, all-black cover. Every time I see them arguing with Ian about how awful it is, I want to smack David in the face and say, “Dude! This is awesome! Just put a sticker with the album title and band name on it. That way, customers will know what it is and by whom, but when they get it home and take the cellophane off, it’s just all black.” And it would be great, that all-black cover standing out against the noise of all the other albums in your collection. Just leafing through the records and then Pow! Smell the Glove! ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-black-album-based-on-spinal-taps-smell-the-glove/208488/15 "2025-07-01T13:48:09Z")
And I would like to add my story. 1982 ish, in the college campus bookstore. I had not seen the film nor heard of Spinal Tap yet. We’re looking through the vinyl, seeing what is new, and I come across this all black record, and the name of the band is all metal-ish, “Spın̈al Tap” with the rock and roll umlaut. So I look at it, and see the entire album is black. I showed it to my friends, and I’m like, “this is the distilled essence of metal. Forget Sabbath and their mere poser metal, _this_ is taking it to the extreme.” I thought it was a real album by a legit band, not a movie soundtrack. I did not say “none more black”, or note that the metal-ness “goes to 11”. That came later. 🙂