Metallica's original self-titled album, known as The Black Album, contains 12 tracks.
The sequence begins with “Enter Sandman” and continues through songs such as “Sad but True,” “The Unforgiven,” “Nothing Else Matters,” and “The Struggle Within.” The album closes with “My Friend of Misery” followed by “The Struggle Within,” giving the original release a dozen-song track list.
The songs were recorded between October 1990 and June 1991, primarily at One on One Recording Studios in Los Angeles. Unlike some earlier Metallica albums, the record emphasizes concise song structures and memorable central riffs, helping it reach listeners well beyond the band's established metal audience.
Track counts can vary when people discuss later editions. The 2021 expanded reissue added demos, live performances, rough mixes, and other material, so those editions contain far more than the original album. The answer 12 refers specifically to the standard 1991 studio-album sequence.