What was the working title of Metallica's 1991 album Metallica before its final title?

“Married to Metal” was the working title of Metallica's 1991 album Metallica, commonly called The Black Album.

The temporary title referred to a difficult period during the album's creation. Kirk Hammett, Lars Ulrich, and Jason Newsted were all going through divorces while the record was being made, so “Married to Metal” emerged as an internal joke rather than a serious final title.

The band considered other possibilities, including “Five” and using the title of one of the songs. They ultimately chose the simple, self-titled name Metallica. That decision fit the album's stripped-down presentation and helped avoid attaching a separate phrase to a record already intended to represent the band directly.

Fans now usually call the album The Black Album because of its nearly black cover. That nickname is not the original working title and is not the official title. “Married to Metal” belongs to the album's development history, before the band settled on Metallica.