Status Quo inspired the black-cover reference for Metallica's The Black Album.
Metallica's cover was later compared to the fictional album Smell the Glove from the film This Is Spinal Tap. In the documentary A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica, members of Spinal Tap jokingly questioned the similarity. Lars Ulrich responded that the real inspiration was British rock band Status Quo's Hello! album, whose cover was also black.
The nickname “The Black Album” was not the formal title. Metallica chose the self-titled name after considering other possibilities, including Five and the title of one of the songs. On the original cover, the band logo and a coiled snake associated with the Gadsden flag were embossed so subtly that they nearly disappeared against the black background.