&Sad But True& is a song by the American heavy metal band Metallica. It was released as the fifth and final single from their eponymous fifth album, Metallica.
Though the band had utilised the 'D standard' tuning for the recording and subsequent performances of covers such as &Crash Course in Brain Surgery& and The Small Hours, this was the second instance of the band utilising such a low guitar tuning for an original piece (&The Thing That Should Not Be& was the first). Bassist Jason Newsted tuned his 5-string bass down to 'A standard' for this song, which is essentially the equivalent of D standard, i.e. one whole step down.
The instrumental structure was used in Kid Rock's 2000 single, American Bad Ass. The song is on Rock's compilation, The History of Rock. A different version of the instrumental structure was used in the song's parody track &American Hair Band& by rock band Tuff.
In 2004, Guitar Player listed James Hetfield's tone (most likely produced by an ESP EXP with a Mark IIC+ along with a Danelectro Longhorn bass) as one of the &50 Greatest Tones of All Time&.
The song was included on Metallica's live collaboration with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra (conducted by Michael Kamen), entitled S&M.
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