Released January 12, 2004 Genre Heavy metal | Format CD single, vinyl Label Elektra | |
B-side "The Four Horsemen" (Live)
"Damage Inc." (Live)
"Leper Messiah" (Live)
"Motorbreath" (Live)
"Ride the Lightning" (Live)
"Hit the Lights" (Live) Length 7:08 (album version)
5:32 (radio edit) | ||
"The Unnamed Feeling" is the third single by heavy metal band Metallica, taken from the eighth studio album St. Anger. The song is about an unnamed feeling (which, according to Hetfield, is anxiety) a person feels when they are close to the edge of losing control, just before he or she panics.
Along with a music video, the song was released as a single exclusively to Australia. It was released as part of an E.P. in the UK. The unique video, directed by The Malloys, featured the band performing in a virtually empty room that gradually closed in on them throughout the song. This was accompanied by visual stories of several people all experiencing that "unnamed feeling" in their own way.
The front cover for the basic singles depicts the "monster" from their other St. Anger single, "Some Kind of Monster". However, cover art for the Australia-exclusive CD single for "The Unnamed Feeling" was chosen by Metallica through a contest where Australian fans could submit their own original artwork. The winning piece by Louis Claveria depicts an isolated illustration of a black heart roughly outlined in white with a black background. Claveria's artwork was autographed by the band and framed, and all four finalists were featured in an exclusive poster insert included in the single. Exclusive live B-sides from Metallica's first show at the Big Day Out festival in Brisbane were featured on the Australian single.