So I only really learned this recently, but the intro to Blackened by Metallica, also from And Justice For All like yesterday’s recommendation, is actually played in reverse.
This clip plays it both ways, and its glorious to hear. I’m not sure who in the band decided that perhaps the intro would work better backwards, but my god, what a brilliant decision.
Is the forwards version – the way it was actually played – good? Yeah, sure, it’s a great little Metallica riff. But my god, it sounds so beautiful and badass in reverse. I actually learned to play this “in reverse”, the way it sounds on the album, when I was growing up, unaware that this was a reversed sample.
I just listened to this like 10 times when making this post. I’ll have to find out who in the band decided to reverse this. This being the god tier opening of the album is one of the best production decisions ever.