The early Metallica was pretty good. My favorite albums are "Master of Puppets" and "The Black Album". But I always thought "The Black Album" was to Metallica what "1984" was to Van Halen. Great albums, but also wound up being the beginning of the end. I did like the S&M stuff, but I did not really like their post-Black material. There were a few decent tunes off of Load and Re-Load. But I was not impressed with St. Anger. Many critics were saying that Metallica should have made that album more like Dream Theater's "Train of Thought" and I agree. Plus, having been on Napster and having been banned by the band when they sued, I am pissed with their business practices.