I can appreciate the impact of that (Black) album had as time went on... But when it came out in 89, I can remember clearly sitting in my car with a shitty Sony Disc Man plugged into my tape deck and that I couldn't get it to jam save for a few songs..
Looking back, the production was slick. Bob Rock makes great sounding records. And a couple years after the release, they were now playing Metallica on the radio which was considered heavy ass shit back in the day as far as radio was concerned.. Cut to the mid to late 90's and you had the next wave of heavy music on the radio because of Metallica.. However, don't forget that they cut their hair and started wearing makeup and faggoty feather boas, LARS...
They opened doors but gone was the fire and underground feel. I haven't bought a Metallica album since.. I can't blame them for going the way they did, but something gets lost the easier life gets I think.. MC annoys me with her breathy, droning tone. She's a rich kid and I don't wanna hear her singing greatest hits with the band.. That ain't Metal, that's Hollywood.. At least get a real Metal chick in there.. And that's my 2 cents..