I gave up on Metallica a looong time ago.

But, I gotta admit that their new album Hardwired… to Self-Destruct is the best original recording that they’ve put out in thirty years!

In my opinion, the original line-up is still the best.

Dave Mustaine’s fingerprints are still all over their first two albums, despite having been ejected before putting any records out.

Cliff Burton kept them in a really good groove.

But, his untimely death totally took the wind out of their sails.

After he was gone, the best that the band could muster were cover tunes.

That’s it.

Really, I cannot think of any original material that was any good by the 1990’s.

…And Justice for All KIND OF still had some balls to it.

But, the sterile computerized bassless production just destroyed any soul left in the songs.

 The Black Album put me to sleep.

The rest afterward was really shitty and kept getting worse.

Death Magnetic showed a drastic return to their older sound….somewhat.

Their new producer, obviously an old-school fan, gave them a swift kick in the ass to break bad habits that the band had accumulated since becoming mainstream arena rock-stars.

But, poor sound quality hindered it quite a lot.

This time around, they seem to be getting their shit together again…finally.

I still think Lars Ulrich is a douchebag tool and James Hetfield is a meathead asshole.

Kirk Hammet always seemed like a quiet guy just doing his job.

Jason Newsted got a raw deal from the get-go.

They always treated him like shit and eventually he, rightfully, quit.

I don’t know much about Robert Trujillo to have an opinion, though.

The whole Napster thing showed everyone just how little Metallica thinks of their fans, freedom of speech, and their own naked hypocrisy.

Being on the same side as Senator Orrin Hatch, on any issue, should give someone pause to reconsider their position.

File-sharing is no different than the tape-trading that Ulrich and Hetfield did in their younger days, turning each other on to new music that they could not hear through the mainstream media.

Now, since their contract with Warner Bros. has expired, they have started up an independent label Blackened Recordings.

They seem to have learned a few lessons about the internet since the 1990’s.

Each song has a corresponding music video on their YouTube channel.

I dunno if they still sue people over copyright bullshit or not.

But, I will give them the benefit of the doubt.

Will I buy their new album?

I dunno.

Maybe.

But, at least I don’t hate them as much as I did before.