I can’t really hate this album. It came out when I was a freshman in high school in a small town, so the band may as well have dedicated it to me personally. But the adult me cannot fathom how many steps backwards Hetfield took lyrically from this moment forward. “And of things that will bite!” is one of the most lazy, vague lines ever sung all in service of a rhyme that sucked to begin with. I still dig “Sad but True,” “The Unforgiven” and a few others, but yeah… I’m not a freshman in high school anymore. Also, has there ever been a band as big as Metallica that has made as many wild, dumb swings with how their albums are mixed? How does one even make a hi-hat sound like it does on this record? Is that even a hi-hat? And sure, you can hear a bass presence unlike “Justice,” but can you actually make out what Newsted is playing? Is he doing anything other than doubling the low note of Hetfield’s chords? It’s like they all went shopping and bought new ears. I prefer their old ears.