Seems like Metallica is America’s most hated band. They have a lot of haters, especially on the internet. There are many reasons why people hate Metallica. Basically, all the hate toward Metallica began when Lars Ulrich, threatened to sue Napster back in the day. Also the Metallica hate never stopped when they changed their style of music for the albums, “Load”, “Re-load”, and, “St. Anger”.

When they released their latest album, “Death Magnetic”, a few years ago, Metallica tried their best to give what the fans wanted all along. Thrash metal. That’s exactly what the band did, they gave us the return of thrash/speed metal for “Death Magnetic”. Most people are happy with the album, but of course, some aren’t. A lot of people complain, “Death Magnetic”, for a few reasons. They all say they can’t hear Rob Trujillo’s bass playing and they accused the album of being, “clipped”, in Pro Tools.

Metallica, then did the Big 4 shows with Anthrax, Slayer, and Megadeth, to help keep the metal fanbase going. Of course, I’m sure Metallica is being hated on for that as well. I’m sure they’re being accused of being ego’s, attention whores or they’re just doing Big 4 shows for the money alone, but I disagree with all those.

Next here comes the Lou Reed & Metallica project which they will release an album together called, “LuLu”. A lot of people say this is the worst collaboration in the history of music. Why? Because it’s Metallica. Like I said before, people call them bad guys at almost everything they want to do.

Metallica needs to be respected. Love ’em or hate ’em, they are the kings of metal, period. You may like your other metal bands (like Megadeth, Slayer, Anthrax, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Ac/Dc, etc.), but they are not in Metallica’s league. Metallica is pretty much the only metal band who is capable enough of writing memorable songs that are catchy and they can’t leave your head. Metallica is this generation of the Beatles, if you know what I mean by that. They had too many singles that you still hear on the radio today. How many other metal bands get their songs played on the radio? Not too many. Yes, I’m sure other metal bands have got their songs played on the radio many times before, Metallica are the kings of radio.

There are Metallica fans that would only support them for their earlier music in the 80’s they did with Cliff Burton and not like their new music. There are also Metallica fans who would like everything they do (like myself).

Here is a short list of why Metallica needs to be respected.

• They had a legendary career – They toured with just about every metal band you can think of. They’ve been on the top of the Billboard charts for a lot of their stuff. Their career is so historic and they are special in a lot of ways. Did any other band had a legendary career like they did? Well the only bands that can almost top them are Anthrax, Slayer, and Megadeth, which is the whole point of the Big 4 shows. 4 Bands who had a similar legacy get together on a tour, but Metallica are still the kings.
• They are passionate about music – It’s not about the money and fame for them at all. They continue at it, because they enjoy it. You can tell too by the way they play on stage. They show that music is in their blood and they love what they do.
• They are not afraid to go different directions – If people are upset about their different styles of music they do every album. If people are pissed off that they stayed away from thrash/speed, tough shit. They are a band. No band wants to play the same type of music all the time. They need to switch it up every once in a while like all bands do.
• They tour constantly with no days off – They tour around the world and the United States pretty heavily. Being away from their families for long periods of time, that’s a lot of guts. Can you do that?
• They’re nice guys – I don’t see any ego problems at all. To me they seem nice and professional. They don’t do interviews that much, but I enjoy how they give interviews in the press. Plus, the boys in Metallica are very good with their fans. They are willing to do meet & greets, do autographs and take photos with them. Not many bands do that.
• They’re talented songwriters – No matter the genre of music they decide to do, they’re always capable of writing catchy songs that never leave your head. Even if you don’t like, “Load”, “Re-load” and, “St. Anger”, you still gotta hand it to ’em. There are still good songs on those three albums. Again, they are great at making anthems better than any other band that you can sing along to them at their concerts.
• They respect other talent – No, the boys in Metallica do not think they are better than other bands. If you read their interviews, they like other music and they support other bands, greatly. They are willing to tour and collaborate with other bands. They have been doing that stuff for years. They are friends with other bands too like all the bands on the Big 4 lineup for example.