Metallica was easily the best, most influential heavy metal band of the'80s. Responsible for bringing the genre back to Earth, the bandmateslooked and talked like they were from the street, shunning the usualrockstar games of metal musicians during the early '80s. Metallica alsoexpanded the limits of thrash, using speed and volume not for their ownsake, but to enhance their intricately structured compositions. Therelease of 1983's Kill 'Em All marked the beginning of thelegitimization of heavy metal's underground, bringing new complexityand depth to thrash metal. With each album, the band's playing andwriting improved; James Hetfield developed a signature rhythm playingthat matched his growl, while lead guitarist Kirk Hammett became one ofthe most copied guitarists in metal. To complete the package, LarsUlrich's thunderous (yet complex) drumming clicked in perfectly withCliff Burton's innovative bass playing. After releasing theirmasterpiece Master of Puppets in 1986, tragedy struck the band whentheir tour bus crashed while traveling in Sweden. Burton died in theaccident. When the band decided to continue, Jason Newsted was chosento replace Burton; two years later, the band released the conceptuallyambitious ...And Justice for All, which hit the Top Ten without anyradio play and very little support from MTV.

Metallica completely crossed over into the mainstream with 1991'sMetallica, a self-titled effort that found the band trading in theirlong compositions for more concise song structures. Peppered with hitslike "One" and "Enter Sandman", it resulted in a number one album thatsold over seven million copies in the U.S. alone. To support therecord, Metallica launched a long tour that kept the musicians on theroad for nearly two years. By the '90s, Metallica had changed the rulesfor all heavy metal bands; they were the leaders of the genre,respected not only by headbangers, but by mainstream record buyers andcritics. No other heavy metal band has ever been able to pull off sucha feat. However, the group lost a portion of their core audience withtheir long-awaited follow-up to Metallica, 1996's Load. The album movedthe band toward alternative rock in terms of image -- they cut theirhair and had their picture taken by Anton Corbijn. Although the albumwas a hit upon its summer release, entering the charts at number oneand selling three million copies within two months, certain members oftheir fanbase complained about the shift in image, as well as thegroup's decision to headline the sixth Lollapalooza. Re-Load, whichcombined new material with songs left off of the original Load record,appeared in 1997; despite poor reviews, it sold at a typically briskpace and spun off several successful singles, including "Fuel" and "TheMemory Remains." Garage Inc., a double-disc collection of B-sides,rarities, and newly recorded covers, followed in 1998. The band's takeon $ob Seger's "Turn the Page" helped maintain their presence in thecharts, and Metallica continued their flood of product with 1999'sS&M, which documented a live concert with the San FranciscoSymphony. It debuted at number two, reconfirming the group's immensepopularity. Metallica spent most of 2000 embroiled in controversy byspearheading a legal assault against Napster, a file-sharing servicethat allowed users to download music files from each other's computers.Aggressively targeting copyright infringement of their own material,the band notoriously had over 300,000 users kicked off the service,creating a widespread debate over the availability of digital musicthat raged for most of the year. In January 2001, bassist Jason Newstedannounced his amicable departure from the band. Shortly after the bandappeared at the ESPN awards in April of the same year, Hetfield,Hammett, and Ulrich entered the recording studio to begin work on theirnext album, with producer Bob Rock lined up to handle bass duties forthe sessions (meanwhile, rumors swirled of former Ozzy Osbourne/Alicein Chains bassist Mike Inez being considered for the vacated position).