Who ever said that Metallica was just some garage boy band who got famous and ****y is just being ignorant. You can't deny Metallica (and that includes K.H.s fabulous guitarplaying aswell) has unchained some music revolutions in time. Yes, you can say they weren't and that 'this particulary band' was revolutionary, but again just a matter of taste. He might be a commercialiser of the music he makes nowadays (with nothing else matters in mind...) but still he has writen some music that's really awesome (and this goes for whole Metallica).
How can he not be a good guitar player when he had lessons from Joe Satriani ?
My, 0,02 Euro