PonyOne, I understand what you are saying about a lot of things. I agree totally that Metallica has been on the fall since the Black Album, but as I said before, they got old. When you grow up your styles change, and I think that's what happened to them. I think that the record companies have a lot to do with the way music is today. I'm sure there was immense pressure on them because they weren't a "radio friendly" band. That's what most companies want. I'm speaking out of experience here because my brother's band is in the midst of this same dilemma. They play an aggressive metal type of music and were on the verge of being signed by a couple different labels. When you spend your whole life wanting to succeed in something you will try to do whatever it takes to get there. My brother's band has started changing their sound a little bit to try to fit into what the record companies are looking for. That doesn't make them sellouts. The music they write is still their work. They work hard at it.