Underground thrash pioneers with their first three albums (Kill 'em All, Ride The Lightning, Master of Puppets).
Then their iconic bassist Cliff Burton died tragically and a much darker, some would say bloated, …And Justice For All surfaced with very average production.
They distinctly took a commercial turn with The Black Album, and explored a softer, almost country side with Load and Reload.
A hiatus and frontman James Hetfield's rehab later, came St Anger – the most derided of the lot (one critic referred to drummer Lars Ulrich as a three-year-old pounding steel pots with a spoon).
And just when the world thought age had caught up and Metallica were just a memory, came the explosive Death Magnetic.
