10 Underrated Hard Rock Albums Of The '90s

2. S&M - Metallica

As we reached the end of the decade, Metallica had only just started to reach legendary status. Even though they had been metal mainstays ever since their run of thrash masterpieces in the '80s, it wasn't until the Black Album came out in '91 that they became global superstars, with it becoming one of the only metal releases to go Diamond. While there was a little bit of contention concerning their sell-out albums Load and Reload, Metallica spent the back half of the decade getting really weird.

Starting with a covers album in Garage Inc., the real size and scope of the group's sound was brought out on full display on S&M, marking the first time they had paired with a symphony orchestra. Collaborating with Michael Kamen, what were great metal songs on their own turned into something magnificent when accompanied by the classical instrumentation, with tracks like One and Master of Puppets being some of the standout moments on the record.

The new original songs like No Leaf Clover also worked like a charm, with James Hetfield playing off of the push and pull of the orchestra at every turn. Even the less desirable parts of the performances like the Load-era material translate pretty well to a live setting, with Bleeding Me and Hero of the Day sounding fully realized once given the classical treatment. Considering that dark times were about to unfold for Metallica with St. Anger, S&M stands as one great send-off for the second golden age of the thrash titans.