10 Amazing Bouncebacks In Rock History

No musician is safe from the occasional bad album. Even if a group has an impressive hit streak with virtually no end in sight, it always comes down to if your latest is good as your last release. Hell, sometimes a bad album may be just what you need to keep the group afloat.

At the turn of the century, Metallica were at their lowest point in terms of their public persona. After Lars Ulrich's lawsuit with Napster left fans feeling cheated, the loss of bassist Jason Newsted and James Hetfield's departure for rehab left the future uncertain. Documented in Some Kind of Monster, the next few years would be an uphill battle, as everyone struggled to get on the same page and only scraps of material being made. While Metallica made it through these dark times with bassist Robert Trujillo, the same can't be said for St. Anger.

For better and for worse, this album serves as a document of the sessions, with everything pushed to the brink with sloppy production and a severe lack of input from James Hetfield. Even though something like this looks bad in retrospect, the members credit it with saving the band, using it as somewhat of a sacrificial lamb so they can let all of their inner turmoil loose. St. Anger still may be far from the best Metallica record, but it's worth it to have one bad Metallica record than no Metallica at all.