10 Hard Rock Albums MUCH Better Than You Remember

The No. 1 rule that came with the rise of grunge was that it was no longer cool to be the macho rock star anymore.

Unlike the age of decadence that you got in the '80s, the stars of the alternative movement were more concerned with playing down their star power, instead choosing to take a more authentic approach to their songwriting and stage presence. Even though Metallica shouldn't have had a shot at fame at this point, Load was at least a step in the right direction.

At the same time, I can understand why most hardcore thrash fans would be upset, with most of the record being much more downtempo and influenced by hard rock and blues rather than the pure metal of old. Though this Metallica is definitely a different beast than the one we met on Master of Puppets, this is still one of their more impressive outings from a musical perspective, as they settle comfortably into their rock star skin.

There are even some genuine alternative crossover potentials across the track listing, as Until It Sleeps sounds like what you would get if you combined Alice in Chains with Achtung Baby era U2. This is also a more introspective album for James Hetfield, as he gets more candid about his personal life like on Bleeding Me and Mama Said.

While thrash fans might never forgive Metallica for something like this, Load was insanely necessary if they were going to survive the rest of the '90s.