10 Hard Rock Bands That Totally Sold Out

In the world of heavy metal, Metallica have been the sell out poster children for years. Though their start initially breathed life into the thrash metal scene, there are many hardcore fans who still haven't forgiven them for going mainstream once the 90's hit.

After the bludgeoning fans received on And Justice For All, Metallica suddenly saddled up new producer Bob Rock, who was primarily known for manning the boards for Bon Jovi and Motley Crue. Though the songs had a distinct radio-ready sound, the Black Album still held up as a pretty great album for metalheads. What came later was a different story.

With grunge now in full swing, the band turned into a hard rock band for a while on Load and Reload, and even marked a distinct image change by cutting their hair. The thrash band that we knew and loved from the early days had now been replaced with a hard rock caricature of themselves. This then culminated in St. Anger, whose attempt at trends like nu metal resulted in one of the biggest fumbles in metal history.

Through all the ups and downs though, Metallica have set a standard for themselves to never repeat the same album. The band have since returned to their thrash roots, but that hasn't stopped fans from spitting venom at them for their past crimes.