10 Most Insane Controversies In Rock And Roll Music

Since their dawn in the early '80s, Metallica has practically gone hand in hand with controversy in the metal world. First they had the gall to actually make catchy songs on the Black Album, and then hardened metal fans were swearing them off the minute they decided to cut their hair during the Load era of the group. Hair can grow back and the band can change styles again, but the lingering memory of Napster is still burnt into everyone's minds.

Right before progress began on St. Anger, Lars Ulrich was in some pretty hot water with the streaming community, getting word that the unreleased version of Metallica's I Disappear was gaining traction on Napster. In one of the most unflattering moves a popular artist has made, Lars went to war over Napster "hijacking" their music, with fans boycotting the band for looking like money hungry titans of the music industry and not being concerned about the music at hand.

You can call him names all you want, but Lars actually may have been a little bit ahead of the curve when you look back at everything. Even though streaming is working much better these days, it's still difficult to get any musician properly compensated for their music when they are making pennies on Spotify. Artists needed to learn to protect their earnings, and maybe we just weren't ready for someone like Lars Ulrich to tell us.