10 Worst Hard Rock Albums Ever Made

For 2 decades, Metallica had been one of the founding fathers of all things heavy. Coming to prominence in the '80s off the strength of albums like Master of Puppets, they managed to top themselves and gain massive crossover exposure thanks to the success of their unstoppable Black Album. Then again, when you're up on such a high pedestal, you can't think of how low you can fall.

At the turn of the century, every single bad idea ended up unfolding for the band, from Jason Newsted leaving to James Hetfield storming out of recording sessions. While this eventually landed the band in professional therapy, their grievances put forth on St. Anger turned into one of the biggest messes in heavy metal history.

While no one song stands higher than another, the entire album washes over you in the most unpleasant way possible, with Lars Ulrich's relentless snare causing migraines in metal fans around the world.

Even the riffs aren't really that memorable on this album, with most of them sounding like Metallica being filtered through a haze of nu metal. While Metallica works best under a heavy groove, these Coal Chamber-sounding guitars are the polar opposite of what you come to this band for. For as classic of a band Metallica is, even the giants can be fallible. And we'll find out just how fallible soon enough...