10 Worst Hard Rock Lyrics Of The '90s
7. Holier Than Thou - Metallica
Metallica have created some of the greatest stories in the entire metal canon. Even if the band have more infantile songs like "Whiplash" in their discography, songs like "One" and "Fade to Black" paint vivid pictures in your mind that can make you weep and headbang at the same time. The Black Album was where the lyrics really blossomed out, but "Holier Than Thou" showed the band getting into bad habits.
Unlike other tracks like "The Unforgiven" or "Enter Sandman," this by the numbers thrash tune just sounds like James Hetfield on auto pilot spitting out tough guy lyrics. Though the central idea of the song is fairly decent, the actual structure of the lyrics is too clunky to take it seriously. The main theme of not judging those who are different than you is amazing life advice, but hearing it structured like a thrash metal tune makes it feel like the greatest metal band in the world are preaching at you.
The most mind-boggling tidbit behind this track is that it was slated to be the lead single from the album before Lars Ulrich insisted that "Sandman" be released first. The Black Album has sold over 10 million copies for a good reason, but in a different world we could have gotten one of thrash metal's most poorly thought-out tracks to kick everything off.