In 1992, I was in Kansas getting ready for work, and I clearly remember seeing the video for "Enter Sandman" come on MTV.  Yes, this was back when MTV actually showed music videos, and not crappy (un)reality shows.  Where were you?  What were you doing?

There was so much anticipation for the new album, since they'd been touring relentlessly for their previous albums, and everyone was excited to see what they would do to top ...And Justice for All.

They went in a totally different direction, instead of trying to top it!

The songs were more stripped down, more straightforward, with fewer riffs, and shorter.  They still had the heaviness we were looking for, but in a more radio-friendly way, which was something we never expected from them.

My favorites have always been "Holier Than Thou", "The Struggle Within", "The God That Failed", and "Of Wolf and Man".

This was the album that really launched Metallica into the stratosphere, it's still the leading seller, album-wise, in the Soundscan era.  Since the sales started getting tracked by that company, Soundscan, no one has sold more copies of a single album.

They're probably the last of the giganto bands, since everything has changed so much, it would be extremely tough for any band to ever reach the hugeness of Metallica.  It doesn't matter how you feel about the band, they are still the biggest band in the world.

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