Their first 5 albums should belong on a golden plaque (well And Justice and Puppets deserve a platinum plaque), then after the Black album they royally shit the bed with Load (which was decent at best), Reload and St. Anger. The snare sounds like Lars was constantly hitting a cast iron pot against James' head, probably also causing the lyrical problems as well. I mean Purify is one of the most annoying and worst written songs they've ever made and it sounds like James is having a stroke. And after that, it's just been middling with the exception of Death Magnetic (which is actually a solid album if the audio didn't have more clipping issues than Sonic 06.) and Hardwired and 72 are just...meh. but, I'd still rather listen to St.Anger over...the album that shall not be spoken.