Did Metallica reallly get worse?

People have always said Metallica went to hell after the Black Album, but honestly, some of the stuff after that is ok. They just changed there style a bit. Now St. Anger was pure crap, but are they really worse than what they were in their prime?

The only Metallica songs I like (not many) are from their early days, and don't get me started on the tripe that was Death Magnetic. It's definitely a downhill slope.

Metallica were ever good?....*braces for impact!*

But i only ever really liked Master of Puppets by them, mainly because we invented a drinking game around that song. They are a good band i guess but having grown up listening to their music i've grown bored of them.

"Metallica were ever good?"

Yes, yes they did. St. Anger sucked and this new album isn't very good either, in my opinion... They should just stop making any new albums.

I just bought Death Magnetic (and Gears of War for my new 360:P) today.

On the 8th song, and I don't find it to be all that impressive, but it's not half bad either. From here they should most definitely stop making albums though.

"Worse" is a relative term that relates to subjective enjoyment.  I can't answer the question as to whether the band has become "worse." 

I can tell you that, technically speaking, the band has used less and less complex note structures and rhythms as its career wound on.  Now the band has reached a point where the individual players are recycling iconic riffs from their past, and the band is not trying to electrify its creative mind so much as it is trying to regurgitate once more the staples it used to garner praise and success in the past. 

""Worse" is a relative term that relates to subjective enjoyment.  I can't answer the question as to whether the band has become "worse." 

I can tell you that, technically speaking, the band has used less and less complex note structures and rhythms as its career wound on.  Now the band has reached a point where the individual players are recycling iconic riffs from their past, and the band is not trying to electrify its creative mind so much as it is trying to regurgitate once more the staples it used to garner praise and success in the past. "

The Day That Never comes is a brilliant song, until the second half, just trashy guitar.

"The Day That Never comes is a brilliant song, until the second half, just trashy guitar."

One Word. Yes.

At this point, how can you tell?

Metallica have sucked since - oooh - god i dont know , conception?

Eh, Metallica is pretty lame to begin with.

Metallica was decent in the Ride the Lightening and Master of Puppets days...

They peaked in late 80s & trying to make themselves sound as good as that after nearly 20 years is an impossible task.  A lot of other musicians keep putting out albums, but sadly sometimes they never play any of the new material when they tour. They stick to the old stuff.  Except for bands like Rush, which can still put out decent albums.  Tom Petty put out a new album a couple years ago but when I saw him on tour on Labor Day weekend, he didn't play any of those..too much back catalogue.

Massive success has killed Metallica's creativity. Plain & simple.