My PERSONAL opinion of Metallica:
I was over 20 years old when Metallica first hit the scene, so I think I am at least qualified enough to give a valid opinion since I have followed Metallica from the beginning in real time, not just recently listening to all their albums close together.
They were one of the forefathers of pure and unadulterated speed metal. Along with Slayer and Exodus and a few others, they ruled the underground metal world with brilliant metal such as (to name just a few):
Master of Puppets
Battery
Seek and Destroy
Trapped Under Ice
One
Now to me, when the Black album arrived, I felt they had jumped up to w new level. For those who like raw and garage-like metal, something was missing. But for people like me where production plays a key role in my love for music (which is probably why BWP is my favorite Opeth album), then Black was a masterpiece. James voice, for the first time, was full and refined. The music had new depth for Metallica - a much darker side.
The came Load, Relaod. To me, this was a fast downhill slide. They did that bit with the orchestra too - it was OK. I have the DVD and do enjoy it sometimes. But for a long time listener of Metallica, I felt something was lost.
Then came the Napster thing. At that time, I was a Napster freak, and I was mad that Lars called Napster out. I was mad being banned from Napster several times because their scan found Metallica music on my computer. The other downloading choices like Morpheus just weren't nearly as good. I liked Napster for the maount of music at your fingertips, and the ability to find out of print musiuc. I knew I was stealing, but I also new this digital music revolution was something serious. I don't know how, but I think this could have been dealt with a little differently.
So that soured me to Metallica, for a non-musical reason. And now St. Anger. It's a step up from the past several Metallica albums, but it is not anything special. It's raw, but with what Metallica has been able to do in the past, I think St. Anger falls way short of their potential (based on their past performance). If I never knew Metallica before St. Anger, and measured it against Opeth, it would be a joke. But there is no denying that Metallica is a metal pioneer band. They were a major player in metal for many many years. But at least at present, that seems to me to be a thing o the past. St. Anger sounds average. It sounds like an album that most bands today could easily put out. I don't get the feeling that a lot of effort was put into this. Maybe my standards are messed up, but St. Anger sounds like mediocre music at best.