The hair issue is about as 1996 as you can get!
Seriously though, even though thy have gone "soft" their live show IS still impressive. They play just as much, if not more, old stuff than new. They know what the ppl are there to hear, and they deliver. I gave up on a retun to the old skool ways of MetallicA past. I have emraced the sound of the "older and wiser"
METALLICA. Yet, still I will always refer to old skool as MetallicA, and the new skool as METALLICA. When the logo changed, I knew we were not going to be impressed.... I remember checking out metal edge and seeing an ad for LOAD. All white with the star logo and a date. You can't mistake that "m" for nothin' and I was hyped! Then I saw the album cover and said to myself " Oh shit, they finally changed the way their name is written...this can't be good...that means there is some "reinvention" happening here..."
But alas, they gave garage days to the masses as the second disc of Garage Inc. and they do know that a return to the heavy is badly needed to repair their relationhip with many a fan...lar$ can bitch all he wants about how he doesen't want certain ppl as fans, but he knows that no fans = no 'Tallica. No 'Tallica = no more money. No money = a very unhappy Lar$.
In short, see them live, thats your last chance to see the MetallicA of yesteryear. Cause Lar$ isn't smart enough to turn the train around from the direction they are moving to in the studio...
My 5 page essay is over now!