Frosstbyte

When they tried something new, they did it poorly, so people called them on it. Now they're doing what they've already done, so we're calling them on it.

I will give Metallica every chance in the world, for the reasons I outlined above, but I'm not going to let them get away with anything less than what they're capable of, which is a lot better than this.

You are right, though. Lars has always been the weakest link in the band, though James is starting to sound a little rough around the edges these days, too.

As for my complaints about releasing an intentionally low bit rate sample on your website, there are plenty of bands I like who release CD+ sound quality singles on their website for download, and I don't think I should expect any less. Hell, I'd rather they had a full quality sample than a 2 bit full song. It's shouting out to the world "WE WILL LOSE SO MUCH MONEY IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO PAY FOR THIS SONG ON iTUNES OR BUY THE FULL ALBUM SO HERE'S A SHITTY SAMPLE."

Given their attitude towards downloading music in general, I suppose this should not come as a surprise to me, but it seems awfully petty, cheap and obnoxious to me.