Early Metallica/Humor

I am an old school Metallica fan. I mean, by that, that I discovered "Kill 'em All" in 1984, when that was all they had out. I was fortunate enough, at thirteen, to meet a fifteen yo who had a dub of Metallica's opus, the actual "Show No Mercy" cassette by Slayer, and a good idea of other bands to check out, such as Mercyful Fate and Venom. Being such a fan, it hit me hard when Cliff Burton died. All of my fondest memories of Metallica, and all of their history--especially in photos--is from pre-Cliff to Cliff's death. That is why these photos only chronicle that time period. Many--if not most--old school Metallica fans tend to hold the attitude that Metallica "sold out." Firat of all, I sympathize--I used to feel the same way. It was hard not to when the last record they had released was "Reload." I remember thinking, when I simply HEARD about that record, "Fucking hell, one Load of shit wasn't enough? Are they just trying to make us hate them completely?" Fortunately--for this fan--in 1998 they released the "Garage Days Re-Revisited." While, at that time, I still found plenty to dislike, such as the Bob Seger cover (I would make loud retching sounds if that came on someone's radio), I LOVED the Mercyful Fate medley, the fucking heavy Discharge cover that opened the record, and the collection of the "Garage Days Re-Visited" and "Re-Revisited" Eps with all of the heavy B-sides, and more, on Disc 2. For the first time since I heard "Nothing Else Matters," and sat, stunned, my mouth agape in horror, I was interested in Metallica again. Since that time, I have, now and again, been disgusted with individual members of Metallica (LARS! LARS!) but I have generally liked their music. Occasionally there is still a song that I just skip if I am listening to a CD or mp3 collection, such as "The Unforgiven III" (nightmare: in a moment of horrifying, uninspired sobriety, Lars and James decide to "compose" a western-themed rock opera, fearuring nothing but symphonic twists, with even MORE unnecessary lyrics, called "The Unforgiven").