I thought that for a while. Then I acutally got the album, got some GOOD headphones (shitty equipment makes it sound way worse). Take off the first 3 songs/singles and I love the album. It has great riffs. It would sound better with cleaner guitars. Back on topic, I don't hate bands that are very popular. I just hate PEOPLE who love the band only because they're popular and because of a couple of singles. The difference is some of my friend heard OSC and bought the CD and loved it. Some of my friends heard Crawling and bought the CD and hate every song but Crawling. I admit I do start hating bands that get really popular. That's because I start hating the type of fans that come with that popularity. I say "Hey you like Papercut?" and I get the hardcore fans. I say "Hey you like Breaking the Habit" and I get all the emo girls I know who have internet relationships. That's not a generalization on girls that listen to BTH.... It's seriously the girls I meet in my school when dealing with the "I have issues" type songs. The ones you see crying everyday at the same time for attention. So in summation, I don't hate the band itself or hate its "new sound", just the loads of "mainstream" fans it brings.
I have this weird ability to pick up on a band just before they become really popular--and it's a little irritating at times, because when I'm in it for the music, there are always those haters who call me a teenie. Which I'm not. I'm too cynical to be one.
About Metallica, I think their problem was just Jason Newstead leaving. I loved him. :'( Anyways, I was reading Fiona's post, and I got to thinking... if you like a band before they're popular, and they suddenly blow up and become huge, but the music doesn't change, but "teenies" or "fanboys/girls" show up at the shows, will you stop going just because there's some fans that only like them because they're popular and on MTV and/or the Radio? If your answer is yes, that seems pretty fucked up to me. If it's a metal/screamo/whatever band, why not just like... um, fuck them up in the moshpit? Good way to get your anger out if you're that pissed about it.