These two responses couldn't be better timed. Almost storybook written. AE hit the nail on the head, IMO. And then you see it on display with Hivemind. It's like a plea that metal culture is never called popular. They always want to stay underground and if anything surfaces to the top, they are posers or they are fake/sold out.
Hivemind, we aren't picking on you here. You are defensive because you are trying to back the idea of a metal culture. Metallica never made a statement saying they will always stay true to what Metalheads wanted. Metalheads made that up, not Metallica. Metalheads adopted Metallica as their leader because of such great albums. There was never a time Metallica put a letter out stating they are the leader of this culture and will never change their music. You and the rest of the diehards made that up. Metallica didn't sell out. You stopped liking their music because it didn't appeal to you. Thus we always say - music is subjective.
And like always. Music is subjective. So there is no right/wrong in terms of what is good. That's all subjective. So if you stopped enjoying their music, that is all. They didn't sell out. They didn't quit on you. You, unfortunately, named them your leader of the metal culture and when they changed their sound up, the culture turned their backs on them instead of just moving on.
You've openly admitted you didn't know much about metal, now you continue to try and tell me why I feel the way I do? You continue to try and educate people about how the metal culture operates?
Here's a novel idea, how about you let the person who's actually involved with metal tell you how it is? Rather than making your declarative statements from an outsider perspective, you actually listen to the person who knows what they're talking about? To hyperbolize the situation, right now you're the white guy who's telling the black guy what it's like to be black, and how changing black culture will lead them all out of the ghetto. (Once again, that's obviously hyperbole, but I'm using it to get my point across).
The point here is you don't understand what you're talking about. You're not listening to the perspective of the actual metalhead when you're talking about metalheads. Nobody ever anointed Metallica as "the leaders of metal culture." Nobody is upset that "they quit on us." Metalheads still turn out in droves for Metallica shows, especially because they play far more old material than new material. In general, most metalheads still love Metallica.
You're right, music is subjective. This thread specifically asked what people felt about Load. Metalheads turned up and shared our opinion that it's a garbage album from after Metallica sold out. That doesn't mean that middle of the road rock fans aren't allowed to like it. Listen to Load as much as you want.
People tried to dispute them selling out, I mocked those points because Metallica selling out is a fact. Bob Rock
said as much when he produced their self-titled, and Metallica's own quips about the issue simply refer to how popular they are/how much money they make. There's nothing objectively wrong with selling out, but the expectation that the fans of the older material must somehow credit the new material is bunk. Similarly to how there was no contract that Metallica must always sound the same, there was no contract that the fans of the thrash-era Metallica must support butt rock-era Metallica.
With regards to Metallica never claiming they'll stay true, it doesn't matter. As I've been over, you're completely missing the point with this talk.
But just to reinforce how much you don't know what you're talking about, here's the lyrics to "Whiplash"
Late at night, all systems go
You’ve come to see the show
We do our best, you’re the rest
You make it real, you know
There is a feeling deep inside
That drives you ****in’ mad
A feeling of a hammerhead
You need it oh so bad
Adrenaline starts to flow
You’re thrashing all around
Acting like a maniac
Whiplash
Bang your head against the stage
Like you never did before
Make it ring, make it bleed
Make it really sore
In a frenzied madness
With your leathers and your spikes
Heads are bobbing all around
It’s hot as hell tonight
Adrenaline starts to flow
You’re thrashing all around
Acting like a maniac
Whiplash
Here on stage the Marshall noise
Is piercing through your ears
It kicks your ass, kicks your face
Exploding feeling nears
Now’s the time to let it rip
To let it ****in’ loose
We’re gathered here to maim and kill
‘Cause this is what we choose
Adrenaline starts to flow
You’re thrashing all around
Acting like a maniac
Here we go
Whiplash
The show is through, the metal’s gone
It’s time to hit the road
Another town, another gig
Again we will explode
Hotel rooms and motorways
Life out here is raw
But we’ll never stop
We’ll never quit
‘Cause we’re Metallica
Adrenaline starts to flow
You’re thrashing all around
Acting like a maniac
So they literally have a song about thrash metal, in which they say they're not going to stop thrashing.
The bottom line here is that metalheads don't give a rats ass about if something is popular or not. Metalheads still support what we like, regardless of popularity (see Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, etc). We don't feel betrayed by Metallica, nor did we appoint them the leader of anything. That doesn't mean we have to unanimously and unquestioningly support what Metallica does afterwards. Rather than you making claims about what metalhead culture is or why we feel the way we do, you should actually listen.