Easily the best heavy metal band of the entire 1980s, Metallica's head-banging, long hair-swaying, intense-drumming new-sounding thrash metal brought every rock enthusiast in the ‘80s crumbling to his/her knees in the "we're not worthy" type of groveling that only Metallica and the good Lord Almighty may truly deserve. The band completely redefined the meaning of rock music, using boisterous songs like "Enter Sandman" to yank the music scene out of the calm psychedelic ‘70s and into the hectic ‘80s.Metallica's tight reign over the music universe started in 1983 with the release of Kill ‘Em All, which did, in fact, kill all their competition. The band captured the heavy metal underground sound that was starting to emerge, and despite bassist Cliff Burton's tragic death in 1986 when the band's tour bus crashed in Sweden, Metallica's ambition led them to come back with the 1988 hit album ... And Justice for All, which immediately hit the Top Ten. In 1991, the band chose a more mainstream path, releasing their self-titled album and launching a two-year tour. The band's mainstream goal, of course, started to change the ‘90s just as Metallica had transformed the ‘80s, this time with a larger crowd. Metallica's next album was released in 1996 (Load), followed by 1997's Re-load, as well as a headlining gig at Lollapalooza. 1999's S&M also fared well with the general audience (and how could it not?), debuting at number two on the charts.The 2000s for Metallica were full of ups and downs, and the band perhaps lost some of their teen followers when they jumpstarted the controversy that ended in a number of lawsuits pertaining to the file-sharing service Napster. As the original band started to split during this touchy time, Metallica underwent member auditions and changes, but ultimately released the 2003 album St. Anger, embarking on a world tour in the meantime.