Metallica

By far and away the most successful of thrash metal's big four, Metallica dwarfed their rivals' achievements with an aggressive but melodic sound which produced one of the best-selling albums of all time. The original core line-up of frontman James Hetfield, guitarist Kirk Hammett (who had replaced Megadeth's Dave Mustaine), bassist Cliff Burton and Danish-born drummer Lars Ulrich first came together in Los Angeles in 1983, and shortly after released their debut album, Kill 'Em All. 1984 follow-up Ride the Lightning helped them land a major label deal with Elektra Records, and the band continued to edge further towards the mainstream with 1986's Master of Puppets, a Top 30 hit widely considered their masterpiece.

Tragedy struck later that year when Burton died in a tour bus crash in Dorarp, Sweden, but after hiring Jason Newsted as his replacement, the band bounced back with 1988's And Justice For All, a politically-charged affair which spawned their first US Top 40 hit, "One." The group then forged what would prove to be a long-lasting relationship with producer Bob Rock on 1991's Metallica, a blockbuster record which featured signature hit, "Enter Sandman," kickstarted a run of five consecutive number ones on the Billboard 200, and sold an astonishing 30 million copies worldwide. Following a lengthy two-year tour, including a series of co-headlining stadium shows with Guns N'Roses in which Hetfield sustained second-degree burns on stage, the band finally returned to the studio for 1996's Load.

As with 1997 follow-up Reload, the record saw Metallica largely eschew their thrash metal roots in favor of a slower hard rock sound which attracted new converts while alienating some loyal fans.

The group's sudden prolific streak continued with 1998's covers album, Garage Inc., and a brace of shows with Michael Kamen and the San Francisco Symphony captured for 1999's S&M. But Metallica's music took a backseat in the early '00s thanks to a high-profile dispute with Napster which sparked widespread debate over the practice of music file-sharing, the departure of Newsted over creative differences and subsequent hiring of Robert Trujillo, and a Spinal Tap-esque documentary, "Some Kind of Monster" (2004), based on the recording of 2003's much-maligned St. Anger. Perhaps burned by the negative response, Metallica chose to work with Rick Rubin on 2008's Death Magnetic, a decision which paid off when the album received some of the best reviews of their career.

In contrast, following an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and a series of festival shows with Big Four legends Anthrax, Slayer and Megadeth, Metallica received the most scathing reviews of their career for 2011's Lulu, a collaborative album with Lou Reed based on two works by German playwright Frank Wedekind. In 2012, the group launched their own festival, Orion Music + More, in Atlantic City, while a year later they hit the big screen with "Metallica Through the Never" (2013), an experimental 3D concert film which interspersed live footage with the adventures of a young roadie played by Dane DeHaan.