You'd be wagering incorrectly. I'm not sure what you mean by "buying that one off the Internet"but in whatever context that could possibly mean I believe you are way off the mark and so now as well as seemingly deriding my opinion you're also being condescending but that's my choice to perceive it that way I guess. Just that phrase in itself appears to be attempting to correct an opinion by assuming it's not an authentic one. I've acknowledged I must have misremembered on the royalties front and appreciate the correction. And well done on never making a similar mistake. It's a devils advocate point as I don't know but even if nothing has come out publicly on a royalties dispute doesn't mean it never happened but it's a minor point when considering separating art from the artist etc.
I could listen to Metallica until the cows come home but I don't like the vocalist. Sure they wrote some decent riffs at a time where it was pretty easy to find good riffs or hamfisted attempts at mashing classical guitar runs with heavy distortion, virtuosos that absolutely does not make them. For what it's worth, I'd consider the many successful rock / metal musicians to be average musicians, they do what they do well in terms of pleasing the masses but it's not complex. I'm not saying it has to be complex to be enjoyable. The album with them accompanied by an orchestra made it slightly more bearable but it's still basic (in my opinion).
I do get why you're being prickly about a band you admire being described as "cringy, average and basic" but this is my view but they're absolutely objective terms based on one's musical journey / exposure. Also it may not directly have been their fault but they stand out as one of the leading offenders or drivers of the loudness war, where everything started to sound like trash in the eternal dingdong measuring contest of who can make their records seem the loudest whilst sacrificing any hope of dynamics on the way.
As for what I'm currently into, I have this great playlist called "Anything that's not Metallica"
- Artists like Crumb, Battles, Vulfpeck and Fourtet are hitting the spot at the minute but it always depends on what kind of mood I'm in. Heavy wise if that's your thing I'd recommend Elephant Tree, wonderful stoner rock.