Metallica

This is where the fights break out. After four studio albums of steady progress and experimentation, Metallica opted to streamline their attack to something more readily accessible to the masses. Producer Bob Rock was brought aboard to sharpen their sound, which had grown admittedly muddled on their previous release ...And Justice For All, and he also seems to have tutored the group towards writing songs that get to the point. "Enter Sandman" is the obvious case-in-point. Its head-on, no-nonsense approach and fail-safe chorus ("Exit light, enter night") guaranteed the group the radio and MTV play that often eluded them in the past. If anything, however, it's the refined moments — the haunting ballad "Nothing Else Matters," the contemplative "The Unforgiven — that actually extend the band's reach and are the album's highlights. Ironically, it's the standard Metallica riffage of "Of Wolf and Man" and the defensive "Don't Tread On Me" that sound as if the group is in danger of boxing themselves into the corner. It's a testament to their strong identity that this would be a problem, one most groups would rehearse their entire lives to have.