re: Who was the most unneeded member of a group?

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There were ways to do things and attacking the fans was probably the wrong angle to take, at least in hindsight, wouldn't you agree?

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I mainly agree that the media were vastly dishonest about what happened. And most people either never knew or have forgotten. But they had an UNFINISHED track (I Disappear) stolen from the studio and put on the internet. We can say all we want about "file sharing" and the like, but that was wrong of someone to steal art before it was even finished and he was right to be incensed. On the cusp of a full revolution in music consumption - and with benefit of perfect hindsight - could it have been handled better from a PR perspective? Probably. But frick whoever stole it. And frick the people who just casually assumed it was OK to trade in stolen goods.

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I forget your age, but I assumed we are around the same age, with you maybe a touch younger, but they had a badass reputation, at least through the black album. Sure, Load/Reload had some folks do a double take, but that silly movie turned them into parodies of themselves.

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Eh. In my mind, the "bad arse" thing was gone when they showed up with short haircuts on Load (7 years prior to the movie). I personally never cared about any of that, as Load is top 3 for me for them (and I also love Reload and Garage Inc.) And people said the same thing about Nothing Else Matters.

My opinion of the matter just couldn't be more different than you. I think someone like James Hetfield showing that much vulnerability was the very definition of bad arse. More bad arse to keep shite completely bottled up and pretend you are OK? More bad arse to intimidate a documentary filmmaker into not showing what he captured just because you didn't expect it and it might not make you look great? Nah.

James is the man and has never been anything other than a badass. Like Lennon, he fricking willed his band and an entirely new genre into being, dragging the world kicking and screaming into submission.