metallica didnt sell out. they changed their sound because they wanted to put out something new and different

Black album?
Napster?
St Anger?
Yeah Bob Rock was the puppeteer behind it but Metallica were money hungry ****s for the past 15 years or so.

I don't see how Bob Rock was responsible for it.
The 2 biggest criticisms of And Justice For All by Metallica fans themselves were that the production was awful & the songs went on for too long. By getting a better producer & writing shorter songs they were giving the fans what they wanted.

There maybe some truth in the other reasons why they 'sold out' , I don't think this is one of them.

One way of selling out IMO.
Writing for the people, not for themselves.
My theory is that it was for the peoples money, but you know w/e.

They had shorter songs & ballads on earlier albums & nobody said they sold out then.

Cos it was their earlier albums. Before they gained huge popularity.

So if they gained huge popularity by doing what they've always done how is it selling out?

nay you mis-understood me.
They wrote some short songs as well ,just naturally.
Upon the crowd giving out about the longer tracks they decide to change how they want an album to sound, for other people.

I think they just wanted to sell more records TBH. It's a shame because Metallica played a huge role in my youth. They were the first band I ever saw. The band throughout the 90's did not have the same ethos that they had in the 80's which was a peoples band. When they become really huge, they lost that connectivity with the audience. Master of Puppets was their last truly great album. There has been tracks on various albums since then that I like, but they changed and not for the better.

was never a huge fan of them tbh.

when a band changes there sound and music just to sell records

I guess it would be joining a major label when you already have a fanbase on a minor one.