I love a good Metallica song just as much as the next person, but I would not classify them as alternative by any stretch of the imagination. Not even in the 80s when this song came out. Just seems… odd.

That’s fair if you grew up in the US and I understand that it is likely that a good number in the community did as well but that wasn’t my experience. Maybe stretch your imagination further than your own borders and things will seem less odd.

Weren’t they very much thrash metal during this period, even in their European tours? They did go pretty alternativepop in the late 90s with load/reload and their overall image. It was a sad time for heavy metal, driving many of us into the underground before we found reprieve in bands like Electric Wizard and Sleep. Still a banger of a track though, I wore this tape out so bad it broke.