I liked this album better than "Load." Granted, it bears little resemblance to Metallica's earlier, more popular stuff, but "Reload" is still a pretty good album. I think the backlash to the Loads partly lies in the fact that there were several years in between "Metallica" and "Load"; I suppose most people were expecting "Load" to be another "Metallica." But if you keep an open mind, you will surely enjoy "Reload" at least a little.