In 2001, Newsted left Metallica to start his own project, , much against the band's wishes, particularly James Hetfield. Their eighth studio album, "St. Anger", was released in 2003, with producer playing bass after Newsted's departure. "St. Anger" also debuted at #1 on the "Billboard" 200, but was even further disliked by fans than Load and Reload. Shortly after the release of "St. Anger", bassist Robert Trujillo joined the band after a long auditioning process with many bassists. At Trujillo's request, his audition song was Battery, a very fast-paced song from "Master of Puppets".