For Metallica fans, there has never been any comparison between their early triumph Master of Puppets and the widely reviled St. Anger. Thanks – or no thanks, actually – to the internet, there is now.

A YouTube user named data_dreams 2000 with way, way ... way ... too much time on his hands has meticulously replaced Lars Ulrich's originally recorded snare hits from the 1986 Metallica classic with the dull drum sound that has come to define their subsequent 2003 misfire.

Listen for yourself via the above embed. The effect is to transfer one of the most heavily criticized elements of a heavily criticized project onto a moment of acknowledged greatness – proving in the end that, if you really apply yourself, anything can be completely ruined.

Over the years, even Ulrich has taken aim at this drum effect, merrily describing his typical snare sound as "fame and fortune," while dismissing the snare work on St. Anger as the sound of "despair, misery, anger, loss of revenue, no albums sold."

And that's not too far off, actually: St. Anger found Metallica at a crossroads personally and professionally, as bassist Jason Newsted departed and frontman James Hetfield dealt with addiction. St. Anger, in fact, sold half as much as the preceding Reload did in America, and 14 million fewer copies than 1991's blockbuster Black Album.

More recently, Metallica have been at work on a long-awaited new studio effort, their first non-collaborative project since 2008's Death Magnetic. Tour plans for 2015 include a headlining spot at Lollapalooza on Aug. 1 in Chicago.

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