Metallica just are not suited or at their musical best when they are doing simplistic music, they tend to be a bit more dynamic and at least have some form of musical development.
Lou Reed should have done this with his own band, the album will go down as the St Anger of Lou Reeds discography. It makes St Anger sound absolutely awesome, and to be fair St Anger has 2 or 3 tracks I don't mind but Lulu should have been aborted mid project, should not have been allowed to see the light of day.
Funny thing about musicians is they consider themselves artists, but artists are willing or should be willing to take constructive criticism when a work is average or poor. Musicians can't handle criticism well, they need to be the open minded ones too, not just the fans.