Sorry but I don't agree at all. "Objectively not bad" is... not a thing. All tastes are subjective. And something being popular is not remotely an indicator of quality. You will not ever convince me with an argument of popularity.
You take this far too seriously IMO. When I read Andrew's comment I just chuckled because it's obvious what he meant; that he intensely dislikes post-AJFA albums and considers them wildly inferior, so he used hyperbolic rhetoric to say so. That's fine. Even if I didn't agree, I can't imagine someone getting upset over an amusing quip about albums being canon or not. I obviously do agree about those Metallica albums in this case, but not always, take Therion for example. Some might say "everything after Symphony Masses is non-canon!", and though I wildly disagree, I'd just laugh and say "sure" because it's not that serious. They don't like symphonic metal (I do, Theli is my favourite) and only like the death metal era and that's what they mean by such a jab. That's it. Who cares?
I mean sure, there are trve kvlt warriors out there who say things like that without a shred of irony or tongue-in-cheek, and take themselves far too seriously and will actively sneer on you for liking the Metallica S/T, and by all means laugh at them, but Andrew's comment was totally innocuous to me and knowing him I'm very certain that he doesn't care if you like the S/T. :)
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