In 2003, MTV infamously celebrated Metallica with a gloriously of-its-time edition of their MTV Icon series. The televised event featured bands and artists from the younger generation covering staples from all throughout the thrash pioneers' catalog, including Limp Bizkit's raucous performance of "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)," Snoop Dogg's cringey take on "Sad But True," and "Sk8er Boi" singer Avril Lavigne's surprisingly not totally embarrassing cover of "Fuel."
The bar wasn't set particularly high, but to our minds, the best tribute of the night came from nu-metal godfathers Korn. Jonathan Davis and Co. took their eight-string guitars and slap bass to ...And Justice for All's smash power ballad "One" and did it, well, justice. Special credit to Davis, whose tortured wail proved to be a perfect fit to the song's harrowing story of a soldier grievously injured by a landmine, left blind and unable to speak or move. "That was the coolest fucking thing," a bleached-blond and goatee'd Lars Ulrich enthused after. Flashback to the landmark performance above.
