left Testament in 1993 to explore other musical styles. Almost in tandem with grunge's receding vogue, and the increasing popularity of alternative rock, nu metal, rap rock, hip hop, and boy bands, MTV's Headbangers Ball (which had showcased music videos of many Bay Area thrash groups in the late 1980s and early 1990s) would be taken off the air in 1995, limiting U.S. output of thrash (in addition to associated metal subgenres like death and black metal) to outlets such as radio shows, carrier current, mailorder, word of mouth, or the Internet. Out of all bands from the Bay Area metal scene, Metallica managed not only to stay active (despite alcoholism, internal conflicts and a turnover of bassists) but also branch out to the mainstream, even while thrash metal and other 1980s metal styles began to shrink from the public eye. Metallica was the only "big 4 thrash group" not on the Clash of the Titans tour; instead, after the Titans event ended, the band teamed up with Guns N' Roses and Faith No More on two consecutive tours in support of their self-titled fifth album, known colloquially as the Black Album. The record was considered a musical departure from their thrash metal days, showing a direction reared toward modern hard rock, and was attributed (along with Load and ReLoad) as alienating long-time fans. The April 2000 Napster file sharing lawsuits would bring the band further controversy from both the press and fans, considering the process of music trading was a factor in their early success. Since the beginning of the Soundscan era, the Black Album has held distinction as one of the best selling albums of all time; the accumulated Metallica discography currently makes the group the 3rd most financially successful heavy metal band of all time (after Led Zeppelin and AC/DC) and the best selling thrash metal band of all time. The band has sold a total of over 100 million records. Revival In August 2001, a small "reunion" of Bay Area thrash metal bands organized Thrash of the Titans, promoted to help Testament vocalist Chuck Billy, who had been diagnosed with cancer, as well as Death's Chuck Schuldiner, who was ailing from a brain tumor. Although Death was based in Orlando, Florida, Schuldiner had relocated the group to the San Francisco Bay Area during the 1980s while pooling a line-up. The classic Vio-lence line-up (minus Machine Head's