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Metallica - St. Anger review



Reviewer:
5.0

2252 users:
4.37
Band: Metallica
Album: St. Anger
Release date: June 2003


Disc I
01. Frantic
02. St. Anger
03. Some Kind Of Monster
04. Dirty Window
05. Invisible Kid
06. My World
07. Shoot Me Again
08. Sweet Amber
09. The Unnamed Feeling
10. Purify
11. All Within My Hands

Disc II [Live in the studio at Metallica HQ DVD - digipack bonus]
01. Frantic
02. St. Anger
03. Some Kind Of Monster
04. Dirty Window
05. Invisible Kid
06. My World
07. Shoot Me Again
08. Sweet Amber
09. The Unnamed Feeling
10. Purify
11. All Within My Hands

Six long years after the release of ReLoad, Metallica come back on the scene to show their 8th studio album, St. Anger. Many of you have almost lost all the respect for this band since the release of the black album, many others hate them because of Load and ReLoad and some others have now lost every interest in their music. Actually, what can you all expect from the band who left its early amazing style to get fame and glory on MTV?

They got the MTV Icon 2003 nomination [did we all see Avril Lavigne?]. They released several commercial operations such as 'I Disappear'; they have a new bass player with a terrible funky look; they have an awful new logo; better leave out this ugly cover artwork by Pushead. The Four Horsemen seem now so far from what they were the 80's...

Are we angry enough? Well, Metallica seem to be angry too! Probably, they've never been so angry before. All the patience they had, all the critics they beared, all the rage they had inside and all the anger have now exploded.

They thought: "Metallica cannot end this way, so we've got to return to our early feelings". This is right: they made a new album, returning to heavy sounds but producing it with all the experience they acquired in these last 20 years. Now it's easy to understand the album's title and the scream in the title track: "I need to set my anger free"!

The Four Horsemen want to regain the fans' trust and to reassure them. For this reason they included a bonus DVD featuring live rehearsal recordings of all eleven songs played with Rob Trujillo. So it is also a way to show us Rob's skill, since he doesn't play on the cd: we must remember that Rob joined Metallica when St. Anger was almost finished and that producer Bob Rock played all the bass lines during the recording sessions.

But what is St. Anger like? Is it "just another Metallica joke"? Is it expensive because of the DVD? Shall you buy it? Don't worry: I bought it for you, the same day as the release, DVD included, it cost me 21,75 Euros: regular Italian price.

I've been waiting for this album since I was 12, since I pushed play and heard Metallica for the first time: "Gimme fuel, gimme fire, gimme that which I desire!". Then began a strong passion that will not end until they'll record rap songs.

I've never lost my Metallifaith [maybe because ReLoad was my first Metal cd] but I must admit that I wasn't expecting all this. I could type a dozen pages about St. Anger but I'll try to describe it in a few lines.

Look at the package: awful design. Look at the tracklist: hmmm, track #2 is a title track, just as in the first albums. Interesting... Now push play!

'Frantic' is heavy fast thrash metal! Aggressive vocals, heavy riffs, terrible drums and a catchy riff coming up sometimes from all that mess! You might think: "The opening tracks are always heavy". You may be right. You may...

Let's skip to the second track. Now your tongue has frozen! You begin to understand that the whole album is pure anger. In the title track there is just a slow clean part during the chorus: it is one of the few soft parts you will find here.

In this album Lars proves that he can still play drums at full blast! I think that we can compare his work on this album to that of ...And Justice For All: ultracomplex and massive. This seems to be a natural evolution, just as St. Anger was Metallica's 6th album. It is just unbelievable: Metallica seems to have buried every trail of Load, ReLoad and maybe of the black album too! You all remember that tiring title track in ...And Justice For All and its complex structure. Now forget it: songs like 'Some Kind Of Monster' and 'All Within My Hands' are here to drive you crazy. I never heard any Metallisong so complex! Just undescribable. Go further, skip all the tracks: the more you hear the less you believe. Are these the same guys who played 'Nothing Else Matters' with an orchestra? Hard to believe. This is not Metallica.

St. Anger is a brutal Thrash metal work, without any kind of structure, totally different from what we heard before. There are no bridges, no verses, no chorus. The guitars are fat. There are no solos: where is Kirk Hammett?

The drums are simply excellent, for their raw sound and above all for the great double bassdrums parts: well done, Lars! But the drums volume is really too loud. The vocal parts are absurd: no melodic lines, too much speech and screams. Total absence of melodic parts: there isn't any heavy ballad, just brutal pieces. It's not a problem: I like Pantera.

But even the early works featured some quiet moments. All the clean guitars we heard in 'One' have disappeared! And what is the result? A chaotic mass of riffs and exuberant drums: Metallica can still shock us! But in my opinion all this mess is not the right way to regain the fans? trust. These are not The Four Horsemen. These are four mad guys.

I'd leave this review without a rating. How would you rate a Metal record that doesn't feature any guitar solo? Can you all hear me? I bet that their next album will include once again fantastic melodies: I swear it! Hehehee...

I know that while I'm typing this on June 6, 2003 [yeah, the same day as the release], thousands of people don't even imagine how they're gonna be shocked! So it is hard to foretell now, but I believe that St. Anger can potentially become an important turning point for Metallica but also for the fans who abandoned them soon after Load. This work shall prove to the world that they're not done yet: like the phoenix, Metallica seems to have risen from its ashes. At the moment, I personally don't like this record. I'd like to see some other review [even on this website].

Written by The Silent Man | 22.09.2003




Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.

Guest review by
Powerslave16
Rating:
7.2
Metallica's 2003 release, St. Anger, will most likely always be considered the low point of the bands discography. I'm not sure if I can completely agree with this. I personally believe Load and Reload are worse albums. Mind you, St. Anger is absolutely not a fantastic release. It rambles, has some bad tracks, and sometimes you wonder "what are they doing?" (listen to Hetfield's moans in Invisible Kid). But the album does have energy, something the band has had on about 3 tracks on the last 2 studio discs.

Read more ››
published 10.09.2007 | Comments (61)


Comments page 2 / 5

Comments: 145   Visited by: 569 users
11.07.2006 - 15:06
Damnated
Churchburner
Written by Guest on 11.07.2006 at 07:04


http://metal.eu.org/fun/mattsmith-st.angertribute.mp3



OMG! This is so damn good.
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Blessed is he that murders Christ in himself and in his fellow men.



Written by TheBigRossowski on 10.02.2009 at 16:01

if my wife and I can't conceive, I want a medical shipment of your sperm so our baby will be just like you.
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15.07.2006 - 14:53
X-FrEaK

lol .... even Jonathan Davis(Korn's vocalist) bashed this album for good saying that Lars' drumming was the worst he had listened in all of his life

just check http://www.roadrun.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=16252
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17.07.2006 - 21:42
Basso
Account deleted
Written by Damnated on 11.07.2006 at 15:06

Written by Guest on 11.07.2006 at 07:04


http://metal.eu.org/fun/mattsmith-st.angertribute.mp3



OMG! This is so damn good.



HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Totally amazing
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18.07.2006 - 10:28
Rating: 1
Xtreme Jax
Psycroptipath
Hahaha love the "...and XXX is angry because..." haha hilarious!!

I didnt bother reading all the review, touch on the long side. I was horrified that the whole band managed to F**k this the whole album. Where the hell were the solos?? I could not stand the drumming, the snare sounds dreadful, the vocals made the cringe.

Feel sorry for Robert coming into the band though. He didnt get to play on the album, and the he was stuck playing on the tours. This album lost most of my faith in the band as i didnt mind all the other works .... still 80's Metallica kick ass!
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Hellcunt Smurf
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19.07.2006 - 19:27
Pianoman
Account deleted
This album is pure shit!
Metallica sounds worst than ever
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20.07.2006 - 01:28
PRIMAL FEAR
Account deleted
Agreed... Metallica messed it up more than ever on this release... i'd give it a .01 if possible, it just had nothing to it really...
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20.07.2006 - 02:26
Taktsekte
Your Ad Here!
I actually like "Purify", lol.

"St. Anger" is a bad album, but I honestly hate "Load" (an album with the two most horrible songs in metal history, "Ain't my Bitch" and "Bleeding Me") more. Anyway, those who think that Metallica has gone commercial after the release of "St. Anger" are totally wrong. Metallica tried to win back the heavy sound they left with "Load" and "Re-Load", but the experiment was no success. I hope they will release a Thrash classic again and return to their roots.

Metallica can still get much more commercial! Just wait for the next step: "Metallica of Fire" lol
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20.07.2006 - 04:00
Damnated
Churchburner
Written by Taktsekte on 20.07.2006 at 02:26

I actually like "Purify", lol.

"St. Anger" is a bad album, but I honestly hate "Load" (an album with the two most horrible songs in metal history, "Ain't my Bitch" and "Bleeding Me") more. Anyway, those who think that Metallica has gone commercial after the release of "St. Anger" are totally wrong. Metallica tried to win back the heavy sound they left with "Load" and "Re-Load", but the experiment was no success. I hope they will release a Thrash classic again and return to their roots.

Metallica can still get much more commercial! Just wait for the next step: "Metallica of Fire" lol


Yes, I agree, they were trying to get back to the roots, I mean the album was thrashy. I just read it in a russian interview (Damn I'm good) that they're working on the new album with full power, and will try to win back the fans hearts. Well, I'd like to see that new album
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Blessed is he that murders Christ in himself and in his fellow men.



Written by TheBigRossowski on 10.02.2009 at 16:01

if my wife and I can't conceive, I want a medical shipment of your sperm so our baby will be just like you.
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20.07.2006 - 05:32
Dangerboner
Lactation Cnslt
All musicians say that though. It's going to suck like their stuff has from the last 16 years or so.
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21.07.2006 - 10:15
Valentin B
Iconoclast
lol if all the album sounds like the st. anger tribute,then it truly sucks.never listened to it.anyway extremely funny that mattsmith thing just listen to that drum man...ugh
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21.07.2006 - 15:09
Damnated
Churchburner
Written by Valentin B on 21.07.2006 at 10:15

lol if all the album sounds like the st. anger tribute,then it truly sucks.never listened to it.anyway extremely funny that mattsmith thing just listen to that drum man...ugh


The drums on St. Anger are pretty much like in this parody. I mean not exactly like this, but the feeling is the same. I say that you get the album, cuz although it sucks, you should now why
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Blessed is he that murders Christ in himself and in his fellow men.



Written by TheBigRossowski on 10.02.2009 at 16:01

if my wife and I can't conceive, I want a medical shipment of your sperm so our baby will be just like you.
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28.07.2006 - 02:35
Mordack
Account deleted
I can get through listening to Frantic and Unnamed Feeling..but the rest just seems very uninspired. The downtuning and drums really sucked, and the riffs were simple. This is metallica's version of Risk.
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28.07.2006 - 05:55
Pianoman
Account deleted
If a person who is entering to the metal stuff and listen one of the best band on the scene of metal (Metallica). And listens to St Anger he surely will hate metal just by hearing this crap lol.
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28.07.2006 - 08:23
Insineratehymn
Account deleted
Written by Guest on 28.07.2006 at 02:35

I can get through listening to Frantic and Unnamed Feeling..but the rest just seems very uninspired. The downtuning and drums really sucked, and the riffs were simple. This is metallica's version of Risk.

But luckily for Dave Mustaine, "Risk" turned out to be better than "St. Anger". I didn't even think such a feat was possible.
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31.07.2006 - 23:01
Insineratehymn
Account deleted
I have just discovered that Matt Smith, the guy who did the St. Anger tribute song, has a power metal band called Theocracy.

Back on-topic:
Here are the lyrics to the St. Anger tribute song in case you couldn't hear something quite clearly.

Oooooooooooh, what a good band we are
Back from the brink of extinction, it seemed
Oooooooooooh, we play downtuned guitars
And boy it sounds "raw" to intentionally sing out of key
Back to our roots
These songs are long
And there are fast parts
So that automatically means that they're good!
DOUBLE BASS-AAAAAH!!!
Back to our roots
Complex just like "...Justice!"
Complex just like "...Justice!"
Bob says that we are a jam band
And should write everything here on the spot
So I'm making all of this up as I go along
To capture these moments of genius
Listen to how well the songs flow!
Every part makes sense and is there for a reason
Well, I was in rehab
I'm an invisible outcast
I wanna cry, cry, cry
Life is so hard for me
No, Daddy, no!
Bob, help me!
Kill Kill Kill Kill Kill Kill!
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01.08.2006 - 00:09
Lucas
Mr. Noise
My fucking god! That song was amazing!! HELL YEAH!
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SLUDGE. DOOM. DEATH. Wait, what?

"The reason I'm running for president is because I can't be Bruce Springsteen." - Barack Obama
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01.08.2006 - 13:44
Valentin B
Iconoclast
well,i'm listenign to it right now,and i'm at shoot me again.the vocals sound like staind-and then like cotton-eye joe(the beggining and the chorus) the rest of the vocals are pretty listenable,but the drumming sounds so much like some kind of cowbell and,once i thought i heard an echo to them!!
god,sweet amber just started ,and the drumming is insanely stupid,though on the album,the riffs sound quite aggresive and listenable.overall,the songs are a bit too repititive and the production reminds me of "no life til leather",they are very chaotical.the unnamed feeling kicks off with very crappy production and 2 guitars,also chaotical,annoying vocals,and horryfiyng drums.now the chorus:this sounds really stupid,with the annoying stomp bass clef guitar also thank god no more extensive usage of trash can beating.unbelievable!!an actual lead fill next are some emoish vocals,with a decent guitar and a bridge part,and another repetitive sheer chaos riff,and another crappy lead fill,another moments of sheer chaos,then again the emo vocals and the song stops.Purify starts off and (oh no!)the trash can beating with echos! utter crap production,some more bass clef guitarwork and harmonies,and a stupid chorus.some more chaos,omg only 2 mins through some more chaos,and (almost!) a solo, same chaos,with some stupid drumming,and i skip the track,whew!purify was just too much for me.i'm already having a headache.next comes the closer-track with same retarded drumming,although the first verse is quite well sang by james,but the moaning is kind of bizzare,then even more chaos,with 2-layered vocals,and another hint of a solo,but only more shit drumming,then the second verse,which is a bit too annoying,another moaning part,and more chaos... and i'm fucking halfway through the song.... :-/ so i close my media player...conclusively,i think it's not the worst album ever,but i agree,it's crap man,drums,can't hear the bass,also bass-clef guitars,it's like they tuned it a whole octave down...also the voice has some good parts,but it's a bit weak overall.so,the only song i can listen to without skipping the boring parts,is frantic(i think).i'd rate the songs like this:
frantic-6.5
st. anger-5.5
some kind of monster-6
dirty window-5.5
invisible kid-5
my world-4.5
shoot me again-4
sweet amber-5.5
unnamed feeling-5
purify-4
all within my hands-3.5
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04.08.2006 - 07:35
DudeitsKevin
Account deleted
The album wasnt good, but most people say ... "I dont like it, where are the solos?! Songs without solos suck" Yet those same people listen to bands like Misfits! I hate hypocrits like that.
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04.08.2006 - 07:39
LethargyMan

There's a difference, though. Misfits songs aren't 8 minutes long and filled with suck.
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Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem.
By the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty.
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08.08.2006 - 12:38
DudeitsKevin
Account deleted
Im talking about how people say the only reason they hate it is because of no solos. I bitched at one of my friends for that too, i had to explain to him how it sucked and how solos arent everything.
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08.08.2006 - 12:42
DudeitsKevin
Account deleted
Written by Guest on 30.06.2006 at 02:52


...And they were probably angry about the fact that Cliff Burton is still dead.



I dont think theyre pissed about Cliff dying that was almost 20 years ago, sure they think about it often but they're pissed about other things, watch the Some Kinda Monster Documentry and you'll see why they're pissed and they managed to make a crappy album.

Cliff was the greatest Bass player Metallica ever had, he made Metallica what it "was" but its they're own fault for f*cking things up after he died.
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13.08.2006 - 22:36
LiveWise
Account deleted
It's not the best albub of Metallica but it's Good
The only bad thing about it is that there are no solos
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19.08.2006 - 15:14
DLMokoma
Account deleted
Yeah I agree with Karin I like this album but I'm pissed that Kirk wasn't allowed to do any solos.
Either you hate this album, or you go grazy for it. I'd say that I go grazy for it. Had heard worse.
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21.08.2006 - 23:43
viimaneraud
Account deleted
I also agree with Karin....but i think this album is very aggressive even without solos.
But i will hope the next album is better .:banger:
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29.08.2006 - 18:23
Rating: 9
matthioso

Written by Guest on 19.08.2006 at 15:14

Yeah I agree with Karin I like this album but I'm pissed that Kirk wasn't allowed to do any solos.
Either you hate this album, or you go grazy for it. I'd say that I go grazy for it. Had heard worse.


If you want to know why Krik didn't want any solos, look at the DVD 'Some kind of monster'

btw, to me it also is a good album, despite the solos
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www.seedofrock.be
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02.09.2006 - 13:04
DLMokoma
Account deleted
To me it looked like he wasn't let to play solos. It was something about Bob Rock, Hetfield and Ulrich wanting the record sound more like a united band playing music or something like that anyway Kirk said the idea was bullshit and he almost cried at least what I saw. Kinda rude for Kirk
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04.09.2006 - 16:02
Metallica_rules
Account deleted
eh wtf? wlthough i am a dick for only listening the first 3 songs( downloaded them) but they are very good in my opinion...frantic is excellent...st.anger is grat...some kind of a monstre has an amazing riff....its a good album from what i have listened
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04.09.2006 - 17:07
Valar
IndianSteel
Written by Guest on 04.09.2006 at 16:02

eh wtf? wlthough i am a dick for only listening the first 3 songs( downloaded them) but they are very good in my opinion...frantic is excellent...st.anger is grat...some kind of a monstre has an amazing riff....its a good album from what i have listened

Dude, You are the first guy i have come across who has said St Anger is a Good Album and may be(Hopefully) the last.
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"It's a dangerous business, going out of your door, You step into the Road, and if you don't keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to." - J.R.R. Tolkien, "Three Is Company," The Lord of the Rings
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04.09.2006 - 18:39
Insineratehymn
Account deleted
Written by Valar on 04.09.2006 at 17:07

Written by Guest on 04.09.2006 at 16:02

eh wtf? wlthough i am a dick for only listening the first 3 songs( downloaded them) but they are very good in my opinion...frantic is excellent...st.anger is grat...some kind of a monstre has an amazing riff....its a good album from what i have listened

Dude, You are the first guy i have come across who has said St Anger is a Good Album and may be(Hopefully) the last.


Of course, that is probably something that you could expect from a guy who has "Metallica_rules" as a username. It would imply that he likes all of Metallica's releases, especially "St. Anger".
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17.09.2006 - 05:07
Rating: 3
BurbotsRevenge
Foetal Butchery
... whats gone wrong??
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Dark death metal from Sydney: https://www.facebook.com/GolgothanRemains
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