Am I REALLY the only person here who really likes St Anger??

no. no, even the loser high school kid would think it's lame.

Actually, from the tracks I dl'ed/heard on the radio, I don't think it's nearly as bad as people are making it out to be (or nearly as good as their old stuff), but I'm just too far past the point I where I could care.

ProTools doesn't automatically mean a lot of processing. Some peoples ideas of digital recording really are in the stone age.

Metal kids, eh?

(Where the fuck am I going with this?)

I mean, Jesus H fucking Shipman, how the bloody hell is this car crash of a species ever supposed to invent teleporters if they can't get their head around digital audio? There is an absolutely infinite sea of reality to explore out there people! (here's where. Teleportation, telepathy, time travel, dimensions as many as stars, astral projection, virtual realities, artificial realities, the God Zeus made real by a concoction of chance and magic, and here we are, HERE WE ARE in 2003 with not even a want to understand the simplicities of a ProTools M-box.

"Okay pay attention you fucks - there's this little register in the sonic spectrum called BASS. I suggest you try working with that shit sometime, and maybe your next record won't sound like runny morning-after-chili turds dropping into a cardboard fucking box."

Funny, that's a Pro-Tools preset.

That said, the record still isn't anywhere close to Ride the Lightning and ... And Justice For All.

I RAGE I GLAZE I HURT I HATE I HATE IT ALL WHY WHY WHY ME I CANNOT SLEEP WITH A HEAD LIKE THIS I WANNA CRY I WANNA SCREAM

Then again, looking at peoples attitudes ProTools I doubt we'd ever have the bollocks to go through with it. Face it people, there's two choices here. One, die with our hands around our throats in a sea of toxic air and concrete. Two, go out like the movie Armageddon except WE PLAY THE ASTEROID. Which sounds best to you?

― Lynskey (Lynskey), Tuesday, November 11, 2003 4:43 PM (6 years ago) Bookmark

re-listening to this now in toto on YouTube and, man, for all its faults i like this record a lot

St. Anger sucked because it essentially sounded like James, Lars, and Kirk got snowed in from a vacation trip, and James suggested everyone pick up their instruments and jam for a little while, and then they decided to turn the tape recorder on, and oh then they decidedto release it as an album.

The tracks are all overlong, for no apparent reason, as it is not like most of the songs don't beat the same few riffs into the ground over and over rather than adding some colorful bridges or interludes. James's voice still sounds awful -- after he gave up the vocal coach his grunt 'n roar turned into a croak 'n yodel because he fucked up his voice and now he's got the most annoying voice on the planet.

The album was a gimmick, ostensibly Metallica saying they were "returning to their roots" merely because they're recording something loud and heavy, of course forgetting that the garage-band post-thrash they were playing was in not in the same league at their old material.

Some of the songs just had outright weird songwriting. I mean "Invisible Kid" must have the oddest, least catchy metal chorus ever committed to audio. "Some Kind of Monster" meanders nauseatingly for way too long without any type of hook. "Frantic"'s chorus has an odd vocal harmony to it which makes little sense in context of the song. Truth be told, the only two songs I could say I "liked" on this album were "Dirty Window" (which actually did rock a little) and the title track, even though I know deep down I shouldn't have liked that one.

It should also be noted that I'm not a big fan of Death Magnetic. It's certainly a big improvement and contains actual songs, but James still sounds awful and I still find the songwriting to be quite boring. I'm convinced that Metallica forgot how to write music years ago and forged an elaborate plan to deliberately get so terrible that years later, a mediocre album would be touted as their critically acclaimed return to form by principle of relativity.

This album is nowhere nearas bad as people make it out to be. Not great by any stretch, but it has its moments. Plus it's a fascinating listen today, because we all know now it's the sound of a band so hopelessly, creatively lost, and that everything all came to a head on an incredible mess of a record.

Although Death Magnetic is a very good album, St. Anger would be a lot more fun to dissect.

completely w/ Adrien 100%.

i listened to this straight through last night and, man, it's such a weird piece of work, and for all the cringeworthy aspects of it, i still really like it

you deserve a medal for making it through the whole thing. i only managed that a few times before I sold it.

I haven't listened to it straight through since their publicist played it for me at the Elektra offices.

irl lols & clapping my hands @ Phil's post

definitely not something i'm interested in doing every day, or even every few months, really, but it was nice to revisit. i remember being so excited for its coming out way back in 2003. man, it has its moments

xpost -- And were you both suppressing giggles?

Get the fuck out of here
I just wanna get the fuck away from me
I rage, I glaze, I hurt, I hate
I hate it all, why why why me?

I cannot sleep with a head like this
I wanna cry, I wanna scream
I rage, I glaze, I hurt, I hate
I wanna hate it all away

That reads like a Raunchy Young Lepers parody of a Metallica song.

me too. well timed Ned!

\(^o^)/

i feel like i should bump this at least once a year, at least

so i'm listening to some of this again and i still like it -- what a classic mess

"can't you help me be uncrazy"

i've seen metallica in concert twice, BOTH TIMES post-St. Anger (2003, 2004)

the best Metallica album by far.

Loved the dustbin drums.

Hardcore

i've seen metallica in concert twice, BOTH TIMES post-St. Anger (2003, 2004)

― markers, Friday, May 6, 2011 2:04 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

2008 and 2011 for me! o/

I tried to go see Metallica in 1998, but the clusterfuck of a disaster trying to get into the ONE vehicle gate at the Winnebago County Fairgrounds meant we got in to the show when they were playing "One", a little more than 2/3rds into the show.

I saw them IN THE ROUND, Load-era. Don't remember much about the music but the stage set-up was fun. Everything fell apart, a guy ran across the stage on fire, and then they all played "Battery" with teeny amps under bare lightbulbs to prove how real they were.

corrosion of conformity opened

i've seen metallica in concert twice, BOTH TIMES post-St. Anger (2003, 2004)

― markers, Friday, May 6, 2011 2:04 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

2008 and 2011 for me! o/

― chairfuckers union (Whiney G. Weingarten), Friday, May 6, 2011 3:22 PM

\o

i saw em in 1997 and 1999. they were far better the second time, with a much less predictable setlist.

St. Anger might just be the worst excrement metal's ever been subjected to

Saw 'em twice on the most recent tour. (Will be skipping the Big Four Yankee Stadium thing.) Liked the first show (Newark) better than the second (MSG). Each time they had one great opening act (Newark: The Sword, NYC: Lamb of God) and one lame opening act (Newark: Machine Head, NYC: Volbeat). I liked that they were playing full versions of ...And Justice For All songs, instead of the medley they did on the live box.

the main reason I liked the 1999 show so much is that they played Blackened, which at the time, they hadn't played (regularly at least) in ten years.

YOU FLUSH IT OUT! YOU FLUSH IT OUT! THE POOS IN THE TOILET

the only songs i really fuck w/ from this one are the title track and Dirty Window

anybody else heard this? the songwriting still sucks but this cover version is way better than the real thing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lU-UI3_6HcM

over a year later, and I still like it. Just put it on to get myself psyched up for the DVD release of Some Kind of Monster. It's going to be one of those records that is recognized, ten years from now, for being far better than people gave it credit for upon release.
― Overbite (Roger Fidelity), lunes 10 de enero de 2005 1:27 (twelve years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

It's been twelve years and people still think this is fucking terrible

yeah but look at who made the original statement

The drum sound is ace, best idea they had in years.
― Siegbran (eofor)

...

Hahaha I kind of like the drums. Not the sound obviously they sound like shit. But how insane it is to release them like this, they were probably just exhausted and said fuck it.

they're right on the verge of so bad they're good, but they didn't quite get there

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0NX1VLUa0w

last few years must've made me dumber bc i kinda love this album now

the riffs are just so gnarly

- "Legendary album. Panned by critics and fans when it was released, but has stood the tests of time to become known as one of their greatest."

- "No kidding. Makes you almost forget that Lou Reed was once in another band."

- "Lou Reed? What album are you talking about?"

lol i'm glad i'm not the only one who does that

yeah I haven’t dug deep into this album but it certainly isn’t bad. I’ve really 180d on load, too.

well maybe not 180 maybe more like 90-120

Now that they've made plenty of returns to thrash, I think we can all admit that they were really trying with the songwriting on Load and there are some monster hooks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsK_YrRoByY