[.ca] St. Anger

From Amazon.com:
Never underestimate the regenerative powers of Metallica. Following the stripped-down Load and Re-Load, they've returned to the raw, vitriolic savagery of their earlier canon, using 1984's Ride the Lightning as a template for St. Anger. The title track provides the psychic lynchpin of the album by combining the bombast and defiance of the band's earliest high-water marks with more deliberate lyrics and emotional nakedness. Equally cathartic is "Some Kind of Monster," a lumbering beast of a song that declares, "This is the voice of silence no more." Despite that claim, there's an economy to these lyrics; James Hetfield's raw-toothed growl only occasionally punctuates the menacing soundscapes. In fact, "Dirty Windows," the standout track here, is a shimmering five-minute instrumental that's free of the baroque trappings that sometimes clutter the Metallica landscape. --Jaan Uhelszki

Chronique amazon.fr:
Avant la sortie de St. Anger en 2003, la bande de James Hetfield n'a publié pendant longtemps aucun album de la trempe de l'excellent Master Of Puppets, enchaînant des disques plus ou moins aboutis, où des invités talentueux venaient jouer les utilités (Marianne Faithfull) quand ce n'était pas le répertoire qui était exclusivement constitué de reprises (de Nick Cave, Killing Joke, etc., sur Garage Inc. par exemple). Là, les Californiens sont au meilleur de leur forme, alignant des morceaux tous plus puissants les uns que les autres, qui doivent notamment beaucoup à Robert Trujillo qui a joué avec Suicidal Tendencies, mais aussi au guitariste originel Kirk Hammett. Impeccable, la production installe Metallica comme un des héritiers potentiels les plus dignes du Black Sabbath des quatre premiers opus. --Hervé Comte

If you are looking for the worst album from Metallica- this is the album for you!!:
Frantic, St. Anger and That Unnamed Feeling are the best songs on this album. However, this album fails to measure up to the Black Album, Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets. St. Anger is possibly the worst album from Metallica. I prefer the Black Album. It is the best album from Metallica. Metallica has released an album of noise. Nothing more than noise. It doesn't have the same appeal or dynamic as Ride the Lightning and it certainly doesn't measure up to the Black Album or Master of Puppets- which is the best metal of all-time. Sure, this album debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 album chart- only because of the name. This gets my vote as the worst Metallica album. It's horrible.

An interesting experiment...:
In this album, you can hear a band that is very much in transition. After the commercialism that they embraced during the 90's they sound like they are trying to become cutting edge again. The problem is that they have no idea what cutting edge is anymore. As a result, this album at times is nothing more than a cheap imitation of what was considered cutting edge at the time. With that said, there are a lot of great and interesting riffs (BUT NO GUITAR SOLOS!) that we've all heard from other bands before - like Korn for instance... And we also have some bizarre choices for production that make the album have a unique sound but, more often than not, an extremely annoying one. Metallica fans should also consider the circumstances under which this album was conceived... Jason had just left the band and BOB F'n Rock was filling in on the album? WTF? Anybody that's seen "Some Kind Of Monster" would also realize that James was going through rehab at the time and was arguing with Lars like they were a married couple. Again, WTF? With all of this said, the album still manages to churn out some great tracks. Check out "Frantic", "Invisible Kid", "Some Kind of Monster", "St. Anger", and "Dirty Window". While a little corny at times through all of the smoke and debris that once was a great band you can still hear the embers crackle of what we once loved. Let's hope that with a new producer (Rick Ruben) and a bass player (Robert Trujillo) that has a style similar style to Cliff Burton that this band will "Jump back into the fire"! Until then, I give this album three stars and recommend it only for the true and loyal Metallica fans. "Load" album fans be warned!

Misplaced Blame:
Some people seem to be bashing Robert Trujillo and I'd bet most of the people dumping on him have no idea who he is. He was part of Suicidal Tendencies, who were a significant metal band in the 90s (Lights, Camera, Revolution is a classic album and one of my all-time faves), as well as a spinoff band called Infectious Grooves (I think I still have their first two cassettes around here somewhere), and later being a bassist for Ozzy's band. That's some of his background but the point is he did not play on St. Anger, the producer Bob Rock did. It says in the liner notes: :"An immeasurable amount of love & respect goes to our brother, Bob Rock, for handling the bass playing and preserving us as a four-piece band during the recording of this album." And in the music video for the song Some Kind Of Monster you can briefly see Bob playing bass. So those of you complaining about the bass on the album you're blaming the wrong guy as Robert was hired after the album had already been recorded. Also I thought I say a few words about the album itself: it's nowhere near what it could have been but not quite as bad a lot of people make it out to be. I think it was experimental and it sounds to me like they're trying to get heavier and faster again but still trying to hold onto the groove that turned a lot of new people into Metallica fans in the 90s. They try to incorporate a lot of tempo and riff changes like they did so well in Puppets and Justice but while the intent is there the execution is awkward and they make the songs sound unsynchronized and disjointed. After having listened to it quite a few times since I first bought it I do like some of the riffs but overall it's not a great record. I still listen to the whole album from time to time but have to admit it's my least favorite Metallica album. I'm looking forward to the next album, Rick Rubin will be producing so we'll see if he can turn them back on a familiar path and tighten things up.

BRING BACK NEWSTED!!!:
Don't bother with this album!!!! St. Anger & Unnamed feeling are pretty good songs, but Oh my what has happened to Metallica. Don't get me wrong I am a huge fan and have gone to many concerts in the past, but they have just fallen completely. Since the departure of Newsted I have no ambition to "hit up" a concert because I know I'm not going to hear the geat vocals of Seek & Destroy & Creeping Death by Newsted. And now with this disaster they've realeased, even James can't seem to make his lyrics in sync with a full song. "SHOOT ME AGAIN" My 3 year old newphie could write that song with a crayon for cryin out loud. Oh and the absolute worst song "Purify". What in the Heck is that crap!! This is no old or new school Metallica. This is a Cry out, WE NEED NEWSTED BACK!!!! Rated - UNgiggidy

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