St. Anger isn't bad

[plums]

9 hours ago, esselfortium said:

This thread got me to listen to the opening track from St Anger for the first time and while I kinda laughed at the snare tone I was more stunned by the way they sidechained it to the kick so it just cuts out very abruptly in a bunch of places.

I haven't listened to St. Anger since it came out and I went back to hear this, and, what the hell? Why would you do this? It really does sound like a fan-made "enhanced" version where someone just put a heavy compressor on the whole mix.

 

The snare tone would be cool for some types of music, but not this, and not for a whole album.

[jazzmaster9]

Its definitely not one of their best album, But I still do enjoy listening to it. they gave ZERO FUCKS about it sounding polished which i respect and is exactly what it says on the tin, Anger.

[Murdoch]

Why am I not surprised a caveman likes an album where the drums sound like a coked up Neanderthal banging on tins with various blunt objects?

[Martin Howe]

It's pretty good, but what the hell is a cloud that swallows trust?

[Xim]

I tried to get into it. But I mean, I'm used to having the drummer do the beat part.

[jointritual]

I think the removal of guitar solos because they weren’t fashionable at the time is one of the most unforgivable aspects of this album, amongst others obviously. 

[Eon Toad]

The album isn't as bad as it's made out to be. In fact, I don't think it would take much work to make it an enjoyable album. The problem is that the raw sound, the constant mid pace, the repetitive lyrics, and meandering song lengths all combine to make for a listen that gets really grating over time.

 

I could easily picture a recut of St Anger where it's a lean as hell 40-45 minute album.

[Uncle 80]

I heard a fan-made cover of "Frantic" on YouTube that was made to sound as close as possible to Metallica's sound [without the stupid sound design choices of the actual album], and that was a decent listen. If the original album had a sound like that, not ruined by the questionable production/mix, then some songs would probably be quite listenable. But "Death Magnetic" was even worse, as you couldn't turn the volume up to more than a few Db before the sound was totally distorted. I gave up on Metallica after that one, and haven't even heard any of their albums since "Death.." Every now and then I'll fish out "Master.." again, but I'm basically done with the whole band. They either screw up the production or their songs every time - Their last solid effort was Load/Reload. Those two are WAY better than their "reputation".

 

Final side note; I also enjoy not listening to Megadeth. My God, the constant whine...

Edited May 30 by Uncle 80

[JoJo_BadDoom]

I don't like the album, but not because of the production - I kinda like that. Metallica have a problem with songs and / or albums that are longer than they need to be, getting boring as a result. They've had this problem to varying degrees since Master of Puppets

[Maximum Matt]

Epically shite album

[Austrian Oak]

No it is not true!

[Man of Doom]

Welp, time for my blazing hot take, as someone who had been listening to Metallica since I was literally about two or three:

 

 

St. Anger needed to exist if Metallica was going to continue.

 

Going off of Some Kind of Monster (among other things), it was clear that even with the successes of Load/ReLoad/S&M, Metallica was very much falling apart as a band.

I’m talking things ranging from Jason Newsted’s sudden departure, to the Napster shitshow, and generally just the band members themselves having to grow up to raise families because the carefree days of being a rockstar were largely over.

 

And honestly, I get it. Shit happens, and sometimes when it rains, it goes into a torrential downpour that doesn’t stop for a very long time (can confirm this from firsthand experience).

Hell, not even having Fuck You Money can automatically stop the rain from coming all the same.

 

And as a result, St. Anger was born pretty much to spill everything out there.

 

 

Your mileage may vary, but aside from loudness war issues, Death Magnetic is actually pretty serviceable. Not only that, Hardwired to Self-Destruct is pretty much the closest we’re getting to a full return to form.

That said, I’m still struggling how to feel about 72 Seasons mainly because it’s the one where you really start to be reminded of how long the band has been around.

 

And it does help that the band seems to have mellowed out considerably after dealing with almost an entire decade of controversies and an uncertain future.

 

 

I know a lot of people are going to disagree with me, but I’d much rather live in a world where we did get works past St. Anger, rather than a world that ended up with “Metallica is officially no more at the turn of the millennium”.
 

 

As for St. Anger itself:

 

It’s an extremely messy album, and one that could’ve benefited from more solos and less Berserk 2016 CLANGs.

That said, there’s something about it that actually does a very good job of capturing the very raw feelings behind extremely negative emotions, ranging from unrelenting frustration over unresolved trauma (Invisible Kid) to suicidal despair over how things turned out to be (The Unnamed Feeling).

And yes, there is no shortage of anger here too.

 

I would not be opposed at all to an official re-recording of this album, given that not only do the redone versions of “Dirty Window” and “All Within My Hands” sound actually decent, it would be nice to explore the album again from a much clearer headspace.

 

(also I’m surprised that “MY LIFESTYLE DETERMINES MY DEATHSTYLE” and “I’M MADLY IN ANGER WITH YOUUUUUUU” still hasn’t become a full-blown meme yet)

Edited June 6 by Man of Doom

[unerxai]

I don't mind the drum sound that much, I think it gives the album a certain personality. But James angsty vocals are weird, and sound dishonest to me, like he's pretending too much.

 

I kinda like the album. It has good moments, and the length and repetitiveness of the tracks make it a nice album to zone out to.

I recommend getting the CD/DVD release. It was them performing all the songs (iirc) in the studio and they sound different. Plus you see James playing a 7 string which is cool and bizarre.

Edited June 6 by unerxai

[DoktorDeth]

Their first 5 albums should belong on a golden plaque (well And Justice and Puppets deserve a platinum plaque), then after the Black album they royally shit the bed with Load (which was decent at best), Reload and St. Anger. The snare sounds like Lars was constantly hitting a cast iron pot against James' head, probably also causing the lyrical problems as well. I mean Purify is one of the most annoying and worst written songs they've ever made and it sounds like James is having a stroke. And after that, it's just been middling with the exception of Death Magnetic (which is actually a solid album if the audio didn't have more clipping issues than Sonic 06.) and Hardwired and 72 are just...meh. but, I'd still rather listen to St.Anger over...the album that shall not be spoken.

[Maximum Matt]

Quick side rant about Hardwired.... To Self-Parody - one thing that annoyed the hell out of me was that they had to make it a double album, when it could've easily fit on one CD (it's actually shorter than Load), I bet that was Lars' idea because they just HAD to have a double studio album like Physical Graffiti or The Wall or something like that.  Just seemed so arbitrary and unnecessary.  

Still, it's better than 72 Seasonings

[LegendaryEevee]

@Grungo   St Anger is not bad it's snare-tastic \m/  I have performed quite a few songs from that album

Edited June 9 by LegendaryEevee

[Xcalibur]

Contrarianism: the thread. Yes, St. Anger is comically bad, it was trashbags 20 years ago, and still is now. It sounds flat out amateurish, and putting a bunch of prison doods in the music video doesn't make up for that. Speaking of myspace, I'd unironically rather listen to the Millionaires, lol.

 

On 5/25/2024 at 6:45 PM, DSC said:

Yeah, I swear, the way you can just write the dumbest, most unimaginably fucking stupid shit on the YT comments section and somehow get hundreds of likes bugs me to no end. Well, I know at least they're just worthless internet points, but still, idiocy being rewarded and celebrated just leaves me annoyed as hell.

 

Keep in mind, a fair number of comments come from bots & shills. Not saying those ones are in particular, but it happens.

[Koko Ricky]

On 5/24/2024 at 9:03 PM, Grungo said:

you're just a buncha haters

 

Or, for people like me, it's just boring. I don't really vibe with the riffs or really anything musical in that album. Then again, Metallica's style in general doesn't seem to tickle anything for me. 

Edited June 11 by Koko Ricky

[Craneo]

ok, I relistened to the original album again after some years and not being 14 anymore, it isn't bad lol

now I kinda want a Snare Drum soundfont for Doom, for shits and giggles, call it Angerfont.