ST. ANGER

I feel bad for this album. It gets NO love at all. Old school Metallica fans hate it...well because it is anything past "And Justice for All" and new school fans hate it because it sounds so different. This is NOT one of their best albums. In fact I rank it #6 (behind their first four, and Death Magnetic). That being said, I do not think this is one of their worst. In fact, I think it is an alright album.

First, I can not blame a band for changing it up once in a while, (this is a progressive site after all). Metallica wanted to make something different, that's exactly what they did, and I welcome it. In fact, I like it! This album is really heavy and dirty sounding. How metal is that?

Another piece of criticism is "the drums sound like crap". I guess this is personal preference, and while the over whelming majority agree.....I do not. I like the drums. I think the snare sounds cool. Perhaps the biggest complaint I hear is "there are no solos". Again, I like this. They wanted a slow, heavy, dirty album with an old school "garage" feel to it. That is exactly what they made, and solo's would have taken away from that. Besides, they did not want solo's and later said they thought about adding some, but it would have been forced. Do we want this album sounding any "worse" than it does already with forced solos?

While I like the feel, and sound, of this album there are some major problems. I like the way the drums sound, but Lars is flat out bad. I think he is a mediocre drummer, but hey....I guess he gets the job done. Not on St. Anger though. His drumming is just bad, and in some songs there are painfully long sections where he is off beat, (and I'm guessing this is NOT on purpose...and if so he does not do a good job). It is very painful to listen to.

The songs are way to long. You could take many of these songs and cut them in half. Finally, the lyrics. I must agree again with the majority. The lyrics are BAD. However, at least they are real. They are not some generic rock lyrics, but deal with personal struggles, (especially James' alcohol addiction). OK, this is nothing new...but it is real. They are dealing with their past problems.

This album starts out fairly well. Frantic, St. Anger, and Some Kind of Monster are all good songs. And they actually have a bit of progressiveness to them! Although St. Anger and Some Kind of Monster are too long. Invisible Kid is another good song. Again, heavy and I actually really like James' vocals in the quieter sections.

Sweet Amber begins, well sweet. Then goes into the heavy. A cool sounding song. Purify is not bad, and Invisible Kid is also not bad, but again way too long. Dirty Window is a good song, and a bit progressive.

So, what do I have to say about this album. Under rated! It is not their best, by a long shot. However, all the flak it takes is undeserving. It is a slow, heavy, dirty feeling album. If you are not into a grungy, "garage" feel then I guess you won't like it. However, I do. It has a great feel to it. Besides, this is the end of their "sellout" days. There generic, hard rock albums were tossed out the window in favor of metal again. Maybe it is not focused, but they clearly were done with Bob Rock and their new sound.

A decent album, with an old school, heavy feel. The vocals are bad, (but real) a lot of the songs are too long, and some are just bad sounding. However, a lot are good sounding, and even a BIT progressive. If you are not into metal then avoid, but if you are I say you should listen to this album with an OPEN MIND!

THREE STARS!