Metallica - St. Anger

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Free Music Notes for St. Anger

Free Music Review: New Metallica for a new decade..... and a damn good one too.
Hit: 5 Stars

Personally, I feel this to be better than any of Metallica's albums from the 90's and stronger than their debut. It's not quite on the level of their 3 peak albums from the 80's, but little is. The performances are solid across the board. Lars Ulrich has got to be the most unjustly maligned drummer in the world. No he isn't a great drummer, but he is good, and his performance here is more than adequate. He isn't very technically complex, but he mixes up the beats well, and has got plenty of speed and power as well. Hammet and Hetfield are now just a rhythm duo, but they still do a great job. The riffs aren't terribly complex, but they are plenty memorable and nicely varied, and they add in some cool pedal effects. They also never forget that they have 2 guitars, and thus don't just mirror one another all the time. Bob's bass has subtle role, but it's effective and has a wonderful, dirty tone. The lyrics are generally mediocre, and occasionally pretty lousy, but I frankly don't give a damn about the lyrics unless they are excruciatingly dumb, which they aren't here. I also really enjoy Hetfield's vocals. They are very raw and break occasionally, but his vox were always much more about attitude than form, which he still has plenty of.

More than just about anything else, people are always bitchin' about the production. Yes, the snare drum has an extremely odd metallic ping and the mix is very thick with a strong emphasis on the mid-range sounds. Frankly, this just doesn't bother me at all. My biggest problem with the production is that the bass drums become a very distant, indistinct rumble when Lars kicks them up to full speed. But overall, I think the raw production makes it more intense and immediate, but it can still be dissected pretty readily if you put in the effort. And honestly, it just isn't all that rough. Go listen to some old Dischord recordings or Scream Bloody Gore and then tell me that this is too rough. Besides, bad production has never made a good album bad, nor has good production made a bad album good.

Simply put, I think this is an extremely good album, and I enjoy every track found here. Frantic is a fantastic opener, with the fastest, most staccato guitar work heard from Metallica in 15 years, and an initially odd, but very memorable chorus. There's hardly any point in me describing the title track since I'm sure we've all heard it but I'll go on anyway. It's another very strong track. It seems like it shouldn't be, considering how repetitive it is, but for whatever reason, the repetitiveness just doesn't bother me. James gives one of his best vocal performances here, and the guitars provide some beautiful groove-thrash riffage as well as some bizarre, spacey noodling. It also has some nice double bass. Some Kind of Monster is a vicious groove monster, which stands out as the heaviest and one of the very best tracks on the album. Dirty Window kicks the speed back up with some frenetic drumming and the catchiest main riff on the album. Another favorite. Invisible Kid is the biggest misstep on the album, and I still like it. It doesn't justify its 8 ½ minute length, and the bridge is pretty weird, but it's still enjoyable overall with another very memorable main riff.(though it is repeated a bit too much) My World has a kinda weak chorus, but everything else about it is good, particularly the final section and the crushing riff just after the chorus. Shoot Me Again is an unusual track, which contains some of the southern flavor of the Loads, but it's better than just about anything on either of those albums and has the best, most memorable chorus on the album. Sweet Amber again is somewhat southern tinged, and it's an especially schizophrenic track, with many breaks and another excellent main riff. The Unnamed Feeling is next. It's a slow, grinding dirge, with some very effective clean parts as well and a great vocal performance. Another favorite. Purify is the most aggressive track found here, and comes off as sort of a mix of Frantic and Dirty Window. It's perhaps not as well written as some of the other tracks but its sheer visceral intensity makes it more than worth while. It closes with the epic All Within My Hands. This track is perhaps my favorite on the album, with a fantastic scope ranging from gentler, clean section mixed with some thrash riffs and mosh riffs alongside another great chorus.

All in all, I think this is a great album. Metallica has come up with something new once again, and I like it. Buy it, and find out if you do.(P.S. the DVD is very cool too.)

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