Big thanks to the moderator that approved my thread! I think I'll begin by reviewing this album. I'll give some basic information and then the full review after that. Before that though I must say that Im not experienced in reviewing albums so forgive me if I say wrong things in the review or if the review itself sounds a bit stupid.
Now lets begin!
Track Listing:
1. Frantic
2. St. Anger
3. Some Kind of Monster
4. Dirty Window
5. Invisible Kid
6. My World
7. Shoot Me Again
8. Sweet Amber
9. The Unnamed Feeling
10. Purify
11. All Withing my Hands
Album: St. Anger
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Stars
Artist: Metallica
Year of Release: 2003
Genre: Heavy Metal, Speed Metal
Full Review: Metallica's St Anger is quite an odd album compared to the rest of Metallica's discography, especially the earlier albums. The sound is modern, the production is raw, and the drums sound like they are made of pure steel. You wont find a single guitar solo on this album, though that isnt necessarily a bad thing. The combination of all these things, along with the overall lengthy duration of the album give it a unique feel that isnt present in any of Metallica's other albums. There also comes a very common question regarding the album - why is it that way? What were Metallica thinking when recording it? The answer is pretty clear, at least for me - they wanted to spread their wings and try something new!
A lot of people tend to skip this Metallica album and regard it as crappy and a waste of time listening to. I dont agree with that, although it does have a point. It is a difficult mission to listen to this album until the end. At a duration of over 70 minutes and very little variety in the songs, as well as the things mentioned at the beginning of the review, it's going to be more of a hassle than enjoyment listening to St. Anger. But that isnt necessarily a bad thing either - I personally loved the new sound and the fact that Metallica are trying something new can be very exciting. This isnt an album to listen to regularly, though. Furthermore, the album appears to give a wrong impression of the band for first time listeners, which is kinda disappointing, as any Metallica album other than St. Anger is a completely different world and a listening experience compared to St. Anger. For those of you who have listened to Metallica's early albums as a pure thrash metal band(although with some progressive elements here and there), you are sure aware that an album like St. Anger is nothing like Ride The Lightning or Master of Puppets, two landmark albums of the Thrash Metal genre. But St. Anger is also not exactly Thrash Metal - it is more like normal Metal with Speed metal touches here and there.
In terms of the album's general theme and mood present in much of the songs, its pretty epic. When you hear lyrics like "Shoot me again I aint dead yet" it makes you(or me personally, at least) feel like you're listening to a gunfight between James Hetfield and an unknown opponent. Overall, St. Anger can be a great album but there's a time and place when to listen to it to understand what Metallica achieved here.