St. Anger is Old Enough to Drive

"i86hotdogs" (i86hotdogs)
06/06/2019 at 09:15 • Filed to: None

Album turned 16 yesterday. Notorious for nabbing Metallica’s first grammy, no guitar solos, and trash can snares.

I for one, do not mind the album. It’s not a good Metallica album, but it’s a good hard rock/metal album.

DISCUSSION (19)

Decay buys too many beaters > i86hotdogs
06/06/2019 at 09:37

Just two more years before it can be tried as an adult and put away for good.

Ash78, voting early and often > i86hotdogs
06/06/2019 at 10:00

I just had to google this album to realize I remember absolutely nothing about it, so now I’m gonna check it out. To be honest, the very last Metallica album I can really remember was Load, and the last single I can remember was “Until it Sleeps”...everything after that feels like a blur. I truly had no idea they ever won a grammy. I just assumed Jethro Tull kept sweeping the awards.

Me singing post-1996 Metallica in the car:

Kinja'd!!!

jimz > i86hotdogs
06/06/2019 at 10:03

I remember hearing the title track on the radio before the album came out. they were hyping the fact they were playing a brand new Metallica song that afternoon. When it started, the first thing I thought was “that had better be a demo track or something.” But was it? No.

the funny thing is, some of the CDs came bundled with a DVD of an in-studio rehearsal of the entire album. The DVD sounded way better than the final recording.

i86hotdogs > Ash78, voting early and often
06/06/2019 at 10:03

There’s a whole documentary on how they found a bassist, and fought through whatever they were going through to write St. Anger. Really convinced me that Lars wouldn’t be fun to hang out with.

jimz > i86hotdogs
06/06/2019 at 10:06

didn’t Bob CockRock play bass on the album? I liked Trujillo’s style in Infectious Grooves and Suicidal Tendencies, and I have to imagine when they brought him in it had to have been disappointing to have to play on that album.

Ash78, voting early and often > i86hotdogs
06/06/2019 at 10:11

Yep, and in my vague memories Some Kind of Monster was just a concert compilation...I didn’t even realize it was a documentary, nor that Newsted left at the same time, nor that Hetfield went into rehab. Sounds like a helluva time to be recording...

I knew Lars wouldn’t be great to hang out with around the Napster fiasco :)

nermal > i86hotdogs
06/06/2019 at 10:25

I don’t think this was their worst offering to date. It at least stands out as unique, like every other album they’ve done before it.

The last two albums are much, much worse. Very generic, with lots of filler tracks.

i86hotdogs > Ash78, voting early and often
06/06/2019 at 10:48

Disc 1 was the doc; disc 2 was them live in San Fran I believe.

i86hotdogs > nermal
06/06/2019 at 10:51

It’s no Lulu, that’ s for sure!

Maybe it was because I was in high school, I enjoyed death magnetic. I’ll give it another listen as a mid 20's guy and see if I changed my mind.

I preordered their latest album after hearing their single Hardwired(!) to Self Destruct. That song as decent, along with one or two others on it. Otherwise, I can’t tell you the last time I’ve put that album on to listen to it.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > i86hotdogs
06/06/2019 at 12:00

Death Magnetic at least has grown on me. I can enjoy a few of the tracks thoroughly, if not the entire album all the time. It has some really cool sections and can be enjoyable. None of it really bothers me, its just kind of boring.

St Anger is a different story though. There are again some really cool sections that I could enjoy in a vac uum. But then there are plenty of other sections that are absolute trash and bother me to the point of just shutting it off.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > i86hotdogs
06/06/2019 at 12:05

If every song on the album was like 3 or 4 minutes shorter, it would be a pretty good album. I like what they were thinking and some of it is pretty cool. But it just gets repetitive way too quickly. And I am a huge fan of 20+ minute long prog rock epics so its not really an issue of length in general.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Decay buys too many beaters
06/06/2019 at 12:06

Is this supposed to be irony since the album is supposed to take place in San Que ntin prison anyways?

WiscoProud > Ash78, voting early and often
06/06/2019 at 12:27

I too am an old. I did like Death Magnetic though, but that’s likely due to it being a Rick Rubin record, whom i adore (despite his contribution to the loudness wars).

Decay buys too many beaters > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
06/06/2019 at 13:00

TIL
Did not know that, just know that it was the Metallica album that made me go “nope, I”m done with this”

user314 > i86hotdogs
06/06/2019 at 13:20

Turnabout being fair play, I will now point out EverQuest is still going 20 years later.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Decay buys too many beaters
06/06/2019 at 15:53

It’s worth a listen if you are “open minded” and ignore most of it. There are some really cool grungey parts that are just very uncharacteristic of Metallica. I cant listen to the whole album in one sitting without being mad that I wasted my time. But I have it loaded into my collection on shuffle and when one song comes on, I dont usually skip it. Sound recording quality is awful but the album itself is good enough to keep on rotation.

I have a friend who thinks his absolute favorite Metallica album is St Anger. He showed me the light as to why its at least interesting. Favorite is definitely not the case for me but its deserving some credit.

Decay buys too many beaters > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
06/06/2019 at 16:07

ehhh... I just can’t. As a former sound engineer, I find that amount of brickwall limiting physically painful to listen to.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Decay buys too many beaters
06/06/2019 at 19:26

Agreed on the physically painful part. Its why I dont rate it any higher than I do. I would probably listen to it more if it didnt sound like dogshit in terms of quality. I was speaking more towards it purely musically. Especially in the car it’s okay, since that is already a terrible soundstage anyways.

Decay buys too many beaters > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
06/06/2019 at 19:34

Funny, While we’re on the subject.
I was one of the first to rip the raw tracks for death magnetic off of GH3. The personal master I made myself back over winter break 2008 still gets regular listens.