Yesterday morning, I made a drastic decision, a decision which may shock and scare some of you loyal readers, especially those that know me well. After much hemming and hawing, much tapping of fingers, stroking of chin, and much justifying, I made the decision to purchase - wait for it - the new Metallica album. (I humbly admit I stuck my foot in my mouth a few days ago when denouncing the new Metallica album on a thread here on Blogcritics.) Yes, that's right, just days ago I was lamenting the death of a band I grew up with, reeling from hearing that horrible snare Lars is using, making fun of James Hetfield's weak singing, poking at the plodding rhythms and overlong songs. After spending several days with a set of mp3s ripped from the commercial release (a fact which would send Lars into convulsions), I found that this gamely, unlovely new Metallica sound had wedged itself in all the odd spaces in my brain I reserve for those things which I inexplicably love, like
Yes, it's overlong, yes it's overdone, yes, it's cheesy in spots, and yes, it doesn't measure up to the Metallica of the past (it does, however, please much more than either of the Load albums did - two spotty albums that, combined, would have probably made one quite good album.) What got me was that I felt that I was giving in to the anti-hype. As bad as falling for the hype that comes out with a major release is falling victim to the unavoidable anti-hype. For every rave review, there is an uncountable number of "long time fans" who fight back, armed with examples of past greatness from the band's back catalog to refute any claims of high moments . And it's so easy to join into that - it's so easy to be negative, and it's fun, too. Metallica have made fools of themselves in the past 8 years or so, adopting the oh-so-alternative look by getting piercings in weird places, wearing dark eye-makeup, and, of course, cutting the long metal-head hair, then savagely attacking fans who downloaded the music. It's easy to let those political and stylistic choices affect your feelings about a band. But as a self-appointed music critic, it's not my job to take the easy route. I put aside my distate for the occasional behaviors of members of Metallica, put aside my memories of . . . And Justice For All and Master Of Puppets, and attempted to listen to St. Anger as if I'd never heard this band before, as if they had no past to live up to.
Article comments
1 - Z
Thank you. You took the words right out of my head. I'm glad someone finally write a great review. Yes, it's not the same Metallica, but how does that mean it sucks? I enjoy it just as much as I enjoy any and every Metallica album ever released. All fans and those Metalli-haters should read this.
2 - Marty Dodge
Why its a horrible album? The sound sucks, James' sound rubbish, no guitar solos and Lar's drums sound like tin cans. Don't shoot the messenger, most people I have talked to: either critics, fans or metal music types all think its rubbish.
I have the compilation with the first ever Metallica track, that is how long I have listened to them. Metallica should have come out with a more "standard" metal album after Load/Re-load. This was a mistake that is just as bad as the worst of their stuff.
I have given it more chances and its still rubbish. My advice, sod this and go get the new Voivod instead.
3 - Tom Johnson
We'll have agree to disagree on the Metallica issue, but I happily do agree about the new Voivod - picked it up this weekend and loved it from the get-go. Picks up where The Outer Limits left off, and that was a very good place in itself.
4 - Eric Olsen
This is very thoughtful and well done. I am actually listening to the CD for a story and I have NEVER been a fan, but I like it pretty well. It kind of reminds me of Helmet, who I always loved.
5 - Tom Johnson
Thanks Eric. I wasn't going to review this album after I initially heard it - I didn't want to add my voice to the chorus of negativity that seems to be surrounding this album. I'm glad I didn't, because I *really* would have been doing some major retracting. I feel kind of like the sore thumb sticking out in favor of the album, but I'm glad there are a few others out there, too.
And, I must add to my review - as pig-headed as Lars has been about file-sharing of their studio material, I think it is VERY cool that they're giving fans free access to full mp3 concerts. I'm not really a fan of mp3s, but if they're the only source available, I can put my issues aside. I listened to bootlegs that were from second-generation cassettes for years and never complained. I can put up with the compression/distortion of mp3 after that.
6 - Al Barger
What would be the couple of best songs on the album, so I'll know what to download? I've never been much of a Metallica fan (not much in the way of actual SONGS outside of the black album), but perhaps they will surprise me.
7 - Tom Johnson
Al, I'd suggest "Frantic," "Dirty Window," and "All Within My Hands" for a good taster of the album. (I know, that's three.) This album, from what I've seen, is much more of a dividing factor than either Load album was, which is surprising considering that, aside from the harsh production, this album is far superior and much, much more aggressive than anything off of those two. People either seem to love it or hate it, but there's few, if any, who are between the two poles.
8 - james
hey, i just wanted to say that metallica is my over all favorite band and i respect evrything they hav accomplished, the only thing i hav to say is tht St.Anger may be underproduced n the quality isnt too great, but it shows that they are not afraid to try something new, and to b honest, i thought reload was the shittiest, most worst album frum them ive evr heard, besides tht every allbum is great, and u shouldve went into St.Anger with an open mind in the first place, neway thts all i gotta say
9 - Pissed Off
I see NOTHING wrong with St.Anger. People have to realize that it was created with a "garage band" sound in mind. There was no editing done to the songs, no changing anything. There are no audio enhancements that you'd find on most any other cd released by any artist. The boys of Metallica are Gods of Metal music - BTW - "marty dodge" Bite Me.