Metallica - St. Anger
|
List Price: Our Price: $11.79 You Save: $7.19 (38%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Music CD See more new music releases 
|
|---|
Canadian Music Store
Music Reviews of St. Anger
Music Review: First of all...
Rating: 1 Stars
....you need to realize that Metallica has LOST their flame a LOOOONG time ago. I would speculate that it was during their BLACK album that their flame went out. They are a piss poor representation of American Metal, and they do not deserve all the praise that they get. Sure, they first three albums were awesome, riff-tastic, solo monsters, but everything after that is horrible, putrid vomit that is spewed forth and soaked up by angry kids who have NO idea what REAL metal is.
Bands like Opeth, Tool, Mastodon, Chimera and the Deftones eat bands like Metallica for breakfast and then poop them out into their "musical reject" outhouse.
Whatever credibility and musical mastery Metallica had was lost with their original bass player.
Everyone is going to hate me for this, but its the truth. Everyone thinks Metallica is "such great music", when actually they release and re-release the same riffs and songs and concepts over and over and over again, cover some old songs, and re-release the same concepts again. It's literally un-believeable that people buy into them.
All of the critics and reviews stated that "St. Anger" was Metallica's attempt to go back to their older material. First of all, why do you think Metallica would want to do that? Maybe because all of the albums after the Black album have been utter garbage? Hmmmm...
St. Anger sounds nothing like their older material. They compare this to "...and justice for all"????!?!? That obviously shows that none of the critics or reviewers had "actually" heard St. Anger, and were merely trying to hype the album up for some wierd, and unknown reason.
St. Anger is one of the WORST albums I have heard ever! And many die-hard Metallica fans agree with that statement. This album literally sucks! Each song is worse than anything CREED has ever done, and I HATE Creed with a passion. This album is just that bad! James' vocals are horrid and a sorry excuse for singing, not to mention the lyrics are pointless and too angry to have any point to them.
The guitar licks are average at best, drums are boring, bass is boring. Overall, this album is boring.
I have to say, I have never been a fan of Metallica, but I do recognize that they did, once long ago have talent.
That time, is long gone though. Metallica survives mainly off of their fans buying up their mechandise and selling out their shows, but that says nothing about their true talent. No one goes to their show to hear their NEW stuff, everyone wants to hear "Stone Cold Crazy" or "Enter Sandman", or anything off of their first three albums.
Seriously I could go on and on about how BAD St. Anger is. It is literally the WORST album to ever come out of our generation. James and co. are old and they need to realize that they just don't rock anymore. Sorry guys..try Smooth Jazz or something, but give your American Metal a rest, it just don't work anymore.
Albums like "Load" and "Re-Load" were horrible albums that truly showed the bands age. More like POP rock than Metal. And they were basically the same album! There was literally nothing special about those albums at all. They were bland and un-interesting pieces of musical trash that everyone hailed as "awesome".
Although St.Anger is a horrid excuse for Metal or Rock, this was by far not their worst decision. Making a "Unforgiven" part two was by far the most stupid idea ever thought up by any human. It was THE SAME SONG!!! And worse yet, people bought into it like it was the friggin' Holy Grail!
Other strange acts of idiocy would have to be their stupid attempt to "protect" their precious music by fighting against downloaders the world over. But what is really funny, is that St. Anger and generally most of their music is not even worth downloading! Sorry guys, I wouldn't even want to steal your music.
St. Anger is Metallica's feeble attempt to still be viewed as "harcore" by their fans and by everyone. Although there may be hard elements to this album, this album is FAR from "Hardcore".
It just goes to show that even though you may have piles of money and fans galore and merchandise up the pie hole, you can still release paper thin albums such as St. Anger and fools will still purchase it and hail it as the next best thing.
Music Review: First of all...
Rating: 1 Stars
....you need to realize that Metallica has LOST their flame a LOOOONG time ago. I would speculate that it was during their BLACK album that their flame went out. They are a piss poor representation of American Metal, and they do not deserve all the praise that they get. Sure, they first three albums were awesome, riff-tastic, solo monsters, but everything after that is horrible, putrid vomit that is spewed forth and soaked up by angry kids who have NO idea what REAL metal is.
Bands like Opeth, Tool, Mastodon, Chimera and the Deftones eat bands like Metallica for breakfast and then poop them out into their "musical reject" outhouse.
Whatever credibility and musical mastery Metallica had was lost with their original bass player.
Everyone is going to hate me for this, but its the truth. Everyone thinks Metallica is "such great music", when actually they release and re-release the same riffs and songs and concepts over and over and over again, cover some old songs, and re-release the same concepts again. It's literally un-believeable that people buy into them.
All of the critics and reviews stated that "St. Anger" was Metallica's attempt to go back to their older material. First of all, why do you think Metallica would want to do that? Maybe because all of the albums after the Black album have been utter garbage? Hmmmm...
St. Anger sounds nothing like their older material. They compare this to "...and justice for all"????!?!? That obviously shows that none of the critics or reviewers had "actually" heard St. Anger, and were merely trying to hype the album up for some wierd, and unknown reason.
St. Anger is one of the WORST albums I have heard ever! And many die-hard Metallica fans agree with that statement. This album literally sucks! Each song is worse than anything CREED has ever done, and I HATE Creed with a passion. This album is just that bad! James' vocals are horrid and a sorry excuse for singing, not to mention the lyrics are pointless and too angry to have any point to them.
The guitar licks are average at best, drums are boring, bass is boring. Overall, this album is boring.
I have to say, I have never been a fan of Metallica, but I do recognize that they did, once long ago have talent.
That time, is long gone though. Metallica survives mainly off of their fans buying up their mechandise and selling out their shows, but that says nothing about their true talent. No one goes to their show to hear their NEW stuff, everyone wants to hear "Stone Cold Crazy" or "Enter Sandman", or anything off of their first three albums.
Seriously I could go on and on about how BAD St. Anger is. It is literally the WORST album to ever come out of our generation. James and co. are old and they need to realize that they just don't rock anymore. Sorry guys..try Smooth Jazz or something, but give your American Metal a rest, it just don't work anymore.
Albums like "Load" and "Re-Load" were horrible albums that truly showed the bands age. More like POP rock than Metal. And they were basically the same album! There was literally nothing special about those albums at all. They were bland and un-interesting pieces of musical trash that everyone hailed as "awesome".
Although St.Anger is a horrid excuse for Metal or Rock, this was by far not their worst decision. Making a "Unforgiven" part two was by far the most stupid idea ever thought up by any human. It was THE SAME SONG!!! And worse yet, people bought into it like it was the friggin' Holy Grail!
Other strange acts of idiocy would have to be their stupid attempt to "protect" their precious music by fighting against downloaders the world over. But what is really funny, is that St. Anger and generally most of their music is not even worth downloading! Sorry guys, I wouldn't even want to steal your music.
St. Anger is Metallica's feeble attempt to still be viewed as "harcore" by their fans and by everyone. Although there may be hard elements to this album, this album is FAR from "Hardcore".
It just goes to show that even though you may have piles of money and fans galore and merchandise up the pie hole, you can still release paper thin albums such as St. Anger and fools will still purchase it and hail it as the next best thing.
Music Review: Metallica has awoken from their
Rating: 4 Stars
You're going to hear a lot of things about this album. You're going to hear its the worst Metallica ever and should be ritualistically burned. You're going to hear that this record is completely ground breaking and the most heavy and inspring thing Metallica has ever done. Either way, they have created a monster of a controversy. They have taken a major risk like no other mainstream band ever has. Some call it commerical suicide. I call it brilliance.They've created a powerful, emotional, raw, and above all - HEAVY - record. Double-bass, blast beats, breakdowns. It's all here. The sleeping giants have woken, have found a completely new skin. Whether you choose to grow and evolve with the band will decide if you love or despise this record. If you're waiting for Master of Puppets II, long solos, acoustic intros, and hypnotic melodies like days of old you will be disappointed. If you want to see Metallica release their fury once again, you may just love this record.
I'll highlight a few big big chances real quick.
There are no solos. That's right not one solo on the record. This alone is going to turn off many fans. However as you get to know the record, and watch the great DVD that comes with it, you'll realize that Kirk plays more than ever, and his importance has actually gone up. He is no longer just "solo boy".He now plays dual rhythms with James, ala Korn's guitarists Head and Munky.
The production - Metallica have started what they hope to be a revolution in recording style. Most of this album was recorded live. As in, the band played together in the studio. There wasn't a drum track recorded and mixed until perfect, then a bass track, then guitars, etc. The band played together to capture the emotion of the 4 horsemen. James does many of his vocals in one take. Not line by line until they are perfect. You can hear his voice crack, strain, and miss keys at times. They also made a huge effort not to overproduce. Because Metallica was previously one of the best produced bands ever, this will almost sound like a Demo. However this becomes part of the charm. It no longer sounds static and sterile like the way overproduced "Load" records. It sounds like 4 guys in a room who love heavy music jamming, and it sounds better than ever.
There are elements of nu-metal, no doubt. You will hear some Korn, you will hear some Slipknot. However, Metallica have fused it with their own style and made it wholley their own, and not some lame imitation that saturates current metal today. They have evolved, and some will not be able to deal with this.
This is a record that will shock you at first. You won't know what to think. However this album is one of the biggest "grower" records you'll ever hear. It will infect you. You'll find yourself loving Metallica like you haven't in 10 years or more with each listen. Pure, unadulterated, no holds bars heaviness. No radio singles, no songs less than 6 minutes, no ballads. Its 75 minutes of absolute punishment, that I thought never again possible from the boys of Metallica.
A few favorite tracks include opener "Frantic", "Invisible Kid", "Shoot Me Again". The track "The Unnamed Feeling" is already becoming a classic among Metallica fans, and was probably what hooked me on the record at first.
If you can open your mind, put away your expectations of what Metallica is "supposed to be", stop waiting for that epic solo - you just might hear one of the most real, raw, heavy, ballsy and brave records of the year - and Metallica's career.
Or maybe you will just hate it.
With the CD comes a bonus DVD in which Metallica performs St. Anger in its entirety, live in the rehearsal studio. Here is where you can see how much fun they are having playing this new material. Feeling alive again. With the CD also comes a CD key which allows you to access the new Metallica vault online which has many exlusuive mp3s and live performances. Such as Jason Newsted doing Whiplash, and many other greats. The boys are still stinging from the Napster backlash and have given their fans a lot of free stuff with this record to sort of make up for the unfair perception that they were greedy for defending the right to distribute their own music. Either way, this is a solid purchase.
Welcome back Metallica. It's been a long time my friends.
Music Review: Fascinating, Misunderstood album
Rating: 5 Stars
It's been a month since this album was released to the public, and I feel as though it is my time to lend my opinions to the hundreds I've read. First of all, let me explain my place is the Metallica fan spectrum: I am a fan of older Metallica, the Kill - Justice era. Although I do own the remaining albums, they are (in my opinion) shadows of what Metallica was in the 80's. I picked up St. Anger, having only heard the title track a handful of times. At the time I didn't know if I liked the song, but I certainly intrigued, intrigued enough to buy the album because I wanted to hear the rest. The first time I listened to it, I really didn't know what to think. It was such a huge departure from the Load/Reload era (which I had come to accept as what Metallica had become), but couldn't really directly compare to Metallica's glory days either. So I listened to it again, and again, and again. And slowly the album began to grow on me. Lacking any kind of commercial flare of the Metallica of the 90's, this isn't the kind of album that has songs that will jump out at your immediately. After a month, having gained perspective on the album I can honestly say that it's probably my favorite album of the year thus far, it's better then any studio album they put out in the 90's. But more importantly, this album has gotten me excited about music again (something I can I have not been for over 5 years).
The album is heavy, loud, and abrasive. I hesitate to say it's a return to the Metallica of yesteryear, because to me it sounds nothing like it. For everyone who has shot down this album, all I can suggest to you is give it another chance, it will grow on you. I knew the first time I listened to it that it was going to require a lot of listening before I could give any sort of review. So much so, that my friends (knowing that I was a fan) asked me what I thought of the album, and I would respond "Ask me in two weeks".
This record is everything modern rock isn't right now, hence the huge backlash against it. I feel as though I should address the most common critiques of this album, and give you my take on them:
1. The bad production - I absolutely love the production. It's raw, gritty, and an utter slap in the face. Sure the guitars aren't perfect, sure James sings off key here and there, but it feels alive. And absolutely nothing before or since has sounded like it.
2. No guitar solos - Come'on people, does ANYONE buy rock records for guitar solos anymore? Outside of a few wankers who pray to Vai and Satriani, NO ONE does. They felt the songs didn't require them, I agree. Rock and more specifically metal will always have it's routes in the guitar melodies, solos are merely a tacked on piece and more often then not can hurt a song. Let me go further and say that I am a guitar player, and therefore appreciate solos, but there's a time and a place, and this album was neither.
3. James stupid lyrics - I can't dispute that, James says some really stupid [stuff] on this album. But again, like the guitar solos argument, as far as I'm concerned rock/metal's focus has always been on guitar melodies, with the vocal melodies being merely add-ons. The words spoken are simply placeholders for notes, so to hate a record because you don't like what's being said is in my opinion frivilous. James could sing about watching paint dry for all I care, as long as the melody compliments the guitar melody, the actual words are tertiary. If you want to go listen to rock with good vocal melodies and hooks and profound lyrics about whatever the hell, go out and buy some Nickelback, hey I hate them, but they are good at what they do.
Metallica has struck out in a direction that no one predicted, and no one else has tried, and for that I applaud them. This album has a mystique to it right now, popular opinion is that people hate it. I see this album now, and I bet that 10-15 years down the line people will look back at this album and say that Metallica was thinking ahead (much the way they did at the end of the 80's). With that, I'll close by saying that St. Anger is an album that will unfortunately not be appreciated in it's own time, but will probably be appreciated *IN* time.
Music Review: Challenging, engaging album, a welcome addition
Rating: 5 Stars
It's been a month since this album was released to the public, and I feel as though it is my time to lend my opinions to the hundreds I've read. First of all, let me explain my place is the Metallica fan spectrum: I am a fan of older Metallica, the Kill - Justice era. Although I do own the remaining albums, they are (in my opinion) shadows of what Metallica was in the 80's. I picked up St. Anger, having only heard the title track a handful of times. At the time I didn't know if I liked the song, but I certainly intrigued, intrigued enough to buy the album because I wanted to hear the rest. The first time I listened to it, I really didn't know what to think. It was such a huge departure from the Load/Reload era (which I had come to accept as what Metallica had become), but couldn't really directly compare to Metallica's glory days either. So I listened to it again, and again, and again. And slowly the album began to grow on me. Lacking any kind of commercial flare of the Metallica of the 90's, this isn't the kind of album that has songs that will jump out at your immediately. After a month, having gained perspective on the album I can honestly say that it's probably my favorite album of the year thus far, it's better then any studio album they put out in the 90's. But more importantly, this album has gotten me excited about music again (something I can I have not been for over 5 years).
The album is heavy, loud, and abrasive. I hesitate to say it's a return to the Metallica of yesteryear, because to me it sounds nothing like it. For everyone who has shot down this album all I can suggest to you is give it another chance, it will grow on you. I knew the first time I listened to it that it was going to require a lot of listening before I could give any sort of review. So much so, that my friends (knowing that I was a fan) asked me what I thought of the album, and I would respond "Ask me in two weeks".
This record is everything modern rock isn't right now, hence the huge backlash against it. I feel as though I should address the most common critiques of this album, and give you my take on them:
1. The bad production - I absolutely love the production. It's raw, gritty, and an utter slap in the face. Sure the guitars aren't perfect, sure James sings off key here and there, but it feels alive. And absolutely nothing before or since has sounded like it.
2. No guitar solos - Come'on people, does ANYONE buy rock records for guitar solos anymore? Outside of a few wankers who pray to Vai and Satriani, NO ONE does. They felt the songs didn't require them, I agree. Rock and more specifically metal will always have it's routes in the guitar melodies, solos are merely a tacked on piece and more often then not can hurt a song. Let me go further and say that I am a guitar player, and therefore appreciate solos, but there's a time and a place, and this album was neither.
3. James stupid lyrics - I can't dispute that, James says some really stupid ... on this album. But again, like the guitar solos argument, as far as I'm concerned rock/metal's focus has always been on guitar melodies, with the vocal melodies being merely add-ons. The words spoken are simply placeholders for notes, so to hate a record because you don't like what's being said is in my opinion frivilous. James could sing about watching paint dry for all I care, as long as the melody compliments the guitar melody, the actual words are tertiary. If you want to go listen to rock with good vocal melodies and hooks and profound lyrics about whatever the hell, go out and buy some Nickelback, hey I hate them, but they are good at what they do.
Metallica has struck out in a direction that no one predicted, and no one else has tried, and for that I applaud them. This album has a mystique to it right now, popular opinion is that people hate it. I see this album now, and I bet that 10-15 years down the line people will look back at this album and say that Metallica was thinking ahead (much the way they did at the end of the 80's). With that, I'll close by saying that St. Anger is an album that will unfortunately not be appreciated in it's own time, but will probably be appreciated *IN* time.