Metallica

Invisible Kid is often cited as one of the worst and most hated songs on the album but I think it's one of the best. It's certainly nowhere near perfect mainly because of the repetition but the riff is just good

If I've already said this, I'm tired
 
KidInTheDark666 said:
I only listened to the song where James sings "I am the table". It was called The View I think.
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If you like St. Anger then listen to Lulu. They're birds of a feather.

Edington said:
St. Anger is a difficult moment in time captured on disc. It might not be great, but it makes perfect sense as to why it sounds the way it does.
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Yeah, but there are albums that fit that definition and actually sound good. The X Factor and Skunkworks come to mind (they may not be everyone's favorites, but at least they're coherent).
 
Shmoolikipod said:
The Unnamed Feeling is very obviously one of the best songs from the black album to maybe Death Magnetic,
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It also has lyrics which are unparalleled in their, realness, for want of a better word. It really sounds like James is just pouring out his own experiences through medium of music. There's just this strange quality to them where it's almost like beyond introspection and into something more difficult to explain. Like it becomes so personal it turns back into being universal and relatable.

That said the only way St. Anger should be listened to is the live in studio versions, though. The original album just sounds like hot trash in comparison, especially that goddamned snare.
 
When you just google St.Anger you get a 61% score, if you do that with AMOLAD you'll get a 97% score. Metal fans don't like St.Anger, period. It's like Hetfield's voice is the only thing there that's Metallica. The riffs are OK done "modern" heavy metal but the drums are atrocious, there are no solos, bass is negligible, etc. I know what the band has been through but expressing yourself through a badly done project gets you a backlash of a fanbase.

They were also very troubled when they made Justice.
 
I view St. Anger as the band's attempt at emulating System of a Down but with longer track lengths.

I also view Load and ReLoad as their attempt to emulate Alice in Chains.
 
The Black Album gets way better with another listen. The things that bothered me the first time don't jump out as much, and as a whole it's very strong with a lot of good songs - the main issue will be how to rate them. If I had to take a guess, the whole thing will be around the same level as Ride The Lightning.
 
I like St. Anger alot actually, although I have to be in the right mood.
It's the clearest example of the band using sound as sculpture rather than just writing rock songs. It's a usp.
As a piece of art it's better than some of their others.
 
KidInTheDark666 said:
But St. Anger is good shit
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Whatever you sprinkle on it, shit remains shit.

LooseCannon said:
Even still, I'm pretty sure most consider it the worst album. Critically it's the worst received by far.
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After Lulu of course. People say "That's not Metallica album!" but they were pretty proud of it in their interviews, so yes, it is a Metallica album.


Zare said:
When you just google St.Anger you get a 61% score, if you do that with AMOLAD you'll get a 97% score.
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Are we already using this? I noticed this few months ago but I guess only few people voted for stuff that I was looking so I didn't think it would be relevant. I it's just thump up/down statistic, right?

KidInTheDark666 said:
St. Anger is great.

I will stop saying that when you stop bringing it up for no reason.
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Since this is Metallica thread and we're discussing their discography, I'll bring it up. Again.

Let's repeat the fact that each one of us has unique taste and it's impossible to say whose music taste is "better". Also, it is futile and stupid. What you like I can hate and vice versa, be that in Metallica, Maiden, movies or whatsoever. So we can move this aside.

First of all, if comments like "it's not THAT bad" about album or song come from fans and are one of the positive things you can say about it, than yes - it's that bad. Can you imagine discussing first 5 albums and people saying that in general about album? Yes, there will be comments "XY song is a filler" while other fans will contract him that "XY song is actually hidden gem" but I doubt that if somebody dislikes album, the other person will try to defend it by saying "it isn't THAT bad". He or she will list hits, staple songs, epics, frequently played live songs and so on. He or she would just say "it isn't that bad".

Second, that's Metallica. If that album was published by somebody else, nobody would give it a second listen. This way, you're a multi-million platinum selling band and certain things are expected of you. Now comes the argument "They don't owe us anything, they're artist, they can do whatever their want." Of course they can. But as artist that big, they can also expect that majority of things they do is under magnifying glass. James wants to play banjo and kazoo? Fine, don't staple Metallica on it. Lars wants to do a reggae bongo album? Same thing. Once you staple label "Metallica" on it, they can expect it's gonna attract people because it was that same label that attracted people before, due to it's quality. You're a band that inspired dozens of other bands, millions of people and is infiltrated into pop culture. To non metal fans, I believe if you say "metal music" Metallica is going to be first thing that drops on people mind. Of course, after thought "Satan worshiping".

Third, since they're that big, they're going to get a bigger piece of cake than the rest of their "competition". Whole summer of '03, whatever TV channel you turned where there were music video, you could see St. Anger. Also, I remember in Some Kind of Monster how they made a deal or something with chain of radio stations (which covers about 75-80 of them) and that deal made 'em sure their album will be aired frequently once it's out. We can underestimate radio now, but at that time, that was a HUGE chunk of people. And this is what maybe bugs me the most. All that stations and TV channels and so on that aired St. Anger and Frantic didn't do that because the song was good, because it was a hit, because people asked for it. They did it because it was Metallica. And Metallica could fart in microphone for 5 minutes while other bands gave their everything and they would still be aired. I guess this enters a bit into marketing department (which Metallica is master of) but it still annoys me. I can't remember any other rock song or video which was at that time (except maybe Wildest Dreams) because every inch of air-time that belonged to rock or metal was plastered with that video of them in prison and TV/radio hosts acting excitement saying "Metallica is back!" Blargh.

Fourth, while I think it's admirable to stand by your work, there's a certain point where it stops being admirable and becomes idiotic. Lars, for sure, has crossed that line many time and jumped in his mouth several times. They can all bang their chest and exclaim how proud they are of that album, but here's the fact. After "Madly in Anger Tour" that was in 2004, Metallica had several tours and approx 500 gigs. Out of those 500 gigs, Frantic has been played 8 times and St. Anger was played 10 times. Music isn't about numbers but this sure shows how "proud" they are of that album (same can be said for some other songs/albums, but not a single one is downplayed as this one.).

Fifth, and this is a bit personal and about a taste. I'm not gonna drag Naptster into this discussion, but Lars did attack them for poor sales and illegal download is still a issue today when they talk about album sales. Here's my personal experience with that. Singles St. Anger and Frantic (I keep mentioning those two because it's the most two I'm familiar with) didn't make me want to buy their new album. Those singles didn't make me look at their tour schedule looking for gigs. They didn't make me buy their merchandise. But Death Magnetic did. I like DM, saw them twice on that tour, bought an album and a shirt. I don't like Hardwired, but I know some people who do, and who already saw them live on that tour or plan to see them this spring/summer. My point being, if you put some thought and quality behind your work, it gonna return to you in several different ways.

That's about it.
 
Spambot said:
Second, that's Metallica. If that album was published by somebody else, nobody would give it a second listen. This way, you're a multi-million platinum selling band and certain things are expected of you. Now comes the argument "They don't owe us anything, they're artist, they can do whatever their want." Of course they can. But as artist that big, they can also expect that majority of things they do is under magnifying glass. James wants to play banjo and kazoo? Fine, don't staple Metallica on it. Lars wants to do a reggae bongo album? Same thing. Once you staple label "Metallica" on it, they can expect it's gonna attract people because it was that same label that attracted people before, due to it's quality. You're a band that inspired dozens of other bands, millions of people and is infiltrated into pop culture. To non metal fans, I believe if you say "metal music" Metallica is going to be first thing that drops on people mind. Of course, after thought "Satan worshiping".
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I disagree. If St. Anger (and Load/Reload ) was made by some other band, people wouldn't diss it all the time. People would say it sounds new and exciting and possibly consider it as a great record. And St. Anger is a metal album featuring the actual members of the band, it's not a random side project using Metallica's name for commercial reasons. Sure, it's not similar to 80s thrash albums, but it's not a sellout pop record either. St. Anger is the therapy album that kept the band together through tough times. It's an album for the band, not necessarily for the fans. The whole project is just misunderstood from the start.
 
Spambot said:
Are we already using this? I noticed this few months ago but I guess only few people voted for stuff that I was looking so I didn't think it would be relevant. I it's just thump up/down statistic, right?
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"Using" as in discussion tool I don't think so. It's just a stupid rating, but it is google, so the rating is accessible to huge amounts of people, and judging by the AMOLAD's score it is not a wide audience thing.
 
I like how LuLu challenged both fanbases. I wish there were more collaborations like that.

St Anger is a bunch of middle aged men trying to appeal to angry teenagers with an album that sounds like it was recorded in a garage on a million dollar budget.
 
But nobody, except for them, had a million dollar garage. There's no point.
Imagine Bill Gates trying to go back to modest roots, 9-5 job, a flat, grocery store...all while riding the helicopter to work and back.
 
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