chaosapiant
Ancient Marinade
I like Priest but Rush is a band i'm kind of in the same boat with. I love the 2112 album and a couple of other songs, but I can't get into anything else they do.
Metallica
- Thread starter Night Prowler
- Start date
Diesel 11
As you scream into the web of silence...
St. Anger (2003)
1. Frantic - A decent enough opening kicks off this album, but then the drums come in and it's all downhill from there. It sounds like Lars is beating a trash can, and I know how cliche it is to say that, but it's true. Honestly, the drumming isn't that bad, it's just that it works terribly among the rest of this mess. That production sucks. There's just no way you can avoid saying that. It's just straight up terrible. We head into a really bland riff that features some pretty bad singing from James. It just sounds like he isn't even caring about style or singing, he's just shooting it out there. The "you live it or lie it" bit has the worst editing cut I've heard from Metallica yet. After that quiet bit, the "you" comes in and sounds like a clicking noise. I just... don't get that. Then it's the "my lifestyle! determines my deathstyle!" Okay, cool line, but man it sounds like a mess with all the shit going on here. Then we slow down for the "keep searchin'" bit, and if that line is referring to searching for something good on this album, then it applies well on how I view this disasterpiece. Then it's right into the chorus with "frantic-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tock", which is probably the dumbest idea yet. How they came up with it I will never figure out. I get that this song is about death and being "frantic with fear" or whatever, and the tick-tock thing refers to a clock ticking down your life, but... it just sounds dumb! And then they just repeat this entire process again. As we come out of it about four minutes later, we get a decent enough riff piece, but god that drumming still sucks. James still sounds bad, ugh. He's just shout/singing over blandness. Back to the "lifestyle" bit, followed by "keep searchin'" (and there's a really shitty piece where James tries to get louder but it just sounds bad, like a dying duckling or something). Back into the chorus and we get a fairly solid if messy ending that feels like it'd have worked as the basis for another song but is attached here instead for whatever reason. In short, this song is a mess... and it's still the strongest song this damn thing has to offer. Not good. 2/10
2. St. Anger - Kinda decent guitar opening and then that stupid drumming comes in and clangs its way into the actual bulk of the song. The drumming here is actually terrible, it just sounds pitiful. Faster bit that's also stupid and we go into a quieter verse with a bit of a better James. Then it's "YOU FLUSH IT OUT! YOU FLUSH IT OUT!" God that's just actually stupid, and it isn't even as bad as the faster bit that comes next. James references "Damage, Inc." and "Hit The Lights" in a shouting bit that sounds terrible - yet again, shocker - and then it's into "I'm madly in anger with you!" James sounds like a bobcat being strangled. Not pleasant. Then we stop and start again into that trash can riff and repeat ourselves throw the previous process. Then we spend a little time with the piece that opened up the song and it's still pretty bad. Holy shit, this bridge sucks. It's the worst part in this mess of a song, which isn't saying much (or says a lot, depending on your perspective). That scream at the end was horrific. Then it's back to "fuck it all and no regrets", which was probably the band's mentality when writing this. I can tell you that listening to this travesty gives me regrets, but that's another story. Back through chorus and we finally reach the end of this 7:20 monster. Most of this is just banging away on the drum kit in the worst way possible, shouting over the blandest of music, and as a whole it sounds like the death throes of a colossal shitfest. And this is only the second song in. There's just so much wrong with this song, and it still isn't the worst affair here. I don't think the people who say that "if it wasn't released by Metallica it would've been huge" know what they're talking about. Consider the following fact: "St. Anger" (the song) won a fucking Grammy. If any other band had released this colossal disaster, there is no way in hell that it would have even been nominated, let alone win the whole damn thing. There is no way this mess should've won. It is just that: a mess. 1/10
3. Some Kind Of Monster - A pretty boring guitar piece opens up this eight minute song. The drumming in the background just sounds like aluminum foil being tapped. Not good. Then it gets heavier and it's still boring. There's a piece here where the guitar comes in on the left speaker and it feels pretty disjointed. The banging away in the riff piece that follows is even worse. This whole section is just bland and it's over two whole minutes long. Some more banging and clanging before we get James and... oh fuck this verse is bad. He's so disconnected from what's going on it isn't even funny. It's just sad. It's the worst sort of spoken word singing thing I've ever heard, and the lyrics aren't even good too. Then we go into this "we the people" bit that's just... stupid. I've been using this word a lot and I will use it a lot more often here. It's. just. stupid. Then into the chorus with tuff guy Hetfield rattling on about "some kind of mon-sterrrrrr". Bleh. And we're only halfway through the song. Shit. Back into that horrific verse, followed by a bunch of "yeah's". God these lyrics are just blowing my mind at their stupidity. There's just shout thing James does at the end of the verse that sounds like Tom Araya getting his throat slit in the bathtub. Not fun. Back into the pre-chorus (still stupid) and the chorus (still stupid) and then it's back into that stupid fucking fast bit that keeps popping up. Are they ending the song here? Noooo. Some more clanging and banging and we get a really, really stupid version of that verse (with an almost cool piece in "Ominous, I'm in us", but that lyric is just too stupid to ignore, and the effect would've been better used in an actually good song). "Are we the people?" I don't fucking know anymore. Chorus is back and then finally the end the song with a robotic piece that I'd much rather hear someone like Buckethead do. This song is way too long and way too shit to justify its runtime. Three songs in and the grade just keeps getting lower and lower. Go back to the drawing board, because this song is worthless. 0/10
4. Dirty Window - Some clanging opens up track 4 (and yeah, it's still bad). There's a weird build up into the riff which features some really bad production to get there. Lars just keeps smacking that snare again and again. The verse is still stupid, although it almost shows signs of resembling a normal verse. James is still pitifully bad. The "I slam my gavel down" piece is horrendous. Then the song quiets down into an almost cool bit that's the best part of the song. Honestly, I like the little drumming stuff Lars does (though the "I'm judge and I'm jury" thing from James is still stupid. Where did we go from a dirty window to a court session? I just don't follow it at all.) Then it's into the chorus which is pretty fucking stupid yet again. Another round through this thing and it's back to the clanging shit, only this time we start building up to something different. That something is the stupid bridge which is just "I" repeated over and over again before a really, really bad laugh from James points us back to the quiet bit and then that fucking chorus again. Another round through the bridge, this time expanded a little but god it just sounds horrible. If it wasn't for the quiet section here which is pretty decent, this song would be as worthless as the previous monstrosity. As it is, it's still terrible. 1/10
5. Invisible Kid - Another clang and another stupid guitar thing going on that just sounds like a watery mess open up this, another eight minute beast. This opening is just straight-up stupid. The clanging and the guitar nonsense don't work together at all. Then the song changes up into the verse, which isn't terrible outright, but still stupid... and they repeat it twice. The second verse comes in and James sounds like he really can't sing whatsoever. Holy crap, he's just saying the lyrics and he can even enunciate properly. Goddamn. The little piece after isn't the worst, and I kind like the "I'm okay" bit which actually has solid vocals, but the drumming that backs it is just... no. Then the actual chorus thing comes in and it's just straight-up bad. Hope you liked the song so far, cuz we're gonna do the same thing over again. If ever there was an album where it would be nice not to have the typical three choruses in total and two verses, etc song structure that's typical of most songs, it's this. If you have to do it, just do it once for god's sake. Once we're through the second run, it's back to some shit riffing and drumming before we slow up and... "oooooh, what a good boy you are!" Um, what? To be perfectly honest, this is one of the best moments in this song, but that shouldn't mean much because this song sucks a lot. It's yet another piece that's just estupido supremo. Some more clanging and shit and ahahaha back to that verse. Again. James still sounds shit. One of his absolute worst vocal performances ever. Again, I don't think the "I'm okay" bit is that bad, and it's one moment of brightness on an otherwise crappy song. Back into the stupid chorus again and we bang and clang our way to the goddamn door. To think that this song has a few of the better moments on the album, and it's still a really shitty product as a whole. There's enough to keep this from "irredeemable" but not enough to put it at the same level as "Frantic" (which wasn't much of a level to begin with, but hey). 1/10
6. My World - A heavy opening, but the effect is lost thanks to those clanging drums. The opening verse makes we wanna die. How did they figure it was a good idea? It isn't. The "it's my world now" could have been good, but isn't. It just sounds like a slightly better piece of a bigger mess. Then its back into the verse before we get "it's my world, you can't have it", which could have been a solid piece in another song, but it still sounds shit here. The "it's my world... sucker!" bit is just fucking dumb, and the "get 'em out of my head" piece feels like insane ramblings of the deranged. Another round through and we get the following genius line: "Not only do I not know the answer, I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT THE QUESTION IS!" It's probably my favorite part of the song because of its stupidity, it's so bad it's almost good. James sounds terrible doing that shout thing. Then it's into the "God, it feels like it only rains on me" piece that makes this song feel even worse than it already was. Back through the question / answer thing and we come back to the chorus thing and some wild bangings and shit and we finally meet the end after some "enough'senough'senough'senough" piece that's actually worse than the rest of this song combined. Holy fuck, that was bad. When I first listened to this album, this was the only song I gave an outright zero to. Obviously that's changed, but this song's rating has it. There are a few pieces here where it could've gone well... but it doesn't. They drain all intelligence out of every single piece of this bloody affair and the only way I can find it enjoyable is ironically. Because this song just simply sucks. 0/10
7. Shoot Me Again - A squeaky guitar piece opens up this song before that stupid fucking drumming comes back in and ruins whatever the band was setting out to do. The stupid opening leads (about forty seconds later) to a really stupid clanking riff before we actually get a decent verse. I like James's tranquil singing here, it's kinda nice. A bit more of that stupid riff thinging before we get the incredibly stupid "shoot me again, I ain't dead yet" bit that's like the next level of stupid. It's kind of what I feel listening to this album. Shoot me again, I ain't dead it! Well, they do. Some better James in the chorus piece still don't work because of the stupid music that backs it. Also doesn't feel quite like the lyrics quite connected together somehow. The verse comes again and this time there's some stupid James-isms between the good parts of it that manage to break it down completely. Man, just shut the fuck up already. James says "shoot me" a few umpteen times in this song and I'm a little over halfway through and already I'm considering doing just that. The chorus and all are still as messy as I thought they were earlier. There was a decent spot where they could've ended just before the five minute mark, but no, let's keep on instead. Drive me to an early grave, why dontcha? Some boring riff stuff that goes nowhere leads to a bridge that could've been good but ffs when James starts being on point, it's the fucking music that kills the affair. Then we meet another part of the bridge in which James does a really shitty spoken word thing that just boggles the mind at how terrible it is. The chorus comes back and this time James doesn't even sound decent. What a failure. We exit with the squeaky guitar piece we entered with. There are some moments on this song where it almost takes the affair to the next level, but all the stupidity of it crashes around itself and drags down those good parts. To me, that's probably the most offensive thing about St. Anger - there are some nearly genius moments on the album, but they never get the execution or songs that they deserve. Fucking waste. 1/10
8. Sweet Amber - A kinda cool bluesy piece opens this song, before the band starts jerking itself off in the actual riff. Still bad. Wow, it's still bad. Lots more banging and clanging before we get another verse that sounds like an abortion in action. But then there's a pretty cool pre-chorus moment with some almost Buckethead-like music backing it. The "using what I want to get what you want" bit is terrible. Fuck. Then comes the "ooooh, sweet amber" bit, which is pretty cool, but the "how sweet are you? how sweet does it get?" thing just ruins that. Fuck a bag. What the hell are these lyrics in the second verse? I am going to lose my fucking mind. I've heard the topic of alcoholism done brilliantly before this song, but this is like garbage tier level. There is a pretty cool riff after the second chorus, though, which I like despite the shit production. But then James comes in and starts yodeling like a fool for that stupid bridge. Some "oooh, sweet amber" and another riff bit comes in, leading back to the chorus and James still sounds like a turtle trapped underneath the back tire. Stupid ending. This song just pisses me off. There are parts here that I think are almost fantastic and then everything else fucking sucks. Absolutely disheartening. 1/10
9. The Unnamed Feeling - Kinda decent opening, with a cool mix of quieter guitar and heavier guitar (although the production's still too bad to bring it up very much). It's a slow opening, but it's better than 90% of this album so I'll let it pass. There's a stupid vocal piece here before the verse, which isn't the worst (certainly not on this album), but it's still not that great. The plodding music is pretty forgettable. The "it comes alive" piece is just repeated to death, killing whatever they're striving for. But then there's that really awesome quiet bit in which the music and James somehow connect together and OH MY GOD IT LEGITIMATELY SOUNDS GOOD. And then it all goes down again. But for a moment I was really, really just sitting there in amazement. This album is a disaster but that quiet moment is basically perfect. A shame the rest of this song is so bland. James goes back to shit with his vocals shortly thereafter. Another loop through and we get that piece I liked, only longer, thank god. But then they do that piece again, only backed by heaviness, which kills what made it sound so good. Sad jams. There's a bassy bit before the bridge, and that bass is like sludge. Not great. Certainly not in the way it sounds. But never mind that, the bridge is just horrendous. God, for a song that has a brilliant piece on it, it also has frogshit as well. Fuck. Some more boring riffing and we go back into the heavier chorus, which works a tad bit better than before, but I still liked the quiet version best. Maybe the band heard my thoughts, because they go into that fantastic quiet bit again and we end the song with it. Much of this song is flat-up boring it not bad, but like I've been saying, that quiet bit is legitimately the single best part of this album. For that, I'm rounding up (if only slightly). 2/10
10. Purify - Messy riffing... again. Opening sucks... again. It's heavy, yes, but that doesn't make it good. Because it isn't. This. is. not. good. I think my body is eventually going to go into fight-or-flight mode if this FUCKING HELL, what is that jesus-fuck verse? It's absolute shit, and I didn't think things could get worse. When was the last time the word "turpentine" appeared in a metal song, let alone a song in general? Who thought this was a good idea? The chorus is vomit-inducing. James squeaks out the lyrics like his head is being twisted around three times all while being crushed in the stomach via anaconda. What the hell is going on with this song? There's some stupid as shit riffing going on before we get yet another bland bridge that shouldn't exist. A bunch of fucking clanging leads to a vomiting James Hetfield before we get back to that godawful chorus again. It's just so fucking bad, I can't even. Then we go into another section that starts up and sounds like it's a completely different song altogether. Pointless. This is legitimately the worst song I have ever heard in my life. If there's worse stuff out there than this, I don't wanna know about them, I don't wanna hear about them, I don't wanna listen to them, I don't. want. to. know. This is about as much as my brain can fucking take, and I really can't take it. Never mind leaving it behind on the cutting room floor, there is no reason anyone - ANYONE - should have thought of this song, let alone put it into execution. It's an absolutely travesty under the heading of "music". It's shit in the audible form. Fuck this song. -1/10
11. All Within My Hands - Some guitar wankery opens up the final song on the album - and the longest, fuuuuuck - and then we get some pointless riffing and drumming stuffs that at this point I've probably become desensitized to, but y'know... it sucks! Some quieter stuff after the minute mark sets up the verse, which isn't like... as bad as the previous song, but James sounds half-asleep on it. Some interesting but not necessarily good stuff brings us to the heavier bit, which is basically the verse again only James is shouting over some terrible music. It's really, really bad. Then we get some more shouting stuff and it still sucks. I can't tell if we've arrived at the chorus now yet or not, but whatever it is, I don't like it. There's a decent alt metal piece there before we head back into the verse, but it would have worked so much better on an album that was actually worth a shit. Another round through this mess and we get more James yodels that seriously make me wonder if there's something seriously wrong with him at a base level. God, it's a mess. It's seriously hard to fathom that the same band that wrote "Disposable Heroes", a tremendously great epic eight minute number also wrote this song eight minute shitfest. I get experimentation, I get changing, hell, The X Factor is one of my favorite albums. But this... this is another level of fucking stupid. There's another stupid bridge in here that's just James shouting over fucking shit. And there's still over two minutes left. Fuck. There's a really stupid scream thing and then more stupid stupidity that's gonna fucking run me up a bridge boat car barge. "Hate me now!" Yes, yes I fucking do. And then we get some absolutely fucking stupid "kill kill kill kill" thing that makes me just wanna die already. What is this tormented torture device and who thought it was a good idea? It wasn't. It's fucking bad. There's a decent ending piece where the band slows to a crawl and it almost reminds me of Ahab. It's kind of a nice way to close out the album, but I can't say the same for the rest of this disaster. As much as it's better than "Purify", it's still dogshit. Fuck, glad that's over. 0/10
St. Anger is legitimately the worst album I've ever listened to, and I doubt I'll find something that beats it any time soon. Almost everything this album does is stupid, bad, and downright shit, and what good moments there are get killed by all the rubbish. I do think it has some replay value - it's so bad that's on the next level of bad, and in that sense there's no album like this, which makes it interesting - but that doesn't mean that it's good. It isn't. St. Anger sucks. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.
Rating: 7%
1. Frantic - A decent enough opening kicks off this album, but then the drums come in and it's all downhill from there. It sounds like Lars is beating a trash can, and I know how cliche it is to say that, but it's true. Honestly, the drumming isn't that bad, it's just that it works terribly among the rest of this mess. That production sucks. There's just no way you can avoid saying that. It's just straight up terrible. We head into a really bland riff that features some pretty bad singing from James. It just sounds like he isn't even caring about style or singing, he's just shooting it out there. The "you live it or lie it" bit has the worst editing cut I've heard from Metallica yet. After that quiet bit, the "you" comes in and sounds like a clicking noise. I just... don't get that. Then it's the "my lifestyle! determines my deathstyle!" Okay, cool line, but man it sounds like a mess with all the shit going on here. Then we slow down for the "keep searchin'" bit, and if that line is referring to searching for something good on this album, then it applies well on how I view this disasterpiece. Then it's right into the chorus with "frantic-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tock", which is probably the dumbest idea yet. How they came up with it I will never figure out. I get that this song is about death and being "frantic with fear" or whatever, and the tick-tock thing refers to a clock ticking down your life, but... it just sounds dumb! And then they just repeat this entire process again. As we come out of it about four minutes later, we get a decent enough riff piece, but god that drumming still sucks. James still sounds bad, ugh. He's just shout/singing over blandness. Back to the "lifestyle" bit, followed by "keep searchin'" (and there's a really shitty piece where James tries to get louder but it just sounds bad, like a dying duckling or something). Back into the chorus and we get a fairly solid if messy ending that feels like it'd have worked as the basis for another song but is attached here instead for whatever reason. In short, this song is a mess... and it's still the strongest song this damn thing has to offer. Not good. 2/10
2. St. Anger - Kinda decent guitar opening and then that stupid drumming comes in and clangs its way into the actual bulk of the song. The drumming here is actually terrible, it just sounds pitiful. Faster bit that's also stupid and we go into a quieter verse with a bit of a better James. Then it's "YOU FLUSH IT OUT! YOU FLUSH IT OUT!" God that's just actually stupid, and it isn't even as bad as the faster bit that comes next. James references "Damage, Inc." and "Hit The Lights" in a shouting bit that sounds terrible - yet again, shocker - and then it's into "I'm madly in anger with you!" James sounds like a bobcat being strangled. Not pleasant. Then we stop and start again into that trash can riff and repeat ourselves throw the previous process. Then we spend a little time with the piece that opened up the song and it's still pretty bad. Holy shit, this bridge sucks. It's the worst part in this mess of a song, which isn't saying much (or says a lot, depending on your perspective). That scream at the end was horrific. Then it's back to "fuck it all and no regrets", which was probably the band's mentality when writing this. I can tell you that listening to this travesty gives me regrets, but that's another story. Back through chorus and we finally reach the end of this 7:20 monster. Most of this is just banging away on the drum kit in the worst way possible, shouting over the blandest of music, and as a whole it sounds like the death throes of a colossal shitfest. And this is only the second song in. There's just so much wrong with this song, and it still isn't the worst affair here. I don't think the people who say that "if it wasn't released by Metallica it would've been huge" know what they're talking about. Consider the following fact: "St. Anger" (the song) won a fucking Grammy. If any other band had released this colossal disaster, there is no way in hell that it would have even been nominated, let alone win the whole damn thing. There is no way this mess should've won. It is just that: a mess. 1/10
3. Some Kind Of Monster - A pretty boring guitar piece opens up this eight minute song. The drumming in the background just sounds like aluminum foil being tapped. Not good. Then it gets heavier and it's still boring. There's a piece here where the guitar comes in on the left speaker and it feels pretty disjointed. The banging away in the riff piece that follows is even worse. This whole section is just bland and it's over two whole minutes long. Some more banging and clanging before we get James and... oh fuck this verse is bad. He's so disconnected from what's going on it isn't even funny. It's just sad. It's the worst sort of spoken word singing thing I've ever heard, and the lyrics aren't even good too. Then we go into this "we the people" bit that's just... stupid. I've been using this word a lot and I will use it a lot more often here. It's. just. stupid. Then into the chorus with tuff guy Hetfield rattling on about "some kind of mon-sterrrrrr". Bleh. And we're only halfway through the song. Shit. Back into that horrific verse, followed by a bunch of "yeah's". God these lyrics are just blowing my mind at their stupidity. There's just shout thing James does at the end of the verse that sounds like Tom Araya getting his throat slit in the bathtub. Not fun. Back into the pre-chorus (still stupid) and the chorus (still stupid) and then it's back into that stupid fucking fast bit that keeps popping up. Are they ending the song here? Noooo. Some more clanging and banging and we get a really, really stupid version of that verse (with an almost cool piece in "Ominous, I'm in us", but that lyric is just too stupid to ignore, and the effect would've been better used in an actually good song). "Are we the people?" I don't fucking know anymore. Chorus is back and then finally the end the song with a robotic piece that I'd much rather hear someone like Buckethead do. This song is way too long and way too shit to justify its runtime. Three songs in and the grade just keeps getting lower and lower. Go back to the drawing board, because this song is worthless. 0/10
4. Dirty Window - Some clanging opens up track 4 (and yeah, it's still bad). There's a weird build up into the riff which features some really bad production to get there. Lars just keeps smacking that snare again and again. The verse is still stupid, although it almost shows signs of resembling a normal verse. James is still pitifully bad. The "I slam my gavel down" piece is horrendous. Then the song quiets down into an almost cool bit that's the best part of the song. Honestly, I like the little drumming stuff Lars does (though the "I'm judge and I'm jury" thing from James is still stupid. Where did we go from a dirty window to a court session? I just don't follow it at all.) Then it's into the chorus which is pretty fucking stupid yet again. Another round through this thing and it's back to the clanging shit, only this time we start building up to something different. That something is the stupid bridge which is just "I" repeated over and over again before a really, really bad laugh from James points us back to the quiet bit and then that fucking chorus again. Another round through the bridge, this time expanded a little but god it just sounds horrible. If it wasn't for the quiet section here which is pretty decent, this song would be as worthless as the previous monstrosity. As it is, it's still terrible. 1/10
5. Invisible Kid - Another clang and another stupid guitar thing going on that just sounds like a watery mess open up this, another eight minute beast. This opening is just straight-up stupid. The clanging and the guitar nonsense don't work together at all. Then the song changes up into the verse, which isn't terrible outright, but still stupid... and they repeat it twice. The second verse comes in and James sounds like he really can't sing whatsoever. Holy crap, he's just saying the lyrics and he can even enunciate properly. Goddamn. The little piece after isn't the worst, and I kind like the "I'm okay" bit which actually has solid vocals, but the drumming that backs it is just... no. Then the actual chorus thing comes in and it's just straight-up bad. Hope you liked the song so far, cuz we're gonna do the same thing over again. If ever there was an album where it would be nice not to have the typical three choruses in total and two verses, etc song structure that's typical of most songs, it's this. If you have to do it, just do it once for god's sake. Once we're through the second run, it's back to some shit riffing and drumming before we slow up and... "oooooh, what a good boy you are!" Um, what? To be perfectly honest, this is one of the best moments in this song, but that shouldn't mean much because this song sucks a lot. It's yet another piece that's just estupido supremo. Some more clanging and shit and ahahaha back to that verse. Again. James still sounds shit. One of his absolute worst vocal performances ever. Again, I don't think the "I'm okay" bit is that bad, and it's one moment of brightness on an otherwise crappy song. Back into the stupid chorus again and we bang and clang our way to the goddamn door. To think that this song has a few of the better moments on the album, and it's still a really shitty product as a whole. There's enough to keep this from "irredeemable" but not enough to put it at the same level as "Frantic" (which wasn't much of a level to begin with, but hey). 1/10
6. My World - A heavy opening, but the effect is lost thanks to those clanging drums. The opening verse makes we wanna die. How did they figure it was a good idea? It isn't. The "it's my world now" could have been good, but isn't. It just sounds like a slightly better piece of a bigger mess. Then its back into the verse before we get "it's my world, you can't have it", which could have been a solid piece in another song, but it still sounds shit here. The "it's my world... sucker!" bit is just fucking dumb, and the "get 'em out of my head" piece feels like insane ramblings of the deranged. Another round through and we get the following genius line: "Not only do I not know the answer, I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT THE QUESTION IS!" It's probably my favorite part of the song because of its stupidity, it's so bad it's almost good. James sounds terrible doing that shout thing. Then it's into the "God, it feels like it only rains on me" piece that makes this song feel even worse than it already was. Back through the question / answer thing and we come back to the chorus thing and some wild bangings and shit and we finally meet the end after some "enough'senough'senough'senough" piece that's actually worse than the rest of this song combined. Holy fuck, that was bad. When I first listened to this album, this was the only song I gave an outright zero to. Obviously that's changed, but this song's rating has it. There are a few pieces here where it could've gone well... but it doesn't. They drain all intelligence out of every single piece of this bloody affair and the only way I can find it enjoyable is ironically. Because this song just simply sucks. 0/10
7. Shoot Me Again - A squeaky guitar piece opens up this song before that stupid fucking drumming comes back in and ruins whatever the band was setting out to do. The stupid opening leads (about forty seconds later) to a really stupid clanking riff before we actually get a decent verse. I like James's tranquil singing here, it's kinda nice. A bit more of that stupid riff thinging before we get the incredibly stupid "shoot me again, I ain't dead yet" bit that's like the next level of stupid. It's kind of what I feel listening to this album. Shoot me again, I ain't dead it! Well, they do. Some better James in the chorus piece still don't work because of the stupid music that backs it. Also doesn't feel quite like the lyrics quite connected together somehow. The verse comes again and this time there's some stupid James-isms between the good parts of it that manage to break it down completely. Man, just shut the fuck up already. James says "shoot me" a few umpteen times in this song and I'm a little over halfway through and already I'm considering doing just that. The chorus and all are still as messy as I thought they were earlier. There was a decent spot where they could've ended just before the five minute mark, but no, let's keep on instead. Drive me to an early grave, why dontcha? Some boring riff stuff that goes nowhere leads to a bridge that could've been good but ffs when James starts being on point, it's the fucking music that kills the affair. Then we meet another part of the bridge in which James does a really shitty spoken word thing that just boggles the mind at how terrible it is. The chorus comes back and this time James doesn't even sound decent. What a failure. We exit with the squeaky guitar piece we entered with. There are some moments on this song where it almost takes the affair to the next level, but all the stupidity of it crashes around itself and drags down those good parts. To me, that's probably the most offensive thing about St. Anger - there are some nearly genius moments on the album, but they never get the execution or songs that they deserve. Fucking waste. 1/10
8. Sweet Amber - A kinda cool bluesy piece opens this song, before the band starts jerking itself off in the actual riff. Still bad. Wow, it's still bad. Lots more banging and clanging before we get another verse that sounds like an abortion in action. But then there's a pretty cool pre-chorus moment with some almost Buckethead-like music backing it. The "using what I want to get what you want" bit is terrible. Fuck. Then comes the "ooooh, sweet amber" bit, which is pretty cool, but the "how sweet are you? how sweet does it get?" thing just ruins that. Fuck a bag. What the hell are these lyrics in the second verse? I am going to lose my fucking mind. I've heard the topic of alcoholism done brilliantly before this song, but this is like garbage tier level. There is a pretty cool riff after the second chorus, though, which I like despite the shit production. But then James comes in and starts yodeling like a fool for that stupid bridge. Some "oooh, sweet amber" and another riff bit comes in, leading back to the chorus and James still sounds like a turtle trapped underneath the back tire. Stupid ending. This song just pisses me off. There are parts here that I think are almost fantastic and then everything else fucking sucks. Absolutely disheartening. 1/10
9. The Unnamed Feeling - Kinda decent opening, with a cool mix of quieter guitar and heavier guitar (although the production's still too bad to bring it up very much). It's a slow opening, but it's better than 90% of this album so I'll let it pass. There's a stupid vocal piece here before the verse, which isn't the worst (certainly not on this album), but it's still not that great. The plodding music is pretty forgettable. The "it comes alive" piece is just repeated to death, killing whatever they're striving for. But then there's that really awesome quiet bit in which the music and James somehow connect together and OH MY GOD IT LEGITIMATELY SOUNDS GOOD. And then it all goes down again. But for a moment I was really, really just sitting there in amazement. This album is a disaster but that quiet moment is basically perfect. A shame the rest of this song is so bland. James goes back to shit with his vocals shortly thereafter. Another loop through and we get that piece I liked, only longer, thank god. But then they do that piece again, only backed by heaviness, which kills what made it sound so good. Sad jams. There's a bassy bit before the bridge, and that bass is like sludge. Not great. Certainly not in the way it sounds. But never mind that, the bridge is just horrendous. God, for a song that has a brilliant piece on it, it also has frogshit as well. Fuck. Some more boring riffing and we go back into the heavier chorus, which works a tad bit better than before, but I still liked the quiet version best. Maybe the band heard my thoughts, because they go into that fantastic quiet bit again and we end the song with it. Much of this song is flat-up boring it not bad, but like I've been saying, that quiet bit is legitimately the single best part of this album. For that, I'm rounding up (if only slightly). 2/10
10. Purify - Messy riffing... again. Opening sucks... again. It's heavy, yes, but that doesn't make it good. Because it isn't. This. is. not. good. I think my body is eventually going to go into fight-or-flight mode if this FUCKING HELL, what is that jesus-fuck verse? It's absolute shit, and I didn't think things could get worse. When was the last time the word "turpentine" appeared in a metal song, let alone a song in general? Who thought this was a good idea? The chorus is vomit-inducing. James squeaks out the lyrics like his head is being twisted around three times all while being crushed in the stomach via anaconda. What the hell is going on with this song? There's some stupid as shit riffing going on before we get yet another bland bridge that shouldn't exist. A bunch of fucking clanging leads to a vomiting James Hetfield before we get back to that godawful chorus again. It's just so fucking bad, I can't even. Then we go into another section that starts up and sounds like it's a completely different song altogether. Pointless. This is legitimately the worst song I have ever heard in my life. If there's worse stuff out there than this, I don't wanna know about them, I don't wanna hear about them, I don't wanna listen to them, I don't. want. to. know. This is about as much as my brain can fucking take, and I really can't take it. Never mind leaving it behind on the cutting room floor, there is no reason anyone - ANYONE - should have thought of this song, let alone put it into execution. It's an absolutely travesty under the heading of "music". It's shit in the audible form. Fuck this song. -1/10
11. All Within My Hands - Some guitar wankery opens up the final song on the album - and the longest, fuuuuuck - and then we get some pointless riffing and drumming stuffs that at this point I've probably become desensitized to, but y'know... it sucks! Some quieter stuff after the minute mark sets up the verse, which isn't like... as bad as the previous song, but James sounds half-asleep on it. Some interesting but not necessarily good stuff brings us to the heavier bit, which is basically the verse again only James is shouting over some terrible music. It's really, really bad. Then we get some more shouting stuff and it still sucks. I can't tell if we've arrived at the chorus now yet or not, but whatever it is, I don't like it. There's a decent alt metal piece there before we head back into the verse, but it would have worked so much better on an album that was actually worth a shit. Another round through this mess and we get more James yodels that seriously make me wonder if there's something seriously wrong with him at a base level. God, it's a mess. It's seriously hard to fathom that the same band that wrote "Disposable Heroes", a tremendously great epic eight minute number also wrote this song eight minute shitfest. I get experimentation, I get changing, hell, The X Factor is one of my favorite albums. But this... this is another level of fucking stupid. There's another stupid bridge in here that's just James shouting over fucking shit. And there's still over two minutes left. Fuck. There's a really stupid scream thing and then more stupid stupidity that's gonna fucking run me up a bridge boat car barge. "Hate me now!" Yes, yes I fucking do. And then we get some absolutely fucking stupid "kill kill kill kill" thing that makes me just wanna die already. What is this tormented torture device and who thought it was a good idea? It wasn't. It's fucking bad. There's a decent ending piece where the band slows to a crawl and it almost reminds me of Ahab. It's kind of a nice way to close out the album, but I can't say the same for the rest of this disaster. As much as it's better than "Purify", it's still dogshit. Fuck, glad that's over. 0/10
St. Anger is legitimately the worst album I've ever listened to, and I doubt I'll find something that beats it any time soon. Almost everything this album does is stupid, bad, and downright shit, and what good moments there are get killed by all the rubbish. I do think it has some replay value - it's so bad that's on the next level of bad, and in that sense there's no album like this, which makes it interesting - but that doesn't mean that it's good. It isn't. St. Anger sucks. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.
Rating: 7%
Number 6
Ancient Mariner
Are you fucking kidding me?
Diesel 11
As you scream into the web of silence...
Too low?
Number 6
Ancient Mariner
Way too low. I mean... I (mostly) agree about the rest, but man... Those two deserve better.Too low?
Diesel 11
As you scream into the web of silence...
I agree. Proper production, good drumming, good guitar work, good vocals - in fact, an entire re-recording completely. But I can’t help that what does exist isn’t good.
KidInTheDark666
What's yours is mine and what's mine is mine too
Oof. The worst rating I gave to a song from St. Anger is 7 to Invisible Kid.
Number 6
Ancient Mariner
Have you heard the radio edit of "Some Kind of Monster"? It's half the original length and the production is quite noticeably better.I agree. Proper production, good drumming, good guitar work, good vocals - in fact, an entire re-recording completely. But I can’t help that what does exist isn’t good.
Diesel 11
As you scream into the web of silence...
Will check it out. There’s a completely remixed version of the album with more metallic production floating around on the Tubes that I plan on listening to.
Number 6
Ancient Mariner
Summed up my thoughts.
D
Deleted member 7164
Guest
Some interesting vocal melodies on St Anger the song. Some interesting riffs throughout the album. The package as a whole completely sucks and I would disagree with even rating it.
Diesel 11
As you scream into the web of silence...
Okay, I gave it a listen. It's definitely better, there's at least some sense of direction, but I still don't think it's necessarily "good", never mind "great".
Monster, Amber, Feeling and Hands are all great, easily better than anything from Hardwired.
The first riff on the title track is Hetfield brilliance, dirty and knarly yet rhythmically catchy.
Regardless of opinions on sound, the drums are excellent.
Shoot is dull though, and whilst Kid has some groovy riffing it goes on too long.
It can be a tough listen, but I can get off on that.
The first riff on the title track is Hetfield brilliance, dirty and knarly yet rhythmically catchy.
Regardless of opinions on sound, the drums are excellent.
Shoot is dull though, and whilst Kid has some groovy riffing it goes on too long.
It can be a tough listen, but I can get off on that.
Black Wizard
Pleb Hunter
Drama Queen.
Diesel 11
As you scream into the web of silence...
WizKid