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Metallica St Anger Review
Metallica St Anger Review - Riffmaster Metallica – Progressive metal band. James Hetfield (Vocals, Guitar), Lars Ulrich (Drums), Kirk Hammet (Guitar, Lead), newest member Robert Trujillo (Bass Guitar). The members of Metallica are extremely talented musicians, and as a unit are a juggernaut. I actually stumbled upon this CD through a friend of mind who is an extreme Metallica fan. I told him I’d give the St. Anger CD a listen but I really wasn't a die hard fan of theirs. Sure I’ve heard all there radio played hits. However, they really never caught on with me. When they went to your basic rock 4/4 tempo format years ago, I stopped buying. Now looking back… I guess I really never gave them their due. I listened more in their early days, and yes they were like musician’s who needed to be on Riddlin. Talk about having attention deficit disorder. Their music was furiously fast and always changing. Then came along Bob Rock and the rest is history.
The Black Album sold millions of copies along with videos on MTV. Once long ago they fought against the music establishment and now they are the musical establishment. Getting involved with lawsuits against Napster and threatening the fans was a real turn off. Lars Ulrich was probably the most hated rock star on the earth at one time. Oh no! They cut their hair too! Corporate musicians too? The fashionable look also went with their fashionable albums Load and Reload – mainstream rock.
However, St. Anger is full of exactly that … anger! This album is nothin’ but blood sweat and tears. Listening to each of the songs was like taking a metal beating. Shirts off, gloves on, and let's sweat out every hard pounding riff you can possible thing of... old Metallica style. The guitarz are mostly stripped of effects and delays. Nuthin’ but chainsaw buzzing tone ripping at your ear drums. Hardly any reverb on the mix. Give me wood!!! "I was talking a friend recently and we both agreed there were moments of System of a Down arrangements. Of course... this is just my opinion."
Kirk plays no traditional lead solos on this album what-so-ever. My man Kirk has gotton to be a great lead soloist over the years. If you go back and listen to their older stuff you can hear his skill getting better and better with each album. Remember Kill em all? He had to be the fastest pentatonic player around at the time. However, on St. Anger he plays the minimalist very smartly and sprinkles each tune with his gracious playing.
Lars is a master metal drummer. When I watch him play, I actually have to remind my self to breath. On this album, Lars experiments with the sounds of his drum kit. I think he always looking for that perfect natural sound of the wood and skins. I must stress this… This is not your 4/4 pop metal arena rock album. If you are like to their radio hits, you may be in for a surprize here. The songs on this album are not for the meek.
This album is about the expression of their lives, growing, looking back from where they’ve come and accepting who they are. This album took over a year to create. Of course everyone knows that Metallica was on the verge of breaking up. Their old bass player Jason Newsted quit the band because he wanted to do other musical projects and James Hetfield was against it. Everyone else in the band had their lives outside the band in full swing, then why couldn’t Jason too! Then there was this group therapy going on and Jason was like screw this. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander, right? Unfortunately for Jason, this wasn’t so. I quit! You wonder, what does a multi-platinum, rich band like Metallica have to be angry and pissed-off about anyways. Well… if you ever get to watch there auto-biographical DVD Some kind of Monster, you’ll see the real side of Metallica’s charmed metal life. Wrong!!! I guess now you have to start writing what’s wrong with inside.
Basically, growing up and experiencing mid-life crisis just like everyone else. You made it through the long tours, drugs, alcohol, orgies, hangovers…etc. Now, you have to wake up and smell the coffee. The wives, kids, mortgages, lawyers, etc. Damn! I use to be able to just get shit-faced, now I’m too old to do that. Yep! getting older takes it toll. Time to face up and pay the piper fellas. James went through a long stint with rehab after being kicked out of his own house and walking away from his own band. From what I understand, James worked on his anger and got help identifying his character flaws as did the others in the band. Communication breakdown was fixed by being played out through the music of St. Anger. So… it’s all here in the music of their latest album. I’m really proud of James’ vocals on this album. You can actually hear the timbre’s in his voice. Back in the day, his vocals were always washed out in a sea of reverb to hide his short comings. St. Anger to some my be a wash-out. As for me, I really got into the album's vibe. There is also a DVD of them playing all their songs in the studio for the camera crews who followed them constantly throughout the Some kind of Monster Movie. And Yes... Metallica still can kick some serious butt too!
***Hetfield is one of the founding members of the metal band Metallica. The new documentary Metallica: Some Kind of Monster catches the band at a time of crisis, when their bass player quits and the group hires a "therapist and performance-enhancement coach" to help them sort things out. Also during the filming, Hetfield storms out and enters rehab.
Listen to an Interview with Metallica Guitarist and Vocalist James Hetfield
Metallica - Some Kind of Monster Rehearsal
FOR SLOWER COMPUTERS - PAUSE VIDEO AND GIVE THE VIDEO A MINUTE TO LOAD... THEN HIT PLAY.
"You MUST devote yourself to the task at hand. This can be
difficult if you "don't seem to have the time" to play or
practice. You will have to sacrifice some things in order
to make time for your music. For example, Friday nights may
be reserved as your weekly night to go to the movies with
your friends. It may be a good idea to forget that for a
while and use the time more constructively to develop your
chops." - Dedication
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