"St. Anger" pushed up and released today....who has it? Any Good?
 

I just read a review in the Chicago Tribune today of "St. Anger". Apparently the release was bumped from the 10th to today because the record company was trying to stay ahead of the internet copies of the album that are floating around.

The review confirmed that there are no guitar solos, that the album is very raw, and that it is "the hardest album since ...And Justice For All".

So, has anyone bought it today? quick reviews of how it sounds?

I have a feeling this album will be a huge flop, but heavily traded via p2p just to piss them off.

well its shame, cause you just won't get the quality of the cd...it is the CLEAREST fucking album I have *EVER* heard

Its raw but they recorded straight digital, no tape. The quality is unheard of.

There have been over 1 million copies ordered, it was #4 on Amazon's top selling list a week before it came out.

I dunno... I've only heard the first single "St. Anger" and I'm really tied. Part of me really wants to like this... but I'm getting that serious "Load" vibe... telling me that I'm going to hate it. However, I did grow to love "Load", so there still could be hope for the album. I'll definately have to "try out" the whole album before I pluck down the money for it.

I have heard the whole thing and do not particularly care for it.. i felt the production and the vocals were for the most part hideious... but that is just my opinion... .. well.. and the opinion of alot of other Metal headz that I discuss things with on a different forum.

Atomic Pinkie...It does sound clear, even with the raw sound...I'm liking it more and more...

i REALLY don't like the production of the album, and i don't think i'm too picky about such things - i'm more concerned with the actually music. that being said, Lar's snare rings way too much and sounds very hollow, and the drum levels in general are inconsistent. i thought the guitars sound very muddy as well - it's almost impossible to make a distinction between notes.

i'll have to give it a few more listens before judging it musically though...

naw.. u hit it on the head mercury-hg...

that 'PONG' sound is ANNOYING as hell.

i agree 100%. Also, I thought the lyrical content of the songs was not up to par compared to ALL other MEtallica albums (including the last 3). I think this album sounds like it could have been put out by a number of other metal acts. It's just not of METALLICA-quality", if that makes sense. Of course I've only listened to it about 4 times. It might get better the more I listen to it.

So everything I thought about the "St. Anger" single is true of the whole album? I thought that single was poorly mixed, with the vocals and drums (particularly the cymbal crasehes ) were too high in the mix, and the guitars and bass are muddy and mixed too low. Why would they mix out the guitars, or cut the high end and make it sound so unclear? Aren't crunching guitars a signature sound of the band?

I really could care less about this new Metallica album. They've had their time in the spotlight; they're past their prime now, and it really shows. They might have kickstarted the whole metal movement, but there's countless bands that have outclassed them in every way since the mid-eighties.

Production doesn't bother me at all, but lyrically and musically, I am not really liking it. It just seems rather uncreative, and just a lot of the same thing.l

Metallica's St. Anger
 

Metallica's St. Anger

I just picked up the new CD today and I gotta say I hope it
grows on me because right now I'm not impressed at all.

I don't know how many people on here like heavy shit but for those that
do I'd like to hear your opinions on this.

Being a fan of old Metallica I keep giving them the benefit of the doubt
anytime they release a new CD and time and again I'm dissapointed. :(

At least it came in a pretty cool package with a free DVD included...it's sad that
I'm more impressed with the packaging than the music.

If they would fire Bob Rock, and James would stop "singing" and go back to
yelling maybe they could be the Metallica they used to be. I know bands need
to grow and change but in this case it's not working.

The amazing thing is they still sell a billion freakin' albums.

Anyone else got any thoughts on this?

To me it seems that this whole album became a showcase for Lars.

The drums drown out just about everything else and the guitar playing is no where near what they should have(and could have) played.

The DVD is pretty sweet though, the drums aren't turned up all the way and the guitars are much clearer(The way the album should have been).

All in all the songs are good, nowhere near great, and if you listen to more than three songs in one sitting they all start to sound the same.

I was very disappointed but what can you do right...i still have the first 6 albums(yes 6...Load rocked)

I just finally checked out the Metallica Vault stuff that you can access with the code that comes with the CD. 3 Lives shows that are great and they alones are worth the purchase. Especially the acoustic stuff from Cleveland in 1998.

I haven't checked out the DVD yet.

4th listen and it isn't getting any better :-(.

I can overlook most any lyrics, but "Invisible Kid" and "My World" in particular make me want to break my speakers.

The album definitely lacks textural variety and having two guitarists on the album is just redundant. what happened to the guitar melodies of any other metallica album?

what else to complain about... how about: almost every song on the album breaks at around 5:00 and comes back in with an unrelated coda. also, i can't say enough bad things about the drum production!

Wel, having just listened to a downloaded verson of the CD, I have to say it sounds like crap. The drums just over power everything. Vocals, guitar, everything.

Here's an example. Play the CD, and leave the room. Go a distance away, and the guitars are totally muddy, the viocals could be anyone, but you fucking hear Lars banging away perfectly. Sounds like he's hitting a fucking tin can.

Maybe I'm just bitter. I was listening to Garage Days while it was downloading, and I jumped into this.

I just don't know anymore. For the past 12 years, I have given them the benefit of the doubt, hoping that the latest album will sound like the Metallica I loved in High School.

They sound like a bad cover band.

James can't sing, and Sweet Amber proves it.

Bob Rock needs to die.

I'm listening to it for the first time right now. The songs aren't amazing, but I do give the band credit for TRYING to break out of the shitty stuff they wrote for Reload. Granted, that album had a few good tracks, but it really lacked for the most part. Maybe the band just playing at full speed with reckless abandon will help them reconnect to the music that made them great and help them in the future, who knows? The songs need more structure, as the best Metallica songs (One, Master of Puppets, For Whom the Bell Tolls) are very well thought out and structured.

Oh, and each song needs to be about 3 minutes shorter...

I'm downloading the live shows as we speak. Any reccomendations on how to split them up onto different CD's? The tracks are all really long...

I "caught" the single on the radio. Didn't even know it was them until the DJ was like "and that's the new metallica blah blah blah" then the sound bite of James kissing Jasons Newsteds replacments ass etc....

It was not Metallica. They should have just called it quits last year. Kept their good name. (well, whats left of it...)

I just heard St. Anger for the first time... and I have to say these things:

1) Guitar is WAY undermiked, WAY underplayed. There needs to be a MUCH bigger guitar line there. Otherwise, it's not bad...

2) It's a LOT better than the "Load" albums. A LOT.

3) It's not "old Metallica," but remember this... bands don't want to make the same album every time they record. They want to change things around, and explore outside their style, and that's what Metallica was doing with the Load albums (which sucked anyway) and now with St. Anger. Overall, I really don't think it's that bad, but if you were expecting the same old thing they'd always done, you had to know that you weren't going to get it. Personally, I think it's pretty good as far as music goes, and if they fixed that whole guitar thing, it would be even better.

Also, the lyrics in the title track could be a little less repetitive.

I'm not going to complain. It's a great CD, and the fact that it came with the DVD of the rehearsal was just awesome. I have the DVD playing in a loop right now. Big thumbs up on this one from me. :thumbsup:

This is quite a change from older Metallica. I'm still into the old school Metallica 'garage band' sound. I've been a fan of theirs for years and from what I've heard on the new one so far is pretty decent but I can't make an appropriate judgement until I've heard the whole thing.

I am thoroughly disappointed by St. Anger. I am a huge Metallica fan and have been for a long time. I thought Load and Reload were excellent moves on their part, but now it seems like they spent far too much time whining and suing people than worrying about the quality of their music. I really hope they get their shit together

The album grows on you I think. Some songs are still just bad, but I'm really into "Frantic" right now. I enjoy listening to it on headphones, and the DVD sounds great. I hated it at first, but I think you have to give it a chance (and stop comparing it to Master of Puppets for god's sake!)

I think it becomes a misconception with many people, that once a band puts out a kick ass album the rest have to follow suit. It doesn't always happen that way and most people get disappointed with the results even when the band may think they put out their best music to date.

I made the time to listen to the rest of the DVD and although it's not as good as some of their best, such as And Justice for All and Master of Puppets, it still is quite good.