Did I also mention I hate the Black Album's production? The guitars sounds thin and weak and lacks mids. While everybody else thinks it is the best produced album in the history of rock/metal I hope this is too small for you to read
I'm with you on that one. Not a fan of the black album's sound anymore (I used to love it), although I do think the songs and lyrics were much better than anything on St. Anger.
In my own personal opinion I've never associated good production with Metallica - the records sound bad to me. Often the guitars are stupidly loud (Seek And Destroy) and the drum sounds are cat.
That said, my freinds and I all learned Master Of Puppets when we were 15. Some great music to be had, sonics aside.
And I've never been mad about the drum sounds on most metal records anyway!
__________________ Why don't you just knock it off with them negative waves?
Everyone has their own tastes, it keeps the world interesting.
But I think you're nuts. Mastering issues aside, even a sonic moron like me would never thumbs-up that snare sound...
It's tough to get past some of the obvious "issues" - like KenHR pointed out the snare, and the mastering. Overall, everything together makes for a very loud / noisy album and I mean that in the worst way possible. I also agree with Dave E the lyrics are horrendous..... so much so that I feel uncomfortable listening to them at times hahahaha.... and I definetly felt awkward watching them write the lyrics on the Some Kind Of Monster DVD.....super cheesy!
However, having never been a fan of Metallica, as far as the songs go themselves, I more recently have got into St. Anger. The way I see it, at the time that it came out it was a huge disappointment for fans and non fans as far as Metallica was concerned. It didn't measure up if you previously were a fan and it was just to easy to hate if you previously weren't a fan.
Chances are if you are a big fan of Metal / Punk you have listened to and enjoyed some records that don't actually "sound good", but it's hard to get past the crappy sound when it's a band like Metallica, who has endless resources as far as recording is concerned.
If you can get past the fact that your listening to one of the biggest Metal bands (or biggest bands in general) of all time, then I see where you are coming from.... I can't believe I am going to say this but I like the record, even know it doesn't stand up to the bands own legacy.... I like the actual music and the songs and I like his voice as an instrument. Even then it's still not really Metallica to me... I think most people would consider Death Magnetic (which also didn't "sound" great) an improvement and I remember reading that Rick Rubin had told the band "There is nothing wrong with doing what has worked for you before.". I guess in the end Metallica is a band that just shouldn't change.
So I don't think you are nuts.....but I still think it sounds like crap.
I love the songs, but the sound is so awful that I can't listen to it. It even sounds like they didn't tune. I will, however, defend sound. They were looking for something angry and aggressive and they found it.
Is it really true? 100% of the people I talk to positively HATE that album. Metallica's worst, yadda yadda yadda.
Your opinion: Am I nuts or not?
NOOO I LOVE that album. I grew up listening to it. Im only 21. I was like 14 or so when it came out, and I LOVED it.
I really like the snare sound...its just an unlucky turn of events that trying something different screwed Metallica on that one. If Lars and everyone hadn't FREAKED OUT about how AWESOME it was gonna be, people would be saying that snare sounds sick.
Can you name one band that sounds anything like Metallica on that album? That was some of their most ORIGINAL songwriting.
"I'm Judge and Im Jury and Im Executioner too"
**** YEAH! METALLICA!
__________________
"Over thinking, over analyzing separates the body from the mind. Withering my intuition, leaving opportunities behind."
The hard hitting "DUHN"'s sound really ****ing brutal in this album. Lars, just whacking the snare as hard as humanly possible...gnarly detuned guitars being hammered...
The dynamics are great on that album...they go from heavy to soft and clean a LOT. I love it.
I love Metallica, seen them a BUNCH of times, I've had the pleasure of working with them... St. Anger is bad (snare alone is a deal breaker) and the lyrics are terrible... I have more dislike for Death Magnetic though not just for the horrible loudness/mastering but that the guitar licks sound like they were written with Guitar Hero in mind (and the Guitar Hero version actually sounds better than the CD!)
__________________ - "You only have a certain amount of headroom with Pro Tools... if you start pushing it a little bit too hard it's starts squawking like a chicken, if you go too low, it starts squawkin', you have to work within a certain realm otherwise you get zapped either way!" - Tad Donley (2006) -
I think St. Anger appeals to a different crowd of Metal fans...not your old school Thrash Metallica/Pantera/Mega fans.
The song structures are far too advanced in St Anger.
**** the lyrics, who cares? I actually like the lyrics...its not straight forward...find your own meaning instead
I find more people who LOVE Mudvayne seem to like St Anger. Interesting.
The Unnamed Feeling is a great song on that album, BTW.
The songs are written in an entirely different scale....not your normal metallica stuff.
The Unnamed Feeling!
Like I thought, St. Anger is really a bit of a love it/hate it album.
Me I think the snare sounds awesome *I'm so dead* just because of the fact that it says "f**k you!!" right in your face. They really wanted to capture an ANGRY, garage-bandy, metal sound that fits the overall mood of the album and I think they really succeeded.
I dunno, that album just touches me I guess. It's so 2003, I love it.
I'm listening to St. Anger right now for the first time in a couple of years and it just makes me feel good I guess!
Ever since then (well, ever since waaay before this album) they started to sound worse and worse and worse...I think we all know what I'm talking about.
I dig it, largely because it is a huge change in direction and rubs against the grain.
Sometimes I get very sick of the "million dollar sound/need to polish it beyond all recognition" thing. In that sense, St Anger was very refreshing... It is what it is and doesn't hide it.
It is a pretty awful album, but it's the shit they had to squeeze out so they could move on. Hetfield's lyrics have always been pretty poor, so nothing new there. There are a few moments on the album which are good (and could have been saved by better production), but despite the album being billed as raw garage rock, the endless looping and stuff in Pro Tools give me the impression it's more of an album created on a computer than in a jam room.
I love St Anger. I love the production. I think the snare sounds awesome. I think the guitars sound awesome. I like the songs, I like the lyrics. (Don't love the mastering, though.)
To me, it sounds very real. I think that the production and the spirit of the music really work together, and really "feel" the same: angry, raw, real, un-polished, in your face.
In contrast, I can't stand the slick, polished production of The Black Album.
I've had fights with friends, family, over this. There are still some bitter feelings.
Just my opinion, but it's nice to know I'm not alone! I've only met one other person who felt this way about the album!
They really have great song arrangement, dynamics, and structure in this album. Listen to it. Kind of like Black Album but more pissed off and I like it. James voice sounds good mastered like that in my opinion
I think my response was a bit harsh for no good reason, and for that I apologize.
I still think everyone having different taste is a good thing. It's the rest of my post that was a bit OTT.
I can honestly imagine that snare sound being good in a different context. Hell, I enjoy the heck out of lo-fi recordings like Ty Segall's last album. I just don't think all the elements of St. Anger's production coalesce into something good. And something about the record feels very artificials...too "Pro Tooled" as per a previous post here.
It WAS an album that they had to make, and the Some Kind of Monster doc makes that very clear (and is the best thing to come out of these sessions).
Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets are where it's at, Metallica-wise, for me. Still not excited by the production on them, tho. Their guitars always seem to take up too much real estate (which...well, it's metal, I know loud guitars are the point).
"Frantic tic tock"??
"My lifestyle determines my death style"??
Hahahaha
The lyrics from st anger are an on going joke between the musicians I know.
That's pretty bad. The production itself isn't the worst but those songs don't seem like they should've been metallicas. There wasn't even one solo in the entire thing!?
But they redemed themselves with death magnetic..that's "metallica"
But I have to admit the "some kind of monster" dvd is pretty entertaining
And for those who don't like the black album you need to watch "classic albums: the black album"..it will at least show you how much production went into that album and it does sound amazing even if its just the songs and not "sonicly"
Just my 2c
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100% of the people I talk to positively HATE that album. Metallica's worst, yadda yadda yadda.
I hope this is too small for you to read 
fans. 
