Some Kind of Monster (St. Anger - Metallica)

Member Name: rleigh

Product:	St. Anger - Metallica
Date:	10/03/08 (95 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: The title track is pretty good.

Disadvantages: The tracks are far too long-winded and the vocals lack any real depth of power.

Metallica formed back in 1981 and have to date released a grand total of eight studio albums. 'St. Anger' is the latest of which and was given its release upon the world in June 2003. It took them from May 2002 until April 2003 to record, and all I can say of this matter is that it took them far too long to record such a disappointing album in my opinion. You'd think that James Hetfield would have been able to put down much better vocals in a year than this.

Starting with 'Frantic', Metallica don't exactly make the best of first impressions here. The track is in fact really quite awful, and containing lyrics of 'Frantic tick tick, tick tick tick tock' it isn't exactly the most intelligent of tracks in the world. For an album that starts so wrong footed, it is hardly surprising then that as the album continues it fails to impress. To the front of the album is a sticker that states '11 New Songs; Over 75 minutes of music' and I have to tell you that over an hour of music as atrocious as this really isn't my idea of a pleasant listening experience.

Title track 'St. Anger' was the one reason I bought this album and the track provides the release with its one moment of glory. It's not exactly my favourite of songs in the world and yet it obviously did enough to capture my interest substantially enough to lead me to purchase this album. It contains some strong guitar work, excellent vocals, and some truly quite phenomenal drum beats. Although it's good, alone it certainly doesn't warrant the purchase of the 'St. Anger' album but would definitely be a worthwhile download. In its full 7 minute glory though, even this track drags on eventually and becomes rather tiresome.

The main complaint I have with this album is that the tracks are just too long. The shortest on the album is over 5 minutes, and the longest verges upon 9 minutes; I like my music short and sharp and this album just doesn't provide for my musical needs and requirements. I admittedly have an extremely short attention span, and to listen to this album in its entirety is therefore a huge chore for me. This said, it's not as though I'm not a fan of any albums with lengthy tracks and it can therefore not be considered that it is this factor alone that leads me to dislike the 'St. Anger' album. I just feel that the band do very little in order to keep you entertained as you listen to this album and it is therefore extremely easy to drift off whilst listening.

One positive that can be drawn from this album is the strength with which the band smash out the guitar riffs. The track 'Some Kind of Monster' for example begins with an almighty guitar solo, it is over two minutes before the vocals kick in and towards the end of this time the drums come pummelling through with real power. I can't find any fault with the guitar and drum work on this track or in fact at all in the album as a whole. It is the vocals that let this album down, James Hetfield just lacks passion in his vocal approach and fails to ignite with his performance. There are few times on this album when the man truly sounds like he believes in what he is singing about, the vocals lack life and are at times extremely painful to listen to. No one wants to listen to vocals that lack life, it just doesn't make for an interesting listening experience and never does anything but disappoint.

Throughout the entirety of this album the instrumental section impresses as the bass, guitars and drums come blasting through. The album comes to its climax with 'All Within My Hands' and this track certainly doesn't buck that trend. The guitars are at the forefront of the sound and are the driving force as the band power through one final track to end the 'St. Anger' album. It closes the album on a high, never can I fault the sounds that the guitars produce here. Were this purely an instrumental album then I'd no doubt appreciate it more than I do. The vocals ruin this release for me, and in this final track they provide no exception. James Hetfield lacks bite and his vocals on this album just sound incredibly weak and emotionless.

In terms of the guitar and drum utilisation I'd probably give this album a 9 out of 10, for vocals however it would be more along the lines of a 2 or a 3. James Hetfield fails to impress me here, and while the rest of the band seem to be putting in their best efforts on this album and coming out triumphant with a superb sound; the vocals often disappoint and rarely do they show any signs of strength. With a more passionate and effective vocal approach the 'St. Anger' album could have been something really rather special, as it stands however it is extremely disappointing and in fact rather lacklustre and dull. Metallica are at current back to the drawing board and look set to release their ninth studio album at some stage in 2008. Amidst fears of the album being leaked illegally on file sharing programs, it would seem here that James Hetfield forgot the importance of a powerful vocal approach here and as such laid down some truly uninspiring vocals. It could so easily have been an excellent release and yet the vocals let this album down so much so that it is rendered nearly unlistenable. Give this album a miss, but perhaps give the title track a listen if you feel so inclined.

Summary: 'St. Anger' is an extremely disappointing album from Metallica.