One Year Anniversary Review

IT'S RAVE UP MUSIC'S ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY!...So, why am I madly in anger about it?

WARNING: The following review contains material not suitable for younger readers.

Parental discretion is advised. 

Greetings everyone, and welcome to Rave Up Music’s One Year Anniversary Review! I am your host Barius, and I am in amazement that Rave Up Music has been around for a whole year. In this past year, we have listened to and review an eclectic mix of musical styles, genres, and artists. We have seen some of the best that heavy metal music can bring us, as well as some of the most bizarre albums from some well-respected musicians. We counted down Christmas songs, as well as movie songs, and even took a look at one of my favorite Christmas specials. Even with multiple delays in reviews due to computer issues, multiple sicknesses, and life in general, this review blog has prevailed and thrived to see its first full year.

So, in honor of our one-year anniversary, I have decided to take a look at an album that has gain a bit of notoriety in the last decade. And, it just so happens to come from one of my favorite bands of all time, as well as one of the biggest band in the world. Today, we are look at the juggernaut band of The Big 4 of thrash metal, Metallica, and their 2003 album, St. Anger.

Metallica (L to R): Kirk Hammett, Lars Ulrich, James Hetfield, and Robert Trujillo.

As I have stated multiple times throughout the last year, Metallica is one of my favorite bands, and if I were to ever do a countdown list of my favorite bands, you would definitely see them in the Top Ten. When I first started to studying music at age ten, the music from Metallica was one of the groups I listened to, thanks to my older brother bringing a cassette tape copy of their 1996 album Load home. While Load was a good album, the moment I heard Master of Puppets, I was hooked.

What makes Metallica one of my favorites bands is what each member brings to the fold. Guitarist and vocalist James Hetfield brings great rhythms and riffs to his guitar playing, as well as vocals that are aggressive and melodic. Drummer Lars Ulrich brings a drumbeat that while simplistic, still compliments the guitar and bass work. Kirk Hammett brings some of the greatest, complex, and memorable guitar solos which have brought him many honors and awards as one of the greatest guitarist of all time. And, whether it is the late great Cliff Burton, Jason Newsted, or even Robert Trujillo, the bassist for Metallica has always brought a sense of groove and stability to the music.

While I do praise Metallica for their music, I can also respect people’s opinions about them. Among the hardcore metalheads out there, there seems to be a split how people feel about Metallica, both in their music and their business actions. Whether it is “selling out” to release their first album or their “battle” against Napster, people either praise or loathe the Rock N Roll Hall of Famers. And perhaps the one thing that Metallica has ever done that has split the fans in half is the release of their eighth studio album, St. Anger.

The release of St. Anger was a tumultuous effort by the band. When bassist Jason Newsted left in 2000, Metallica’s management Q-Prime hire “performance-enhancing coach” Phil Towle to help the band work through their issues as well as better understand each other as people. During this “therapy,” the band began recording the album that would become St. Anger with producer Bob Rock, who also filled-in on bass guitar while the band searched for a new bassist, eventually selecting Robert Trujillo of Suicidal Tendencies fame. During the recording process, the band took a break when James Hetfield entered rehabilitation for alcohol abuse. Once he returned, the band continued recording an album that was meant to be a more raw and aggressive than the last two albums Load and Reload. To succeed this sound, the music did not have a lot of mixing done, and had the sound of a band playing together for the first time in a garage.

While St. Anger became Metallica’s fourth straight platinum album, it has met with mixed reviews. Some praised the raw, aggressive sound, while other have describe it as dreadful, and an unfocused mess, as well as the worse album ever made by the band. Many critics praised the guitar riffs, but shun the tin-can sound of the drums. Thus, I ask the ultimate question: Is Metallica’s St. Anger a bad record, or is it one of the best albums of all time?

Well, let us find out in Rave Up Music’s One Year Anniversary review. This is Metallica’s St. Anger.

THE ALBUM COVER:

The album cover was designed by Brian “Pushead” Schroeder, who has done a lot of artwork for Metallica in the past. The cover is a red fist, which I am assumed belongs to the titular St. Anger, being restrained by gray ropes. This cover is not that bad, though not amazing when it is compared to other Metallica covers, like Master of Puppets or Ride the Lightning. However, I will say it is a step up from the blood and urine mixed cover of Reload.

THE SONGS:

“Frantic”

Right off the bat, the band hits you in the face with an all-out fast guitar and drum riff. For you guitarists out there, the guitars and bass are detuned down a whole step, with the low E String tuned down to a C (tuning low to high: CGCFAD), which was a commonly used tuning in metal music at the time. You will also notice the sound of Lars’ snare drum has a bit of a ping to it. On St. Anger, the snares on the drum are turned off. Sometimes it works when the song is a bit more aggressive, but not so much on any slower songs. On “Frantic” it works just fine.

“Frantic” is one of the strongest tracks on the album. The lyrics are about the band’s struggle with addiction, particularly Hetfield’s issues, and draw a lot of inspiration from various Zen adages. The chorus line of “Frantic-tic-tick-tick-tick-tick-tock” represents time ticking away before one implodes and breaks down from the pain. I really love Hetfield’s vocals on this one. It has the right amount of aggression, yet sincerity as he asks the question “If I could have my wasted days back, would I use them to get back on track?” Overall, “Frantic” is a solid opening track.

“St. Anger”

So here we have the title track. It starts out with a nice little groove that leads to the chorus, which demonstrates the range of Hetfield has developed over the years. Soon, tempo picks up has the message of having no regrets for what has happened in your life, for it has helped to shape you into the person you are.

There are some really good parts in this song, such as the main guitar riff and Hetfield’s vocals. However, what makes this from being a really great track is its repetitive nature. The song kind meanders a bit in the middle section, and kind of loses its musical direction. Plus, the complains of Ulrich’s snare drum are pretty prominent in this sound, especially when doing some of faster drumbeats, and it is a bit grating on the ears.

Overall, “St. Anger” is a decent track, but as a title track, it does not live up to the greatness of the likes of “Master of Puppets” or “Ride the Lightning.”

“Some Kind of Monster”

This song was selected as not only the fourth single from St. Anger, but the title for the documentary that chronicled the creation of this album, Metallica: Some Kind of Monster. Like “St. Anger,” there are some good musical ideas in this song. The clean intro before the distortion kicks in is pretty catchy, as are a lot of the riffs. The verses are pretty catchy as well, as the band tells the story of how fame and fortune can be monstrous at times. The song also serves a story of a Frankenstein’s Monster-like creature being created from different parts.

However, similar “St. Anger,” there are parts that do not feel fully developed, and actually lack development. Hetfield’s vocals crack here and there, pushing him well beyond his range. In this song, there are moments where it is just Ulrich’s snare drum and Hetfield’s vocals that I have admit do not blend well together. Plus, it also shows some of the problems when making an unpolished album, which is if you go for a raw sound; some of your limitations as a musician or as a band are on displayed. In this case, Ulrich’s drumming is very exposed, and show inconsistency in his playing on this track.

“Dirty Window”

The song starts out very sparse, but eventually leads to a full blow metal jam fest. It has a good groove throughout the piece, including a slow down chorus section that really gets the head banging. Though the snare drum is kind of annoying in this song, it does not take away from the groove of the whole song. James’ vocals are absolutely insane on this one, and it is such a delight to hear it. It is a perfect song? No, but there is a lot here that makes “Dirty Window” a treat to listen to.

“Invisible Kid”

“Invisible Kid” has a lot of the elements that makes Metallica one of the best bands of any generation: memorable guitar riffs, good backing beats, vocals that has the right amount of melodic and aggressive tones, and it is written in a very long, epic song format. However, some of those elements are what kind of hurts the song. The mid-section breakdown kind feels out of place in the song, and Hetfield’s vocals are not really at his strongest in that section. The rest of the song is pretty good, even Ulrich’s snare drum, which is not nearly as annoying as it is on other songs, which we will get to very soon.

“My World”

This one is a just straight tune full of good riffs that makes you want to bang your head. The statement of “It’s my world” is a message of being yourself, and not letting other people influence you. While I feel some of the cursing is a bit excessive in this one, it helps to push the message of the song. Like a lot of the other tracks, some of the ideas that do not feel as developed as they could be, mainly in the middle section, and by the time we reach the end, even Hetfield is saying “enough’s enough” with this song.

“Shoot Me Again”

This is one of the few songs on the album where Lars’ drumming actually works with the song. Similar to a lot of the other songs, “Shoot Me Again” has some guitar riffs that really grooves, and propels the song forward. Unlike a lot of the other songs, this one feels more complete, and the musical ideas have a forward direction. James’ vocals are decent here, though some of the sustaining notes are a bit difficult for him to hold.

 “Shoot Me Again” stands out from most of the songs on St. Anger for its lyrics and message. With lines like “All the shots I take, I spit back at you,” and “Shoot me again I ain’t dead yet,” the song is sort of sending a message to all the critics and haters of Metallica that no matter what you say, the band bounces back and finds success. It is, in essence, a powerful message that even if people talk behind your back, you rise above it, and prove them wrong, and eventually, that back talking will come back to haunt them later.

“Sweet Amber”

This is one not exactly the best track on the album, but it has its moments. Some of the riffs are catchy and fast, but the lyrics are your generic story of a woman who is bad for you, and not really as “sweet” as she seems. The drums are a big issue on this one. At about the four minute mark, there is this full-blown trash riff that gets bogged down due to the drumming. This one is worth one listening, but not many other ones.

“The Unnamed Feeling”

This song is the closest one we get for a “ballad” on this album, and it is definite one of the best songs on the album. It is one of those songs you listening to with the lights off, and let your emotions loose. The song is about the feelings and emotions we have inside of us that we know we have/had. These are the feelings that wish try to suppress, and not let out, but something boils inside of us to let them loose, for if we do not let it out, it will consume us, and destroy us internally.

“The Unnamed Feeling” has some of the best guitar riffs on the album, and James lets his emotions out in his singing. Since the song is about letting out the rage inside us, Lars’ drumming adds that right amount of aggression to the song. The song is both soothing, as well as chaotic, as if one’s emotions are trying to break through, though they manages to hold them back. Overall, this is one of the best songs on the album, and it quite possibly my favorite song on the album.

“Purify”

While the song gets off to a good start, the minute the vocals kick in, “Purify” becomes a disjointed mess. The tempo feels inconsistent, and the guitars and drums feel like they never line up with each other. The snare drum on this one really sounds like the tin garage can that a lot of people have describe it to be on this album. But, the moment James sings the chorus of “Purify, You and I, Purify, You and I,” I really had enough of this song. It is just really cheesy, and not in a 1980s pop song cheesiness, but just annoyingly cheesiness. There are some really good riffs near the end of the song, but you have to go through the rest of the song to get to them, and even then, they do not last that long.

“All Within My Hands”

The final track on the album starts out with a lot of aggression and energy. Suddenly, it switches to this almost slow, eerie feel to it, as James slowly brings in the “All within My Hands” line that occurs through the song. After the chorus, there is this riff that is very reminiscence of a riff out of the Korn music catalog. Sadly, this is where my enjoyment of the song ends. Like a lot of the songs on the album, the riffs are repetitive, and some of them are very under-developed. The lowest point of the song is the ending, in which Hetfield repeatedly says the word “kill.” It continues to a point that is mind numbingly insane, and makes the album not end on a high note, minus the bending high note on the guitar that I think Hammett is playing (I almost forgot he was playing on this album).

OVERALL IMPRESSION:

For a lot of Metallica fans, St. Anger is a turning point in their allegiance to the biggest metal band in the world. This is the album that a lot people enjoy, for it made them feel like it brought Metallica back to their trash metal roots. At the same time, a lot people dismiss this album for its unpolished, raw sound, as well as the constantly annoying sound of Lars’ snare drum. Some fans praise the guitar riffs, but some are displeased by the lack of guitar solos.

For me personally, I can say that as a whole, I actually do enjoy St. Anger. Now, before any of you send me any hate mail, please allow me to explain. St. Anger is by no means a perfect album. There are some bright spots on the album. Many of the guitar riffs are some of the catchiest riffs I have ever heard, such as the ones in “Frantic,” “St. Anger,” “Dirty Window,” “Invisible Kid,” “Shoot Me Again,” and “The Unnamed Feeling.” The lyrics on the album are some of the most emotionally deep that the band has ever written, as if they were venting out their frustrations over the last several years, such as the departure of Jason Newsted, James Hetfield’s stint in rehab, and the negative attention they receive from mainstream audiences and critics.

However, the album does have its flaws, such as having some songs that lack a musical direction. Many of the musical ideas in some of the songs I listed above do not really go anywhere, and makes the songs feel incomplete. And though it feels like beating a dead horse, but Lars’ snare drum is a bit annoying at times, and does create a trash/tin can sound. Sometimes it works in the song, but other times it bring the overall feeling of the song down and makes it less enjoyable. There are also times on the album where I feel James’ vocals are not at their best. There are moments where it works great with the aggression the band it is getting out of their songs, but other times they enter a range that James just does not have control of at all.

Even though there are things that do not work on this album, there are a lot of things that do work on St. Anger. There are good riffs, deep emotional lyrics, and some of James’ best vocal work. While Metallica fans are split on this album, I do recommend all of you to at least check it out for yourself, and make your own opinion about it. I also suggest that you check out the documentary behind the making of the album, Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, and get a more personal perspective on what it took to make the album, as well as get a more intimate look in one of the biggest bands of the last 30 years.

And thus, that brings us to the end of Rave Up Music’s One Year Anniversary Review. I want to thank you all for this past year. When I started this blog, it was a way to express and share my love and dedication to music to a wider audience, and it has been a fun, wild ride writing these reviews. It is your support and devotion that I continue writing this review blog, and I plan to continue this blog for many more years to come. Come back in two weeks, as we take a look at one of the biggest and coolest trends happening in heavy metal music today. Until then, I am Barius, and to all you, thank you again for this awesome year. And, as always, keep on rockin’.

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