If you follow metal or Youtube music, you’ve probably seen a post about this band that re-recorded Metallica‘s 2003 tour du toilet – St Anger. If you’re unfamiliar with this record, it’s the one tied to their documentary Some Kind of Monster where there are zero guitar solos, a band therapist and no official bass player in the band.
How could that suck, amirite?
Rolling Stone said “there’s an authenticity to St. Anger’s fury that none of the band’s rap-metal followers can touch”. I am not entirely sure WTF that means but I can tell you that the review is a massive hand job that culminates with writer Barry Walters noting “It’s a rush to be pummeled by this group again.”
Cool Barry.
Let’s get this pummeling underway….
“I need my anger not to control.” – James Hefield
I can honestly say that it’s nice to hear the songs with an actual snare drum and the bass in the mix. The original snare sound came under a lot of fire from drummers and it sounded like they didn’t mic it properly. His signature drum was a copper thing that he insisted he didn’t need to use the snares on. Lars has even admitted it sounds shitty.
Other than the fixing of the drums sounds the same questions remain…
Why are there no god damn solos?
I tried to find the clip from the documentary where they tell Kirk Hammett that there won’t be any guitar solos on St. Anger but couldn’t. When they tell him, he looks crushed and confused. Rightfully so. There is soooooo much of this record that is just guitars chugging and nothing going on. It’s like taking your puppy to a dog park and keeping him on the leash.
What the f*ck is with James Hetfield’s rehab poetry?
It’s like he quit drinking and his brain reverted to where it was before his first drink, which judging by the lyrical content was about age 13. Don’t get me wrong, I’m aware the guy has never been particularly complex in his rhyme schemes, but these tracks are embarrassing.
In Closing…
Bitching and ranting aside, the video has over 300k views so the boys have again proven that to make money as a musician, it’s always best to play someone else’s songs.
Aim low kids.
Aim low.
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