10 Albums That Were Hated Before They Even Came Out

Some of the greatest bands of all time can usually get over the little hangups that come in the music business. Musicians might come and go in rock and roll, and you might have to deal with some bad business deals, but every great act manages to come out on the other side as much stronger people by the end. Those are just individual problems though, and St. Anger was the sound of everything falling apart at the exact same time.

While Metallica had been in and out of favor with their fanbase for a few years at this point, Jason Newsted's departure combined with James Hetfield's abrupt exit to go to rehab left the band in limbo, all while Lars Ulrich went to war against Napster. It may have looked like the band was unravelling, but Metallica came back and made it work on St. Anger, complete with some of the most ear grating sounds of their career. As much as they may have believed in creating music as an outlet for their anger, a lot of this album feels like they were trying for something abrasive but didn't have the chops to do it, with production that sounds absolutely atrocious if you listen to it for more than a few minutes.

With James also fresh out of rehab, the lyrics aren't really up to snuff either, being either pieced together in the room or sounding like straight up gibberish halfway through. Then again, this is an album that wasn't really made for us. This was the result of Metallica making a record just to stay together as a band, and that might be the only thing that it succeeds in. It's by far the least compelling Metallica record, but the band probably wouldn't exist without it.