Truly, this was the first album where many thought Metallica had truly gone insane. It totally sounds like crapon purpose. The whole conceit behind this record was, in producer Bob Rocks assertion, to make a quick & dirty garage-band type of album - only that band happens to be Metallica. Okay, not a bad idea for such a high and mighty band to strip things down and get back to its roots. But it came six years after their last studio album and was mostly assembled with Pro-Tools technology, with producer Bob Rock shoving all the mixing board settings to their highest levels. This made Lars' drums sound like he was beating on trash cans. And what idiot thought eliminating all Kirk Hammett's guitar solos (the best musician in the band) was a good idea? Not only that, the fact St. Anger took two years to record and is 80 minutes long is totally contrary to the concept of getting back to one's roots, especially when the production is so terrible it makes Kill 'Em All sound like Queen's A Night At The Opera. A few critics enjoyed it, most of the rest of us hated it, but everyone still bought it.
D.M. Anderson works and lives in Portland Oregon. He is the author of two young adult novels (Killer Cows & Shaken) and a collection of dark tales (With the Wicked). He has also published several short stories which have appeared (or will appear) in various anthologies and magazines such as 69 Flavors of Paranoia, Night Terrors, Trembles, Encounters, Implosion, Strange Fucking Stories, Perpetual Motion Machine. He documents his adventures in the dark on on his movie site, Free Kittens Movie Guide
