10 Truly Terrible Albums By Legendary Artists
4. Metallica - St. Anger
The second appearance of Metallica on the list and this time the blame is all theirs. The documentary film, 'Some Kind Of Monster', shows the making of the album. Given the total paucity of creativity, it is difficult to understand why they could even be bothered to film the process.
The fact that the album sold so well was entirely due to fan loyalty. Second-hand racks immediately filled up with discarded copies though, as many bought it and immediately passed it on soon after.
The intention was to create something raw and urgent, and also different from what was being played on metal radio.The remit was partially fulfilled in that there was a rawness and urgency, but presumably the difference they were looking for wasn't to sound immeasurably worse than everything else out there.
The production and arrangement decisions still seem puzzling:
Why no guitar solos? Why does the snare drum sound like that? Why didn't someone say this is actually terrible? At 75 minutes long, the easiest way to improve would have been to half the duration of each song and spare us the aural torture.