12 Most Underrated Metal Albums

A deeply controversial album, St. Anger continues to generate the ire of metal fans today, seventeen years after its release. Much-maligned for its lack of solos, odd production choices and perceived substandard songwriting, St. Anger has few defenders, or apologists, as some will call them.

The general consensus is that Metallica have never matched their ‘classic’ run of albums between 1983 and 1988. This idea of what Metallica are ‘supposed to be’ has become ingrained in the popular consciousness, and as a result, St. Anger, with its lack of so much of what made those albums great, is often used as the definitive example of why Metallica are an inferior prospect compared to the titans they once were.

This might be true, but is also hugely unfair on the band, who’ve spent the intervening years between St. Anger and now trying to rectify for its mistakes. These recent albums have turned out mixed results, and are the sound of a band who’ve spent too long listening to their fans instead of forging their own latter-day career path. The result is a failure to progress as a band, all because they tried too hard to please their fan base.

St. Anger is the sound of a band closely observing the zeitgeist and trying their own take on it. Whether or not the result is to your liking, St. Anger is an album that’s among Metallica’s darkest and most ambitious, and deserves some form of appreciation, instead of its apparent fate as a metalhead’s punchline.