Muttley’s
back and I’m not happy! With my
acute sense of smell something’s
a bit off. It’s Metallica’s
recent release – St. Inker (oops
that should be St. Anger). Now, before
all you Metallica groupies out there (both
of you) send me rude letters suggesting
very painful surgery to my nether, let
me explain. I don’t share the same
negative view of Metallica with my canine
colleague Mott the Dog. The black album
or self-titled ‘Metallica’
was a classic ground-breaking metal album.
Unfortunately, despite much commercial
success, the band has not achieved the
quality of song-writing since then. St.
Anger is awful.
Metallica was formed in 1981 when ex-Diamond
Head drummer Lars Ulrich, ex-Obsession/Leather
Charm, vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield,
and lead guitarist Dave Mustaine got together.
Bassist Cliff Burton was recruited the
following year. Before the first commercially
released album (Kill ‘Em All) hit
the streets in 1983, Mustaine had been
fired amid much acrimony and was replaced
by ex-Exodus guitarist Kirk Hammett. Mustaine
went on to establish his Metal credentials
by forming the excellent Megadeth. Ride
the Lightning followed in 1984 and confirmed
Metallica as the pioneers in the burgeoning
speed/thrash metal market.
Most of 1985 was spent on the follow-up
album Master of Puppets, which hit the
top 30 in the US and #41 in the UK charts
despite the absence of any hit singles.
Unfortunately, in 1986 Burton was killed
instantly when the band’s tour bus
overturned. He was replaced by ex-Flotsam
and Jetsam bassist Jason Newsted and the
classic Metallica line-up is formed. Their
first release is the cover-oriented -
$5.98 EP - Garage Days Revisited. It reached
#27 in the UK and prepared the way for
the release of ….And Justice for
All in 1988. The album hit #4 in the UK
and spent a year in the US charts reaching
a peak of #6.
After some shows and numerous awards
during 1989 and 1990 the band released
Metallica in 1991. It entered both the
UK and US charts at #1. Over the next
year the band released no less than five
singles from the album including top 10
UK hits – Enter Sandman and Nothing
Else Matters – firmly establishing
the band in the financially lucrative
metal/heavy rock market. Looking back,
listening to any of the bootlegs of this
era, the band had reached its creative
peak - though more commercial success
followed.
Subsequent releases revealed serious
song-writing deficiencies although Load
in 1996 reached similar commercial heights
with the single Until It Sleeps, hitting
#5 in the UK. Re-Load in 1997 comprised
un-used sessions material from the Load
album and Garage Inc in 1998, largely
comprised covers. The Live S&M double
album with the San Francisco Symphony
Orchestra in 1999 was an interesting,
but unconvincing experiment. It has been
said that bands collaborate with orchestras
for one of two reasons – money or
no new ideas – or both.
Some four years later, we are presented
with St. Anger, arguably the first studio
release with original material for seven
years. Since S&M, Newsted left in
2001 citing a desire to work on other
projects, Hetfield entered re-hab, and
Ulrich spent much time in a legal battle
with Napster. Given the excesses of success
the band has experienced, it is a wonder
that the band is still recording at all.
However, St. Anger does not do the band’s
name justice. It’s a collection
of indistinguishable thrash tracks, the
quality of which you would expect from
a nu-metal band just making its way in
the business. Although Hetfield’s
voice is pretty good, the lyrics are tedious
and unoriginal. Ulrich’s drumming
is too prominent and Hammett is just going
through the motions. New bassist Robert
Trujillo hardly makes an impact at all.
There is little noticeable guitar and
few solos, one of the band’s past
strengths. Perhaps this is the way metal
music has developed in recent years, but
Metallica should be able to sit above
all this. Of the few credible tracks –
the title, St. Anger, is good with strong
vocals backed by some hard riffing, and
Purify has a good rhythm.
Why ‘one star’? Well, if
you are one of the few that actually likes
the album, the free DVD of the band playing
the same bad songs is right up your street.
When first released in Thailand, it was
available for THB 399. Now it’s
priced at THB 499. My ‘one star’
is really for the band’s legend
that was cultivated by their first five
or six albums.
Pawed by Mott The Dog
Remastered by Ella Crew
E-mail: review@mott-the-dog.com
