St. Anger is the eighth studio album by Metallica, released in June 5, 2003 through Elektra Records.
Recorded during a turbulent period in the band's history, production began in 2001, but was postponed for a year when frontman James Hetfield went to rehab to treat his alcoholism and anger issues. Furthermore, bassist Jason Newsted walked out following longstanding tensions with his bandmates that stretched all the way back to when he first joined the band. This setback-ridden recording, which nearly convinced Hetfield to disband Metallica, is all covered in a 2004 2-hour documentary called Some Kind of Monster.
Consequently, when Hetfield returned, the resulting album focused heavily on the band's personal demons, particularly his own. Fitting these themes, St. Anger shifts style to a raw, aggressive Garage Band sound with angsty lyrics, no guitar solos, and metallic percussion, influenced strongly by the contemporary Nu Metal boom.
Tracklist:
- "Frantic" (5:50)
- "St. Anger" (7:21)
- "Some Kind of Monster" (8:25)
- "Dirty Window" (5:25)
- "Invisible Kid" (8:30)
- "My World" (5:46)
- "Shoot Me Again" (7:10)
- "Sweet Amber" (5:27)
- "The Unnamed Feeling" (7:08)
- "Purify" (5:14)
- "All Within My Hands" (8:48)
Principal Members:
Metallica- James Hetfield - vocals, guitar
- Kirk Hammett - guitar
- Lars Ulrich - drums
Additional Musicians
- Bob Rock - bass
Invisible tropes, never see what he did!:
- Epic Rocking: Most of the album. The only exceptions are 'Dirty Window', 'My World', 'Sweet Amber' and 'Purify'. This even applies to the single/radio edits, which, despite axing nearly half of the song lengths, are still long by their standards.
- Facepalm: In the documentary, Kirk Hammett is seen facepalming as Lars Ulrich and James Hetfield engage in a less-than-adult bitchfight.
- Garage Band: Metallica was purposely trying to go for this feel in this album, using clangy snare-drums, angsty lyrics, and recording in a purposely uncomfortable abandoned military barrack instead of a proper studio.
- Hypocrite: The theme of "Dirty Window" is hypocrisy, with dirty window being a metaphor for an ugly reflection.
- Judge, Jury, and Executioner: This is mentioned word-for-word in "Dirty Window". However, it's used to refer to figurative judgment, not literal prosecution.I'm judge, and I'm jury, and I'm executioner too...
- Longest Song Goes Last: "All Within My Hands", at 8:48. The album's second-longest song, "Invisible Kid", is only 18 seconds shorter at 8:30.
- New Sound Album: St. Anger is Metallica's one and only attempt at Nu Metal. They returned to Thrash Metal in all subsequent albums.
- One-Word Title: "Frantic" and "Purify".
- Painful Rhyme: "Dirty Window"'s chorus is, "Projector, Protector, Rejector, Infector, Projector, Rejector, Infector, Injector, Defector, Rejector". It sounds as good as it reads.
- Pun: "Frantic-tick-tick-tick-tock!"
- Title Track: The second song, "St. Anger".
- The Shrink: When James came back from rehab, the band hired therapist Phil Towle to try and help them work out their problems. While he initially did help (Lars is effusive in his praise of Towle to this day, going so far as to say he "saved" Metallica), his later insistence on trying to insert himself into the songwriting process, which for James has always been extremely personal, got on James' last nerve and he was quickly shown the door.
- Sinister Minister: Does Saint Anger sound like a friendly guy to you?
- We Used to Be Friends: As seen in Some Kind of Monster, Lars got blindsided by James' decision to go to rehab, not having realized his drinking problem was that bad even though they'd been bandmates and friends for over twenty years at this point.Lars: I realize now I barely knew you before!
