Fans Re-Record Metallica's "St. Anger"
Band Photo: Metallica (?)
Re-recorded in it's entirety, #STANGER2015 is a project from Daryl G. and Chris D. (from Grace The Skies) and Dave C. (of Adust), and is a brand new version of Metallica's 2003 album "St. Anger."
You can stream the full re-recorded version below. Give it a listen and let us know if you think this one is better. The following press release was also issued:
"Recorded during a turbulent time in the bands career, St. Anger has always divided opinion. Some longtime fans were turned off by the drop tuned riffs and raw production, whilst some listeners embraced it, myself included. #STANGER2015 is for the listeners who weren't so fond on the record back when it was released in 2003.
"Recorded from the ground up, the album has been shortened by 15 minutes, yet every riff and lyric is intact, resulting in a more concise and focused record.
"The production is also more conventional, and we hope that Metallica fans appreciate this new version of an album that is always looked at as an anomaly in the incredible career of the world's biggest metal band, Metallica.
"Absolutely no money has been made from this project, and it has been created out of love for one of our favourite bands of all time. There will be no download links or alternative streaming options aside from this singular youtube video."
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18 Comments on "Fans Re-Record 'St. Anger'"
Member
6. writes:
After 5 seconds, my only thought was "wow, the drum sound doesn't make me cringe every time he hits the snare."
...This is actually really damn good. Part of me wants to download this album and pretend it's actually Metallica, because the original album just hurts to listen to.
8. writes:
Ugh, this is terrible.
Instead of the sound making your ears bleed, it not sounds boring, someone needs to mix this better.
Instead of it being a barely coherent cut-and-paste job with a certain kind of "edge", it's now a flat bedroom demo.
And this guy's screaming is really weird. His voice wobbles uncomfortably where Hetfield's voice would break (one-take vocal recording, woo). He sounds quite like him when singing normally though.
All in all, I feel like it replaced a bunch of faults with a bunch of other faults.
9. writes:
I actually did not hate st. Anger and would prefer the original. Now, before anyone attacks me let me make a few points:
Positives
1) The aesthetics of a totally incomplete album. Metallica was deliberate in its omission of solos and its repetitive garage sounding production and riffs. This album is more of a statement than anything, and on occasion I'll listen to it dare I say more than Death Magnetic which, if you hate this album for how "boring" it is, you have to concede the fact that magnetic was equally as offensive.
2) Sweet Amber, The Unnammed Feeling, Frantic, St. Anger, Some Kind of Monster, Dirty Window, All within my hands are decent songs. A little repetitive and atypical of metallica, but if it were another band it would be instant classics. Shoot me again, invisible kid, it's my world, and purify are intolerable to me and are the worst offenders of metallicas track listings.
3) The album captures the early 2000's sound of metal pretty well. However, it's dated.
4) Reflects the inner turmoil of the band at the time. It's unpolished, frantic, all over the place.
Negatives
5) All the songs are way too long by, in some places, minutes
6) Lyrics suggest that Metallica received quite a bit of help with their hit albums. Definitely the weakest out of the discography. Maybe someone can make a point with Death Magnetic too, Either way, both have the most dull, banal lyrics imaginable. "Shoot me again I ain't dead yet." Love is a 4 letter word.... a tautology, yes.
G-d forbid, let the criticism of my analysis ensue!
Supporter
12. writes:
@ #9
On St. Anger, the rest of the band contributed to the lyric writing, as seen in the therapy movie. Not too far of a stretch to imagine that this was allowed to continue in some form on Death Magnetic.
@ Others
Can't believe you would call these drums better. The snare drum is not an oil barrel, true, but it's a flat and lifeless drum machine (or a super triggered over-produced abomination).
Lifeless is overall a very good description of this.
Member
Member
14. writes:
First off. Props to these guys for their admirable job. Not many people are willing to polish a turd, but they’ve successfully brought the peanuts and nougat to the surface of this snickers bar.
I’m surprised to hear a complaint about the snare sound on this. After being assaulted with the atrocious ring on the original, for one to complain about the ‘lifeless’ sound seems to swing the pendulum the other way. RTL and MOP had an arguably similar snare sound. Maybe a little boost on the upper frequencies or recording with an additional mic on the snare side head would have improved its presence. Even if not pristine, the drums still sound more balanced than the hack job Metallica released.
I really think St. Anger is an album that they shouldn’t have released. Between James’ AA treatment, trying to replace Jason, and the therapy sessions, there was too much going on for them to really focus on writing a good record. It’s undeniably true that St. Anger is a statement about where their heads were at and the struggles they were going through. They were in a sh**ty place with too many distractions and released a sh**ty distracted album as a result. But just because it was a ‘statement’ doesn’t make it worthy of respect. Their movie on this was an eye opener to how much the spark was gone and so much of the album was forced. In hindsight, I personally think the best thing they could have done would have been to lock themselves in a small house, just the three of them, and do what it took to address their problems – whether that be talking, shouting, fighting, hugging, arm-wrestling, dutch-rudders, whatever. I think it would have taken them less time than what they wasted with Phil Towle. Sadly, QPrime probably wouldn’t have allowed it.
Member
15. writes:
imo St. Anger has aged better than DM
hated SA when it first came out but it has grown on me
i don't listen to SA all the way through but when shuffled in with other hard rock and Metal it holds its own
it was produced rather well considering its background
my main criticism is the no solo thing
i kinda think Metallica should work with Bob Rock again
his recent work with the Cult was really good
Former Contributor
16. writes:
I was prepared to play devil's advocate with everyone's posts but I can't help but agree with the prevailing sentiments. A poor record has been made bearable and at points quite good.
Personally "St. Anger", was my third and final strike after "Load" and "Reload"... "Death Magnetic" was like watching a Gatling gun void itself on a long-dead corpse. However unfair it might be, "St. Anger" is eminently listenable in non-Metallica context... The lyrics can't be fixed but these gentleman made a lively monster from a mummified husk.
Member
17. writes:
I've said from the early days of St. Anger that people would have held the album in much higher regard if it had been released by a band other than Metallica.
Now, whether or not people are justified in expecting more from Metallica is a debate in itself, but I always felt that if you looked past the short-comings and dug into the music itself it was by and large an enjoyable album. Long-winded with at times childish lyrics? Sure. And I don't think anyone needed to see Lars in a toque slamming the sh** out of one of the worst snare sounds in the history of metal. But beyond that I don't feel like it ever really got a fair shake because of the circumstances surrounding its release.
As far as what these fans have done, I think they've put together a great homage, but ultimately whatever it is that they "fix" could have been done with a better mix (and/or cut) of the original recordings.
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1. DiMe148 writes:
here comes another lars ulrich lawsuit...