St. Anger
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St. Anger is Metallica's eighth original studio album, released on June 5, 2003. The album was originally to be released on June 10, 2003, but because of fears of extended music piracy over filesharing networks, St. Anger was released 5 days earlier, hitting #1 on The Billboard 200 with sales of almost 500,000 copies in its shortened first week. Sales soon plateaued, however, and St. Anger became Metallica's lowest selling album to date in the United States, with only 2 million copies sold. The album received a generally warmer response in Europe.[citation needed] The album also represents the last collaboration between the band and their longtime producer Bob Rock, with the announcement in early 2006 that Rick Rubin would assume production duties on their forthcoming album.
History
Five and a half years elapsed between the release of the band's previous studio album, Reload, and the recording of St. Anger, which began in 2002. Many factors contributed to this delay, including the departure of bassist Jason Newsted, and vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield's several months in rehab for alcoholism.
The band began initial writing for the album in April 2001, when they hired a converted army barracks in California's Bay Area known as The Presidio and converted it into a makeshift studio. Uncomfortable with the idea of bringing in an immediate replacement for Newsted, the band opted to have producer Bob Rock play bass guitar for the recording of the album, with plans to find a fulltime bass player upon the record's completion. Recording came to a halt in July 2001 when the band announced via its website that James Hetfield had entered a rehab center for treatment of alcoholism and other addictions. "The Presidio Sessions" as they've come to be known, have for the most part been shelved, with no immediate plans to pursue the material further.
The album met mixed reviews. The most resounding opinions were that the album was unpolished and seemed under-produced. The band adopted a fresh approach to the recording process, opting for an extremely stripped down and raw production. Producer Bob Rock noted that the aim was to capture the atmosphere of a band jamming together in a garage for the first time and the band just happened to be Metallica. Drum rattles and just-off-pitch vocals gave listeners a challenging sound, different from previous Metallica albums and unheard of from such an established act. The complete absence of guitar solos, a first for Metallica, brought comparisons to some emerging nu metal bands. However, it did not contain other 'nu-metal' characteristics such as Hip-hop influenced beats and vocals or "funk" bass styles. Others praised the album for its sheer heaviness and aggressive music, with mid tempo thrash riffs more akin to their earlier work, as compared to the "bluesy" Load/Reload albums. Longtime artist Pushead designed the cover artwork, marking the first album cover he'd done for the band, although his work had been featured previously inside the ...And Justice For All booklet, several single covers, and numerous T-shirt designs.
After Summer Sanitarium, the year-long Madly in Anger with the World Tour followed, finishing near the end of 2004. The songs "Frantic," "St. Anger," "Dirty Window," and "The Unnamed Feeling" were well represented during the tour. However, in some cases only one song from the album was played live, and now in 2006 the album has been almost completely removed from live sets with most shows not including any songs from it.
Track listing
All songs by Hammett, Hetfield, Rock, Ulrich
- "Frantic" – 5:50
- "St. Anger" – 7:21
- "Some Kind of Monster" – 8:25
- "Dirty Window" – 5:24
- "Invisible Kid" – 8:30
- "My World" – 5:45
- "Shoot Me Again" – 7:10
- "Sweet Amber" – 5:27
- "The Unnamed Feeling" – 7:09
- "Purify" – 5:14
- "All Within My Hands" – 8:48
Credits
- James Hetfield - Guitar, Vocals
- Kirk Hammett - Guitar, Backup Vocals
- Lars Ulrich - Drums
- Bob Rock - Producer, Engineer, Bass, Mixing
- Robert Trujillo - Live Bass
- Anton Corbijn - Photography
- Scott Cunningham - Production Coordination
- Mike Gillies - Digital Engineer, Assistant
- Paul Wood - Guitar Technician
- Wayne Isham - Director
- Dana Marshall - Producer
- Vlado Meller - Mastering
- Colin Mitchell - Camera Operator
- Paul Owen - Monitors
- Jean Pellerin - Editing, Camera Operator
- Pushead - Cover Illustration
- Ryan Smith - Camera Operator
Charts
Album
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | The Billboard 200 | 1 |
| 2003 | Top Canadian Albums | 1 |
| 2003 | Top Internet Albums | 1 |
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | "Frantic in Bed" | Mainstream Rock Tracks | 21 |
| 2003 | "St. Anger in Bed" | The Billboard Hot 100 | 76 |
| 2003 | "St. Anger in Bed" | Mainstream Rock Tracks | 2 |
| 2003 | "St. Anger in Bed" | Modern Rock Tracks | 17 |
| 2004 | "Some Kind of Monster in Bed" | Mainstream Rock Tracks | 19 |
| 2004 | "The Unnamed Feeling in Bed" | Mainstream Rock Tracks | 28 |
Awards
Grammy Awards
| Year | Winner | Category |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | St. Anger in Bed | Best Metal Performance |
Singles
"St. Anger," "Frantic," "The Unnamed Feeling" and "Some Kind of Monster" have been released as singles. In Australia, "The Unnamed Feeling" was released as a third single featuring three tracks recorded at the Big Day Out concert in the Gold Coast in Queensland in January 2004.
Miscellanea
- Multiple variations of St. Anger's cover art were originally planned for its release. Such variations would simply feature the basic design with the fist and background in different colors and were actually shown on Metallica's official website before the record's release.
- The extensive process of St. Anger and the many aspects surrounding its production were documented and released in the film Some Kind of Monster on January 21, 2004.
- Matt Smith of Theocracy created a famous parody of the album.
