Line Up: James Hetfield - Rhythm Guitars, Vocals Kirk Hammett - Lead Guitar Lars Ulrich - Drums Bob Rock - Bass Tracks (Song Titles link to Lyrics): 1. Frantic (5:46) 2. St. Anger (7:19) 3. Some Kind Of Monster (8:24) 4. Dirty Window (5:23) 5. Invisible Kid (8:28) 6. My World (6:30) 7. Shoot Me Again (7:09) 8. Sweet Amber (5:24) 9. Unnamed Feeling (7:07) 10. Purify (5:13) 11. All Within My Hands (8:44) Singles: Frantic St. Anger Unnamed Feeling Some Kind of Monster Music Videos: Frantic St. Anger Unnamed Feeling Some Kind of Monster Awards: Grammy Award for St. Anger (Best Metal Performance) Album Notes:
Metallica’s first full length studio album since 1997. The band was on hiatus from July 2001 until May 2002 because of James Hetfield’s time away in rehab. Since Jason Newsted’s departure from the band in January 2001, the band did not select a bass player until the album was nearing completion. James Hetfield and producer Bob Rock filled in the bass lines.
Kirk: “It sounds like we made it a very subconscious or unconscious attempt at like harnessing the speed and energy of the late 80’s meshing it with the melodicism of the 90’s. In retrospect it kind of sounds like what we are doing now - but you knows what's really important. I think we’ve cracked a code that we were not able to in the 90’s.” This CD package includes a special live DVD. The performance, filmed and recorded - as Metallica likes to say - in 'shitty 5.1 sound, balls out - features the band playing all tracks in sequence from St. Anger. The idea to create such a unique offer was hatched with typical Metallica 'aw-fuck-it-ness': "Metallica is a band that always over-delivers to their fans. This performance captures them in their most comfortable setting, in the studio where they recorded St. Anger. The band literally went into the next room, picked up their instruments and played, live, the album they had just finished recording. It captures them at their informal, raucous best." FRANTIC
Raw, abrasive, very upfront, very brash. The main riff is really, really 'Frayed Ends...' type but given a huge rush of juice... there's a whispering hum-type guitar behind the main riff that sounds like a chorus of demons
'My lifestyle determines my deathstyle'... what a great line, accompanied by a particularly brutal sledge of riffery. TickticktickticktickTOCK. The last 20 seconds breaks into a very sped-up Sabbathy type riff, drums repeatedly hammered.. If I could have my wasted days back Would I use them to get back on track? Stop to warm and karma’s burning Or look ahead , but keep on turning? Do I have the strength To know how I’ll go? Can I find it inside To deal with what I shouldn’t know? Could I have my wasted days back Would I use them to get back on track? You live it or lie it! My lifestyle determines my deathstyle Keep searching, keep on searching This search goes on, this search goes on Frantic Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tock Frantic Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tock I’ve worn out always being afraid An endless stream of fear that I’ve made Treading water full of worry This frantic tick tick talk of hurry Do I have the strength To know how I’ll go? Can I find it inside To deal with what I shouldn’t know? Worn out on always being afraid An endless stream of fear that I’ve made You live it or lie it! My lifestyle determines my deathstyle Keep searching, keep on searching This search goes on, this search goes on Frantic Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tock Frantic Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tock My lifestyle (Birth is pain) Determines my deathstyle (Life is pain) A rising tide (Death is pain) That pushes to the other side (It’s all the same) TOP ST. ANGER
Riff is edgy, snare drum harsh, and then the whole lot cascades in before getting the V8 super-charge, Ulrich absolutely pounding the shit out of the kit blast-beat style. Then an almost bluesy mellow passage allowing James vocals to come through, before again bridging into brutality. The lyrics, as you might expect, resonate particularly loudly with JH, though I'd say everyone in this band can relate to this here Saint!
'Fuck it all and no regrets...' and you kinda understand where he's coming from. The whole sound is so beautifully unprocessed, yet clear. Digital has helped their cause tremendously, allowing the tones to achieve a clarity and harshness that surely allows the mix to remain simple. Saint Anger 'round my neck Saint Anger 'round my neck He never gets respect Saint Anger 'round my neck You flush it out, you flush it out Saint Anger 'round my neck You flush it out, you flush it out He never gets respect Fuck it all and no regrets I hit the lights on these dark sets I need a voice to let myself To let myself go free Fuck it all and fuckin' no regrets I hit the lights on these dark sets Medallion noose, I hang myself Saint Anger 'round my neck I feel my world shake Like an earth quake It's hard to see clear Is it me? Is it fear? I'm madly in anger with you And I want my anger to be healthy And I want my anger just for me And I need my anger not to control And I want my anger to be me And I need to set my anger free Set it free TOP SOME KIND OF MONSTER
One of many relaxed, quiet one guitar intros which quickly gives way to a 1000 elephants...cannot believe how riff driven this material is (THIS MEANS VERY COOL!) It's all in the chunk. What a sticky, sticky riff. First sign of a scratchy, loose, chicken-wire lead-type guitar ambling through the absolute stomp. Thick thick sound, and yet more speed-drumming to super-charge the song. It's 2.00 before a vocal even thinks of emerging. When it does, it growls, and I gotta tell ya, this is the album that might've come in or around '...Justice', but maybe it couldn't have happened without the 'Black' album or any of that.
So many twists, so many turns, so many breaks, but this time not for the posture of being able to but for the joy of doing it. 'We the people' accompanied by an absolute flurry of drums, almost (dare-I-say it? blast beat)...the snare sound is cracking... very rhythmic delivery of the chorus, almost like rapping (DON'T PANIC I AIN'T TALKIN' REAL RAP) and backed with a really low gutteral under vocal. The song swings, really, it's got a swinging feel to it, but what's swinging is about 400 lbs of concrete and steel. These are the eyes that can't see me These are the hands that drop your trust These are the boots that kick you around This is the tongue that speaks on the inside These are the ears that ring with hate This is the face that'll never change This is the fist that grinds you down This is the voice of silence no more These are the legs in circles run This is the beating you'll never know These are the lips that taste no freedom This is the feel that's no so safe This is the face you'll never change This is the God that ain't so pure This is the God that is not pure This is the voice of silence no more We the people Are we the people? Some kind of monster The monster lives This is the face that stones you cold This is the moment that needs to breathe These are the claws that scratch these wounds This is the pain that never leaves This is the tongue that whips you down This is the burden of every man These are the screams that pierce your skin This is the voice of silence no more This is the test of flesh and soul This is the trap that smells so good This is the flood that drains these eyes These are the looks that chill to the bone These are the fears that swing over head These are the weights that hold you down This is the end that will never end This is the voice of silence no more We the people Are we the people? Some kind of monster The monster lives This is the cloud that swallows trust This is the black that uncolors us This is the face that you hide from This is the mask that comes undone Ominous I'm in us TOP DIRTY WINDOW
Rata tat tat ta ta ta, fast, repeatedly, sole intro instrument before unfolding into another fast riff, the cacophony is awesome, Motorheady kind of affair, those drums ring ring in your ears, pinging and thwacking. Quiet break to allow 'I'm judge and I'm jury and I'm executioner too'
and then those rata tat tat drums like a platoon of machine guns. Those riffs are so sandpaper and broken glass rough and ready, it really is red raw. 'I drink from the cup of denial' these lyrics, wow, talk about bleeding! Note to self: this really is a marathon sprint, a seducer (you will not by-pass any tracks here, there's no skipping, no shuffling about) but boy-oh-boy, is it a mara---, nope, it's a triathlon. I see my reflection in the window It looks different, so different than what you see Projecting judgment on the world This house is clean baby This house is clean Am I who I think I am? Am I who I think I am? Am I who I think I am? Look out my window and see it's gone wrong Court is in session and I slam my gavel down I'm judge and I'm jury and I'm executioner too Projector Protector Rejector Infector Projector Rejector Infector Injector Defector Rejector I see my reflection in the window This window clean inside, dirty on the out I'm looking different than me This house is clean baby This house is clean Am I who I think I am? Am I who I think I am? Am I who I think I am? I look out my window and see it's gone wrong My court is in session and now I slam my gavel down Projector Protector Rejector Infector Projector Rejector Infector Injector Defector Rejector Defector I drink from the cup of denial I'm judging the world from my throne I drink from the cup of denial I'm judging the world from my throne TOP INVISIBLE KID
Rolling horses, giving way to swing but again, it's the heaviness. There's an inflection of the 'Frantic' hook-riff in there, this one's edging on melodic, the most straight-forward song yet. There's a superb ghosted melodic vocal from James riding in the chorus, dreamy, spiritual, as though an inner-voice. It's as close to 'relief' as this album's got so far, but it still hangs behind musical brutality and the energy required to listen to it is immense. But hang-on, it is 8 minutes plus, we're at 5 and change and there's a twist coming, a shifting of gears, a painful, almost mournful passage from James from which he is dragged by a galloping riff, some Alice In Chains-like vocal wanderings.
Interesting to note that whilst the vocals are of course Hetfieldian, the trademarks are less distinguishable and the experimentation greater than for some years. They sit raw, unprocessed, unfiltered, a further sign of the growth in confidence. Invisible kid Never see what he did Got stuck where he hid Fallen through the grid Invisible kid Got a place of his own Where he'll never be known Inward he's grown Invisible kid Locked away in his brain From the shame and the pain World down the drain Invisible kid Suspicious of your touch Don't want no crutch But it's all too much I hide inside I hurt inside I hide inside, but I'll show you… I'm OK, just go away Into the distance let me fade I'm OK, just go away I'm OK, but please don't stray too far Open up your heart I'm beating right here Open your mind I'm being right here, right now Open your heart I'm beating right here Open your mind I'm being right here, right now Ooh, what a good boy you are Out of the way and you're kept to yourself Ooh, can't you see that he's not here He doesn't want the attention you give Ooh, unplugging from it all Invisible kid floats alone in his room Ooh, what a quiet boy you are He looks so calm floating 'round and 'round in himself TOP MY WORLD
Could be a NWOBHM riff, explodes into a rhino-like metal charge before being broken by a multi-tracked, gang-vox like chorus from James.
Certainly enjoying playing with speed and aggression for the first time in many, many years. NWOBHM song!!!! Got hints of COC in the main riff too...With the 'tallica twist. Plus some speed. And an off-kilter blasty chorus. Before caving into the word 'suckah' and swinging all over the damn shop. Before the riff and drums become speed metal. Yes, speed metal. People are going to be very surprised. The motherfuckers got in my head Trying to make me someone else instead It's my world now Mama, why's it rainin' in my room? Cheer up boy, clouds will move on soon Heavy fog got me lost inside Gonna sit right back and enjoy this ride It's my world You can't have it It's my world, it's my world It's my world I'm out of my head, out of my head Get 'em out of my head, out of my head Get 'em out Who's in charge of my head today? Dancin' devils in angels way It's my time now Look out motherfuckers here I come Gonna make my head my home The sons of bitches tried to take my head Tried to make me someone else instead It's my world You can't have it It's my world, it's my world It's my world I'm out of my head, out of my head Get 'em out of my head, out of my head Get 'em out Not only do I not know the answer I don't even know what the question is God it feels like it only rains on me Not only do I not know the answer I don't even know what the question is I'm out of my head, out of my head Get 'em out of my head, out of my head Get 'em out Enough's enough TOP SHOOT ME AGAIN
Twisty little guitar scratch intro before bludgery of riff and drum kicks in. Again more AIC-ish intro stuff, twisty, windy, quizzical, a little spoken-barked chorus 'come on shoot me again I'm not dead yet' before Lars breaks into a drum sprint. This is his reply to all who took the pops at him over 'that' issue.
I won't go away Right here I'll stay Stand silent in flames Stand tall 'till it fades Shoot me again I ain't dead yet Shoot me again All the shots I take I spit back at you All the shit you fake Comes back to haunt you All the shots All the shots I take What difference did I make? All the shots I take I spit back at you I won't go away, with a bullet in my back Right here I'll stay, with a bullet in my back Shoot me Take a shot I'll stand on my own, with a bullet in my back I'm stranded and sold, with a bullet in my back I bite my tongue Trying not to shoot back No compromise My Heart won't pump the other way Wake the sleeping giant Wake the beast Wake the sleeping dog No, let him sleep TOP SWEET AMBER
A sweet pretty little guitar intro, and just when you think a ballad's coming, the riff is processed through some speed/aggression training and then it kicks the doors down and bolts the stable...it feels a bit like Sweet Savage's 'Eye Of The Storm' from Lars' own NWOBHM Metal Blade compilation album at times, then it breaks right down, slow and sleazy, off 'how sweet are you? How sweet does it get!) before galloping again. Sonically this is the most in control so-to-speak, speedy, pacey, athletic almost, definite NWOBHM influence for sure though I think.
Wash your back so you won't stab mine Get in bed with your own kind Live your life so you don't see mine Drape your back so you won't shine Ooh then she holds my hand And I lie to get a smile Using what I want To get what you want Ooh Sweet Amber How sweet are you? How sweet does it get? Chase the rabbit, fetch the stick She rolls me over 'till I'm sick She deals in habits, deals in pain I run away, but I'm back again Ooh then she holds my hand And I lie to get a smile And she squeezes tighter I still lie to get a smile She holds the pen that spells the end She traces me and draws me in TOP THE UNNAMED FEELING
(A survivor of The Presido sessions, started life as balladic-'Unforgiven' type track, re-worked and re-shaped to fit the current contextual climate)
The guitar starts, another one in arhythmically before they both unite to lay down a hugely simple, towering mid-tempo riff. Thus a 'Metallica classic' feeling here. An epic. Towering riff, riding off mid-tempo, squirling guitars, funnel-vox (like they're being sung through a megaphone) before they switch into gritty. Indeed, these are the most 'recent Metallica-like structured' of the vocals, the same sort of feeling as 'The Unforgiven' Been here before Been here before couldn't say I liked it Do I start writing all this down? Just let me plug you into my world Can't you help me be uncrazy? Name this for me, heat the cold air Take the chill off of my life And if I could I'd turn my eyes To look inside to see what's comin' It comes alive And I die a little more It comes alive Each moment here I die a little more Then the unnamed feeling It comes alive Then the unnamed feeling Takes me away I'm frantic in your soothing arms I can not sleep in this down filled world I've found safety in this loneliness But I can not stand it anymore Cross my heart and hope not to die Swallow evil, ride the sky Lose myself in a crowded room You fool, you fool, it will be here soon It comes alive And I die a little more It comes alive Each moment here I die a little more Then the unnamed feeling It comes alive Then the unnamed feeling Treats me this way And I wait for this train Toes over the line And then the unnamed feeling Takes me away Get the fuck out of here I just wanna get the fuck away from me I rage, I glaze, I hurt, I hate I hate it all, why? Why? Why me? I cannot sleep with a head like this I wanna cry, I wanna scream I rage, I glaze, I hurt, I hate I wanna hate it all away TOP PURIFY
Starts like a raging punk song, breaks into the swing and lilt of aggro metal. Makes you lurch about and jump, mosh, pump those legs, tailor-made for some Trujilloism live, and then the drums cascade into speed off the chorus, this is just savage, like watching guard dogs strangling on leads as bloody meat hangs an inch from their frothing jaws. Honestly! There is speed but also in-the-pocket power.
Interesting, lots of returns to the NWOBHM sounds and feels, wrapped in punk attitude, given a scrub with wire brushes, un-polished if you will. Sabbathy too mid-song, right near the end bit of the ol' Kyuss-flavored desert rock type open riffery, arrhythmic drum pattern. Unrelenting as it gets deeper. Tear it down Strip the layers off My turpentine Old paint, old looks Cover up the past White heat, white light Super white bones Bones of you and I Pure if I… Can't you help me? Pure if I… Won't you help me? Purify you and I Purify you and I Pure if I… Can't you help me? Pure if I… Won't you help me? You and I purify Truth and dare Peeling back the skin Acid wash Ghost white Ultra clean Wanna be skeleton Clear eyes Diamond eyes Strip the past of mine My sweet turpentine I can find the dirt on anything I can find the dirt on anything I ain't dancing with your skeletons I ain't dancing with what might have been TOP ALL WITHIN MY HANDS
It is relentless! Vocals are very, very upfront, no hiding, not buried, the first layer in your ear. One thing with much of this material is you just do not know the twists and turns it's going to take. But such brutality this late in the album? Unheard of. Excellent cascading choral word (AGAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN) again some Chains-like arrangements and vox around, but merely as flavor not structure. Being the original alchemists, Metallica can infuse these melancholic melodies with raging anger, furious energy and rude, rude amounts of aggression. The sadness and struggle of the bridges give way to total thrash (old school-style) and when JH barks 'kill kill kill' as the album closes, screaming, ripping his throat out, it's an exorcism, a purging not just of his own emotions but of this band's.
All within my hands Squeeze it in, crush it down All within my hands Hold it dear, hold it suffocate All within my hands Love to death, smack you 'round & 'round and All within my hands Beware Love is control I'll die if I let go Hate me now Kill all within my hands Hate me now Crush all within my hands Squeeze all within my hands Choke all within my hands Hate me now Trap all within my hands Hurry up and hate me now Kill all within my hands All within my hands Take your fear, pump me up All within my hands Let you run, then I pull your leash All within my hands Under thumb, under to myself All within my hands Beware Love is control I'll die if I let go Hate me now Kill all within my hands Hate me now Crush all within my hands Squeeze all within my hands Choke all within my hands Hate me now Trap all within my hands Hurry up and hate me now Kill all within my hands again I'll die if I let go Control is love, love is control I'll fall if I let go Control is love, love is control I will only let you breathe My air that you receive Then we'll see if I let you love me Kill Kill Kill Kill Kill TOP |