Review Summary: It is better to be remembered in infamy than being good but forgotten.
First things first. The songs on the album are not good by any stretch. I tried to listened to it once recently to do this review and I could not finish it. I’d probably give it a 1-1.5. Sure, the title track isn’t half bad, yet the reason it is a 5 is what St. Anger stands for: how far a beloved band can fall and how its reputation is affected.
Metallica was, in the 80’s on a hot streak. They had released four albums that are highly revered and often considered genre definers. The 90s gave Metallica their difficulties with Load and Reload, but they are at least average. What really hurt fans was a “back to form” album that was announced as St. Anger. A return to the heavier roots and reclaim the fire that was lost during the Load and Reload. This is what happened, if by reclaim the fire meant receive massive backlash from the fans. The snare drum, lack of solos, and taking a hard rock stance drove fans into dismay. Their favorite band gone mainstream, sold out, and are no longer Metallica. Lulu didn’t help them out either.
What makes this album a classic is how it is remembered. Before I was a Metallica fan, I knew about the abomination of St. Anger. I knew that is was considered a sell out before I A.) understood what a sell out was and B.) even listened to their great albums. The butt of many a joke, St. Anger might even be more memorable than many other great albums based on how bad it is.
The reputation that St. Anger has is so horrible that we simply can’t forget about it. Over a decade later, this album continues to receive judgment and criticism. It serves as a case study of the problems of bands going mainstream and trying to please both the fans and the charts.
Remember, classic is defined by recognizable and established value. To recognize the pitfalls of bands working to be mainstream and following up on past success. This album’s value is not its surpassing of musicality but the warning given to bands and listeners. There is value in reputation and how one low can define a fan's expectations of a band.
To summarize, St. Anger is a classic in what it stands for and what it showed the world of music. But as far as quality of music goes, it is quite low.
