St Anger. Loved by few, loathed by many. What is it that is so wrong with this CD, which contains music better than nearly all post-1998 metal? I'll tell you why. Because it's by a sober non Jason-Newsted-containing Metallica. Because since it came after the wave of "nu-metal" and Metallica couldn't help but be influenced by the low-tunings, lack of guitar solos, and deep animal-like vocals, it isn't the same sound as the previous albums such as And Justice for All and Load. Mind you, I am not completely disinterested in "nu-metal", I do have a soft spot in my heart for System of a Down and Disturbed, but I need my true metal, man!
Frankly, before I bought the CD I thought St Anger would be crap. I heard the songs "St. Anger" and "Frantic" on the radio, which weren't bad songs, but they weren't much to be excited about, either. Which is why, when I put the shiny black CD into my stereo, I was more than a little skeptical. I heard the first two songs, Frantic and St. Anger, and tried to get over the fact that I had heard them hundreds of times, and then I came upon the terrible beauty that is "Some Kind of Monster". No guitar solos, way-too-long intro, and yet this song was one of the best new songs I'd heard in quite a long time. I listened to the rest of the CD, and while it has none of the layering and innovation of the Black Album, it is something of beauty and power. The only song I actually consider "bad" on this album would be the song My World, but then again it is the only song on the CD with gratuitous cursing so I am a bit biased.

So, in closing, this CD is a very good CD. If you take this as what it is, a single CD by some band, it is simply amazing. However, if you compare it to the old Metallica CDs, it, to put it bluntly, sucks majorly. If you have the money to spare, I would urge you to buy it, but come to it with an open mind, do not compare it to anything else, and I doubt you will be dissapointed.