SharkESP
06-06-2003, 03:58 AM
I wnet and bought St. Anger at exactly 10:05 this morning. I took it home, and opened up. First impression: Very nice art, an 11 track cd, and an additional dvd with all 11 songs played live in studio. Excited am I, to start.
So let's do this in the manner of Good, Bad, and Ugly. THen I'll wrap it up by typing out all my notes as I listened to the album through for the very first time.
Good: This album is loud and very fast. On a decent Stereo ($1200) everything pops out. Kirk and James still seperate each other one left and right. There are no ballads, mid tempo songs, or cheesy "hey hey hey"s
Bad: THier tone has been revamped, trading loud and clear for loud and muddy. The tone is so harsh that it warps the sound of the chords themselves. The drums have and guitars have been pushed to the front, drowning out the bass for most of the tracks (a.la. And Justice for all) . The snare drum feeds back.
Ugly: There is one bass solo and no guitar solos. Kirk's greatest appearence is some wah-accompanied pic-scrapes on the best song of the album, track 7 (Shoot me again). The time changes are abrupt, seemingly unnessecary, and don't always apply to all the instruments (think Megadeth on a harsher scale). THere is one song that is a perfect Korn Song (Invisible Kid) and Sweet Amber (8) is the only one that fails to drag on, at 5+ minutes long. Several songs in this album (1,3, 4, 11) become little games of "How can we fuck up this great groove/riff"
Ugliest: James, you are 40. You have been through therapy. You do not need to sing about everything you felt tthe last three years in a tense growl that would be harsher than your first album, if your body had that kind of strength. As it is, listening to the whole album makes you an old man that we all want to slap and tell to shut up by the time we get to Purify.
"Frantic tick tick tick tick tick tock..." This, made me want to puke. Here's my song notes...enjoy.
Frantic: Great grooves, Kill the snare, James is a shitty clock... (7 mins)
St. Anger: MIxed better than the radio cut. BUt repetitive and redundant (madly in anger with you? say you're pissed and shut the fuck up already...). Has grown on my since radio release.
Some Kind of Monster: Awesome start, then instruments swap double time and half time randmoly and seperately. In between is the most god awful excuse for a melody riff ever created. Let the Lyrics Breathe for Christ Sake...this song ends the first 20 mins of the album, and james has been silent for 3...
Dirty Window: Thank GOd a good song...of the breadfan/Prince/Killing Time vein. Sounds great through first 3 minutes. Should have stopped...doesn't. 7 minutes. James repeats single adjectives at random. Doews so high...GRRRR!!!
Invisible Kid: Good, fast groove. James stops straining, finally. Would make an awesome Korn song...vocal harmony? OOh! Sounds like a well produced soulfly song with Jon Davis on vocals. At this point, 5 tracks in, i haven't heaard one decent song throughout. Sad...
My World: Album drags on like a dead mu;le's ass...good song on it's own. Good mosher, and no little annoyances here...
Shoot me again: Good riff, nice pick sctratch lead. Best Song so far.
Sweet Amber: Good melody. Softest part of whole album. First signs of Kirk's pulse...3/4ths of the album in.
The Unnamed Feeling: Kirk playing Arpeggios an overlapping rhythm...on THIS ALBUM? GOD HELP US ALL!!!
doesn't suck. Four unison bends could be confused for a ramones solo...
Purify: Suimple formula - James plays riff, Lars overhits drums, Kirk plays doubling complimentary friff for thickness, James howls. Rinse, lather, repeat.
All within My hands: I'm focusing on Kirk now because James has pissed me off by now. 70 mins of the James and kinda Lars show... Kirk plays melody throughout the verses. Ends with nice feedback reminiscent of Garage Days...Album ends.
The DVD and watching them play makes things more bearable, but as a full Audio CD, don't torture yourself. I only reccomend for the DVD, barely, and that's cause both discs are 14.99 together.
<P ID="signature">Lord have mercy, baby's got her blue jeans on...</P>
So let's do this in the manner of Good, Bad, and Ugly. THen I'll wrap it up by typing out all my notes as I listened to the album through for the very first time.
Good: This album is loud and very fast. On a decent Stereo ($1200) everything pops out. Kirk and James still seperate each other one left and right. There are no ballads, mid tempo songs, or cheesy "hey hey hey"s
Bad: THier tone has been revamped, trading loud and clear for loud and muddy. The tone is so harsh that it warps the sound of the chords themselves. The drums have and guitars have been pushed to the front, drowning out the bass for most of the tracks (a.la. And Justice for all) . The snare drum feeds back.
Ugly: There is one bass solo and no guitar solos. Kirk's greatest appearence is some wah-accompanied pic-scrapes on the best song of the album, track 7 (Shoot me again). The time changes are abrupt, seemingly unnessecary, and don't always apply to all the instruments (think Megadeth on a harsher scale). THere is one song that is a perfect Korn Song (Invisible Kid) and Sweet Amber (8) is the only one that fails to drag on, at 5+ minutes long. Several songs in this album (1,3, 4, 11) become little games of "How can we fuck up this great groove/riff"
Ugliest: James, you are 40. You have been through therapy. You do not need to sing about everything you felt tthe last three years in a tense growl that would be harsher than your first album, if your body had that kind of strength. As it is, listening to the whole album makes you an old man that we all want to slap and tell to shut up by the time we get to Purify.
"Frantic tick tick tick tick tick tock..." This, made me want to puke. Here's my song notes...enjoy.
Frantic: Great grooves, Kill the snare, James is a shitty clock... (7 mins)
St. Anger: MIxed better than the radio cut. BUt repetitive and redundant (madly in anger with you? say you're pissed and shut the fuck up already...). Has grown on my since radio release.
Some Kind of Monster: Awesome start, then instruments swap double time and half time randmoly and seperately. In between is the most god awful excuse for a melody riff ever created. Let the Lyrics Breathe for Christ Sake...this song ends the first 20 mins of the album, and james has been silent for 3...
Dirty Window: Thank GOd a good song...of the breadfan/Prince/Killing Time vein. Sounds great through first 3 minutes. Should have stopped...doesn't. 7 minutes. James repeats single adjectives at random. Doews so high...GRRRR!!!
Invisible Kid: Good, fast groove. James stops straining, finally. Would make an awesome Korn song...vocal harmony? OOh! Sounds like a well produced soulfly song with Jon Davis on vocals. At this point, 5 tracks in, i haven't heaard one decent song throughout. Sad...
My World: Album drags on like a dead mu;le's ass...good song on it's own. Good mosher, and no little annoyances here...
Shoot me again: Good riff, nice pick sctratch lead. Best Song so far.
Sweet Amber: Good melody. Softest part of whole album. First signs of Kirk's pulse...3/4ths of the album in.
The Unnamed Feeling: Kirk playing Arpeggios an overlapping rhythm...on THIS ALBUM? GOD HELP US ALL!!!
doesn't suck. Four unison bends could be confused for a ramones solo...
Purify: Suimple formula - James plays riff, Lars overhits drums, Kirk plays doubling complimentary friff for thickness, James howls. Rinse, lather, repeat.
All within My hands: I'm focusing on Kirk now because James has pissed me off by now. 70 mins of the James and kinda Lars show... Kirk plays melody throughout the verses. Ends with nice feedback reminiscent of Garage Days...Album ends.
The DVD and watching them play makes things more bearable, but as a full Audio CD, don't torture yourself. I only reccomend for the DVD, barely, and that's cause both discs are 14.99 together.
<P ID="signature">Lord have mercy, baby's got her blue jeans on...</P>