St. Anger

“St. Anger” is the eighth studio album by Metallica. Released on June 5, 2003, this album marks the longest time span between studio albums from Metallica, with the nearly six years between the release of “ReLoad” and “St. Anger.”

It was also the first to receive a Parental Advisory label excluding Garage Inc. (a cover album), Live S**t: Binge and Purge (a live album), and S&M (also a live album).

The album was originally intended for release on June 10, 2003, but was instead released five days earlier due to fear of unlicensed copying over filesharing networks.

St. Anger received a mixed response from critics and fans alike. Many fans felt as if the old Metallica was replaced with a different band/sound. Though not all criticism was negative, some felt it was an experiment Metallica was going through and that Metallica was as strong as ever.

One reviewer, Adrien Begrand of PopMatters, took both sides to it, saying, “While it’s an ungodly mess at times, what you hear on this album is a band playing with passion for the first time in years.”