Metallica Drummer Says ‘St. Anger’ Album Was About Hurting Listeners
Most Metallica fans can agree on one thing: the metal titans' 2003 album St. Anger was probably their worst disc ever released. The band was going through some hard times as documented on the 2004 film Some Kind of Monster. Drummer Lars Ulrich admits that recording St. Anger became a necessary evil to complete.
Speaking to Classic Rock Magazine (via NME), Ulrich gave his thoughts about the album.
Said the stickman: "When we heard the recording from beginning to end, I felt – and it was mostly me – the experience was so pummelling that it became almost about hurting the listener."
Ulrich stated that Metallica did not want to rehash any previous records.
"I view St. Anger as an isolated experiment. Once in a while, as we’ve been known to do, we have to f___ with the boundaries. We’d already done (1984's) Ride The Lightning, which I believe is a fine record – it didn’t need redoing."
The drummer doesn't have any ill will towards fans who think St. Anger is Metallica's worst album, but Ulrich can't come to the same conclusion.
"I think it’s fair to say some people think it’s our worst album," he said. "But I can’t. The way I view the world, I can’t rank them from best to worst. That kind of simplicity doesn’t exist for me."
Metallica are currently wrapping up their collaborative effort with Lou Reed.