Here goes:
St Anger: Only heard the first two songs properly. Frantic was OK, but it needed a solo or a turnaround section half-way through to break it up a bit. The title track could, and should have been a hell of a lot better than it is. It sounds (in the words of Kerrang! magazine) like it was recorded at the bottom of a wheelie bin. The production is bloody awful. There's no clarity in the sound at all - the guitars are so distorted that the sound actually breaks up at some points, and the drums are horribly overblown. As for the bass, they might as well have not bothered replacing Jason at all - you can't hear it.
I think Metallica have cocked up with this album - you can hear the potential on some of these songs, but they've been recorded terribly, and they've wasted their talents - Kirk Hammett with no solos, Hetfield with no decent rhythm parts, and Rob Trujillo - ROB F***ING TRUJILLO - without a single bassline you can actually hear properly. Only Lars manages to show his skills, but on a kit that sounds as though it's made of plastic.
I just hope that the next one they do has some of the aggression of this one, combined with the production of "the black album" and the energy of "...Puppets". THAT would be an album worth getting.
I'm waiting for the debut album from The Darkness (glam rock crossed with Queen, anyone?

), which is out on Monday. Stand-out track - "Get Your Hands Off My Woman Motherf***er". Awesome - get it or miss out on something spectacularly good. Then the next big one is the new Iron Maiden album, Dance of Death, which is out in september. It's gonna kick ass...
Other cool bands you might not have heard of:
:yes:Morcheeba - wierd, but sweet-as to listen to...
:yes:Hundred Reasons - the best British band for years. Heavy and happy - what more could you want?
:yes:The Wildhearts - this band make the loudest f***ing noise I've ever heard. I was deaf for three days after going to their show at Cardiff university. They're an awesome bunch of crazy Geordies, and really nice people, too!
Check 'em out, you won't be sorry.
