The snare drum track is easily the most notorious thing about St. Anger, the most notorious album in the Metallica catalog. One YouTuber dared to ask, “What if the ‘St. Anger’ snare drum sound was on some of Metallica’s greatest songs?” Thanks to him, now we know.
YouTuber PolarWhale shared the video below featuring that very unpleasant, echoey snare drum on “Master of Puppets,” “Creeping Death,” “One” and “Enter Sandman.” Yes, it’s as annoying as you’d expect.
VIDEO: Guy Plays Classic Metallica Songs with ‘St. Anger’ Snares
Metallica is well aware of how sensitive the topic of St. Anger is among their fans. Recently, a couple of videos surfaced from some of Metallica’s recent shows having a laugh about the album. The first clip below shows the band wrapping “Frantic” with Hetfield saying afterwards, “That’s from your favorite album ‘St. Anger’! Oh, c’mon! It’s growing on you now.” He then points to someone near the stage and says, “Just give it a little more time, buddy. You’ll get it. Okay, eight more songs from ‘St. Anger.’ You ready? Just kidding.”
The second clip shows Papa Het doing a cheer/boo poll on St. Anger before launching into “Dirty Window” from the album.
Metallica Teasing Eight More St. Anger Songs on the Setlist
James Hetfield Polls Metallica Fans Whether or Not They Like St. Anger
Of course, Metallica also troll their fans about St. Anger on social media, too. On the 19th anniversary of the album this past June, the band shared the artwork to their social channels along with the caption, “Everyone’s favorite album, ‘St. Anger,’ was released 19 years ago #OnThisDay in 2003! Do we dare ask what your favorite song on the album is?”
Believe it or not, the album was defended by many fans in the comments. One fan wrote, “Unpopular opinion it gets me into a fight with EVERYONE in my family and friends group. But right behind Kill Em All, THIS is my FAVORITE album from you guys!!!!!!!!!!!! Never ever ever f—ing listen to the haters and negative comments. This album kicks ass!” Another fan wrote, “People piss on St. Anger, but it was necessary, or the band would have broken up. Plus, I really like ‘All within my hands’ now after S&M2.”
