Legendary Producer Flemming Rasmussen Dishes on St. Anger: “It’s Pretty Demanding to Listen To”
It’s undeniable that when it comes to metal bands known around the world, no one’s bigger than Metallica. Their music is loved by millions around the world, but one album is pretty much largely panned by fans — St. Anger. And while it may be easy to chalk that album’s distaste to fans just being butthurt babies that Metallica changed up their sound again, it’s also fair to say that it’s just not a great sounding record.
For legendary producer Flemming Rasmussen, who’s worked with Metallica in the past on some of their earlier albums (Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets and …And Justice For All), that album’s been… hard to quantify.
During a recent interview with Daniel Sarkissian, Rasmussen was asked about the highly controversial release and he didn’t hold back his deeply mixed feelings for the 2003 release.
“Every second time I hear it, I go, ‘Fuck, that’s so great.’ They dare do something new, not just doing what they’ve always done. And then, the times in between, I go, ‘It sounds like the worst demo I’ve ever heard.’ So it’s, it’s kind of like that.”
Having worked closely with the dudes in Metallca in the past, Rasmussen said he has given the album a lot of leeway over the years, even going so far as to actually endeavoring to listen to the thing.
“Sometimes, I take it off after the first ten seconds, and other times, I listen to it to the end. Because it’s pretty demanding to listen to. That snare sound is fucking annoying as hell, right?”
That may sound like a brutal takedown of the record, but if you’ve ever listened to St. Anger then you’re probably nodding in agreement. A big part of that album was an attempt at sounding “rawww” and “unfilterrreeeddd” and “edgyyyy” after all the interpersonal drama that preceded the album’s creation nearly broke the band apart.
Ask anyone about St. Anger and there’s a ridiculously high chance that they’ll mention Lars’ tin can drum sound throughout the whole album. While it’s definitely hard on the ears, Rasmussen gave Ulrich kudos for adapting his style over the years.
“People can hate as much as they like. It’s become like a national sport for some. Yeah, he was not the world’s best drummer, but for Metallica, he is. And he evolved. He’s gotten better and better, shit happened. From here to here, there was a huge development. Musically and technically, he’s really, really good.”
