St. Anger = "bummer"

[haVoc 0]

According to blabbermouth.net, Metallica vocalist James Hetfield has told Reuters that the United States sales of the group's latest album, St. Anger, which fell off the pop charts earlier this month, are a "bummer."

 

However, the group plan to launch a six-month U.S. tour of indoor arenas on March 2, they announced backstage at the American Music Awards on Sunday.

 

St. Anger has sold about 1.5 million copies in the United States since it debuted at No. 1 in June, according to Nielsen SoundScan (the record has been certified double-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America).

 

"It's a bummer," Hetfield said. "In Europe it's doing really good, and some other places ... It is what it is. We can't change that. We do our best and that's all we can do."

 

Drummer Lars Ulrich said St. Anger is Metallica's best seller in Europe since its 1991 self-titled release, also known as the "black album," and the band are preparing to launch their third tour there in December.

 

"It's a very challenging record," Ulrich said about the album, which features no guitar solos and was widely panned for its "unconventional" production approach. He added that U.S. rock radio programmers seemed more interested in playing bands like Nickelback.

 

Metallica's record sales in the U.S., according to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) are as follows:

 

"Metallica" (1991) – 13 million

"…And Justice For All" (1988) - 8 million

"Master of Puppets" (1986) – 6 million

"Ride The Lightning" (1984) – 5 million

"S&M" (1999) – 5 million

"Load" (1996) – 5 million

"Reload" (1997) – 3 million

"Kill 'Em All" (1983) – 3 million

"St. Anger" (2003) – 2 million

 

Source: "Metallica's Hetfield Says 'St. Anger' Sales Are A 'Bummer' " www.blabbermouth.net 18 November 2003

 

Credit: 411

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

Good. See that? An album that was released without a major label contract and STILL gets no press, Kill 'Em All, did better than something that was hyped to hell.

 

And I'm glad that the 4 top-selling Metallica albums are 3 of their best.

[haVoc 0]

"Kill 'Em All" has also had 20 years to sell 3 million.

[The Metal Maniac 0]

was widely panned for its "unconventional" production approach.

 

Is that like, double-speak for "it sounds really shitty"?

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

It means "people didn't like that Lars replaced his drumset with coffee cans and trash bins."

[Guest Dave O'Neill, Journalist]

I'm fucking distraught

 

Poor Lars

 

Theyll blame it on Kazaa, or someother bullshit

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

Which would be hilarious, since I find most P2P users trade old-school Metallica tunes more than anything post-Black.

[Guest Mindless_Aggression]

"It's a very challenging record"

 

Oh God, they're gonna throw down the "You just didn't get it, it was too intelligent and unique for the mass public" card

[Guest Doyo]

An album that was released without a major label contract and STILL gets no press, Kill 'Em All, did better than something that was hyped to hell.

 

Huh? No press compared to what? I know it was in Rolling Stone's top 100 albums of the 80s and

a whole bunch of lists like that. Most of the reviews I've seen for St. Anger didn't like it.

[B. Brian Brunzell 0]

An album that was released without a major label contract and STILL gets no press, Kill 'Em All, did better than something that was hyped to hell.

 

Huh? No press compared to what? I know it was in Rolling Stone's top 100 albums of the 80s and

a whole bunch of lists like that. Most of the reviews I've seen for St. Anger didn't like it.

When Kill 'Em All was first released on Megaforce records, it had NO PUBLICITY and still sold nearly 500,000 copies by the time Ride the Lightning was released, if I remember correctly.

[Red Hot Thumbtack In The Eye 0]

If my band ever sold 1.5 million copies after my previous releases sold 48 million, it would not be a bummer.

[pochorenella 0]

When Kill 'Em All was first released on Megaforce records, it had NO PUBLICITY and still sold nearly 500,000 copies by the time Ride the Lightning was released, if I remember correctly.

 

I don't think that's really accurate. Master of Puppets was Metallica's first album ever to crack Billboard's Top 30 albums chart and it was their first album to go Gold after touring with the likes of Ozzy Osbourne. Kill 'Em All was later re-released by Elektra Records and eventually went Gold well after ...and Justice For All was released.

[cynicalprofit 0]

Am I like one of the few people on the planet that likes newer metallica comapred to older metallica or does anyone else feel this way?

[Red Baron 0]

your probably the only one here, but i know a few people that agrees with what you say.

 

Actually Kill Em All sold only 50,000 copies before Metallica signed to Elektra

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

Depends on what you identify as "new" Metallica. While Load is a HIGHLY underrated album, ReLoad and St. Anger are pieces of shit that should never have been recorded, much less released to the public for mass consumption.

[Guest Mindless_Aggression]

Load does have some genuinly good stuff on it frankly, the riff from Ronnie is gold IMO.

 

Reload is...really really insanely bad. And St. Anger is just funny.

[Guest XxSmashxXxHeadxX]

Metallica sucks

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

Nobody that supports the travesties of heavy music known as Hatebreed and Superjoint Ritual can say any band sucks.

[Guest Doyo]

Corey, that is kind of funny because a lot of Shadow's Fall's fans are Hatebreed fans.

[The Metal Maniac 0]

Wait, wait...

 

The guy's got AVRIL LAVIGNE in his sig, and you jump on him for Hatebreed and Superjoint?

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

I'm done ragging on people for liking Avril. I've done it too many times that it no longer has any meaning.

 

But saying a person's opinion has no validity because they like a shitty band with one song (Superjoint Ritual), or a decent band with two songs (Hatebreed)? More fun, and it's fresh.

[justsoyouknow 0]

Is Hatebreed now, or have they ever been, a White Supremacist band? I've heard that they were, but I'm not entirely sure here.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

Doubtful. They're from CT, and the Northeast isn't exactly known for an abundance of White Supremacy.

 

Plus, if they are, I doubt Slayer would have agreed to do the Jagermeister tour, since Araya is quite Hispanic, and Kerry and Jeff are VERY anti-Nazi.