SOME KIND OF MONSTER

"Some Kind of Monster" is an EP/ album release by American heavy metal/ thrash metal act Metallica. The EP/ album was released in July 2004 by Elektra Records. Metallica´s 8th full-length studio album "St. Anger" was released in 2003. It was an album born out of some frustrating years for the band with bickering and fighting among the members of the band, bassist Jason Newsted leaving the band and James Hetfield´s treatment for alcoholism as some of the distractions. All of these unpleasant and at times rather embarrassing/cringe worthy scenarios were filmed for a documentary which was released in 2004 called "Some Kind of Monster". This EP/ album release is a kind of soundtrack for that documentary as they share name and cover artwork. There´s no direct link between most of the music on this release and the documentary though.

There are 8 tracks on the version of "Some Kind of Monster" that I´m currently in possession of. The first and the last track on the EP/ album are the "Some Kind of Monster" track. The first version is taken directly off the "St. Anger" album. I think it´s a pretty weak track but then again that´s how I feel about most of "St. Anger", so no surprises there. The second version is a radio edit which last only half the time of the original´s 8:25 minutes playing time. I like this version much better simply because it´s over sooner. The remaining 6 tracks are live recordings from Paris, France recorded on the 11th of June 2003. All six songs are classic Metallica songs from their first three albums. We get live versions of "The Four Horsemen", "Damage Inc.", "Leper Messiah", "Motorbreath", "Ride The Lightning" and "Hit The Lights". While the instrumental side of those tracks is acceptable I simply can´t accept James Hetfield´s out of tune wailing. The man cannot sing in a live environment and his performance ruins my listening experience.

The sound production is weak on the "Some Kind of Monster" track. One of the most odd and unpleasant productions on a metal album yet. The sound quality on the live tracks is allright but nothing more. This is not the most impressive live sound I´ve ever heard. Considering that it´s Metallica we´re talking about, I expect much better.

"Some Kind of Monster" ends up not being a very interesting release IMO. Had the vocals on the live songs been acceptable I would have rated this EP/ album 3 stars but I really don´t enjoy this release much so a 2.5 star rating is enough.