I also really enjoyed St. Anger, despite all the criticism it received for its repetitive nature, long song lengths and "bad production". I actually think the rougher production and simpler, more aggressive nature of the songs it had gave them a more passionate, "garage band" sort of sound, which fits quite well with the album's lyrical themes. Metallica was in shambles when they made this album, as Jason Newstead left the band over unfair treatment, and James Hetfield was struggling with rehab and overcoming his alcoholism, among other problems The whole Napster kerfuffle didn't help things either. Somehow though, they managed to pull together and make a pretty decent album, which actually received a decent amount of acclaim at first, but only started getting shit on once the old, elitist, "first four albums only" crowd came along and stated their opinions on it.