Some Kind of Monster

"Some Kind of Monster" is the fourth single by the American heavy metal band Metallica, taken from the eighth studio album St. Anger. It was released on July 13, 2004 through Elektra Records.

The live B-sides are all taken from the previous single release "The Unnamed Feeling" EP. "Some Kind of Monster" was Nominated for Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance in 2005 but lost to "Velvet Revolver" for the song "Slither".

Also, a documentary was released on January 25, 2005.

The name Some Kind of Monster came from vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield describing the lyrics to producer Bob Rock being about a Frankenstein creature or "some kind of monster". Thus, it was also used as a very fitting title for the 2004 documentary about the recording of St. Anger and the turmoil surrounding it. Hetfield has previously described the entity that is Metallica - the burden of fame and life in general - as monstrous.

The song's birth and development are well detailed in the eponymous documentary as well. It was one of the first songs put together for the album. It would later be released as the final single and music videos of St. Anger, and would be shortened considerably from the album version. The video contains old footage of Metallica concerts as well as a performance of the song in Metallica's San Francisco headquarters which is included in its entirety on the St. Anger DVD. In some regions, such as the US, the EP was bundled with a T-Shirt featuring the artwork.

During the "clean" intro, the sound of Lars Ulrich's snare can be heard rattling in the background.

On the documentary's DVD extras there are a couple of sections entitled "Tough Riff", that show Hetfield teaching the song's main riff to Kirk Hammett, who appeared to have trouble figuring it out.

■ James Hetfield – lead vocals, rhythm guitar

■ Kirk Hammett - rhythm and lead guitar, backing vocals

■ Robert Trujillo – bass and backing vocals on tracks 2-7

■ Lars Ulrich – drums, percussion

■ Bob Rock - bass on tracks 1 and 8

■ Produced by Bob Rock and Metallica

■ Engineered and mixed by Bob Rock, assisted by Mike Gillies and Eric Helmkamp

■ Digital engineering by Mike Gillies

■ Mastered by Vlado Meller

■ Track 8 remixed by Randy Staub and Bob Rock, remastered by Ted Jensen

■ Recorded and mixed by Mike Gillies

■ Mastered by George Marino

■ Illustration by Matt Mahurin

■ Design by Kathleen Philpott

(wiki)