UMUR "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.

Pekka The Some Kind of Monster EP is a companion release to the movie of the same name, featuring the original and edited version of the title track as well as six live cuts of old school Metallica, recorded in Paris on June 11, 2003. "The hottest day in the history of France", the booklet says, that's a good day to do three club shows as they apparently did.

Honesty, that's the word that springs to mind when listening to this release. First of all they show that, a year after the release of St. Anger, they thought things could have been done differently. The edited version of the title track, originally an eight minute juggernaut of slow riffs and fast beats, is reduced to four minutes with a lot of the unnecessary repetition gone, and most notably, they gave in to fan feedback by overdubbing the extremely controversial snare with a more conventional sound. This version is an improvement in every way, and I'm one of those who like the snare sound on St. Anger.

Lots of fans hated St. Anger, but one thing they should thank it for was that it encouraged Metallica to return the old classics to their live sets, replacing most of the post-1988 material. The band was enthusiastic to revisit their old material despite during the long break their playing had lost its best edge. And this is where the honesty comes in again, as the live material is presented here in all its rawness with mistakes and all, with James' voice cracking and amusingly messing up a verse in Ride the Lightning ("I forgot the f**king words", in perfect melody), Lars missing half of his supposed fills and bass drum hits and Kirk stumbling through every solo sometimes completely losing his way. But the band's energy is furious, full of drive, and that's something I value higher than flawess playing. Hit the Lights is a total killer in its ferocity and tight riffing.

A pure collectors/fans only release, and as such a very interesting one, if not always enjoyable.