Probably a long review here, so let's start with the good. "Some Kind of Monster" has a dark, chuggy chorus--very enjoyable. "Dirty Window" has a good little flow, "Invisible Kid" has good music at its onset, "Sweet Amber" is swift with an almost Alice in Chainsy slowdown chorus, and "The Unnamed Feeling" is injected with a sort of industrial attitude and aggression. Overall, there is some speed and fast-pacing to be found-- faster than anything since 'Justice', in fact.
Ok, the bad (and some ugly, to boot). Hetfield can no longer sing. The man just can't do it. His best bet is to try and sound mean and angry as hell, which is passable. But there are vocal parts on this disc that are almost laughable, they sound so bad.
The production is probably the worst of any major-label release in the past decade, I kid you not. It had to be on purpose (for some god unknown reason), because I can't see how this could have been accidental, it's so perfectly awful. Demos are received all the time, and nearly all of them sound better than this, production-and-mix wise. I'm just dumbfounded at how bad Bob Rock has managed to make them sound.
The drums sound like they were recorded with tin cans-- the snare sounds like a Jamaican steel drum. The distortion is often down-tuned and always muddled, with no gain to be found. And speaking of not-to-be-found, that would be guitar solos. There are a couple of lead-guitar intros, so to speak, like on "Some Kind of Monster". Only problem is, it sounds completely out of tune. Seriously. And while the chorus of "Some Kind of Monster" may be excellent, the "we the people" lines evolve into a hair-raising croak, every time. What the hell?.... But anyway, on to the other songs. "Frantic" and "St. Anger" are two of the worst tracks, which makes sense-- since the radio and PR people have been pushing them (they like them some crap, yessir). The "singing" in the clean sections of the title song is unbearable, and totally ruins the Puppets-like chugging that makes a little appearance. The aforementioned "Dirty Window" has its moments, but is interrupted by song breaks which slow things down. Some awful verses ruin the otherwise good "Invisible Kid" around the 5-minute mark... and meanders on for another three minutes.
"My World" displays a lot of what's wrong with this release at once, probably. It starts out with a heavy-handed feel, only to give way to some completely off-key vocalizing, which pops back up throughout the track. And that snare drum--again. Aagh. "Shoot Me Again" (oh the irony) has an excellent, thudding start... then goes light, and then throws in a "hip" chorus. "Purify" is a track with a strong mid-song pickup, but it's not enough to save another out of tune chorus.
Some overall thoughts: There are parts which constitute the fastest playing the band has done in over ten years. However, often times it appears they're just playing fast to be fast--like they're trying to silence the critics of 'Load' and 'Reload'. Rarely does the speed fit a purpose, though, and even less often do they stick with it for any amount of time in a song. The edge is gone from the distortion, even when compared to the 'Load'-era discs. I found myself missing the crunch of "King Nothing". That should say a lot.
Somewhere along the way Metallica has been told/convinced that it's a good thing to have your drum sound, vocal performance, and overall production/mix sound like utter crap. And when all is said and done, despite a few decent songs, these factors make this disc demo-quality, and (what should be) an embarrassment.
Instead, it will sell three million copies.

TRACK LIST: Frantic/St. Anger/Some Kind of Monster/Dirty Window/Invisible Kid/My World/Shoot Me Again/Sweet Amber/The Unnamed Feeling/Purify/All Within My Hands