I listened to that album earlier today, and I personally thought it was decent; Not the best in Metallica's discography, but it's not terrible either. There weren't many songs that I particularly liked or thought was interesting. (Frantic, Purify, and All Within My Hands were some of my favorite tracks though.) I would still recommend listening to
St. Anger, and you might find some songs you like.
Speaking of Metallica, I've listened to their first 8 studio albums (plus Garage, Inc.) so far. I'll hold off ranking their albums until I'm finished their discography, but I definitely agree that their first 5 albums are the best. I'd say my favorite is either
...And Justice for All or
The Black Album. Both have so many good songs!