S&M | Metallica | Great CD, stands the test of time

S&M | Metallica | S&M

popular music:

S&M

	S&M Metallica Elektra / Wea, 1999 average customer review:based on 906 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

Limited edition release (1,000 copies only) featuring Metallica's 1999 outing, a set of playing cards featuring the aces in the deck as specially designed caricatures of the band's members, plus a 2000-2001 calendar with all of the lyrics from the 'S&M' album, a silk screened black t-shirt (with the 'S&M' logo in red on the front & a soloist in red on the back) and a poster with the four aforementioned caricatures. Comes packaged in a fine weave, fabric-finished black box with silver lettering and a white satin interior (that doubles as a display case). Also contains a sheet music certificate. Black cloth covered box dimensions in inches 11x11x4 approximately. CD is packaged in double slim line jewel case. Plain slipcase covers entire package.

for more information click here

Great CD, stands the test of time

I wouldn't really rate this as a "true" live album as the symphony concept was a rare event, and not something that truly portrays the songs as you would here them if Metallica was touring today.

S&M came out when i was in high school. Being a band dork, this was a great fusion of something I was fairly familiar with (classical ensembles) and Metallica, something I was just starting to get a taste for (its hard to dive right in when they were coming off of crapfests like Load and Re-load!) For all their missteps in the studio, they still had a great live act and a real wealth of great material. This turned me on to metal in all its forms and potential.
The first three tracks, this start's out with Morricone's "Ecstasy of gold", were a real challenge for me. Cthulu is a very long instrumental, and I feel like the orchestra helps to keep this song from getting monotonous(as sometimes Metallica tends to repeat the same riff to death). Then you come to Master of Puppets, now this is where everything comes together, as James finally starts singing. You started on with just the orchestra, then you add the band, and finally the vocals. Now that all three are playing along (with a little help from the crowd acting as a massive choir) you really start to have fun with it.

Others have commented about all the songs, but I just wanted to finally mention the real peak of the album for me is "Hero of the Day". For all I care this is the definitive version. The orchestra almost changes the meaning of the song, that's how integral they are to this arrangement. It turns it from what I feel is basically a bitter/beaten veteran's song into a song about loss and redemption, the orchestra acting as some sort voice on high. I get chills when i hear this version. love it!!

This was a great disc to buy back when it came out, and I would still recommend it to Metallica fans today.

for more information click here

S&M

I love it. The orchestra adds a certain epic sound to the already great music of Metallica.

So far, the only "greatest hits" CD they've released...

If you're on the fence about buying your first Metallica album, check out "S&M." It serves as the closest thing they've done to a greatest hits album, and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra (conducted by the esteemed Michael Kamen) adds a very nice level of depth to the songs. This is also the only album where you can find the songs "- Human" and "No Leaf Clover." The band touches on all its previous albums with the exception of "Kill 'Em All," playing staples like "Enter Sandman" and "One" but also throwing in songs like "Bleeding Me" off of "Load" and "The Call of Ktulu" off of "Ride the Lightning."

for more information click here

Some of Metallica's original songs are improved here...7/10

This cd would appeal mostly to Metallica fans who want everything the band has ever done, or maybe fans of symphonies who like 'edgy' music. Sound quality on this recording is excellent (my favourite Metallica album, "Reload" has very poor sound, and I've heard very bad things about the sound on the band's new album "Death magnetic". It seems the sound quality on Metallica albums is very hit and miss. Here it's more 'hit'. Both the symphony and Metallica are clearly distinct on this cd, so one does not suffer in comparison to the other, prominence wise.

Of the songs selected for this double cd, I could have sworn I'd seen "Fade to black" on it when I looked at the track listing a while back. Maybe I was mistaken. That is arguable their best song and I think it would have worked really well on this cd. Some of my other favourite songs which missed an appearance on this cd were: "Welcome home", "Orion", "The unforgiven" and "The unforgiven II". There are probably lots of 'hardcore' Metallica fans who don't rate these songs that highly and rate more highly songs which did appear on this compilation. As I think the songs above are amongst the band's best, I'm disappointed that they didn't make it on to the album. The only other Metallica song which I consider an out and out classic, "Enter Sandman", does make the song line-up. "Memory remains" is a near classic and makes this cd as well. From their earlier albums, I don't mind songs like "The thing that should not be", "Master of puppets" and "Battery". All these songs are on this cd. Perhaps "Fight fire with fire" is in those songs' class too, and deserved to be on this album.

The only other point of comparison for this album that I have is a KISS symphony programme I saw on ABC TV in Australia (not sure how similar it is to the title that is available for purchase on dvd). My problem with some of the songs on that programme was that the orchestral arrangement actually detracted from some of the excellent KISS songs. In other words, the symphony didn't play to those songs' strengths. Perhaps that's an unfair comparison as I saw KISS on a portable tv and I heard S&M on a stereo with good headphones.

In this review's heading, I state that some of the band's original material comes out better on this than on the original album. Which is to say that songs on albums like "Load", which I really didn't find that interesting, sound more interesting with this arrangement. That includes songs such as: "No leaf clover", "Hero of the day", "Bleedin' me", "Outlaw torn" and "Sad but true".

If you're wondering if the symphonic treatment softens the sound of the band, "Battery" should dispel those fears. Of all Metallica's thrash songs, this one doesn't lose any of its accoustic brutality.

One possible gripe for this cd is that more use could have been made of the symphony. Personally, I would have liked to hear more isolated instruments carrying the melody of the song in the quieter parts. Especially if that instrument had a sound with character...I don't much about individual instruments in symphonies, but maybe something like an oboe, or a horn or something...maybe even a harp.

On one occasion, something approaching what I would have liked in that regard is achieved...in the intro for "Battery", for orchestra delivers a nice counter-balance to the thrash metal which comes after that. They provide a simple but effective arrangement for Metallica.

Since "Memory remains" is one of my picks as Metallica's best song, it's good to see that that is a hard song to stuff up...it works well symphonically too. You do get the crowd singing along the melody to that song, along with the symphony.

Which brings me to another gripe: crowd involvement would have been better on the recording if the microphones were nearer the audience or something. Iron Maiden's otherwise mediocre song "Fear of the dark" is turned into pretty much a classic by the crowd singing the melody in their "Rock in Rio" concert. That recording really captured the crowd's passion really well.

If you're after versions of songs which don't take liberties, then maybe this cd isn't for you. Hetfield occasionally stays silent so that the crowd can sing some of the lyrics of the song. Occasionally he adlibs or encourages the crowd, which may annoy some people who'd rather hear Hetfield keep to the script of the song.

Even though I'm not heavily into heavy metal, heavy metal albums which I highly recommend are:

Metallica: Reload (which is a great hard rock album); Master of puppets (their best early album) and The Black Album.

Coldseed: Completion makes the tragedy (a great debut album with lots of stylistic variation in the song list. Another two albums like that from them and I'd rate them as highly as Metallica!).

for more information click here