Metallica: Live Shit - Binge & Purge, San Diego

The two part San Diego show alone captures the true live feel the the premiere heavy metal band of all time and their inspired performance and connection with their fans. Highlights include the serious-into-silly drum duel between frontman James Hetfield and dummer Lars Ulrich. The greatly updated version of Deep Purple's "Mistreated" takes advantage of the superior guitar and drum tones the band radiates. And now ex-bassist Jason Newsted's presence is greatly missed for it is captured in the set the great energy he brought to the band, namely his rendition of the vocal line to "Whiplash" on the Seattle tape. Add the the well-worth-the-money videos is a great booklet collaged in photos and notes from the years of the relentless tours. And to round off the enlightening experience is a 3 CD set of live performances. The lengthy version of "Seek and Destroy" is a wonder to behold in the rhythm syncronization and Hetfield's interaction with the audience. Although not flawless, the performances stand strong enough on their own to need any further editing. Drop the cash to pick up this gem, you won't be sorry

If you are tired of hearing all this new s**t about going back to their roots, just kick back and watch this.

They cover all the essential songs that made them great, and it is really a very good show, and a very well done project overall. Only thing that makes me mad is that I was not at this show! Even if you could care less about any Metallica material, this is still worth watching a good few chunks of. Kirk Hammet shreds and plays some Hendrix at one part. Jason, new bassist at the time, shows off. And some awesome lighting and stage effects throughout.

Hell even punk-rock gets it's moment with a wicked cover of The Misfits.

Filmed on Metallica's 1993 world tour, this video shows the band in all its headbanging glory. The first two tapes are of a show in San Deigo, and the third is from the 'Justice' tour, in Seattle.

The setlist is great, they play all the heavy songs that have made them famous over the years. The sound is great, you can feel the power these guys put out, but make sure you watch it in surround sound to get the full effect.

The only bad part is the directing. Wayne Isham has done a very bad job of putting this tape together. His edits are too fast and he uses bad fades and camerawork. He has successfully ruined what would have been the best live recording ever.

Overall it is a great show, it gives you an idea of what its like to see the best band in the world live. Of course, it doesnt live up to the experience of actually being there, but for those who can't see them live, this is the next best thing. See it now, but be sure to play it up very loud!

There are two DVDs in the set.

DVD 1 was filmed in San Diego in 1992 during the 'Nowhere Left to Roam' tour promoting 'The Black Album'. This is the weaker of the two DVDs although it is amazing. An amazing opening two of 'Enter Sandman' and 'Creeping Death' sends us all into a frenzy. The concert, obviously, concentrates on 'Black Album' a lot more, with 'Enter Sandman', 'Sad But True', 'The Unforgiven', 'Wherever I May Roam', 'Nothing Else Matters', 'Through The Never' and 'Of Wolf And Man' all being played live. Of all of these, 'Enter Sandman' and 'Wherever I May Roam' were the most impressive. From 'Kill Em All' they played an outstanding 'Seek and Destroy', 'The Four Horsemen' and the rip roaring 'Whiplash' which gets the whole crowd singing along. From 'Ride The Lightning', we had the best Metallica song ever 'Fade to Black' which was wonderful to hear, 'For Whom The Bell Tolls' is always a classic live and 'Creeping Death' features the entire band in FINE form. From 'Master of Puppets', we had 'Battery' towards the end, a sadly shortened version of 'Master of Puppets' an AMAZING version of 'Welcome Home (Sanitarium)' which was exeptional. But, the '...And Justice For All' stuff gave us the REAL highlights, with an amazing mix of stuff in the 'Justice Medley'. 'Harvester of Sorrow' was a stomping rocker and 'One' was vintage stuff. And the rest ? We had some covers in there that included the amazing 'Stone Cold Crazy', 'Last Caress', 'So What' and 'Am I Evil?'. This part deserved 9/10 with a point taken away for the disappointing bass and guitar solo.

DVD 2 is a pure gem for all Metallica fans. The 1989 gig in Seattle from the 'Harvester of Sorrow' tour. Some of the above songs were played, taking away the 'Black Album' stuff, and with songs that were NOT on the last one, like 'Blackened', 'And Justice For All', 'Breadfan' and the COMPLETE 'Master of Puppets'. 'Blackened' WAS the highlight of this set and an EASY 10/10 DVD. Well done to the Tallica boys for this amazing set.