Metallica: S&M

The shameless exploitation of the old "Metal Meets Mozart" gimmick drags on, this time with metal band Metallica and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. The publicity that surrounded this stunt surprised me, seeing as how countless rock acts have already included symphony orchestras in their music, such as Pink Floyd (with whom San Francisco Symphony Orchestra conductor Michael Kamen had previously worked with), Van Morrison, and David Byrne...except those legends actually did it right. Usually, when a concert film is plagued with feverish, inaudible music (like this one), it depends heavily on cinematography and camera tricks, just as "S&M" tries to. But its attempts don't work. A poor effort from the usually worthwhile Metallica.

I'm not a huge fan of Metallica and I don't really like all of their music (the songs from the Black album, as well as ...And Justice for All and the single "I Disappear" are quite good but the rest kind of sound the same to me) -- but this live version even made me love the songs.

It's conducted with Michael Kamen and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, who ironically enough contacted THEM with an interest in performing their songs with an orchestra.

The result is a loud, powerful, emotional (!) experience. The deep, rich sound of the symphony really makes the songs all sound different. It's quite an experience.

The performance is two and a half hours long and the DVD/CD has tons of bonus features including a documentary covering the conception and execution of the entire ordeal.

All in all, a real treat, especially for Metallica fans, and perhaps even more so for non-fans who may find they like the music more like this.

This dvd is loaded with lots of features. It has four songs where you can choose the camera angles. You can choose to view it with the camera angles on only one member of Metallica at a time, or the way they edited it for vhs and dvd. You can also listen to just Metallica or just listen to the symphony. It also has a documentary talking about how they chose the songs they used for the concert. Overall I give it a 10.

This DVD is in my brothers collection and when he went away I watched it.I am a Metallica fan but not a big fan.I really loved this concert.My favorite songs were Master Of The Puppets,Enter Sandman,One and Nothing Else Matters.I loved all the songs.

Metallica are one of the best live bands of all time.The DVD had great features like commentaries and you could pick if you wanted to listen to Metallica or the orchestra.Some things that could have improved was to add more songs and some of my favorite Metallica tunes were missing.Other than that this is a very good DVD and all Metallica fans should have a copy of this DVD and CD.

10/10

The S&M DVD is possibly the best live work Metallica have done. Through sheer quantity Binge & Purge may be more highly regarded, but quality-wise I think S&M is better. Every track (barring Outlaw Torn) is just amazing, all benefiting from the extra dimensions a symphony gives - and the expert vision of Michael Kamen.

We start off with The Ecstacy Of Gold, performed beautifully by the San Francisco Orchestra.

The Call Of Ktulu, a much overlooked classic is the first Metallica song played and it sets the mood splendidly, it has power but also grace, 9/10.

Master Of Puppets is next up, which as always, is amazing, 10/10 on this one.

Of Wolf And Man is the first of many tracks on this DVD that are much improved with the aid of a symphony. I'm not a massive fan of the album version but I love the S&M version, 10/10.

The Thing That Should Not Be is well done but i'm not the biggest fan of the song, 8/10.

Fuel, always a crowd favourite, again benefits from the orchestra and earns it's 10/10.

The Memory Remains is also well performed with good crowd interactions, 9/10.

No Leaf Clover, a new song, is quite good, not heavy but likable all the same, 8/10.

Hero Of The Day is next and possibly my favourite performance on this DVD. Not their best song but is the most improved with the symphony 10/10.

Devil's Dance again, as above, not a great song but they manage to pull it off well, 8/10.

Bleeding Me tends to close the first DVD as Ktulu opened it, an epic song well done, 8/10.

The 2nd DVD starts off with Nothing Else Matters, a classic and was originally done with an orchestra, so is more than adaptable, 10/10 for sure on this one.

Until It Sleeps is a good post-black album song and holds it's own here, not the best performance of the day but still good, 7.5/10.

For Whom The Bell Tolls... Well, what can I say? They made a near perfect song another step closer to that title, 10/10.

-Human is the 2nd new song. Heavier and the symphony help out this song, 8/10.

Wherever I may Roam was next up and is my favourite track off the Black album, it's well done but not the outstanding performance on this DVD, 8/10.

Outlaw Torn was next up and I just can't bring myself to like it. A fan of the song might think differently but I can't give this more than a 6/10.

Sad But True is another great song which is performed well but i'm not overly convinced the symphony add too much to it, still a great performance though, 9/10.

One - Possibly the best Metallica song ever and is expertly performed by both Metallica and the symphony, can't fault it: 10/10.

Enter Sandman, a favourite of most was, like Wherever I May Roam, not an outstanding performance, in my opinion the symphony drowned out Kirk and James, and for a song like Enter Sandman that is not a good thing, 8.5/10.

Battery closes this DVD and has a brilliant intro by the symphony, 9.5/10.

Overall this is a brilliant performance to own, but musically and visually stunning. Any fan of Metallica would love this possibly even a few fans of classical music. A very solid 9/10 overall, with special mention to Hero Of The Day, Of Wolf And Man, Master Of Puppets and Nothing Else Matters.