Metallica - S&M

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Music reviews of S&M

Music Review: A Unique And Masterful Performance [REVIEW PART 2]
Rating: 5 Stars

~~The Tracks~~

~~Disc 2~~

(reviewed first because it is infinitely better than Disc 1)

~Nothing Else Matters(Metallica)~

Whoever told Metallica that they should create a ballad should have been shot at dawn...without the blindfold option. Nothing Else Matters is Metallica's first ballad, from the `Black' album, and whilst not being the worst song in the world is also not exactly their finest either. James Hetfield is NOT a `singer' in the traditional sense...Metallica are NOT a pop-rock band and never have been. Yes they may have mellowed since the early days, but not far enough to be able to carry a ballad as yet. Live, this track goes down well though, and the addition of strings from the Philadelphia orchestra here on this live collaboration add an even deeper dimension to it, but Hetfield's rasping vocals and insistence on snarling and spitting out the last syllable of each line mean that this track could never be considered `beautiful' in the sense you feel it tries to pervey.

~Until It Sleeps(Load)~

This is a great track, proving that Metallica still have some of the old magic. An enormously catchy song, with superb lyrics and a killer riff in the chorus, makes you want to sing along and maybe even break out the old air guitar which has been hiding somewhere in the dark recesses of your teenage years since Master Of Puppets...Here the orchestra add some `fatness' to the track,, but are generally missable. Until it sleeps is a superb track which is already somewhat musically busy without enhancement and perhaps the recognition of this is the reason for their somewhat backseat role in the proceedings.

~For Whom The Bell Tolls(Ride The Lightning)~

The only track here from Ride The Lightning. For Whom The Bell Tolls is superb and could not have been handled better in my opinion. The track is left open for orchestral accompaniment, and there is loads of it throughout. It sounds more like the San Fransisco Orchestra featuring Metallica rather than vice versa. The verses are left pretty much unadulterated, but the chorus and intro exhibit a huge amount of collaboration, guitars and string section playing `follow my leader' between chorus and verse, and the orchestra filling in the gaps left by a young Metallica on only their second album. As an album track this track was good, but felt somewhat musically empty in parts, there simply wasn't the fat, gutsy sound that Metallica produced on Master Of Puppets and continued from then onwards. Live, this is another crowd pleaser, but here it has added depth as well. It sounds superb!

-Human(Previously Unreleased)~

"You've gotta breath man, breathe...coming up for...aieaieairrrr"...A previously unreleased track which is seriously good. Why have you been hiding this one!?! A pompous orchestral intro filled with creeping insidious malice leads into a crunching, head nodding riff before switching tempo as Hetfield snarls out the first line. This is a really slow, grinding track reminiscent of Harvester Of Sorrow from Master Of Puppets, Hetfield singing the verse before lowering his tone to deliver a deeper more menacing growl for the chorus. The orchestra has a prominent part in this track, offering strength and depth to the verse, which otherwise may have been rather shallow had they not been there.

~Wherever I May Roam(Metallica)~

This track on this album is superb! Wherever I May Roam was one of my favourites from the `Black' album but here it just got better. Metallica's mystical, middle-eastern sounding percussionless intro is heavily enhanced by some mysterious extras from the San Fransisco Orchestra's string section, which is truly haunting and build to a crescendo before the Ulrich drums kick in leading to the `big' pompous intro, which is again heavily orchestrially enhanced. This section of the song alone is vastly better in this collaboration, the pompous intro is even more pompous and the sound `huge', dark and mysterious.

~Outlaw Torn(Load)~

I didn't like the `Load' album very much, as it sounded a little too much like a band trying to cash in on the success of past glories. Where the Black album was a superb album, packed with excellent more `pop-py' tracks and had massive worldwide and genre crossing appeal, this smacked of trying too hard to follow in the same lines. Outlaw Torn was one of the better tracks from this album, but even so, was little on the dull side. Metallica are NOT a pop-rock band and the sooner they realise this and Hetfield stops trying to `sing' and gets back to growling and snarling, then the sooner we can have some more of the kind of music which made them the mega-stars they are now. Outlaw torn is very much a plodder, bass led verse, followed by power corded chorus and some relatively unimpressive guitar play. A huge instrumental section fills the middle of the track with guitar and orchestral accompaniment blending together well.

~Sad But True(Metallica)~

This is one of the tracks which I feel simply doesn't work here. Sad But True, is one of Metallica's big, pompous tracks. Live, its time for a sing-song, the riff heavy and over-emphasised, Ulrich pounding the drums into submission, you - fist pumping, head banging, chanting along to the chorus. The accompaniment of the orchestra takes something away from the clean chugging riff, which makes his song the crowd favourite it is. They feel completely unecessary and superfluous and I found myself unconsciously blotting them out rather than enjoying their accompaniment.

~One(...And Justice For All)~

This is one of my favourite Metallica tracks. An intense anti-war song, One is both one on the most beautiful pieces of music you will ever hear as well as being one of the most intense. This track has an absolutely stunning intro, a collaboration between the string section again and Metallica's own melodic guitars. I get chills evert time I hear it and this version is even better.

~Enter Sandman(Metallica)~

Just when you thought this track couldn't get any better, it just has. Enter Sandman is probably the track that even non-Metallica fans associates with them. It received masses of airplay on MTV and was a worldwide smash on its single release, many stating that it is the best metal track ever commited to vinyl.

~Battery(Master Of Puppets)~

A strange `plucked' string beginning leads into a full display of the capabilities of the San Fransisco Orchestra's prowess. A rather odd track to single out for this approach as the melodic classical intro, leads into one of Metallica's thrashiest numbers. Battery, from Master Of Puppets, is a real peice of fast, crunching, powerhouse thrash, but this isn't the best delivery I have heard. Hetfield seems to have lost some of the venom from his voice and can not deliver the track the way it was meant to sound anymore, which can be heard when Jason Newstead joins in the chorus snarling pure venom over Hetfield's strangely willowy vocals here.

Description of S&M

Hard Rock & Metal CDs

• Music > Styles
• Pop
• Rock