Reviews (page 6 of 11)
Eh. This was an overkill.
The Memory Remains of this one. This was the Fuel for my Battery.
I like symphonies... I like Metallica... I loved this. I'll bet seeing it live would have been a 5
Does Metallica sound good backed by a full orchestra? Shockingly enough, after two hours of this thing, I still don't know the answer. Putting the kind of cheesy opening of 'Ecstasy of Gold' aside, I'd say more times than not, the combination comes off equally as tacky as it does epic. And that terrible word 'epic' is, unfortunately, the best way to put a majority of those moments when the orchestra sweeps in. It all feels very cinematic. I love the strings on this rendition of 'One', it's one of the moments where this orchestral rendition almost TOPS the original for me. In contrast, the following 'Enter Sandman' sounds awful and messy. I was excited to see a Metallica live album, as I've been impartial toward most of their discography, and was hoping a live take on their music would win me over. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if that's the case yet after this album alone given how gimmicky it is. Nevertheless, I applaud Metallica for doing something this ambitious and "over-the-top" - I can only imagine how much work it took to pull it off. And the crowd seemed to love it.
Ratings: 5: I will happily play this album anytime 4: I may occasionally play this album of my own free will 3: I will happily listen to this if someone plays it in the background 2: I will tolerate this if it is playing in the background 1: I will leave the room if someone plays this in the background Don't know that I consider this an album worth of this list, but I do like some Metallica.
Essential part of my childhood. 'Nuff said.
Excellent album. A blend of classical and metal, which is always a classic combination.
Very much not my thing. Would never choose to listen to a song from this concert over the album versions.
very long, but great.
A little gimmicky take on a greatest hits album. I would much rather listen to the originals but I expect this would be amazing to experience live.
I remember when this came out; it was such a surprise to teen me. I love how the symphony fills out the sound, softens it somewhat, and makes it overall warmer. I'm going to pick this over other Metallica albums every time. Of course, in general, I prefer classical over metal.
Couldn’t get through it. Ecstasy of Gold got me amped and it was all downhill from there. Don’t think the symphony was additive.
I hate Metallica and I hate the whole concept of symphony cross-overs so I’m not listening to this and giving it one star
Way more entertaining than I thought! Each arrangement was unique and not overly done.
Tried to come into this with an open mind but in the end just really don’t care for Metallica, such a self-serious band - if I’m going to listen to metal give me a little more prog rock mixed in, like some MAIDEN. Symphony was cool, but would rather just hear them on their own.
Great love the music it goes well with the combination of orchestral and metal. Could listen to this album quite easily again
Okay
bangin
This is fairly impressive, but I still can't do more than a few songs by Metallica at a time, even with orchestration (which I would've liked more prominent). This is a 3.5 because of One (which rules) and crazy good leads, but going to 3 for monotony and lyrical sadness.
Wow I'm shocked about this but I do not care for this album. I feel like it has such a great concept and I'm sure it would've have been different to see it live but I think the orchestral arrangements/harmonies not only add nothing to but actually detract from the songs quite a bit.
Har altid været en af mine yndlings med Metallica tbh, måske et hot take!! Orkestret gør ikke meget for de gamle numre, men det klæder dem fra Load/Reload og de to nye numre. Bliver trukket op på en 4’er fordi publikum virker til at have en fest og James Hetfield lyder SÅ godt live
Ingen af de her sange lyder bedre end de plejer her, men det er da en meget sjov ide og nogen af dem lyder ret cool! Havde været bedre hvis det ikke var 2 timer +. Man sku nok ha været der.
Første gange jeg hører hele pladen. Man kan godt mærke at symfoniorkestrets stykker er skrevet på bagkant af sangene. Det virker ikke til virkeligt at højne niveauet af sangene. Lidt en lang plade, men med sådan et setup og så mange gode sange, så spiller man vel også bare det men kan få lov til.
Rock opera! More fun than I thought I’d have listening
Better than expected, but way too long
The blend of their music with the orchestra is alright, but what really ruins the album for me is the heavy use of pitch correction on the vocals. Hard to overlook. It’s especially glaring when he holds a high note or runs thru a few notes with his voice quickly. I’m firmly of the opinion that imperfections in a vocal part sound better than a vocal that’s fixed in post production. And it’s not really about the fact that it’s “cheating” or whatever, it just adds such an annoying fake quality to the voice. The vocals on their first few studio albums are much nicer to listen than those on here
I mean fun idea but not sure who this is for and why it’s a double album where every song is so long.
I went in fully expecting to hate this because I saw it was a live album. What a pleasant surprise. Worst song: Devil's dance, just dragged a tad for me Best song: the first 4 songs absolutely set the tone that this was gonna be really good. Don't have time for in depth review--but I love how the symphonic orchestra adds more story telling and aids Metallica in conveying emotion. It feels like Metallica is putting on a movie of all their best tracks and the orchestra is the backing track that helps shape said movie. So good man. This is an apprehensive 5 star, if this was a studio recording of metallica+the orchestra it would be an instant lock for 5.
Wasn't a fan of live versions of albums
I can't see this in the list - don't think the orchestra adds anything of substance
Albumi #30, 27.08.2024 Metallica ei muuttunut paremmaksi sinfoniaorkesterin säestämänäkään.
This just went on a little long for me. At about the hour and a half mark, it all started to sound similar and I was struggling to keep listening. That being said, this is a really impressive album. The addition of the SFSO, just enchanted the depth of the songs and I enjoyed it way more than a typical Metallica album. Glad I’ve listened. Maybe I’ll revisit call of Ktulu.
#325. Gimme foo, gimme fie, gimme zabbadabbadie, ooh reaheah! Ok, ok, I'm sorry, but I couldn't help myself from mocking Jemes Hetfield's weird bullshit. He and Lars Ulrich are peak fucking cringe. And this weird ass shit was right at the height of it. I was like 13 when this came out, and even then I was like what the fuck is this. From the top floor of Cringe Tower, Metallica vomited this nonsense upon the world. And then about 5 minutes later they started suing their own fans, so they definitely can get fucked as far as I'm concerned. I honestly don't know how these are the same dudes that made all that good music in the 80s, were they always this retarded, and they just used to be good at hiding it or something? Who knows. All I do know is this shit is shit. 2/5: Good initiative, bad judgement. Song added to playlist: Nothing Else Matters I've created a playlist on Spotify that consists of the best and/or my favorite song from each of the albums in this book. This list can be found here if you are interested: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7MAXDGLWlwLkFLb8veGfkA?si=FqkQQPgZTFWG0jAUJXLFZA&utm_source=copy-link
Bastante decente pero... ¿dos horas y diez?
No. I am not an angry man, and thus this album was not meant for me.
While I'm not the biggest fan of Metallica, this is a fantastic live album that adds the interesting musical elements from the SFSO. I was suprised by how much I liked this album. While it is 2 hours, I wasn't bothered by it because the classic metallica songs had the addition of new interesting elements which was cool.
At first, I admit I was dreading this just a bit—2+ hours of Metallica, and it’s a live album. But, I actually loved this! Really interesting idea, the orchestra sounds great
The orchestra arrangement works well with most of the songs on S&M.
I love this one, but ill give any metallica 5 stars
The orchestra adds a new layer to their songs, like pairing a nice wine with some cheese, they compliment each other well enough to make something new. 3.9
What a concept. Symphony & Metallica. Live. 25 years ago. It works very well.
Absolutely phenomenal! This may be my favorite live album of all time, and I'm not even that big a Metallica fan. However, I do love Symphonic Metal as a genre, and although this isn't quite that, it is the closest we get in this book. Fantastic perfomances all around, amazing larger than life arrangements, great setlist. No flaws. Key tracks: Master of Puppets No Leaf Clover Nothing Else Matters Sad But True
Super cool idea, but also never listening to this again.
Terrible
A stupid idea like this smells like flop sweat and desperation.
What a curious concept. Much better than I expected it to be.
Man what a slog. I have no idea who many Metallica albums are on this list, but I assume it's at least 3ish. Metallica has some great albums, some good albums, and some horrible albums. This thing is it's own thing entirely. I remember this happening 25 years ago and thinking it was a dumb idea then and after sitting through 2+ hours of this now, I can confidently confirm that. There is no reason for them to have ever done this, an ill conceived idea for novelty that no one ever asked for. I can't believe this is on this list. There is nothing significant or essential about this at all. Just stick with their great albums and not this incredible misguided misstep.
A little intense for a Friday at 8 AM. Also, I have a coworker that has hitched his entire identity to Metallica...he kind of sucks so I am not really listening through an objective lens.
Fun times. Live was harder to listen to though
Pretty solid album! Big and long time fan of Metallica! I would’ve replaced this with the “black”, Kill ‘em All, or Ride the lighting.. as far as how much influence they had on me, personally. Maybe we will see those albums later on. I love all of the orchestra versions of these banger's.. but can’t help comparing them to the original's and immediately wanting to hear the original over the renditions. 4 out of 5 rating for me.. cause you know, it’s fucking Metallica!! 💯🔥🤘🏿🤘🏻🤘
It finishes really strong, but you have to put in a bit of a shift to get there,
Classic. One of the best Metallica albums ever.
Ok, so not going to lie I literally sighed and rolled my eyes when this appeared. However, credit where credit is due, it wasn’t too shabby at all! Added to the list to be bought. It’s epic, it’s sweeping, it’s grandiose in its ambition and I’m pleased to say, it nails it!
God, that was a slog. Some songs were ok fun - but a whole 2 hours of it was just too self-indulgent, repetitive and plain boring for me.
What's a wildly successful group of men with small penises at the height of their career to do, but to hire an orchestra to add the missing layer to their pretentiousness. The Ecstasy of Gold was really good though. Ennio forever! (I listened to the whole thing, I swear!)
Too long
so dumb
Metallica. An orchestra. Now That's What I Call Five Star Music
One of my favourite albums of all time!
I really like the concept of the album - metal with orchestra 🤘🎼! But I would love if they would have dived even more into the orchestra arrengements! Because some songs fit better in this concept than others I would rather condense it to one disc. Nonetheless it is almost a greatest hits collection. 3,5
3.5 Metallica with strings exactly what you’d expect. Can’t say they’re better than the original recordings tho
all music is absolutely wasted on the shittiest generation so far. somehow a huge group of retarded millennials all have the same taste and insults, musical ineptitude and lack of awareness that they are the most toxic fuckheads to ever walk the earth. the internet was a giant mistake. 1001 dumbfuck reviews that are actually just customer complaints because your pancakes didn't come out in your favorite shape. this is an incredible accomplishment because of how shitty previous generations have been. and to top it all off you all hate yourselves as the most depressed generation. when you gonna wake up lol.
Hella sweet
may have been cool to see live, but not so much as a record.
Ma guardate, la musica è bella, la voce è caruccia, non sembra quasi un album live, però che rottura. I metallica non hanno un album unico sufficientemente decente per finire in questa lista? C'è bisogno di mettere una compilation? Sono abbastanza maturo da non dare 2 solo per l'eccessiva durata ma non sono sufficientemente maturo da dare il 4 che forse meriterebbe
2h+ of live Metallica, with an orchestra even, oh no!
8/10 Grandes temas, gran trayectoria, gran orquesta. Lamentablemente la voz de Hetfield no es lo mejor del disco.
Not my fave Metallica record. I typically enjoy live sessions with a full orchestra but something about this recording just doesn’t match up for me
Wild
Yummy 😋🤤
I shouldn't really rate this as I didn't get through the whole thing. But I want to show my approval for the project and the performances.
Metallica + orchestra REALLY works, I like this a lot.
While I appreciate how cool it is for any band to get a symphony treatment, I’ve never been a fan of Metallica’s music.
I usually enjoy orchestra-enriched rock, but this cooperation doesn't seam to work. They sound disconnected to the point that I had the feeling I was listening to some Metallica live recording while watching the old Mission Impossible series. I can't recommend it 4/10
Absolute shite, minus 1 for lars
by far the album ive rolled so far that most makes me question the methodology of this godforsaken list. i can accept western and guitar music-centric bias and that that means some bands are gonna be over represented but man are u serious lmao. the actual album is kind of an interesting reflection on the most popular metal band thats Ever Been, bunching together material from all over their timeline with extremely non-revelatory orchestral backing (and it rly is just Backing, its never mixed with any of the same amount as importance as the band) and james' new alt rock voice. it feels to me like metallica's songwriting (at least past kill em all) is way more rooted in the rock idiom then the metal idiom (in other words, has an evolutionary line pointing more towards RnB then the blues), which gives their music a sort of comforting familiarity to a mainstream audience no matter how aggressive and heavy they made it. it also highlights the ugliness of metal bands attempting to over-emphasize their roots in nonblack music, as if taking from classical is a fundamental part of the genre and not something that was popularly grafted on after the genre was already formed. more then anything tho, over two hours long! james is kinda loose and audience participationy on the first few tracks but then drops off the face of the earth, esp in the second set where i dont think he says a word. theres like One crowd sung line on wherever i may roam and it feels like a jumpscare. disappointing lack of showmanship here all things considered
Starting out covering the great Ennio Morricone? I guess to show off the symphony and not Metallica itself? Not a big Metallica fan, but I do usually like symphony covers of popular songs. This wasn't quite that, but I did like classical spin on the songs, but it was just okay overall to me. Not sure I would choose to listen to it again.
I had heard a couple tracks on this album in the past, but had never listened to the over 2-hour performance, so I was eager to give this a listen. Honestly while the orchestra gave some real robustness and depth to a lot of the songs they played, there were some that there wasn't a lot of value added. That being said, the tracks that benefitted from the strings in particular were taken to a whole different level. I'll definitely revisit those songs again, but not likely the whole recording. Notable Tracks: - Master of Puppets - transition from The Call of Ktulu was top-notch - Of Wolf And Man - The Thing That Should Not Be - The Memory Remains - For Whom The Bell Tolls - Sad But True - One - Battery - a surprisingly good fit with the orchestra 7/10
Let’s take badass songs and make them…less badass. Getting older sucks
Pretty good gimmick. Lars never sounded better?
It turns out I don’t like Metallica
Oh dear - awful.
I just knew I was going to hate this as I do not like heavy metal at all, or so I thought. The music on this album is amazing. I don’t care for the singing, but the music is great. 3
The cover of other songs are just that songs, but with a rock filter and they don't have a Metallica style (It seems they didn't want to dare). In the others songs the orchestra don't fit so much, needed more study
A really interesting listen - no doubting their brilliance
oh FUCK YEAHHHHHHH!!! uhhh no brainer. 5 stars. Damn this album is 2hrs and 13min! no complaints here.
The greatest live album ever. Period.
Solid album, but did feel a little repetitive at some points
I'm not a big fan of Metalica, but oddly enough I have seen them in concert several times. They always put on a good show. That being said I found this album to be underwhelming. With that I mean they sound like they normally do and the album is a well-recorded live album, however, the SFSO does very little to enhance the band's music and seems out of place at times. I was very disappointed in the orchestration for the song "One" which is one of my favorites. I think the highlight of the fusion here was on the song "Bleeding Me" to which the orchestration was a welcome addition. Overall, it was ok.
San Francisco Symphony Orchestra makes this album great. Not a huge Metallica fan but this album is worth listening too!
By this point in their career, Metallica had really become a bit of a joke. Load and Re-Load were legitimately awful albums that really took them away from their thrash metal roots and into Creed territory. I remember this album really helping them to reestablish some of their legitimacy. This album came out the year after Portishead’s (utterly superior) Roseland NYC Live that incorporated the NYC Philharmonic. I think that album is sort of the apex of what that kind of combination could do. I think I’d put Puffy’s version of Kashmir at the bottom and this one somewhere in the middle. Which is not to say that it should be written off. I think this album highlights the musicianship (and the excess) at the heart of Metallica and I think it helped get them back in the good graces of the music community. Enjoyed the listen. 3.5/5
Epic
Bombastic and epic, but also sludgy and sluggish. Probably more interesting in concept than in execution. Not bad, but I don’t need two hours of this. Best song: The Call of Ktulu
Episch maar toch iets te lang. Wil nu wel heel graag naar zo'n concert
Feels very 90s in concept - metal and classical are so different, isn't it crazy to mash them together?! Kinda fun for a few tracks. Then it just keeps going and going...
interesting
A live album?? Maybe I’ll like it more? “The Ecstasy of Gold” fucks I love Ennio Morricone. I’m scared to ask but where’s the Metallica? I found it, it’s in “The Call of Ktulu.” This also sounds like the Space Mountain Halloween ghost vibe. As cool as this is, I fear it’s still Metallica which I don’t really like? 3.5
I didn't get into this album as much as I wanted to. A friend watched the concert, and I think that would have been a much better experience. I find the concept a bit cheesy and was applied to most popular bands around this time, unless they were too busy doing 'unplugged' albums! I'm not sure about the track selection either. I'll give it 3 stars: One star for Jason Newsted (his last album with Metallica) One for Michael Kamen who is a dead set legend! One star for Kirk Hammett (who appears to be the most 'Normal' member of the band) One star for the way that James Hetfield holds his pic (there are not many of us!) but then minus One star for the absolutely lamest album cover EVER!!!
In general I'm not a fan of live albums - it's usually just too much of a noise overload. This is no exception with the addition of the orchestra making a wall of sound at times. I did still quite enjoy this album! It's a little nostalgic for me, a bit like a greatest hits. The orchestra gave it a Bond movie soundtrack vibe. Usually I'd say its too long, but I watched the first half of the video of the concert and the rest just with my ears, low-key into it. Fave track: For whom the bell tolls
Better than last metalluca
The greatest live album of all time!
A classic, there isn't much more to say here!
Really great recording, with all the hits given a new twist
One thing I noticed on this listen is, Of Wolf And Man, Fuel, Sad But True and Hero Of The Day sound surprisingly incredible with the orchestral accompaniment, all the songs do really, these just stood out for me as the most improved. Overall the 90’s Metallica works best with the orchestra in my opinion and these aren’t even my favorite Metallica songs. There’s more room in those songs for big movements from the strings and brass and all the instruments seem to blend with the band more. Unsurprisingly, One is a major highlight, it’s already a masterpiece but the orchestra just makes this song into a full blown movie. This might be the coolest thing Metallica has done conceptually, it’s been a while since I listened to this and I’m glad I got to today.
Metallica is known for being a great live band. It's cool to hear orchestral music with rock, so this was a fun listen. I'm glad they played Of Wolf and Man, which was always a favorite from the black album. I can only take so much of Hetfield's yeah-eahs! So, at 21 songs, this was a bit much for me. I like their first few albums, and really nothing else after that. It is amazing to hear the huge crowd singing. It's a testament to how much their music touches people. They are the pinnacle of popular heavy rock music. One is one of my favorite ones, if I had to pick one.
Oh, all the Metallica albums, THIS ONE?! I've always thought a live album works better than a greatest hits or best of album, where you can accomplish the same retrospective overview of your catalogue but still offer something new in the process. True, early Metallica was composed much like a symphony with extended musical interludes that explored different moods and tempos before returning to musical themes established at the beginning of the track. Metallica has not only the skill on their instruments but also a classical approach to their earlier writings. And this album straddles the line between such epic masterpieces ("One," "Master Of Puppets") and watered down sell out Bob Rock radio tunes ("Sad But True," "Of Wolf And Man"). And at the time, Michael Kamen was showing up everywhere, adding strings to Aerosmith's "Dream On" for an MTV performance, for example. I gave him credit at first for his work on The Wall, but reconsidered when I heard Roger Waters' demo of "The Trial" where he played all of the parts that I attributed to Kamen. Waters basically handed him the score. And that has always been my feelings towards Kamen; he takes the music you write, doubles it on strings with occasional flourish, but does nothing to really add to the composition. Nothing that a midi file pushed up or down an octave or two can't accomplish. Still not impressed with what he does on these tracks, the most recent Kamen work I've listened to. He is the Bob Rock of classical music. James Hetfield's voice sounds great, save for the ever-present live Auto-Tune. For those moments when the Auto-Tune kicks in, I'm fairly certain they could have left it off and he wouldn't have been THAT off-pitch. Auto-Tune is the Bob Rock of studio plug-ins. Happy to see Jason Newsted still on board here. He undeservedly ended up with the bad end of the deal, brought in to replace a legendary bassist, turned down in album mixes, and eventually kicked out because he was tired of still being treated as the new guy after playing with them for 15 years and demanding his fair share. I usually don't shit on bands changing directions this much, but I vividly recall interviews with Lars saying they do it all themselves and they don't care about radio play and they'd never make a music video. And then they made "One" which was great, and then Lars saying that they only made this video because it added to the art of the piece (which it did) and that they would only make videos if it added an artistic voice to what they were already doing. "One" gets the attention it deserves, they get a taste of the real money, and they join Bob Rock in a watered-down sell out versions of themselves that they so adamently claimed to despise earlier on. Not only did they make a money grab, they fought Napster to make sure they got every last penny. Anyways, aside from the backstory, S&M isn't without merit. Early Metallica did elevate speed metal with virtuosic playing and poeticly edgy lyrics with something to say. Fans loved it, but society as a whole seemed to deny any merit to speed metal. I think S&M was designed to legitimize the genre as 'actual music' by sticking their pinky finger in the air a bit, while playing off their great back catalogue to validate their current drivel. Maybe this album made the "1001" cut because of its 'innovative' blend of thrash and class, but to me it represents the excess bloat of the over-the-top direction they started (and eventually ended) with the Bob Rock era.
I really enjoyed this and thought the orchestra complimented the band well. It elevated the music to even more epic heights. It was fun to hear the enthusiastic audience and everyone sounded great live. I could see myself revisiting this.
I liked this. I am familiar with most of the songs on here, and though I am not a Metallica super fan I have always thought they were skilled and kept things interesting and I think they will have their place in music history. This was my first listen to this particular album. It was interesting to hear some of these classic Metallica songs be given a symphonic treatment. I feel like some songs worked better with it than others. Strangely enough I feel like maybe the slower songs 'Hero of the Day', 'The Memory Remains' gave more breathing roam to the orchestra whereas some of the up tempo songs had orchestral 'licks' or 'hits' that made me think of a James Bond movie soundtrack and maybe the arrangements were a bit more limited on the quicker songs. I also feel as though I had to keep an open mind a bit because I am so used to the songs being a certain way. Ultimately though, good job Metallica.
Not my vibe at all but I appreciate the art
5.5/5 A love letter to the fans, this live album is a comfort to me, and I have spent many a hungover afternoons watching this on youtube <3 I listened to this album before I could form sentences, so it will forever be lodged into my brain. The master of puppets to of wolf and man to the thing that should not be run is perfection, no leaf clover is THAT GIRL and Kirk looks so gorg during this show (extra .5 stars for him)
The only reason this album doesn’t get a 5 is due to the length and nature of it being a live album. It’s at its best when listened to in its entirety, however due to the 2hr 13 minute run time the likelihood of being able to do that on a casual relisten is very slim. That being said this is a phenomenal performance start to finish. Metallica has cemented themselves as not only one of the best heavy metal bands of all time but best bands of all time full stop. The addition of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra add a level of cinematic complexity to already technical and punishing riffs and solos that is very much appreciated. It’s very easy to see why this performance made the list. I want to give this a 5 star rating but I can’t justify it knowing I will rarely if ever revisit this album. I can’t imagine what it would have been like to be there in person. Metal perfected.
3.5
it’s not bad, i’m not the biggest fan of live albums or Metallica, sounds heavily like there is auto tune
I'm glad I listened to this. Sorry meant I'm glad I'm not listening to it anymore.
meh
Amazing!!!
Wow man, I’ve never had this album be brought up not to be mocked. Like isn’t this universally hated? How did it end up on this list. I did not listen to it. Checked out Madter of Puppets and it sounds like shit. I like Metallica but this was a big miss for them.
His voice rings like a bell sometimes, so clear and precise! Nothing new there, though. I enjoyed the strings but couldn’t make it through a 2+ hour album. DNF.
Was good, not my taste but it was good :)
Bought it the day it came out. Now.?... meh.
Kinda like Transiberian Orchestra LOL. The orchestra is a cool combo with the rock band. Good guitar solos, good instrumental instrument - definitely doesn't just sound like noise. I'm fascinated by the idea of getting this all together and the actual production of it. Some of the songs are very long. It's one of the longest albums I've had iirc. But I'm not complaining because it's good. I feel like maybe it's easier to understand the singer compared to what I've heard in the past of Metallica. The harmonized guitars playing a few steps apart is nice and feels like some essence of Metallica.
😩 I used to play these songs on guitar in high school. I can barely recognize them in these versions lol they’re cheesed out and sound like a midi keyboard band soundtrack to a video game.
Woof. Same note for 2 hours and 13 minutes. Whoever added this to the list is a sadist.
FANTASTIC!
Epic sounding. Not a massive Metallica fan but side 1 sounded big and I was impressed. A few decent moments on side 2 but attention waned. 7/10
Sounds great but I really don't want to listen to two hours of this. Seems like a fantastic live album.
4/5. Not the first time I've heard a symphony play with a band live but the whole 2+ hour album is kind of crazy. I think I am at a disadvantage because I am not familiar with half of these songs. Most of them sounded like the symphony belonged and even enhanced some of the ones I already enjoyed. The length is daunting and hard to consume all the way through when just listening through headphones, would obviously be worth it live. But these are Metallica songs, basically a greatest hits compilation and then some other okay ones so hard not to like for the most part. Best Song: Fuel, Master of Puppets, Bleeding Me, Enter Sandman
The symphony really helps them break the "we're so tough and scary" kayfabe in an appealing way. Usually I just roll my eyes at these guys.
That was one heck of a commitment. The SFSO made this whole concert epic. It made Metallica has some great songs and are an entertaining crew. You really got their greatest hits on this album, and with the Orchestra, it is hard to beat this album.
I mean it's good, but it was "live" but did not really capitalize on that.
I mean this Is great shit, James sounds good and the orchestra is awesome but holy shit its too long for what it is. Live this must've been amazing though. 7/10
very cool idea obviously ... but i just cannot get into heavy metal or metallica i cant and this album was TWO HOURS of that . its just exhausting ..... and not interesting to me and i dont even know why it just isnt
The idea of rock/pop bands playing with an orchestra was certainly not new when Metallica did it but I feel like they sort of reignited interest for the concept. Especially for a band whose songs tend to have a lot of orchestration already, or at least the potential for it, like Metallica, it makes a lot of sense. A solid idea for sure and this is probably one of the better records to showcase it. Sometimes these albums can sound like just different mixes of the band rather than the complete addition of an orchestra, this one does a wonderful job of blending both elements. One thing that stands out about this album which is different than a lot of the other albums like this is that they actually wrote parts for the symphony rather than just having them double notes, chords and melodies that the band was already playing - it was a genuine addition of music in this case. The problem with this album, other than Lars randomly beating drums to whatever song is playing in his head at the time, is that unless you're a big Metallica fan this is going to be too long. I get that it's a recording of the whole live show(s) but the casual listener will probably stop about halfway through or just listen to a handful of songs they know well already. The track list is basically a 'best of' album so I think most songs will be recognized by most people but the audience for this album was probably never meant to be widespread. All in all, it's a good record but loses points from me just because I'm not a huge Metallica fan and it was a bit of a chore to sit through the whole thing. 3/5
Really cool concept, and well played out. The trash of Metallica with a symphony backing it up was a really cool combo
I may need to listen to this more but I like the concept of metal band meets orchestra
For a live album this is very well produced
At the time of writing this review, Metallica's self-titled "Black Album" has the distinction of the highest global average rating of all my 1 and 2 star reviews (I gave it a 2, against 3.8 average). Maybe I was having an off-day, maybe the internet is actually full of raving metalheads, or maybe the band just aren't for me. So, imagine my surprise to discover that this two hour, fifteen minute live album, "S&M", is… perfectly fine, actually. If you love the band, it's probably one of the best live releases you could imagine. And if you don't, at least the contributions of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra are there as a very welcome distraction/gimmick. Even though I've never been interested in Metallica or their genre, I could appreciate the appeal of this album: the cohesion of sound, the pitch-perfect performances, the colossal scale and scope. Opening with Morricone's "The Ecstasy of Gold" is a suitably grandiose touch, and then we're treated to Metallica's synergy with the orchestra in the following instrumental, "The Call of Ktulu." Much of the songs are made resplendent and rich by these touches. The deathly climax of "One"; the slow build of "No Leaf Clover"; the epic menace of "For Whom the Bell Tolls"… I enjoyed them all. I reserve special praise for "Enter Sandman", with its long and unsettling string break: it's an absolutely thrilling masterclass of arrangement. "Hero of the Day" is nice too, as the only light and soft relief. And no, it isn't really my thing, and no, I probably won't listen to it too many more times… to my ears, much of "S&M" was one-note, a barrage of unceasing heavy riffage. But perhaps that's my new listener bias: I must admit there were plenty of solid melodic moments, blistering solos and ear-grabbing, complex rhythmic passages. Have Metallica always been so proggy, or does an orchestra just give a band such an air of lofty bombast? Either way, I'm surprisingly here for it. Oh, and my only other note to add is that during disc 2, I was playing Tears of the Kingdom, battling Gibdos outside Gerudo Town: this was a significant contributor to my enjoyment of the album. I recommend.
quite suspenseful 4/5
I like the play on the abbreviation: S&M (symphony and Metallica). I am familiar with some Metallica but not many so this will be an intro to some of these with the orchestra. Ecstasy of Gold sounds like the start of a Zelda style video game. I like the concept and I think for super fans or in person would be epic? but I personally felt it was too long and was worn out by it pretty quickly. I rather try at a different Metallica album. 1.5
Question – are Metallica a good enough live band to warrant a live album? Another question – are Metallica good enough live to stay in sync with an orchestra? S&M is a cool idea. Metallica have always been closely linked to classical music, particularly thanks to Cliff Burton’s compositions. But the concept ignores the big issues of Metallica, particularly of a Metallica circa 1999. While the symphonic touches are cool, in every instance, I’d rather just hear the original material from the original album. And actually, I frequently found the orchestral elements to be too much on top of the band’s live tone (a tone that is….certainly a choice). Hetfield is not giving his greatest vocal performance, either, and frankly nearly ruins a lot of these songs, although there are a few bright spots, such as “Hero Of The Day,” “Bleeding Me,” and “The Outlaw Torn,” although I might just like when he goes into his lower register. On the other hand, Lars is always going to be an ✨interesting✨ drummer, and while he keeps it mostly together here, there’s still ticks, and those ticks are heightened when he’s forced to actually play with good musicians. Kirk’s as good as always, but his tone is also as take-it-or-leave-it as always, too. The best part of this record is Newsted’s bass, but also, isn’t that the issue with this era of Metallica? Like, isn’t he how we got to Metallica Goes Classical™️, because these other three grown men just couldn’t unpack Burton’s death and did weird shit as a result for about a decade? Also, not to be this bitch, because I normally hate this complaint against other albums on this list, but…I really don’t need 2.25 hours of Metallica Goes Classical™️. The one saving grace for S&M is that half of it is material from their peak era, and even though I’m not the biggest Metallica fan ever, those songs are still peak metal. To play my own Devil’s Advocate, though, the other half is made up of songs from an era where Metallica were quickly devolving, and while it’s not quite rock bottom and some of those songs are pretty good, none of them are what anyone would classify as peak metal. If I wanted seminal symphonic metal, I’d just listen to Nightwish or Within Temptation. And if I wanted Metallica, I’d listen to their first 5 studio albums. The problem is, I rarely want either of those things, so S&M and I were already starting off on bad footing. It’s then unfortunate that actually listening to S&M only made things worse. Again, it’s saved by the sheer strength of the original material from the band’s heyday, but it’s only barely saved. Even with its inherently strong material, S&M is an exhausting listen, one that numbs your brain to its problems by just throwing too much material at you that is only tolerable if you’re already a huge Metallica fan who likes both their peak era and their declining eras. If that isn’t you, you won’t enjoy this, and if you try to actively engage with it, you’ll only see problems. And that isn’t me, and I didn’t enjoy this, and actively engaging with it made me angry. So angry, you could even call me St. Anger. (Also, let’s be real, if Dimery is going to skip over Ride the Lightning in favor of S&M, then he could’ve at *least* include Lulu on this list.)
It was fine for like a song, but I don't need an entire album of Metallica with a symphony orchestra. One or the other would be fine.
Oh man here we go. Ktulu feels like two songs passing each other and not actually blending. The ornamentation on Master Of Puppets just does not work. and the crowd. Lord above. Is there not going to be a sick shredding solo on a violin or are they only going to be a texture piece. Hero Of The Day is overwrought. Oh man doing this as just one big push is tough. James actually sounds really good/ true to intent. Wherever I May Roam is the first song to really feel like the orchestra is actually adding something. Sad But True is such butt rock and the orchestra doesn't help. One is just not helped by this treatment. Is there a concept in here? yes. But its not something you can just half ass bolt on the orchestration like this.
I remember when this album came out, that it seemed novel that an orchestra was playing with a "metal" band. However, this far out, I don't find it a very essential album, especially because I think the original recordings are the more historically relevant. However, there are some really good versions of their songs in this recording such as "Nothing Else Matters."
enjoyed it more than expected, love the addition of the symphony to bring new life to songs ive heard countless times
An odd album. It doesn’t reach the mark of good classical music (sounds more like a soundtrack looking for a movie) and stifles Metallica.
Horreur complète. Mélange contre nature ! Le massacre de Call of Ktulu puis Master of Puppet, qui font partie de mes morceaux préférés de Metallica, m'a suffit. => -5 / 5
schon "soundgewaltig" mit so nem Orchester im Hintergrund,
Not that bad but way too long
By the end I was just like please god make it stop. This is the only music I’ve listened to all day. They r good at metal and the live album does them really well but like two hours of this was wayyyy too much and I just did not enjoy it.
Really liked this 9/10
4/10 - I feel like if this album was half as long it would have been a 6 but its just so long. I had to break it apart into different sessions otherwise it would have been to much of the same thing. Overall it has some decent moments but it was not very enjoyable due to its length. The orchestra was kind of cool tho. It was the worst version of enter sandman I have ever heard.
Dumb stupid fucking 2+ hour metal album. At least the symphony makes it interesting because I don't know what I would've done if it was just 2+ hours of Metallica. Album was still dumb and still doesn't need to be on this list. Metallica can actually fuck off
No.
It's not a 5, but you clowns are gonna rate it 2s and 3s when it's actually a 4.
Wonderful album, Metallica's greatest hits from the first half of their career really shine when accompanied by an orchestra. Their most epic songs ("The Call of Ktulu", "For Whom the Bell Tolls", "Battery", "One", "Master of Puppets") are instant highlights.
A good album but not amazing.
You'd think Metallica are the perfect choice to add a Symphony Orchestra to and maybe they still are, but not on this. Metallica are definitely one of the most composer-ly bands. Their songs sound like they were written with real thought and direction particularly on the 'Master of Puppets' and '...and Justice for All' albums. Themes develop, songs have different sections, there is light and shade and changes of pace, reflective soulful moments are contrasted with fathomless heaviosity and then galloping pace. So perfectly suited to be backed by an orchestra well versed with Shostakovich, Mahler and Wagner? Nope! the arrangements are pointless and mismatched to the band, and we are horribly exposed to Lars Ulrich's blundering inadvertant free-jazz take on timing. The orchestra are just whining and brassily farting in the background while the other 3 contend with bridging that and Lars. Also this made me listen to loads of songs I'd missed post Black Album and frankly it's country-pop nonsense. You never got this shit from Motorhead.
Wtf man This aint it.
I love Metallica, but generally speaking I like my Metallica just straight forward heavy metal. There are a handful of tracks on here that are really well done with the enhancement of the orchestra, most notably “Nothing else Matters” For whom the bell tolls”, and “the thing that should not be”. I am sure I would be rating this much higher if I would have had the live experience. 3.5/5
Albums such as this are quite epic and probably gain higher marks if heard while watching the show. Still, while way too long, it’s pretty impressive that this was 25 years ago and that Metallica found a way to fuse their style with a symphony. Not an easy task. Production and execution by the band could easily place this today with the same staying power.
Is Metallica the perfect candidate to team up with a symphony and perform their hits? Probably not. At times this feels like a long version of Live or Let Die. Likely not what they were going for. But it’s pretty epic at times, was between a 3 and 4 for me.
I fucking love Metallica. I still think live albums are somewhat cheating since they’re more greatest hit compilations but this probably gets a pass with the unique orchestra spin. Crazy that it works and Hetfield‘s voice is on point. “Oooooooo yeah-heeeeee!” It’s long but goddamn that’s just how many hits these guys have! But the album cover….thats really the best they could do? Some half assed shit. 4.25
Fun nostalgia bomb. It’s too long, but also too many hits not to rate highly. Although a live album of your greatest hits is kind of a cheat code… 4/5
Does not mix. Does not work.
4.5
not for me; plain and simple. Screaming and yelling and blaring. I get it
appreciate it being good but not for me
Definitely a fantastic metal band. But how is this one of the 1001 albums?
nice album different style
não gosto da ideia de misturar o rock com a orquestra. É questão de gosto. Mas, tirando isso, um show muito bem executado. Todos muito bem afiados.
Soundtrack-style orchestral music pairs so well with heavy metal. This album is way too long for streaming/listening, but I'm sure the live performance was incredible. I didn't listen to the whole album, but I did listen to enough to know exactly how I feel about it. It's just an elevated version of Metallica's best music.
"Бля, пацаны, я тут восьмую симфонию Чайковского недавно послушал, чем мы хуже епта?" (С) Джеймс "получил пизды" Хэтфилд 5/10
9/10 it’s Metallica’s greatest hits
Like Metallica, don't like the live shows on spotify
Metallica with a symphonic orchestra. What sounds strange when you read doesn't sound strange when you hear it. Great live album.
5 stars always
I‘ve never digged Metallica that much but I am aware of their top 5 songs and like them. This LP though wasn‘t what I expected. It‘s like a 2 hour and 13 minute long soundtrack paired with some vocals in between. I liked it but propably won‘t listen to it again anytime soon.
Metallica was good until the black album
I swear to God if I get one more Metallica album in a row I'm going to find a way to bring back Napster just to spite them.
Metallica + orchestra?? I'm intrigued. This is a masterpiece.
Surprisingly boring. A couple of good moments, but I only made it four tracks in.
I've avoided listening to this one because I'm not a heavy metal fan, but balancing it out with symphonic music was a nice surprise. I may listen to some songs again but not the whole 2 hours plus album.
Symphonic metal? More like Metallica muzzled.
Probably more interesting if you’re more familiar with metallicas music.
Very cool, but a bit long. It's also a little unfair for a rating project to have albums with songs from other albums, but the orchestra adds a lot.
Ever since I heard Master of Puppets, I’ve had a new found appreciation for Metallica. I love all sorts of metal music, and I’m not going to sit here and pretend like their music doesn’t go hard as fuck. But I figured I may not be as positive about their music on the day I got this album. This is a beast. Basically two live albums in one, that make up over two hours of music. Two hours of Metallica is a lot. And of course the key difference here is their collaboration with the San Francisco Symphony. This album is more a good example of how not all ideas are good ideas. I admire the work that was done here. It’s clear they really thought out how their music could best fuse with an orchestra. They even wrote two pieces of new music, neither of which are mind blowing. But I feel like the novelty and cool factor of this wears itself out very quickly. The best songs here are the ones where the orchestral elements don’t drag down on the original songs, but elevate them and bring them to the next level of explosiveness. And there are many songs that do that. These renditions of The Call of Ktulu, Fuel, For Whom the Bell Tolls, One, Enter Sandman and Battery are all great. I was especially surprised with One and Battery because I fully expected them to slow the tempo down so the orchestra could move along more smoothly. Not only did they not slow it down, but they actually sound somewhat faster. Very impressive stuff. Also starting with The Ecstasy of Gold is simultaneously hilarious and amazing. I definitely still have gripes with this though. Hetfield’s voice sounds off at best, and pretty bad at worst. There are a lot of moments where he has these strange inflections and cracks that throw the songs off. He doesn’t have this issue now live, so maybe this was just the way his voice sounded at the end of the 90s. Jason’s bass also seems to be largely absent in the mix, which is not the first time the band had this issue. Also, the track list confuses me. I’m aware that the self titled record, Load and Reload were the big new releases from them at the time. But in hindsight, most fans would agree that the latter two albums contain some of their most lackluster material. And I am largely unfamiliar with those songs, so this was not a great way to get introduced to them. What this should have been is more like a greatest hits live show with the symphony. Why are ...And Justice for All and Kill 'Em All almost entirely omitted from these sets other than One? I do love that song, but I would have also appreciated to hear something like Blackened. Also two pretty big glaring omissions with Orion and (Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth, which would have fit the orchestral sound perfectly. Overall, I don’t hate this as much as I thought I might, but I’m also not absolutely in love with everything they do here. Rating: 6/10
I would rather just listen to the studio versions of all these songs
This is very long, but looking forward to this kind of collaboration as an orchestra person. No vocals, which is a very cool take on Metallica. Oh JK, some vocals start in track 3, maybe I would have liked it more if it was all instrumental. Master of puppets sounds like Doom soundtrack.
I'm sure it was a great concert to go to but who is this album for? I think only the most hardcore Metallica fans go for this one over any of their studio albums. Folks that don't like Metallica probably won't like it either. Plus at over 2 hours long it's just fatiguing. I couldn't finish it
Absolute banger. Best live album of all time. Fight me, Peter Frampton fans!
Metallica should have kept the orchestra
A very long live album. Quite good but probably wouldn’t listen again.
I remember thinking this album was very cool when it first released and a novel idea. It hasn't aged well and it just doesn't fit the music well. It being live, guitar tones sound muddled and less clear. It feels a bit self indulgent. It's fine, but probably won't revisit again.
Biased 5 star vote. Been listening to Metallica since I was 8 in 1986. One of the best produced and sounding live albums I’ve heard. Unique idea that doesn’t make sense on paper. No Leaf Clover and the underrated -human are really strong songs. If you know anything about Metallica, James Hetfield’s vocals have a lot of feeling and depth as well. As a long time fan, there are some songs I wish were there, but wouldn’t change the set list, would only add.
When you boil this album down, this is essentially a Greatest Hits on steroids. It's awesome! Maybe I'm biased since I'm a big fan of Metallica, but I don't care. I'm also a sucker for big orchestras. 10/10 Would I listen again? Absolutely!
Metallica + symphony. Could be cool - it works nicely to elevate the music in some places and less so in others, muddling it up a bit or just not adding much. Really enjoyed The Call if Ktulu, but just thought it didn’t hit as well with Master of Puppets (except in the bridge section). Works well in One. It continues that way throughout. I never really explored Load/Reload, so those songs weren’t as interesting to me (other than Fuel). Cool idea with decent execution, but it doesn’t always land. A Metallica enthusiast might love it (might also not…) because it’s best if you know the songs well to better grasp what the symphony contributes. Would have been much cooler in person. Appreciate the attempt and it just makes me want to go listen to other Metallica albums.
Not a big fan of any band getting an orchestra involved with backing their hit songs. Ian Anderson did this and it's like old-man-ifying your hard worked masterpieces. 2 stars. Maybe this was fun for long time fans to witness live...
Sounded like 1980s movie soundtracks? Not bad, not interesting.
I am so-so on Metallica and didn’t know what to expect, but this was AWESOME! The symphonic orchestra behind them added a fullness and completeness to the music that enhanced is a major way. Made every song better.
greatest hits album with strings
Das Orchester macht die paar guten Songs nicht besser, sondern verschleimt sie mehr. Nicht mein Ding.
Ok, but not my thing.
Muy bueno
Mahh... I didn't like it.
Not really my thing but I can appreciate the musicianship and I am a sucker for heavy bands playing with orchestra ( see Deep Purple for prime example). I enjoyed the album but it dragged on for me though I am not a huge metallica person. I liked it but it didnt hold my attention the whole way through.
this was awful, what the hell is this doing on the list?
really sick live album, the performance sounds insane, really long performance, sounded great, i wouldn’t listen to this much but it’s interesting to hear what their concerts sounded like
Ride The Lightning and Justice For All have been important steps in the history of my taste in music, but I stopped paying attention to Metallica roundabout their black album. Listening to this pompous nonsense for the first time and Jeeesus... I believe doing Metal dressed in symphonic instruments is insidious. Like it exploits people's unfamiliarity with and their often weird, fearfully respectful distance to classical music while diluting both *that music* and the harshness and point of the original, just to sell it twice, and milk some money out of Karen and Bob who normally don't enjoy either but now get to feel sophisticated and, oooh, adventurous. I mean, to leave no doubt about it, they put a stave on the cover: "Look, this is serious music, everyone!" With that said, I was looking to find at least some interesting arrangements here but no. Metallica do shit versions of their songs and an orchestra happens to play along and all over it, some soundtrack to a Special Agent James Rambo flick ordered from Wish. Trash music for money. Garbage Inc. In terms of Did I need to hear that?, the most unfathomable of the so far 141 entries I've had.
Epic
I read a couple of reviews on metal archives and it seems there's hardly any middle ground on this album. Some people think it's absolute genius, while some others seem veeeery upset that it exists at all. The album is at its best when Metallica embrace the essence of what made them popular to begin with (high energy, fast and dirty, yet with technical prowess) and the orchestra then provides additional weight, texture and volume on top of that. On the other hand, the album is at its worst when they half-ass it or get sappy. For instance, these renditions of Master Of Puppets and Battery actually sound somewhat watered down and lack a certain oomph. And I'm not even sure what they were trying to do with Hero Of The Day, but it's certainly best off entirely forgotten. Ultimately I think the project was a great success. It had already been done decades earlier and there are still bands combining metal and classical music today to great effect. Actually, Haggard (who were at the absolute top of this game with Eppur Si Muove) used to be my number one favorite band for quite a while. As for the album as such, the individual tracks are kind of hit or miss. Some are absolutely brilliant, while others could easily be left out. The length works well for a concert, but for the album version, cutting it down from 130 to 70 minutes and simply omitting the weaker tracks would have made this an easy 5-star masterpiece.
The combination of metal and classical instrumentation works really well. The fact that it's a live album with the public in the background helps add to the more theatrical feel as well. What really kills it are the vocals though. This era of Metallica isn't the best and this weird autotuned voice ruins the impact. Some tracks like nothing else matters and call of ktulu work really well, but most of the newer tracks don't.
Orchestral Metallica sweet
Don't even need to review. I'm not a fan of Metallica, but I love this album. The orchestra just makes Metallica's music so epic sounding. "Nothing Else Matters" and "No Leaf Clover" off this album has been in rotation for me since 1999. The only thing tough about it is that it is a long album, so listening end-to-end can be a slog despite the quality
Metallica is not by kind of music. Throw a symphony in and they are so much more than a metal band. Excellent album.
Really torn as I enjoy both Metallica and orchestral music. And it’s a cool concept. But although the differing music sounds great together and really elevate each other, the singing was a MASSIVE distraction. The only songs I enjoyed were the ones with no vocals, of which there were few. Some of this is the inherent difference with live albums - it’s a performance for the live audience and doesn’t translate well to recordings, since the whole visual/atmospheric show is missing from the experience. Unfortunately, gotta give this one a low score, not only for being disappointed in the product but also I don’t feel a hits compilation has business being on the 1001 list
2,5
Cinematic, pretty good!
Gotta say. Didn’t feel like a >2hr album. Enjoyed it all the way through.
Alloora, inaspettatamente non mi è dispiaciuto! Unica pecca la lunghezza complessiva che ha reso l’ascolto un po’ difficoltoso per i miei standard di attenzione da pesce rosso
mi aspettavo sarebbe stato molto più difficile arrivare alla fine. sono fermamente convinta anche però che senza l'orchestra non mi sarebbe sembrato così tanto interessante, dato che il metal non è proprio il mio genere preferito. detto ciò, nothing else matters è un capolavoro e sono lieta di scoprire che sad but true non è una canzone originale del mio protetto sam fender, bensì la sua versione è una cover a pianoforte dei metallica. ho salvato alcune canzoni quindi sarebbe scorretto da parte mia categorizzarlo come tutti gli altri album rock da tre stelle che finiscono nel dimenticatoio. 4 stelle meritate, consapevoli che due di queste vengono regalate ai metallica dall'orchestra, senza di lei veramente non mi sarebbe piaciuto così tanto.
Molto poetico ascoltarlo in laboratorio, grazie a lui ho fittato 3 ore senza problemi (circa)
Questo album mi era già uscito tempo fa, quindi per questa recensione mi baserò su quello che mi ricordo (anche perché non morivo dalla voglia di riascoltarmi tutte le 2 e passa ore di album). Sinceramente la scelta di inserire questo live album è per me una fonte di perplessità, dato che nella lista sono già presenti tanti album dei Metallica. Ricordo che il primo album in assoluto a uscirmi fu proprio il Black Album, e sinceramente ho un po’ storto il naso quando mi sono ritrovata ad riascoltare anche in S&M quelle stesse canzoni, di nuovo. Ok, va bene, in S&M c’è la particolarità degli archi che si mescolano ai live instrument della band, ma era davvero necessario riproporre dei doppioni di brani già ampiamente rappresentati nella loro versione originaria? Ma soprattutto, sono davvero necessarie due ore? Appunto, l’idea di per sé è molto interessante, e ci sono state cose che ho davvero apprezzato, ma la mia frustrazione (che sento ancora viva dopo ormai mesi dall’ascolto) mi dice che non posso dare più di 2 stelle.
Ma guardate, la musica è bella, la voce è caruccia, non sembra quasi un album live, però che rottura. I metallica non hanno un album unico sufficientemente decente per finire in questa lista? C’è bisogno di mettere una compilation? Sono abbastanza maturo da non dare 2 solo per l’eccessiva durata ma non sono sufficientemente maturo da dare il 4 che forse meriterebbe.
If you’re already a big Metallica fan, this album is probably great, but I’m not sure it’s the best introduction to them. As someone who just quite likes them, I was initially put off by how long the album is and I was also disappointed to find that Ecstasy of Gold wasn’t a metal cover version, just the original version. Having said that, I enjoyed this way more than I thought I would. I had to take a break at the halfway point, but I wasn’t simply enduring the album like I expected. My only real criticism is that the guitars aren’t always as clear as I’d have liked, sometimes being drowned out by the orchestra, but that comes with the territory of recording a live performance. Main takeaway is that I wish I could’ve been there, though I’m not sure 5 year old me was as into metal as I am now
I actually quite enjoyed this, if only it wasn’t so long. Then again it is a live album, I’d feel a bit short changed if I went to a gig and it was 35 minutes long. Simpsons: Yes
Never really got super into Metallica, although I do like their sound generally. Feel like they've taken the piss twice now though. First at Download 2023, by headlining TWO nights. And now on this app, with a TWO HOUR album. On both occasions there was a good selection of quality songs that I know, massively spaced out by alright songs that mostly sound the same. At least on this occasion I could listen from the comfort of my own home. And to be fair there were a couple of songs on this album I enjoyed that I didn't know before. Just cut it down a bit lads!
I'm not usually one for live albums, but this is good. I don't know if that I because I have seen Metallica live before, but listening to this took me back to that live show. Tbf it is a little long but I'm willing to forgive them as they have some absolute bangers on here, especially the 2nd half of the album.
Does an orchestra make Heavy Metal better? Yes. Does Heavy Metal make an orchestra better? I’m going with no. For too repetitive, I accidentally listened to most of the first half of the album twice and didn’t notice until the geezer said he would return. Some good songs but far too much between them that all sounded the same.
Ein packendes Album mit richtig fetten Orchester Sound. Ein best of.... besonderer Art. Auch gibt es eine ehrenvolle Widmung als Ennio Morricone Eröffnung besonderer Art. Ich bin kein Metallica Fan, aber dieses Album geht rein ins Ohr und lässt einem nicht los.
I don’t think I’m a Metallica fan…
The Ecstasy of Gold Iinstrumental) 2.8 The Call of Ktulu (instrumental) 2.9 Master of Puppets 3.1 Of Wolf and Man 3 The Thing That Should Not Be 3.1 Fuel 3 The Memory Remains 2.9 No Leaf Clover 3 Hero of the Day 2.7 Devil's Dance 2.8 Bleeding Me 2.8 Nothing Else Matters 3 Until It Sleeps 3.2 For Whom the Bell Tolls 3.4 - Human 3 Wherever I May Roam 3.1 The Outlaw Torn 2.9 Sad but True 3.1 One 3 Enter Sandman 3 Battery 3.1 Score: 2.995238095
I was friends with the metal heads in high school so Metallica will always make me think of that. If this had come out 5 years earlier it probably would’ve caught my ear and made me a Metallica fan. As it is it’s just a bunch of nostalgic tunes with the James Bond soundtrack mixed in. Also, the James Brown live album on this list was barely a half hour long. 2+ hours is just too damned much.
Coming soon to a minor league hockey arena near you, “Metallica: On Ice!”
No denying the quality and bombast on offer here. Not my cup of tea, although I completely accept their greatness.
Interesting collaboration.
Listened to Master of puppets instead and it was very good, good length of album and songs were all good
I don't know how much the orchestra actually contributed? Good, but feels kinda gimmicky.
Fascinating idea for an album. I still didn't like it, and it was simply too long.
Half this album is beautiful reinterpretation of great songs, while the other half is songs that were bad to begin with and are not improved by having strings thrown on. Skip every track from Load or Reload and you’ve got a classic.
Interesting interpretation of Metallica's discography, unfortunately the production/mixing feels lacking, it doesn't punch like Metallica usually does.
My first time listening through all of this as a Metallica fan. Disappointing to be honest. The orchestra just does not fit Metallica songs very well, or they were just arranged poorly. The heavy chugging guitar riffs split the mix with odd string and horn flourishes that just came across as goofy. James doesn’t sound great and Lars is a mess on noticeable fills (tf was For Whom the Bell Tolls?). Add in the chunk of setlist I would pass on and it just equals a poor listening experience. You can give props for the orchestration idea but I’ve heard it executed better by other artists (Rush and Dream Theater come to mind). Honest to god the lime wire bootleg of the Metallica show I saw live might be better than this.
If this can stay instrumental it might be five stars Welp, not working for Master of Puppets Works well with Wolf song, (but not really a good song) Thing that should not be is boring Fuel is good Spaced off A good idea in theory, but they are really overwhelming the orchestra and May as well not be there Nothing Else Matters works well…but didn’t it already have a symphony? Bell tolls is working pretty good…please don’t sing Roam would work really well if the dude would just STFU, they need a choir next time Second disk picks up a lot One works really well so far Sandman doesn’t work nearly as well as they thought it would, maybe spoke too soon…nah Well, I gotta give an A for effort tho. I think this project would have worked best as a DVD instead of an album because the symphony got drowned out a lot. Still a very fun idea that would have been great in person
Que hermosa conjunción, una sinergia exquisita. No sé si hubo antes reuniones entre bandas metaleras y orquestras, pero esta fue la primera que conocí y me marcó.
They have invented a new thing here: Metal "in the style of" Classical music. Although Power / Epic metal with organs and winds had existed for some time, they have shown the world that guitars, drums and James voice can (not so) peacefully coexist in a song. Blessed are those who went to the Live Concert.
Once again another live album that I wasn't thrilled to listen to. But WOW. The combination with the SFSO made such an awesome sound and really helped accentuate both the classical elements of the orchestra and of course Metallica's classic rock metal sound.
it was good. interesting. liked it.
pandering longevity from metallica
I liked the parts of this album that didn’t include vocals by Metallica. Probably doesn’t bode well for a review of a Metallica album… Also I will be honest and say I did not listen to all 2+ hours of this
No…
“No leaf clover” was new for this album, and it’s a highlight for me. And I appreciate the challenge of this. But it’s not a good result.
So much musicianship but so little soul. Sounds like a made for TV action score, except that it goes on for hours.
We stan a rock band playing with a symphony orchestra!
This is a great album if you like Metallica. In general though, I really do like the fusion between orchestral work and metal.
Wow, there's a lot of hate for this one. But I think there's generally a lot of hate for Metallica plus Metallica purists. I thought it was pretty fun. I liked some of these better than the originals. Maybe it is a little silly to be on the list but I don't believe I should be rating albums' credibility to be on this list.
Like pickles and ice cream. Both are good, I don't need them together. That coupled with this being the pinnacle of late-90s early 2000s culture didn't do it for me. It was like Metallica doing the N64 Goldeneye soundtrack.
This monster of an album works as a live concert (which it was) but is too long for an album. I have huge respect for Michael Kamen, may he rest in peace, but the orchestral arrangements are hit and miss. Sometimes they are great (Until it Sleeps), sometimes they add nothing to the song (Master of Puppets). All in all an album that really deserves to be here, but could have used a litte bit of editing. 4/5
Such a fucking tedious band.
Enjoyed this. Only problem and reason for a three instead of a four is the length. As someone who didn’t listen to a lot of metal or Metallica growing up (probably because I’m a girl and love new wave, alternative, Brit pop, etc) the orchestra really made this more accessible!!
A masterpiece.
I say this currently on vacation in Florida and wearing a Metallica tank top. I like that this happened, but I don't think any song they did was improved by being at the symphony. Call of Ktulu is the song I thought would best lend itself to more orchestration, but it was still less good than the album version. Granted I didn't listen to all 2 hours, but I think I got the gist. This is also an era well after I think Metallica released anything good. Album cover: C-
I listened to about half of this album. It's a lot, and I think it's super cool that it exists. There are too many songs I don't really want to listen to on it, but I did click through every song I liked. That was about 10 songs, which is honestly a solid album all on its own. I liked it, but the album in its entirety isn't super consumable to me. Awesome concept, dope that it exists, a little exhausting to listen to. 6/10
Masters of puppets, pulling the strings (!!!!) Truth is I was mostly waiting for it to be over. It's also true that I'm not as smart as I think I am.
Man, I really like Metallica, I swear I do, but the way they play their songs here is just an assault on my soul. The emotional weight in their songs are completely lost here, given over to stadium rock BPMs and shoddy singing from James. I find the symphony on this really good compared to most of the ways I've heard symphonies incorporated into popular music. It's hard to give this album an 1 given the symphony's best efforts, but I connected with this in a hateful way. I ended up skipping a few songs to get to the last three songs, which I felt surely the couldn't fuck up. While enter sandman and battery were par for the course, their version of one is nearly unrecognizable to me, it almost completely lacks the soul of the original song at all. The only thing going for this album over the studio versions of the songs is sometimes the symphonic backing, and, if you saw some of these performances in person, it seems like the energy might've been a lot of fun.
Ahh this takea me back to my chikdhood as a metalhead. Its also like my chuldhood in that it has some real high highs and some real low lows.
Gimmicky and overrated. I don't think anyone actually listens to this. If you want to hear Master of Puppets you don't go to the symphonic version. Not a must listen to album.
A great album, have the sound quality and structure of a studio album. In the sense that I feel like it might lack a bit of unpredictability of live albums that I really enjoy. An interesting fact about this album, Leonardo DiCaprio famously played this album during a date in 2015. However, once the album was finished, his date was too old for him.
Metallica y música clásica, una mezcla del copón. Vinilo.
Bastante rollo. Se salva Nothing Else Matters.
full orchestra hell yeah. awesome stuff
Grandiose, rich, full, METAL! Loved it!
For me this a must because IMO it’s one of the better live albums put out there. Not everyday you get metal and classical. Shows the quality of music by the band who transcended metal to another level and made it mainstream. Idk how I feel about “greatest hits” albums but this is one of those.
Interesting collaboration. Very repetitive sounds and not something I think I'd listen to again.
I'm not a big Metallica guy, but I must say this was pretty well done. While it is lengthy, it's a decent musical journey.
Highlights their average less. I should listen to their first 3-4 albums because they apparently were innovative, but this shouldn't be on this list
As a fan of other metal, but not being familiar with Metallica, I don't think I can make it through this whole album. It's fine—good even—but all very samey.
Very nice experience. For some reason this is the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, but also live, and it would been an even better experience if this was recorded in a studio, but it's okay, I still jammed through those 2 hours and 13 minutes. Overall pretty good album.
It's fine. I was not a huge Metallica fan in the first place. This does nothing to change that, even though I would guess the entire conception of this was to broaden the fan base. The band is talented, and as far as heavy metal goes, I prefer them to most others that come up on this list. The orchestra mix does not totally work for me. There's a soundtrack feeling to it, which takes me out of the live album element. I probably would have attended this as a novelty, but I will probably not ever listen to this again.
Orchestra was neat.
I normally like everything orchestra related, but this was a bit too raw for me still. This is the Metallica sound that I dont like too much.
So, so, just so very good. Truly the One.
Rockin
it was okay but I still don't like this music
so close to 1 star. metallica is the ultimate drag
Can't make up my mind on this one 2 good tracks rest middling or poor
They should have gotten this collab for a Bond theme
I think this is my preferred Metallica listening experience.
I actually didn't mind this.
I bought this album back when it came out. I love it and know it back to front. I haven't listened to it for a while and for the sake of this list I did my best to listen to it very critically this time. For the majority of the songs this works amazingly well. There are a couple spots where the orchestration clashes with the band, or it just doesn't flow quite right. Really that's my only criticism and I'm not sure if that's enough to drop this from a 5 to a 4. I'll have to sleep on it.
nice mix of metal and orchestra.
Overall decent, not super into Metallica to be listening to a live album again. Sometimes the orchestra parts hit right with the rest of the band, other times it felt real cheese
Very good
Morricone-intro, MoP ja Until It Sleeps ois riittäneet mainiosti maistiaiseksi tästä kokoonpanosta. Tällaisenaan tämä oli ylipitkä räpellys joka ei tuonut esiin parhaita puolia Metallicasta eikä sinfoniaorkesterista.
Like Metallica but not this
Aiight. Like, really aiight. But just aiight.
Im not a big metal fan, but I did enjoy listening to this over two days of bike commutes.
I don't have a single Metallica album on my record or CD shelf. And it will stay that way after listening to these recordings.
Better than most metal, but still too heavy for me
Fun game: count how many times James Hetfield does the UGGHYEEEEEAAAAAAAGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! growl on this album. Don't make it a drinking game though or you'll probably die. At first, the orchestra adds a nice touch to some songs, but then detracts from others, overshadows the rocking and ripping and ultimately sounds like it's looking for something to do while the band is out there shredding. Orchestra good: Ecstasy of Gold, Call of Ktulu, Hero Of The Day, Nothing Else Matters Orchestra Bad: Master of Puppets, Until It Sleeps, For Whom The Bell Tolls, Wherever I May Roam, Battery and sadly Sad But True No-Leaf Clover rips and is the only recorded version of the song as far as I know. It was refreshing to not hear the crowd yell along since no one knew what it was. The setlist is some odd picks out of their catalogue, a little too much Load/Reload and not enough 80s Metallica for me. This album did remind me of how much Metallica used to shred though before they became rich whiny babies and I hope there's more on this list so I can rock out more. One extra star for No Leaf Clover
i didn’t finish it but it wasn’t doing it for me! feels like something that could be cool but just ended up cheesy a lesson in more isn’t always better
Totally get why someone would love this tbh, great fusion of metal rock and orchestral. Entirely too long for me tho