S&M

Quirky album. Some great renditions of historically weak Metallica tracks from Load/Reload.

weird

I'm sure being there live was pretty fantastic, but it felt cheesy as an album.

I didn't enjoy this album even half as much as I thought I would. To me James sounded like he was just phoning it in. This just wasn't all that great.

Good in places, with good musical arrangements and the pairing worked well. Other areas of the album, less so.

This album is excessively long. I love the interplay of metal and orchestral sounds. But we only got a few songs in before moving on. We will continue to listen in small doses.

A live album! I was quite surprised at how much I enjoyed this from Metallica, it's pretty epic although at over 2 hours long it really felt like a slog. Some classics in there like Enter Sandman and Nothing Else Matters. The strings sounded live as well which really gave the feeling of an impressive film score. If it were a little shorter I would probably have scored it higher, but a decent live album.

I don't get it. It's just Metallica but worse.

I didn't know this album existed, but considering I like Metallica and actually really love symphonic metal, my interest was a bit piqued by this. As far as my listening of this album went, my intention was to hone in on the symphonic part. I assume the reason this album is on here is for the symphonic aspect, after all. What I was hoping for was a true conversion of Metallica's metal to symphonic metal. Turns out, this was just okay. It ended up being more like normal Metallica with a bit of a symphony overlay, rather than having the sound "baked in" symphonic metal. There is something to be said about symphonic metal that is WRITTEN to be symphonic. Because of this, this album fell a bit flat for me. As far as additional notes, I have a couple. First, "No Leaf Clover" was the one song on the entire 2 hour album that actually had a decent symphonic treatment. Both the Metallica aspect and the symphony aspect have opportunity to shine. It was definitely the best song on the album as far as the album purpose goes. And second, having never heard a live Metallica album, I was definitely surprised for some reason that James Hetfield sounds decent live, at least on this album. But all in all, when you boil this down, what you're basically left with (from my review perspective) is a live album where Metallica is doing their music and the San Francisco Orchestra is simultaneously doing Metallica's music. Both are fine on their own, but I didn't really feel like much was added by both happening at the same time. Average, at best.

Not great, they didn't know how to incorporate the orchestra. So it just sounded like metallic with fantasia in the background. Not like apocolyptica

I listened to half of this and decided I would come back to it once I heard other Metallica albums on this list, as I felt like I really couldn’t experience this fully until I knew more of them original songs. Tentative 3 stars until then.

Veit ekki hvort ég fari yfir strikið hjá einhverjum, en mér finnst Metallica eiginlega best svona. Sinfóníuhljómsveitin bætir heilmiklu góðu við lögin og þau verða mun áheyrilegri. Gallinn er að Hetfield hefur verið í betra söngformi, myndi vilja sjá hann taka áttundarhækkun á réttum stöðum. Annars fínt.

Cliff wouldn't have stood for this, man.

Not all of it works but it's an interesting experiment. I didn't mind it even though it's too long and bloated. Outlaw Torn stood out and is a surprise on here. Decent.

Interesting concept, well executed (mostly)

This was a weird listen. I've listened to more than a normal amount of Metallica in the past few weeks, with a new album and a deep cut song challenge that had me playing Bleeding Me on repeat. This was different though.

Certainly heavy, but not unbearably so. Some of the more orchestra-focused songs felt pretty epic and uplifting, a good contrast to the metal-focused, darker ones

Kaks mutta ne on tosi kuuluisia ja kaunis tapahtuma jee jee ne soittaa jee fanit jee orkesteri jee jee nii kolme siks.. Annetaan juhaln vuoksi.. heh... Vinkki ylioppilasjuhlin ja lahjasummaan.. heh älä anna 50 euroa.. älä vittu anna 50 euroa... anna 52,50 euroa... Sano.... Sano tässä on bensa tankkauksesta ylijäämä&tossa ja

I'm sure it was a good show, and while I'm not a huge Metallica fan I'm sure fans absolutely loved this album. You can tell they care at least, I'm sure the symphonic element elevated it a ton. As a not a huge fan, I really don't think I'd go back and listen to this though.

Even with my distaste for long albums AND live albums, this was no pretty good? You really get all the big Metallica hits here, and the symphonic arrangements are generally pretty cool and add to the songs. It does end up running a bit long for my liking anyway, but like. It's all good so I won't complain too much. Performances are good, and I'm sure this would have been an awesome show to be at. 3.5/5

Cool concept, but most songs don't work nearly as well as No Leaf Clover.

Jeg var vild med det i gamle dage, men nu synes jeg egentlig kun enkelte sange holder. Resten af tiden bliver orkestret bare distraherende. Hetfield lyder dog fantastisk.

I like Metallica, but not like this. The orchestra adds an extra layer of noise that I don’t want or need, and the fine detail beauty of strings are generally lost under the drumming, guitar and tired Hetfield vocal. I have always enjoyed air guitar and air drumming. I had no urge to air-violin or air-cello. Still don’t after listening to this. Let’s consider if Nirvana pulled this crap? Or Slayer? This is GMC/Hummer releasing a subcompact economy car. Or McDonalds serving lobster tail McNuggets.

A very interesting, but puzzling choice to include this album on the list of greatest albums. As a kid, being interested in metal music, Metallica was very influential in developing my musical taste. I understand it is now a bit of cliche to say that Metallica ended at "Black Album", but this is my opinion as well (at least the band changed their musical style, and at the same time I grew up and my taste changed as well). And here we have a live album with majority of songs from the second era, pretty entertaining, but completely uninspiring and very one-dimensional. To make things worse, I absolutely don't understand what the addition of symphonic orchestra brings to the table. It is at best distracting, it doesn't create any atmosphere. The whole symphonic section sounds like a mash-up of two different bands played at the same time, hoping for a better result. The only time it works, is at the beginning of the album - Ennio Morricone's cover sounds brilliantly, which tells you a lot. Only cover that was supposed to be played with orchestra sounds good. On the very top of issues - I really think that Metallica doesn't sound good live. They simply just don't sound good (I've been to their concert couple times, nice experience, but nothing special). The summary - Metallica is a legendary band, that simply deserves to have multiple albums on this list. S&M shouldn't be one of them. Okay album, but rather a thorn in their crown.

I'm not a fan of Metallica. Much of their music gets lost for me in the band's posturing. Lars is a difficult personality for me too. Surprisingly, this album was good enough. It's a great live recording. I did not like every song, but the orchestration was great support for the band and music. James Hetfield speaks to the audience a few times which makes me think he wasn't completely comfortable with playing with the orchestra, which is too bad because the ablum works. "The Call of Ktulu" was my favorite track, but "Nothing Else Matters" and "Enter Sandman" were also good. There are tracks that I would skip during a second listen. Metallica stepped up to Prog Rock, and it was good.

I love Heavy Metal and Metallica. I love Michael Kamen and musical arrangements. I love Orchestra Music. This mix of genres and instrumentation is fun and entertaining. I would probably enjoy this recording more if I'd actually seen it performed live. I have no connection to this album and it's nothing really new. Overall, this is just meh. It's a kind of so what... sort of like Disney creating all their cartoon classics into live action movies... I don't hate it but I don't need it either.

I was skeptical about this from the get-go. I'm sure it was an awesome spectacle and a fun night out for everyone performing and in attendance, but it failed to translate to the record. I was finding it difficult to distinguish one song from another — no doubt partially because I'm unfamiliar with the material — but it spoke to the rather flat dynamic of this endeavor. James Hetfield might not make my list of favorite vocalists, but he's a powerhouse. That said, this exposed a similar cadence and melodic tendency inherent in Metallica's songwriting.

In the concept it was a good idea. But that was a little much.

If I'm going to listen to Metallica, this is how I would. I'm not a big fan, but I can appreciate their talent and musicianship. A couple of songs are good, I just don't want to listen to this for over two hours.

Having only listened to one Metallica album before this, I don’t exactly think this is for me…yet. And while I enjoyed it fine, I’m not totally sure how tall it stands as an essential live album. Cool idea. And ton of respect out to Metallica for going for it and actually pulling it off. I can only imagine how awesome it would have been in person! But here, via Spotify, in the background while I work on this ordinary Thursday afternoon, and with little-to-no context for what most these songs sound like sans orchestra, it doesn’t quite achieve what I’d hope. This one’s kind of a shrug for me. I’d rather just listen to the original versions of these songs. But I’ll go 3/5 just for being so unique and envelope-pushing. The quieter moments are the ones that really stood out to me. Like “Hero of the Day” and “Nothing Else matters.” A lot of the rest kind of blended to together for me besides a few “oh yeah I know this song” moments. I’m a sucker for some Ennio Morricone too.

What a contrast from Missy! But that's what makes this list special. Metallica is band that most of my friends assume I really enjoy and honestly, I'm not a fan of the majority of their work. I saw this was another long ass album and was hoping to be surprised, like the Pumpkins. Not so, outside the use of the symphony, it was pretty much what I expected. The symphony did increase my listening pleasure though. There are a few songs I do like to rock out to on an occasion and those are Enter Sandman, way overplayed on the radio and probably my favorite song, Sad but True. I've always wanted to try this song with karaoke. Maybe next Sienko get together. The studio versions are a lot better than this live, but still enjoyed. Another song kind of lost in my music collection I really like is Hero of the Day. Great tune. Sentimental favorite, Fuel. Remember Hot Wheels racing video game? I do and this song will always hold a little special spot in my heart. A little long for me, mainly because I'm just not a big fan. But some very good tunes with a unique sound with the symphony. Probably better if I saw live. A little torn with this one. Going to go with a 3. May take the time to add a couple of my favorites to my spotify, but probably won't earn their own spot/title. 3

3.5 I’m not much of a Metallica fan, but I was really curious to check this one out when I learned it’s an orchestra-accompanied live album. I don’t believe I’ve heard anything live by these guys beforehand (no less with an orchestra), so I went in with an open mind, hoping to expand my perception of the band - even with that daunting 133-minute runtime (longer than Mellon Collie… and I think our longest so far). First off, I loved the usage of the The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly score to start the show. I know they’re not the only band that’s done it (Green Day played it at a show I was at… and I think The Ramones used to do it before either band did), but I can’t fault the band at all because it’s an incredibly epic way to start a concert and never fails to build hype. Once the actual Metallica set started, it was immediately clear how much the orchestra added to the performance - and that’s as someone who has never even heard The Call of Ktulu prior. As it transitioned in Master of Puppets, a song I’m much more familiar with, the added dynamics of the orchestra completely validated its usage to me, and I was completely sold for the rest of the show. I definitely don’t think any of the tracks here are the definitive versions of the songs by any means (well except for the new songs No Leaf Clover and Human I guess), but I do feel like new life is breathed into them, and the band’s catalogue is both complemented and rounded out because of it. Speaking of No Leaf Clover - “the new song” a near 20-year old band introduces at their concert is actually the most popular one here? How often does that happen? While I don’t think it quite turned me into a Metallica fan, I had fun, and I could definitely see this being an all-time favorite live album for someone who is a bigger fan. And honestly, the more I thought about the runtime, the more I was okay with it. How many live albums out there do you see that are 40-ish minutes? Like what? Was it a short set? Or are we only hearing the “best of”? And even then, in person, a lot of bands don’t venture much further than that 90-minute mark (*cough* *cough* blink-182 *cough* *cough*), so I have to imagine both the fans present here and the ones that listened to this album were very content with this performance.

I love Metallica and like classical music and the idea of combining the two (like Apocolyptica) is a master [sic] idea. However, i feel like the strings need to be under the original music a bit more. I know nothing and feel bad for making these comments but it just feels like the merging of the two styles is a little off. After saying all that, i still love it.

I'm not a Metallica fan in any way, but this album is pretty cool. The symphony adds such a cinematic layer to the band that keeps the songs interesting. The originals would probably only earn 2 stars from me, but the twist for this performance bumps it up to about 3.5. I'll round down for the auto-tune on James' voice.

I was honestly very much vibing with this album until the second half started when I heard his voice and couldn’t push it out. I think at the beginning the music was really impressive and recognizable and I was able to push the singing away but after awhile it’s hard to ignore. I really like the first few songs and live aspect, but his voice is just so difficult to get through.

I owned this album in college. It's great. The songs are too long for good radio play and it's a live album. These prevent it from being a staple.

I'm sure this was an amazing concert experience and really great for Metallica fans. As for me, it's a cool concept but I'm not sure many of these songs were improved by the addition of the orchestra and I didn't stick around for the full 2+ hours of this album, but it was interesting enough!

This was a really fun listen for me. Loved hearing the live recording. That said, being 2+ hours I don't see myself coming back to it. I'll just listen to the studio versions of the songs.

I love an orchestra mixed with metal. I think it sounds awesome and mixing genres is a cool concept. I think if I saw this live I’d lose my marbles. But in an album it falls flat and all kind of mushes together.

The orchestra is excellent. The band are fine, and might be better if they weren’t relying so heavily on the not terribly beloved Load and Reload.

Cannot believe how many Metallica songs I know. I like gimmicks so this generally works for me

Long

Not a big heavy metal guy so this was exhausting for me. But, production is great for a live album, I like the idea of a symphony with heavy metal, and appreciated the energy.

I can imagine that listening to this live, must have been something out of this world, very epic. But, making it a two hour album, doesn't really work very well with me. Also, I don't really see how the orchestra enhances the music in a particular way on the recorded version. It just doesn't make it any better, sounds like any other Metallica album. I am a big metal fan, having listened to metal most of my life, but this album didn't live up to my expectations. I may also have been biased that I don't particularly like Metallica, though I tried to abstain from that.

I expected this to be a lot worse given how panned it was from a critics' perspective. It wasn't terrible, it was just way to fuckin' long. I get it, it's just a live setlist, but still, calling a 133 minute live performance "must listen" is a bit of a stretch, but honestly, the performance was pretty cool/novel and Metallica sounds pretty tight live (this was recorded around 2000). If anything, this made me want to see them in a normal context. Unsurprisingly, all the Metallica songs I already liked were the standouts for me. That being said, every song on this album is like 9 minutes long so I'll probably avoid putting them on any of my playlists. Standouts: Master of Puppets, Fuel, Wherever I May Rome, One

Orchestral versions of normal songs it’s okay

Listened to it twice while working. It works well.

So. i used to love this as a kid when it came out. Nowadays, i'm not as fussed. I'd rather hear the original of every song on it

I enjoyed this a lot more than expected. Double album though, so a lot to chew through. Nothing wrong with a bit of metal in your life

I still don't love Metallica but combining their music with a symphony does give it a sense of place that I had not expected.

Not a fan of Metallica. Not a fan of Heavy Metal music. I liked parts of tis album. Never really dislikeed it. I don't know how fans of the bande feel about this album but it seems like a place where non fans might be introduced to their music. 3 stars

“Oh wow, how terribly cultured and mature of the them” 🥱 - “Alright, that was actually tight as fuck and truly epic” 🤘😝

Such a peculiar musical exercise made by Metallica. I have put this band in the attic for years, tired of their constant strive to release a record that make everyone happy and all the drama that surrounds them. I have to admit that it is interesting to revisit their work from time to time, and what is better than an album generator to do so? I have to confess that I enjoyed 90s Metallica- please don’t stone me!- and it is quite curious how one can tell by the setlist that the songs that worked best with the classical arrangements belonged to that highly criticized Load - Reload phase. In my opinion, this is not the most revolutionary album. It is a list of songs (most of them previously released) with a different musical treatment (which helps to some of the songs. It sounds unnecessary in others) and moderate influence ascribed to the change of century. However, it is a fun one, the one you listen to while bbq’ing in your backyard.

The shtick of layering metal music with a symphonic orchestra fades rather quickly, and then we’re left with an album of averages: Metallica’s better songs are made worse by this “innovative” interpretation, but their lesser songs have been made better. Lucky for us, Metallica’s portfolio tends towards the lesser side.

Ok, a good idea but a bit samey, not Metallica's best stuff A bit disappointing really as I was hoping for more

not my favorite metallica album

Live album 😬

Storslaget och coolt på det sättet, men det tappar edgen från Metallicas eget sound.

Starts off with a quick instrumental track and gives movie soundtrack vibes. The rest is a mix of what I would call power ballads and some heavier classic metal tracks I normally struggle to get in to metal but this is one I could see myself coming back to. Have to be honest and say I hadn't spent a lot of time with Metallica prior to this so I can't really comment on whether the symphony enhances the original tracks or not

I've always been a huge Metallica fan, although I mostly lost interest after Reload. I dunno what they were thinking in the late 90s, but I don't think it's much of a coincidence that their "experimental" phase is one I like the least. I get it: thrash metal was dead, replaced by groovier stuff (and eventually nu-metal) that Metallica never went near. The black album arena-metal vibe was dated, I guess due to (admittedly VERY tenuous) associations with the likes of Motley Crue. Load and Reload had that grungier edge that survived in 1996, but they were bloatfests and even by 1998 that style was gone too - where were Soundgarden, Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains by then? Broken up, out of the spotlight, irrelevant. So Metallica was left almost alone in the mainstream metal world apart from a few bands they'd never had much in common with anyway (eg. Pantera, Machine Head). So my theory is that Metallica had some kind of identity crisis about this point. It started with 1998 and the Garage Inc album - all things considered a good album, even if it was 100% covers. It was a "yeah we're safe enough to release 80s thrash metal songs in 1998, but we're also covering Nick Cave to show you we're HIP WITH THE TIMES"; it's a bait and switch. One of those little cringey things that bothers me to this day is the amount you'll hear Metallica's cover of Whiskey in the Jar if you pay enough attention. It's everywhere. Then this came out. It's alright at best. The setlist is varied enough to keep the old-school fans and the rockin' dads happy at the same time, although it skews towards the Load/Reload. The band plays very well and the orchestra obviously knows what it's doing. The production is crystal clear. But it also begs the question: did we ever actually need this shit? I'd argue that no, we didn't. I'll give it a couple of passes: first, some of the songs do work with the orchestra. Call of Ktulu is the obvious example, and it's no surprise it's right at the start of the album. The songs that were written for the album (No Leaf Clover especially) work well as Hetfield clearly left breathing room for an orchestra when he wrote them. Outlaw Torn works well too, I guess by virtue of being a longer, not so "busy" song. But then, why the FUCK would anyone want to hear Battery, Sad But True or Master of Puppets given this treatment? I feel that they only included some of the older tunes (also One, For Whom the Bell Tolls, even Enter Sandman) simply because they *had* to. Including an orchestra didn't help those songs at all, and for most of the others, they didn't really ADD anything beyond extra notes I don't care about. After this point Metallica fell apart and even though they've staged a "comeback" long ago now, the charm is gone. St Anger was a complete turd (as everyone agrees), Death Magnetic was boring, the Lou Reed album was possibly even worse than St Anger, and Hardwired was listenable enough but still just a slower knockoff mix of their thrashier work and Alice in Chains. They're old now and it's a moot point, but I think S&M (and its huge commercial success), although not the CAUSE of their midlife crisis, was a big part of why they've been so flip-floppy ever since. Then, even the fact that it's a band I like aside: this is a live best-of album full of songs that are already on other albums on this list. And it goes for TWO FUCKING HOURS. I'll give it a 3/5 because it's still miles better than yet more UK techno or new wave, but ugh.

I like orchestration and i like Metallica but i feel that the orchestration was a bit to experimental for the songs.

29th November 2022 Listened while working from home. Went to Dunkertons to watch England Wales with Barnett, Jimmy and Matt C-S. Very dramatic, if Metallica did a bond album.

71/100: This is one of those albums that I feel I can't fully review fairly and thus won't give it the credit it deserves. I think the concept of combining heavy metal with a symphony orchestra in a live concert is absolutely fantastic. It's a stroke of artistic genius that Metallica clearly handled with observable mastery; however, I fear the beauty of this album is wasted on me, someone who has never and can clearly still not get into heavy metal. There were a lot of really beautiful orchestral bits of this album, and the version of "Enter Sandman" on this album might be my favorite I've ever heard (besides whenever it was played in Yankee Stadium, of course), but I couldn't help but view this album as simply an action movie soundtrack. Like I said, it's a beautiful album, but I can tell I'm not fully appreciating it's beauty; however, I'm not grading on a curve here. I review albums based on my perspective and how I enjoyed listening to them. I didn't really enjoy this album unfortunately, but I can easily see how one might.

It's refreshing to hear the classic songs played differently. While it's certainly interesting, I don't think Metallica's music profits too much from an orchestra.

Is this why KISS did a live album with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra? Considering they've spent their entire career chasing trends, I'm going with a resounding "YES" while docking this album a point for appealing to Gene Simmons in such a way. I'll take this over their studio albums for the most part. But not the version of Enter Sandman found here (imagine Mariano Rivera coming out of the bullpen to this version instead of the original studio recording, he'd never have made the Hall Of Fame). It's not as interesting as Lars and Company think it is (that honor goes to "Lulu", Metallica's collaboration with one Lou Reed). For what it's worth, KISS worked with Lou Reed before Metallica did, on the equally interesting "Music from The Elder". Jesus, what if those bands just existed to inspire each other? Or maybe Lou Reed just needed the money.

its a nice to hear a hardrock band backed by a full orchestra but somehow there is something off that I can't put my finger on. It does prevent this from being a match made in heaven however.

Mixing could have been better. I would have liked to hear a studio version. Crowd engagement with “Master of Puppets” was amazing.

I think it works, and the orchestra does for me enhance the listening experience. I still don't love Metallica, but much of this does sound epic

Cinemascope

This is so insanely long. Big fan of the orchestra and had to be pretty sweet to see all of this live. Some good songs but ultimately just kinda heavy for my liking

notes - Name stands for Symphony & Metallica - Some songs work far better with orchestra than others - The songs where the orchestra is doubling and beefing up the existing melody works best - When they do too much and add random bits it makes the songs messy and bloated - could be wrong but james sounds super autotuned - whoever mixed this did such a great job of balancing the band and the orchestra Fav - No leaf clover Least fav - Bleeding Me - Quite long and overindulgent, if it was half as long it wouldnt be in my bottom spot really cool listen, cant see myself listening to the whole thing front to back again 3.5/5

The Ecstasy of Gold - Classic song The Call of Ktulu - Has some nutty guitar solos Master of Puppets - One of Metallica’s best songs Of Wolf and Man - Pretty decent, not sure how much the orchestra help The Thing That Should Not Be - Love the drums in this, again not huge on the orchestra Fuel - Enjoyed the song, again not sure how different it would be without orchestra The Memory Remains - Decent song again No Leaf Clover -

This album long af! I guess objectively though this is a pretty solid album musically. The orchestra is pretty cool too. Not my favorite though.

I thought I would hate this album, since I'm not a heavy metal fan, but I was pleasantly surprised, at least by parts of it. The San Francisco Symphony really added interest to the music. There were still long, relentless stretches with pounding drums and no real tune, but once in awhile a tune would break out among the chaos. There were some good, kickass beats, too. Favorite songs: Hero of the Day, Devil's Dance, Sad but True

Decent, bit too metal for me

A whole new way to listen to Metallica. I really haven't listened to them much since the Black Album so there was much in here I was unfamiliar with. A fun listen, but 2.25 hours worth was a bit more than I could take.

Not really into Metallica but not bad

i’m surprised that i liked this

Groot zwak voor deze heren, maar voor had dat hele orkest niet gehoeven. Zit meer in de weg dan een toevoeging.

The orchestra adds a lot to this music. Much more interesting sounding than the Metallica I'm familiar with. I guess it's a full concert recording, but if it was half as long, that would have been enough for me.

This was a cool project. I definitely does not deserve a spot on this list over other albums as it is more of a novelty than a true album, but some of the tracks were pretty epic with the addition of a full orchestra

Suffers from being a live recording. The orchestra is only really significant on a few occasions, about 15 minutes of a 2:13 recording. For those moments it it is interesting but otherwise an underwhelming contribution. Would not recommend this to those not already fans of Metallica.

Un album sympathique mais ma foi bien trop long. De plus, une bonne partie des morceaux ont déjà été écoutés et critiqués dans d'autres albums, ça te dit rien Robert ? Les albums Metallica et ...And Justice For All ils te disent rien ? ??

Big Metallica fan….never heard this one before. It’s all right 3/5

Wow, our first Metallica album on the list and it's the genre mashup live album. Must be conflicting for Alex (just kidding, he loves this one). I remember loving it too, but honestly it's not as good as I remember. I'm definitely a fan of Metallica, but the genre combo is odd. Some tracks work, but overall I find it distracting now. Also, if that's James Hetfield on vocals, he sounds strange here. Maybe because he's not screaming? I can't believe I'm saying it but I prefer the screaming, his voice is just better suited to that guttural growl. A cool experiment, but an experiment nonetheless and the results are...interesting. Also it's LOOONG, there's no way I've ever sat through this thing in its entirety before today. Skipped quite a few tracks so can't say I did today either. Still, hearing some of the classic hits in this context is pretty cool. I'm bumping it up a half-star for the nostalgia factor. Favorite tracks: Ecstasy of Gold, Devil's Dance, Nothing Else Matters, Of Wolf and Man. Album art: Really like this one, I've seen it a lot of course but the colors are just really cool. Sure, it's just a band photo, but in a way that doesn't even emphasize the band as much as it does the lighting and the stage. And the borders and logo are cool too. 3.5/5

Not this one. 🙄 Kill 'Em All to Justice for All. That's all there is.

I initially like it, but it just kept going and going and going. By the end I was just hoping that each song would be the last.

I love the track Four Leaf Clover. What a chorus. But... the premise of the album is a great idea but, to these ears anyway, the orchestral backing gets far too busy and rarely actually feels like it fits the Metallica song structures (in themselves epic symphonies of a kind). Points for trying though!

Good stuff

it's good. i actually like it most than other metallica stuff. the symphony really steals the show here. i mean, how can it not when utilizing influence from sergio leone. it's nothing that screams "all time album" to me, though. it's the height of rock and roll fame seeing what they can do with their reputation, money, skill (what skill they have anyway,) and unlimited recording opportunities. cool, but not earth shattering or technically wowing. would listen again, but mostly would just pick and choose the few tracks i like the most and cram them on a playlist for rainy days.

No hauria de pertànyer a la llista, perquè és més aviat una boutade de la banda en un moment fluix de la seva trajectòria. Malgrat tot, l'orquestació de Michael Kamen és meritòria, i alguns temes cobren nous matissos. Però res espectacular, i no en tots els casos. Ni tan sols en la majoria

I enjoyed this but it was too long. It's probably great if you like Metallica. I love symphonic metal but feel that the vocals can't compete. Would be 4 stars but too long

Look, I don't listen to a lot of Metallica. Their hits are great: Master of Puppets, One, Battery, Enter Sandman, Nothing else matters etc. etc.. I'll admit that I like more of their melodic stuff as opposed to their metal (if you can even distinguish between the two) But... did anything really happen between Master of Puppets and their first intermission? Feels like they slogged through the first half of the concert. Which is fine, I guess, maybe you need to be a bigger Metallica fan to appreciate it? And what does the orchestra add here? There's a ton of opportunity to do something different with their songs. Instead it feels a lot like a giant cover of their own songs. And the orchestra needs to be structured, so you really lose the freedom / improv that you would normally have without them there. So, you've got a 2h album that is at least 40m of filler (the other half is fairly decent, but wouldn't you rather listen to the originals?), and an orchestra which is playing really well, but doesn't add anything. Not sure how we can go higher than 3 here. The exception to all of this would be One and The Call of Ktulu. Very well done!

Bom.

Took me a while to realise this was a live album so I’m dumb.

Hahah didn't expect to see "The Ecstasy Of Gold" here. I fucking love that piece. Ok this rocks hahah.

I’m not really a fan of thrash metal but I could appreciate the work and talent that went into this - 6/10 it’s pretty cool hearing metal mix with an orchestral symphony, even if I don’t really like Metallica

It must have been fun for them to make this but all I wanted was more metallica

There are moments when the band and the orchestra really gel and create something pretty cool, but they are few and far between. In fact, there are more moments where it's clear that they must have only rehearsed together once or twice. This must have been a really fun concert, but did it need to be immortalized? It's a glorified remix album. Best track: No Leaf Clover

nenni ekki að hlusta á þetta

I initially thought I wouldn’t like it, given it’s Metal but through the album there were some slower, ballad like songs and it was unexpectedly alright. Didn’t get to listen to the entire album might check out again later.

Rawk violins. Looooong album. Probably had to be there

This was a good one. I enjoyed the different takes on classics and deeper cuts.

Some filler but some standouts (One)

The orchestra was really cool but every song sounds the same to me

Pretty wild to record an entire album in Simlish

The orchestra didn't really mesh with the band.

Solid

Strings make it sound like a regular Coheed album. Usually think that kind of thing is tacky, but the first two tracks hooked me in. Couldn’t hang for 2 hours.

Surprisingly good

I don’t Metallica, but 2.5 hours of past-prime Metallica with a bunch of strings thrown in drags a bit.

live album, not bad I guess

It was fine, but I expected it to be more than the sum of its parts - I sometimes felt that the band and/or the orchestra were drowning each other out or that the two were clashing.

Not really my thing.

Utterly ludicrous metal classical pomposity. The quality of the playing is incredible and some of the tracks sound amazing. But you have to really be committed to want two hours of this.

better than I expected.

Have not listened to this album. I have heard a few tracks by Metallica but they are not really my type of music to listen to.

I had some dissonance appreciating the ability of Metallica to play tight, skilled metal and cringing at the over-the-top feel of including a full-blown orchestra. In places it does work, but I skew more towards the "garage days revisited" end of the spectrum.

i like metallica - but i dont love metallica

Final Fantasy final boss sounding ass. Only some songs work like this (No Leaf Clover, Ecstasy of Gold, Master of Puppets...), other ones sound like Metallica trying to play with a rampant orchestral goblin on the stage floor (Fuel sounds like a terrible Youtube remix). Disc 2 was generally better than disc 1, but at that point I was hoping it would just finally end since this is over 2 hours long.

A live album for the fans. Very symphonic, cinematic feel. Excellent lineup, covering songs from both periods of their discography. However, too extensive for anyone who doesn't already know most of their songs. This is meant for someone who's listened to all their albums several times each. And for that purpose, it's a great experience. It sounds amazing, with each song getting its shine, a fair distribution among the album selections, the tracks travel seamlessly from one to another, and it goes on long enough to satisfy fans for hours. There's even some nice audience participation you can kinda hear. For anyone else, however, it's a dragged-on effort. I have a hard time believing many, even among fans, would listen to the whole album. And if so, it would just be playing in the background, most of the songs just not registering at all unless the audience is familiar with them. For anyone looking for highlights, of course listen to the songs we all know, like "Call of Ktulu", "Master of Puppets", "Nothing Else Matters", "One", and "Enter Sandman," but there are also some standout tracks that come out of nowhere. "No Leaf Clover" is certainly the black sheep of the bunch, the song was made for the blend of symphony and metal and gets you a better appreciation of the album as a whole. Vocals sounded a bit off here and there but otherwise color me impressed.

Live album with a full symphony

не ну я не стал слушать, чот не было желания

A live album with Metallica and a symphony orchestra? Is this a joke? Heavy metal with symphonic orchestration sounds crazy, but actually it's not bad and even with my distaste in Metallica I listened to the whole (a bit too long) concert. The music from the San Francisco Symphony sounds like a James Bond soundtrack, which isn't a bad thing.

Actually a pretty great live record, but I kind of object to live albums being on this list in principle.

I didn’t finish it, but I get it

I like Metallica, but I don't think I like Metallica + an orchestra. It's okay, but I'd rather listen to these songs with just the band

Haven't heard this in a very long time. It's a mixed bag to be honest. It felt gimmicky at the time and it still does.

I appreciate that symphony orchestra + Metallica creates an “epic” sound, but this album is not one I feel likely to go back to personally.

Cool concept but Metallica is not my jam

Wow that was quite the slog. Not usually my kind of thing but I was able to appreciate how good it is and it's always nice hearing a live show and people having a jolly good time.

пока что не зашло

This is the first Metallica album I’ve ever listened to in full. I thought it was okay to interesting to maybe mildly good. I appreciate the music, but I’d have to be in a certain mood to listen to this again. I also am not crazy about the singer’s voice and would almost prefer the entire album to just be instrumental.

For all the slack Lars gets for being a mediocre drummer, James gets overlooked for what a horrible singer he is live. And I'm a Metallica fan. On paper, this is a brilliant concept. Executed? meh. I will say S&M 2 is better. Heck, there's a number of orchestral / rock collabs that belong on the list in lieu of this - The Rolling Stones/London Phil, Led Zeps MTV Unplugged, etc. I love Metallica's constant trying of different things, but 3 stars from a Metallica fan is tough to give.

S&M is a live album from 1999 containing the collaboration of Metallica and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. Metal backed by an orchestra is quite the sound, and this performance must have been magical to watch live. Metallica played many of their greatest hits during this live album, with background musical assistance coming from the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra that pushed the experience over the top. I highly recommend everyone to listen to this album at least once, but it's more of a one time event, rather than individual songs that can go on the regular playlist.

I really wanted to like this, but it's just Metallica songs with horns and strings.

Do I want to spend two hours of my life listening to effing Metallica? Not really, but I did it anyway. I feel like I'd rather listen to a shorter version of this, say one hour, than the full two-hour show. Or maybe just a Metallica album. The other thing, with every song there is the question "Is this a better rock/orchestral experience than "Live and Let Die"?" and the answer is only yes to about half the tracks. It helps when you know the Metallica back catalogue and so get why the audience goes nuts when the opening riff of "Enter Sandman" kicks in. I also feel like this album might have made the list because of its influence in sparking off other rock/orchestral collabs, but tbh I don't necessarily think that's a great heritage.

It’s nice, but pretty much a live best of with strings. Smooths out Metallica’s rough edges making more like a soundtrack to’ Metallica the Ride’. Nothing wrong with it for me the orchestra took more than they added.

Livealbum med de största hitsen. Riktigt bra live-versioner! Kanske under deras peak. Låter rejält tight. Framförallt Master of Puppets, Enter Sandman och One.

When I was in college I read a book, Running with the Devil, that made an excellent case that metal as a genre is built on classical musical principles. I couldn't help but think of that book while listening to this album because Metallica sounds just fantastic with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. To boot, this is a live album, but doesn't necessarily feel like one musically. The collaboration really elevates the band's songs, creating a monumental sound that must have blown the doors off the house while they were making it. My one critique would be that the band and orchestra don't always mesh together as well as I would like. Sometimes it's almost like they are playing two separate concerts and just lay one on top of the other. But when the two click, they're on fire. Second half of the album is much better than the first, so stick with it. Fave Songs: No Leaf Clover, Bleeding Me, Wherever I May Roam, Until It Sleeps, For Whom the Bell Tolls

Adding an orchestra to a rock band is cool, but this isn’t my favorite example of it. Some orchestral parts felt overdone and others felt lacking, definitely a cool concept, but didn’t do anything to impress me beyond what I know about metallica

Definitely an ambitious project, which I always admire and give points for. I enjoy some of the more nuanced parts of this album, but not so much the heavy stomping, growling parts (which is most of it). At its worst this feels like a Spinal Tap concert. I'll give it 3 stars for effort.

Orchestrations are lovely. Not too into Hatfleids ad libs and vocal deliveries

Muy muy pesado.

huh. its recorded live i suppose. kept trying to find a recording without these stupid fucking screaming fans but alas. idk man it sounds good i suppose but im wayy too lazy to listen to a 2 hour album where the first 3 songs sound so similar and they were a combined 21 minutes.

I don't usually listen to Metallica. The album made me curious about the original songs. So I have no comparison. (6/10) Favorite Songs: No Leaf Clover, Nothing else Matters, Master of Puppets

I really enjoyed the metal/symphony mashup of sounds and it’s music I could see myself working out to. My main issue was how long the album was. After the first hour I felt like I had a good listening experience, but I wasn’t even halfway done. Due to this I’d probably listen to a few songs again, but not the whole album.

First time giving this a listen through and found it pretty enjoyable, although as a not-huge Metallica fan I don't recognise many of the songs in the first place. Master of Puppets is really well done, and some other interesting arrangements in there.

yet more kickass rock and roll

Like being at a Metallica concert with the same amount of moshing due to their old ass fans. James makes questionable vocal choices and uhh symphony

The orchestra works great but it’s so produced and it drags on forever

Not as good as I remember but still a great listen.

Some classic tracks and some slightly deeper cuts, it’s about 70/30 on what works and what doesn’t, Metallica aren’t necessarily a band who need to improve songs by using orchestral bombast but as an experiment it’s mainly successful. The arrangements on No Leaf Clover & Outlaw Torn are worthy of praise.

Some of it works brilliantly, some of it doesn’t work at all. An interesting project/experiment which was brave at the time. But as a massive Metallica fan even I wouldn’t have had it on this list.

Fun but doesn't progress anything.

Honestly pretty good but it's so fucking long

Ура, симфоник метал, мой любимый блять жанр! по сути первый мой полноценно послушанный альбом металлики. к сожалению или счастью, это онда из тех групп, на которые стоит приседать по совсем ещё юности, а я их в своей юности сторонился, поэтому за все эти ваши мётлы, радиохэды и пласибы вообще не ебу. Ну и в очередной раз доказано, что сейчас начинать уже поздно. Пять часов в общем счете пытал себя этим лайвом... ну то есть понятно, что лайв альбомам не ровня и по нему судить нечего. Но уж что подкинули, извините. Песни вроде те же, можно даже сказать что «бэст оф», поэтому должно, по идее, впечатление произвести. Но не производит. Большинство песен тупо одинаковыми кажутся, пиздатых мелодий минимум, все как будто в одной тональности и на одном и том же натужном вокале. Вот вокал, кста, ну просто хуета, мне вообще не зашло. Особенно когда Хэтфилд в балладах блеять начинает — это вообще потеха. Из того что я в записях слышал, энтер сендмен там, мастер оф папетс — ну ещё куда ни шло, но здесь тупо заёбывает за 2,5 часа. Песни сами по себе, как уже сказал, мне лично не интересные. Особенно из раннего, то что потрешовее и имеет эти ебучие, сука, внезапные замедления и смены темпа без какой-либо причины вообще. Да че все металюги так дрочат на эту фишку, я хз. А в остальном — ну какой-то довольно стандартный перегруженный ритм и погнали. Даже припевы, которые вроде как цеплять должны, кажутся унылыми и однообразными. Из понравившегося: The Memory Remains, Devil's Dance (атмосферная хуйня, и довольно хитрая композиционно, хотя и цирком чутка отдаёт), Until It Sleeps более-менее, хотя не хватило как будто завершения какого-то, For Whom the Bell Tolls припев запоминается, ну и там Enter Sandman ебучий, который и так хит очевидный. Остальное ну калом назвать язык, конечно не повернется, тем более что сыграно все очень хорошо, плотно и профессионально. Но просто неинтересный метал. Слишком маскулинный, тонущий в своей раздутой эпичности, немного ватный по звуку (оркестр этот я вообще без понятия, зачем тут. ну эксперимент, ок, но по мне так без него хоть какая-то трушечка бы оставалась, а так вообще уберпафос выходит). Хз, ну это 3/5 для меня. Можно, наверное, послушать под зигаметное настроение, но эстетического удовольствия минимум. Мб там когда нормальная какая-то тема с внятными мелодиями будем, типа черного альбома — поставлю и 4 и все 5, но пока что meh

Nice idea

Great stuff for the most part only struggl8ng with the load/reload songs which are mostly beyond saving

An experiment that I’ve no doubt was amazing live - doesn’t hold up as well on record despite some amazing moments

Sounds pretty damn good for a live album. Like the classical/metal combination, much more than I thought I would. Way too long an album for any sort of regular listening and I had to skip around a good bit, but I couldn't let that bring this down too much

3/5 Some good ones, some bad ones

Pitikö tän olla livelevy.... kait tää taustamusana menee muttei herätä suuria settejä; enpä tosin oo oikein koskaan metallicaa kuunnellut :/

Good album just entirely too long

Vaikea arvosteltava. Kappaleet toki niminä kovaa kamaa. Livelevyt ei oikein tahdo upota. Oishan tässä ollut potentiaalia kovaankin suoritukseen ja muutamasta onnistumisesta huolimatta. Jotenkin tuo sinfoniaorkesterin antamat mahdollisuudet jäi käyttämättä. Tulin siihen tulokseen, että melkein kaikki kappaleet olisin ennenmmin kuunnellut alkuperäisenä studioversiona.

mix tussen metal en klassieke muziek. Leuk geprobeerd maar het is niet zo leuk om te luisteren

Okay, not super my type

FINALLY got around to watching this. It was not worth it.

Not a huge Metallica fan but the orchestral addition really made this album fun and easy to listen to 3.5

Live album with an orchestra backing them up. They sound pretty good but some of the songs of the album (if not all) are from other albums so it's not a new song album. 6/10.

Good live album

Would be great gaming music

sure. why not. was this groundbreaking in 1999? i'm not sure. the juxtaposition wasn't actually all that interesting, which is too bad, because this should have been a mind-blowing album.

Interesting mix of metal and classical music.

I got turned off when I saw Metallica but then I noted the fine print....it's with an orchestra! That made it better for me. But still not my cup of tea.

Interesting mix of rock and classical

A strong start with my favourite track from the soundtrack for The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, though I don't see what that has to do with Metallica. As for the rest of the album, symphonic metal never fails to impress me. This is more on the metal side in the mix, I would have preferred the orchestra to have been a bit more forward. Also, no offense to the singer, but I would have enjoyed this album more if there were no vocals.

Orchestra! Rock! High energy fun

Long. Live

You know

Ups and downs. Master of Puppets - vocals were shit and the audience sang 50% of the lyrics. Some great parts with the orchestra, cool, but not a homerun.

A few things keep this from being way more awesome than it is: a) I feel like Metallica kept all of their songs as close to the same as possible, which just makes this Metallica with a symphony layered over it. b) Hetfield's voice is clearly doctored up a little. c) It's pretty chaotic at points, which works for some songs, but not so much for others. Either way, pretty awesome and must have been absolutely nuts live. Gives a new meaning to the "symphonic metal" genre. Favorite tracks: "One", "Devil's Dance"

S&M by Rihanna > this. I do like Metallica but I really get nothing out of listening to their songs with a bunch of symphonic instrumentation added. I'm just not a fan of symphonic metal, even from a band as talented as they are. Nothing here I would listen to over the originals. Waste of time.

Overlong unless a super fan

01) The Ecstasy of Gold - 7,0 02) The Call of Ktulu - 5,5 03) Master of Puppets - 6,0 04) Of Wolf and Man - 5,5 05) The Thing That Should Not Be - 5,0 06) Fuel - 5,5 07) The Memory Remains - 7,0 08) No Leaf Clover - 7,0 09) Hero of the Day - 6,0 10) Devil's Dance - 5,5 11) Bleeding Me - 5,5 12) Nothing Else Matters - 7,5 13) Until It Sleeps - 6,5 14) For Whom the Bell Tolls - 5,5 15) – Human - 5,5 16) Wherever I May Roam - 5,5 17) The Outlaw Torn - 5,5 18) Sad but True - 6,0 19) One - 5,5 20) Enter Sandman - 6,5 21) Battery - 5,5 TOTAL: 5,95 (60/100) Current ranking: 759/964

Sunday, 5 July, 2026 Eh. The first couple tracks had me fired up. The rest are…not great.

Rock ig

i prefer the original versions of the songs

Not sold on the concept. Which is sort of the point. Metallica add absolutely nothing to Ecstasy of Gold, one of the greatest songs of all time. 2/5

Enter Sandman

This is some eurovision bs

not for me

An interesting listen for sure -- at times I seriously enjoyed this, and a lot of the time it fell pretty damn flat. Adding a symphonic orchestra to metal actually makes perfect sense to me: suddenly everything becomes way more epic and evil and sweeping. But then also, it almost goes too far, becoming a caricature of itself and pulling the teeth out of all of the music. I do think this is really cool. But I also feel like it's kind of cringe. Still a fascinating listen, though. Damn this was long. Fave tracks: - Of Wolf And Man - No Leaf Clover - Devil's Dance - Until It Sleeps - For Whom The Bell Tolls - - Human - Wherever I May Roam

4/10 Not an album a collection of songs that got remixed worse

Probably amazing if you’re a fan, but I probably prefer the original songs.

Le pire genre d'album symphonique, même si c'est bien fait. C'est vraiment juste une track symphonique sur des tounes que le band joue, aucune intégration entre le band et l'orchestre. Mais des fois, ça marche. Il ne faut pas oublie que Metallica ont beaucoup de tounes poches et que cet album est constitué de beaucoup de tounes poches.

I never knew this album existed. I've listened to only two albums of theirs, the self-titled album that everyone owns, and the only one I've gotten in this project so far, ...And Justice for All. I've liked them to varying degrees. I have never had a desire to see the band live, but I assumed they likely put on a pretty entertaining show. Today was not the day I wanted to find out. I've not been feeling well and have relied on the generator to take it easy on me lately. And it mostly has. But when I saw what the album was, and then that run time, I was very discouraged. I listened to the first half while at work, with it playing in the background on my phone. I know this was not an ideal way to listen to a Metallica album, but it's what I could do to try and listen to the whole damn thing. And I thought it was fine. I even saved the song Hero Of The Day to a playlist. I saved the second half for my drive home, where I have good speakers and could play it louder for better effect. What I found was that I liked it less. Lars' drumming, which I already don't like, sounded worse. And it seemed to me like the Metallica version of a Broadway show. Not just musically, but with James sounding like a showman and not the lead singer of a thrash metal band. The word that kept coming to mind was silly. I am not against live albums being on the list. I've loved a few of them and felt that some performers can truly elevate their material and it comes across in a recording. But this was not one of those for me. I do not understand why it made the list. At all.

You can’t spell “same” without S&M. And that’s what all these songs sound like.

Never got the hype of metallica but like it’s not the worst album

If any album should have a song called "The Thing That Should Not Be", then it's this one.

I’ll give it a 2 for creative effort but I did not enjoy this.

If you’re a Metallica fan, this is probably a pretty cool idea. I am not a Metallica fan, so I found it to be boring and indulgent. There was very little synergy between the orchestra and the band here. It was a novelty album with ephemeral results.

Music was fine but putting a 2+ hour live album on here feels silly

Indulgent and uninteresting

I don't like Metallica for a number of reasons, but I liked some of this album. I don't know what the orchestra added to it, aside from making it all sound slightly more cinematic. If anything it took away from some of the metal.

Interesting, and I'm sure it was a lot of fun for them. But the orchestra didn't really add anything to it. Metallica sounded very compressed and not much like a live album at all. Meh.

Not a huge fan of their later albums, but this was ok

Yeah right, like I’m sitting in for two hours of this. Who’s this for? Classical fans who want to bang their heads or metal fans who think adding violins gives the shredding a touch of class? The two don’t mesh. Most of the orchestra sits on top of the guitars, adding flourishes here and there but not reimagining the songs nor adding any depth. Hetfield varies his growls for the live crowd, but he sounds old and not at all spontaneous. His stage patter is really embarrassing. Like Metallica’s other vanity projects this century, this is an attempt to stay relevant only by ignoring what fans like about the band. Nobody asked for this, and nobody will be replaying it. And ‘1,001’ site managers: here’s another one to remove from the list!

While Metallica isn't my favorite band what I do like about them is that they sound like a bunch of bikers and James Hatfield usually sounds kinda scratchy. With the symphony behind them it seems like they cleaned up the sound and it's too much. The symphony is cool but the band sounds so polished it's out of character. Also, 2 hours? Are you kidding me? I saw them live and I think that was shorter than this. I skipped all the songs I didn't really know. 1 hour was enough.

OH Boy. I like early Metallica this does not have enough early Metallica to keep me interested. I ended up only listening to the songs I love.

Innovative but not my thing at all

Isosti nostalginen levy itselleni, mutta eihän se nyt valtaosin hyvältä kuulosta. Orkesterisovitukset ontuu tosi paljon, muutamissa kappaleissa hittaa todella hyvin ja Nothing Else Mattersin versio on varmaan parhaita mitä on. Isolta osin ei vaan toimi ja mulla on henkilökohtasia vaikeuksia live-Metallican kanssa koska James Heiiyehheeatfield ja Larssin päätt(ymätt)ömät fillit ja Kirkin loputon paskan kuulonen wahwahwahwah.

The tightness with which the orchestra weaves into Metallica's songs here is impressive - it doesn't just feel like they're backing up the band. I'm not sure any of these songs are improved by the collaboration though. Largely the orchestra serves to accentuate the riffs or add unneeded flourishes; rarely does it take over and provide something the band couldn't have. Even on "For Whom the Bell Tolls," where the string shine in the empty spaces and add a sense of grandeur, I find myself preferring the original. An hour of this would be fun, but the album is over twice that length and missing some of their best songs because it's loaded with 90s material. Two hours of chugging hard rock and Hefield's overwrought vocals is too much. A hardcore Metallica fan will probably eat this up, but it feels skippable for anyone who isn't tired of their studio material.

I really didn’t mind this at all, there was some cheese in there for sure but I listened to the whole thing.

The first CD I ever bought: …And Justice for All. First concert: Metallica, G’n’R, Body Count. The first song I learned in guitar: Fade the Black. First favorite bass solos: Anesthesia and Orion. That said, I didn’t like this album. The metal genre-particularly thrash metal- was loosing the battle against relevancy in the late 1990s to NuMetal bands like Linkin Park, Mudvayne, Slipknot and Korn. Metallica, who themselves had fallen behind to more aggressive metals bands like Pantera and Meshuggah, was clinging on by attempting a series of PR stunts like the Johnny Cash-style prison tours and, of course, playing with symphonies. It was a recycled idea from Aerosmith, Guns ‘n’ Roses, and others, or emerging Prog bands like Dream Theatre, Tool and Symphony X, who were proving mastery of both the genre and musicality. Unlike G’n’R, who fashioned songs like November Rain around a symphony, this one takes Metallica favorites and reduces them to a James Bond-like playlist, presenting as more of a placemat underneath a well established meal. Even the Ennio Marricone opening was recycled from their Live Shit: Binge & Purge double album. And I love Call of Ktulu, but a 12 minute opener was egregious. If anything, the addition of symphony on One was pretty cool. However, One song on an two-and-a-half hour album doesn’t make it great, even if it is a great band at the midlife crisis stage of their career (see their next ten years).

Strings and metal don’t mix

Hate to say it but it just felt tedious. Wasn't a good Metallica album nor a good symphony recording. I'm sure it was a great live concert though.

2.2 Just when I thought Newsted couldn't get buried more in the mix....

Like ok

Putting a double live album on this list is cruel and unusual. It took me all bloody day to listen to this thing. I'm not a fan of Metallica but I thought this would be interesting. Unfortunately, the orchestral arrangements didn't work for me. Music this brutal and fast demands something spiky and modernist, or like a horror movie soundtrack. What we get is more like a generic action movie soundtrack, it just doesn't fit for me. Listening properly to Metallica for the first time, I felt the same way about James Hetfield's vocals. You have this heavy Satanic music, then this ordinary-sounding American guy starts yelling about puppets and werewolves, occasionally lapsing into something like Vic Reeves' club style. For me, this kind of music demands a vocalist like Lemmy, or the guttural shrieking that death metal singers do.

OOH Not sure about this one YEAHEHHHHH I bet it was sick to be there, but not sure how well the orchestra translates to some of these. WHOAAAAOOOWHOA Like you can't tell me Battery needed the orchestral treatment it had and that it improves on anything for example, I find it just kind of dilutes what is already there. Almost like videogame boss music mixed in with Metallica tracks at times COME ON And I'm maybe a bit salty about the 2h+ runtime but it's kind of par for the course for a lot of uncut live albums

Whyyy -- ?!?!? As one of my colleagues has already stated, Enough metal! No, thank you. Gave up after 5 songs.

Why live? why orchestra?

Don’t need orchestra Metallica.

I have a love hate relationship with Metallica and this album represents the hate. The Symohony takes away from the original songs for me and the sonic experiment does not work and leaves me thinking they are a bunch of metal posers at this point

I do not feel like any of these songs were enhanced by a string orchestra. Not sure a live album of songs done better in the studio belongs on the list. 2⭐️

Your enjoyment of this heavily depends on how much you already like Metallica.

alta cultura pra direita

Never been a Metallica fan, so this album was just kinda boring (especially since it goes on for two hours…). I don’t think it’s bad and I’m sure this is epic for their fans, just not my thing :)

Really sad this is my first Metallica pull. A 2+ hour symphonic live album is absolutely not the correct way to be introduced to a band. Unfortunately, the symphony really only served to make the songs sound a bit samey and like I was listening to a metal-themed movie soundtrack. I have a feeling this album would be a lot cooler for me if I was already a big Metallica fan (I salivate at the thought of some of my faves getting this kind of album). That being said, not really a pleasant experience overall for me. Favorite Songs: “The Call of Ktulu”, “The Thing That Should Not Be”, “The Outlaw Torn” Least Favorite Song: “Fuel” High 2.

Obviously won't be listening to 2 hours of this so I checked out a few tracks. Cool mix, definitely makes them sound better than their usual boring music. But... still not good.

Never heard it before. Fairly gutsy move for a metal band to do a full concert with a symphony orchestra. The Call of Ktulu: 7/10 Sounds epic, great opener. Master of Puppets: 4/10 Sounds too busy. Of wolf and man: 5.5/10 Has its moments The thing that should not be: 3/10 Way too busy, takes away from the heaviness. Fuel: 4.5/10 The memory remains: 5/10 No leaf clover: 4.5/10 Hero of the day: 2/10 Started off sounding so good. Lars drumming in the beginning is a joke, I don’t know how James was struggling with the vocals when that album came out only 4 years before? Devils dance: 4/10 The heavy songs really suffer from the strings. It makes it sound thin and not as heavy. Bleeding me: 6.5/10 Pretty good. Nothing else matters: 5/10 The song that best fits an orchestra sounds so basic. Disappointing. Until it sleeps: 4.5/10 For whom the bell tolls: 5/10 -human: 3/10 Boring. Wherever I may roam: 1/10 James’s voice sounds auto tuned sometimes. Outlaw torn: 6/10 For a song that has a great quiet-loud verse, the strings take away the basic beauty of that. This song is a masterpiece. Sad but true: 2.5/10 A mess. One: 4/10 Gets a lot better at the end. Enter sandman: 3/10 Battery: 4/10 All in all, a good idea. The execution of said idea could have been a lot better.

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You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself spend the rest of your creative capital on a 2hr13min live album.

speaking as a former teenage metalhead, i think this album only exists for teenage metalheads to win a classic teenage metalhead fantasy argument about how metal isn't brainless loud noises but can actually be intelligent orchestra only adds something new to some of the songs and kinda detracts and distracts from the rest of them. metallica has a bunch of songs that probably could be accompanied in an interesting way by an orchestra (fade to black comes to mind) but they loaded it with a bunch of shit ass load and reload songs, which i'm guessing is cause they wanted to promote those albums. pity for the conductor who had to figure out how to put strings behind metallica's butt rock era st anger is a more interesting listen because at least all the stupid and bad decisions on that album were fussed over and actually had some sort of thought behind it, even if it was wildly misguided. this album is just orchestra + metallica: you guys like this slop, right?

i’m sure this is extremely cool for hardcore metallica fans, i’m not that so this was cool but not something that i’d ever go back to

Metallica with an orchestral twist. I hoped this would demonstrate to non-metal fans the band’s songwriting ability, unhampered by distortion. Unfortunately, they get it totally wrong. Metallica make no accommodation for the orchestra whatsoever, sticking rigidly to their heavy sound and leaving the symphonic elements buried, reduced to unnecessary flourishes that add nothing and feel like a total afterthought. Instead of this mess, imagine a project more like Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged - The band taking a primarily acoustic role, with the orchestra leading with a sound like Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. Maybe that could've been good.

metallica is one of very few bands i know that are able to botch a record with a symphonic orchestra. yeah, go on and just perform your songs unaltered with an orchestra in the background moving along. the hybris!

The juxtaposition of classical and metallica wasn’t lost on me just not music to my ears

There are a number of Metallica albums that should be on this list but this isn’t one of them

To paraphrase Hank Hill, you're not making Metallica better, you're just making orchestra music worse.

That’s gonna be a no for me dawg. It wasn’t terrible but I did not enjoy.

Man, maybe this was cool live? Listening to it back now, it feels like such a try-hard idea. And why is the orchestration giving Janes Bond? It’s almost like two musical concepts are being played over one another at the same time and neither of them are benefiting from it. And for two hours!?

Not interested but I suppose it’s listenable.

It took full 14 minutes before Lars started to annoy me, good for him. The absolute horrendous autotune/choppy editing on Hetfields vocals makes matters even worse and takes me fully out of the "live" experience. There are moments when I'm not sure if the band and the orchestra are playing the same song. Odd chordal choices. I am pleased that the orchestra is not buried in the mix like it too often is in "symphonic metal" and in some songs it works really well. The whole setlist could benefit from being cut in half. Most of the songs at their core are still solid (but occasionally bloated) and almost everyone in the band plays well, but I found the overall experience grating. Why ever listen to this and not an better Metallica album? Jasons backing vocals are great. 2.5/5

Adding the orchestral layer only detracts from what were perfectly fine songs. I guess they had reasons to make this a live album, but the production is ruined by then trying to polish the rawness out of it, and failing miserably at that. And then they had to make it a double album, and make the polished turd a massive bloated log. Flushing one of those down turns into a rather unpleasant two hour job.

I grew up listening to Metallica but I have not listened this live show before... and this was a let down for me. The orchestra was too loud and more than once it sounded like I was listening to two different songs at the same time. Some orchestral bitsworked well in some songs, especially in the Load and Reload songs. But yeah this is not something I'd choose to listen to. 2,5 stars but I'm going to round this to 2.

Et to timer langt livealbum fra tidenes mest kjente heavy metall-band. Her spiller de sammen med et symfoniorkester. Etter de to første innslagene, var jeg livredd for at dette kun var et instrumental-prosjekt, men det er det altså ikke. Ser for meg at dette er litt mer engasjerende for langtidsfans av bandet, noe jeg ikke kan skryte på meg å være(har bare hørt på LP-en Ride The Lightning, hittil). For min del blir det uinteressant. På de sangene jeg allerede er kjent med, introduserer ikke orkesteret noe minneverdig. Vil mye heller bruke tiden min på å utforske studioalbum. Top 3: Sad But True, One, Battery

You already know what a two hour 15 minute live album is getting from me. It gets style points for the orchestration but orchestration of songs I don’t really like in the first place doesn’t give it a lot. Just know I listened to this whole thing under protest but respect for the list and then immediately popped the dream is over on to pallet cleanse. It’s undeniably epic and belongs on the list, I just don’t like it.

The orchestra brought it up from one star. Hope they had excellent hearing protection

Imagine if Spinal Tap did a Bond movie soundtrack. Okay it’s not that horrible, but some things, like say a peanut butter and salmon sandwich, should maybe just not exist. I’m sure someone likes it, but they are also probably a serial killer.

I'm sure it sounded great when there but it sounded flat on spotify

Can't think of a good reason for this live album to be on this list. "Oh look, it's metal... but also, with an orchestra" Worth mentioning that Metallica already has 3 other albums on the list, so not sure why we had to go back to the well again.

Was going to rate 3 stars but then it just kept going and I had enough. Did the live album specifically need to be on this list?

Uppskattar verkligen att det här finns och har hänt men det är inte för mig. Aldrig gillat Metallica, och är inte heller förtjust i symfonisk rock. Men kul för alla Metallicaheads som var där!

I remember when this came out and the guitarist in my high school band was super in to it. In theory it’s a great idea, get real classically trained musicians to interact with legendarily good popular musicians. When done right it could've sounded amazing. To me this always sounded a bit overwrought and was worse for being live. The only songs that really work are instrumental or mostly instrumental, which is the earlier stuff for the most part. Things from the current albums (Load, etc) all sound ridiculous. I think this could’ve been wildly improved by performing this in a studio and with more work between the composer and the band. Also Lars sucks live and has always sucked live. This is a lot of interesting potential wasted.

Who is this for? The pull of my confusion took me out of the music periodically, but returning to the music provided me with no purchase. "More is more" is the implication inherent in the idea of Metallica with orchestral accompaniment. So why stop there? This album seems like a creative concept at first, but my listening experience did not align with the expectation the concept created.

Nothing Else Matters // 1.5/5

I usually have a soft spot for big arrangements, but this album makes a notable exception. I couldn't listen to it to the end because it sounded meaningless.

I stopped following Metallica's career after self titled a.k.a. "Black Album", basically Justice for All was the last one I really listened and I had major issues with that one as well (mainly the fucked up sound/mix). I don't mind listening to their thrash-era albums, but the bloated stadion rock stuff is really not my bag of bones. Some of these tracks sound decent with an orchestra supporting them, but too many of them are kind of generic rock music. There's also quite a few bits where it doesn't really work, where band and orchestra seem to be playing separately instead of together. I do understand this is a live album, but still. These observations makes it feel rushed.

Holy autotune. Cool concept here, but the execution ruins it for me. 4/10

Just not my thing

I've never been a huge Metallica fan. Everything I've heard from the Black Album era through now has not moved me at all. The few earlier, rawer songs I've heard I've not disliked to the same degree. So here I am listening to a double live album recorded with a full symphony. A gimmick (and that is what it is) that they were not the first to try, nor were they the last. The first few tracks sounded promising, but after that it quickly became a chore to get through the rest. The band was amped up so loud that only occasionally could you even hear the symphony. They could have achieved the same effect with one guy on a descent synth. The verdict: Meh-tallica.

never been big on this lot. nothing original and yet they threatened everyone with copyright lol .never got my Napster trip to Florida either ...rip offs

Долго и бесполезно. Зачем здесь вообще оркестр?

I do think Metallica kind of sucks but this is a good concept for a live album. Opening with The Ecstasy of Gold always works. This is just what if Emmerson, Lake, and Palmer's Pictures at an Exhibition was worse.

It's like going to an all you can eat buffet restaurant and one thinks,... I like the types of food at the buffet. I could have a mountain plate full of the thing I like. You eat a bunch of okay food to the point of feeling sick. Or you could, for the same price eat a higher quality smaller amount. This is not something anyone needs to hear. Also for the most part live albums are for the fans of a band.

Who thought this was a good idea?

The hit songs on a live don't hit the sane

When James Hetfield isn't groaning over it, the album is like a twisted, never ending James Bond theme.

Metallica in itself is an effectively mediocre band — they are even more satisfactory in a grainy, live recording.

The music isn’t bad at all. But a 2+ hour long album is a huge ask and I definitely don’t think this mash up helped anyone. The orchestra could have been integrated a lot better

Campest Metallica LP? Closer to Broadway than Symphonic Metal, I love the band but there's zero here which is superior to the source - I'd rate Lulu over this. Interesting as a pre-poptimism moment where this collab was deemed necessary to be "serious"

3/10… Metall / *1999

Could not finish due to the terrible autotuned voice, even if I mostly like Metallica.

Gute Idee mit Orchester, aber am Ende eben doch Metal, den ich nicht so mag.

This is an interesting idea, but it is scarcely more than the sum of its parts. It’s Metallica with an orchestra. It’s also over two hours long. Minus one star for the length. Too long and barely any of the songs amaze me enough to go back to these over the studio versions. The version of For Whom The Bell Tolls is my favorite song here.

Olalalala c'est long à chier. L'idée de base de mettre un orchestre pourrait être intéressante mais ça rend pas dingue.

If this was an hour shorter it would only be 30 minutes too long.

I can imagine it was a seminal gig for Metallica fans and the live experience must have been amazing. But to include it on a list of best albums seems incorrect.

jebemu mater. album uživo od metalike koji traje više od dva sata (!!!) stvarno nije nešto za ovakav popis. pogotovo kad su na njemu tri njihova studijska albuma. zašto?

Way to make “Master of Puppets” sound like a Christmas carol. I can see why Newstead quit after this. It’s worse than I remembered it. Some of the weaker tracks are actually enhanced by the symphonic elements but that doesn’t make up for the Disneyfication of their classic tunes. “One” is especially an abomination. If you want symphonically enhanced metal, go listen to Ihsahn’s last record.

I liked this better than I thought I would, but a lot of it doesn't really work.

This is why I hate live albums… there’s so much missing. Why are they cheering? What’s occupying the crowd visually while these ten minute long instrumental songs are happening? I don't mind the combination with the string orchestra and I think it's a good idea executed as well as possible, but a live album isn't the best way to enjoy this performance. Like it sounds fine but this was too long of an album for what we get just hearing it and not seeing any visuals

I always expect this to be a great idea but for some reason the symphony does not do anything for Metallica and neither the other way around

Metallica are already two albums deep into their buttrock era when this came out, so they have a well of mid tempo bloated ballad songs to further bloat with orchestral arrangements where the extra 100 instruments don't slow them down too much. The songs that are meant to thrash really suffer from the bloat though, the heavy layers of extra instrumentation don't add anything extra to the raw power and energy of thrash metal. The best songs are the slower ballads from the early era that already have a bit of that metal neo-classical grandiosity to them or the 90s radio hits that benefit from throwing more instruments at just ok hooks and kirk Hammett's wah wah pedal. An orchestra can't chug, and can hardly riff, but sure can crescendo. Is this the most pompous dumb guy album ever? Makes sense that this is only a couple years before the hilariousness documented in Some Kind of Monster...

Two hours??? And a live album??? Ew. Music is alright, but it is too much.

I wasn’t relistening to this so here’s my old review First, I don’t really like Metallica’s whole thing, second I don’t think the facts it’s a live album help my enjoyment any, third it was probably awesome to see live but over two hours of Metallica just in the ears is too much

Live album from 1999 in collaboration with classical music. Usual 2 - not for me

Det var bra i början, men man tröttnar rätt fort.

Looked good on paper, awful execution.

At first I was surprised how negative reviews were on here. The opening was very strong. It was also an instrumental. Once Master of Puppets started, I began to understand. I respect the idea but the execution is poor. For one, this would work much better as a studio album. The mixing of the symphony with the band would be better. And we could eliminate all of the awful crowd interaction. It is one thing to experience a crowd singing parts of a song when you are in the crowd, but on an album it is insufferable. I think it would also work better with new material and not covering old songs.

This did not land for me at all, and I don't really mind Metallica's music. I think it was added to the list because "Ohhhh metal band plays with a symphony orchestra, this is so groundbreaking". Vocals sound bad, Lars sounds forever bad, and I'm sure there was a lot of correction applied, still sounds bad.

I don't feel like the orchestra was a good match for Metallica's music. That or the audio mixing was just... bad.

- So, this is kind of what I expected; a symphony playing behind Metallica .... it comes off as a movie soundtrack .... ish .... i can see why Metallica heads could be into this but I really don't think it added anything, it feels forced. It's CERTAINLY another one that I don't think I absolutely needed to hear .... before I died ... -

An album that puts you in a bit of a tough spot. On one hand, this is a very sensible accompaniment - the symphony really elevated the mystical element of Metallica’s lyrics. On the other hand, I was not built for 2 hours of this. But you also can’t do anything about it, I’m sure this was a 2 hour headline show that many people were amped for. The intro on “Master Of Puppets” might be as good as it gets in terms of this album providing a cinematic angle to the normal Metallica songs. I was honestly a bit disappointed though with the renditions of “One” and “Enter Sandman” at the end. I think the originals just can’t be beat. I will remember this as a well-executed project that went on for far too long. Strong 2/5.

Orchestra adds a lot which was the only reason I listened through this album. Metallica just does so very little for me.

When I read what this album is about, I thought it might be quite interesting. The first two minutes were so. But more than 2 hours followed and it became more and more exhausting and annoying. 2/5

The orchestra simply did not add anything to these songs.

Cool that this exists, but the symphony carries