S&M

S&M (an abbreviation of Symphony and Metallica) is a live album by the American heavy metal band Metallica, with The San Francisco Symphony conducted by Michael Kamen. It was recorded on April 21–22, 1999 at The Berkeley Community Theatre. This is the final Metallica album to feature Jason Newsted as bassist.

S&M contains performances of Metallica songs with additional symphonic accompaniment, which was composed by Michael Kamen, who also conducted the orchestra during the concert. The idea to combine heavy metal with an epic classical approach, as James Hetfield has stated repeatedly, was an idea of Cliff Burton. Burton’s love of classical music, especially of Johann Sebastian Bach, can be traced back to many instrumental parts and melodic characteristics in Metallica’s songwriting including songs from Ride The Lightning and Master of Puppets. The other inspiration was Deep Purple's 1969 Concerto for Group and Orchestra. Purple revived their hybrid musical performance in 1999's Live at the Royal Albert Hall after being notified that Metallica were doing theirs earlier that year.

In addition to songs from previous albums spanning Ride the Lightning through ReLoad, there are two new compositions: "No Leaf Clover" and "−Human". "The Ecstasy of Gold" by Ennio Morricone, Metallica's entrance music, was played live by the orchestra. "No Leaf Clover" has since been performed by Metallica in concert, using a recording of the orchestral prelude. "−Human", credited as "Minus Human", was included in the soundtrack of the Electronic Arts game NHL 99, but has never subsequently been performed.

Several other songs, including "Wasting My Hate", "The Unforgiven", "Low Man's Lyric", "Fade to Black", The Unforgiven II, "Through The Never", "Harvester of Sorrow", and unexpectedly "...And Justice For All" was a thought for the setlist but due to the gap since they last played it and with little time to prepare it was chopped, also "Ronnie" and even "Mama Said" were considered for selection, but were eventually dropped as it was decided by both Metallica and Kamen that they were not well suited for symphonic accompaniment. On the S&M DVD documentary, Metallica and Kamen can be seen and heard discussing the orchestration for the Anti-Nowhere League and Metallica favourite cover-song "So What?", though it's obvious both parties were enjoying a good joke and had no intentions of performing the song.

Changes were made to the lyrics of some songs, most notably the removal of the second verse and chorus of "The Thing That Should Not Be" and playing the third verse in its place.

■ Rolling Stone (January 20, 2000, pp. 57–59) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...create the most crowded, ceiling-rattling basement rec room in rock....[in its] sheer awesomeness...the live performance succeeded....the monster numbers benefit from supersizing. The effect is more one of timelessness..."

■ Spin (February 2000, pp. 114–5) - 8 out of 10 - "...makes their tempo and texture dynamics...into a topic in and off of itself, a deep evocation of bad-voodoo creeping willies culminating in 'One' and 'Enter Sandman'....Freed from ritualized superhuman extremism, it builds a soundtrack to everyday life."

■ Entertainment Weekly (December 3, 1999, p. 102) - "Buttressed by grim strings, creaky horns, and thundering timpani, staples...creep with fearful new dimension, like an old Posada print come to life." - Rating: B

■ Q (February 2000, p. 86) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...another just about forgivable flirtation with Spinal Tap-esque lunacy....a fine hit-heavy live LP with bolted-on bombast from the S.F. Symphony....Michael Kamen's scores swoop and soar with impressive portent throughout."

■ CMJ (December 20, 1999, p. 24) - "...stunning....orchestral renditions of hits from the bands '90s output."

S&M sold 300,000 units in the first week of release and has sold 2.5 Million copies and has been certified 5× platinum as of 2003.

(wiki)

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by Gina Boldman

After 1988's ...And Justice for All, Metallica pared down its progressive, heavy metal sound. During the '90s, the band's studio releases grew slicker and more produced, resulting in mostly radio-friendly, good ol' boy metal. By the end of the decade, Metallica was established as the pioneer of modern metal, but the band hadn't done anything innovative, arguably, in ten years. In April 1999, the group performed two concerts with the San Francisco Symphony, and the result was S&M, a two-disc collection of the concerts. Overall, the album successfully pairs violin strings with guitar strings, but it's no surprise that the best tracks here are the older songs; their multi-layered, compositional style works well with symphonic arrangements. "Master of Puppets," "Call of the Ktulu," "One," and "For Whom the Bell Tolls" sound richer and fuller with violin, trumpet, clarinet, harp, trombone, and flute accompaniments, but "Sad but True," "Devil's Dance," and especially "Of Wolf and Man" range from haphazard and melodramatic to uninspired. S&M definitely has its moments, and not just with the pre-Black Album material: "Fuel" surpasses the furious pumping energy of the studio version, "Hero of the Day" stays poignant throughout, and "Until It Sleeps" has a wonderfully sinister feel. James Hetfield maintains his madman persona from beginning to end, laughing maniacally and grunting and growling at all the right moments. Overall, the symphony adds a macabre, ghoulish atmosphere -- it all sounds like a Broadway freak show or a revved-up Danny Elfman nightmare. Which is exactly what a Metallica album should sound like, even if every song isn't the best (or most appropriate) in the band's catalog.