S&M

Pretty unnecessary for this to be an album, let alone one that must be experienced before the end. An interesting-ish idea that doesn't seem to be very successful. Also, waaaaaay too long.

kicks the barely living shit out of the already ailing, crippled husk of Rock and Roll in 1999. a monstrous act and document. everyone involved should be sent to The Hague.

Metallica are certainly big, so I can't be too mad at it. This album cover is also intriguing. Will there really be an orchestra?
Apparently, yes, as "S&M" here stands for "Symphony and Metallica". (Somebody tell Rihanna!)

The professional reviews for this album are weirdly low for the list (a lot of 5-6/10s)! And oh no... it's a double album. More like M&M. At least it's the weekend.

Oh no oh no -- it's a live album!? If the crowd would shut up, I would like this album so much more, because I really like orchestras, even if I'm 50/50 on Metallica. Maybe one reason I like orchestras so much is that usually people aren't cheering in the middle of a song. A good long applauding at the end of a song, sure, but during?? Have some decency!! This isn't a comedy show!!

This album also feels like cheating, because it's got songs from a bunch of their earlier albums. What sort of magic loophole allows for Metallica to get a best-of album on here? Live-ness? Boy howdy. OK, OK, down to business.

Highlights: 'The Ecstasy of Gold' (minus the cheering), the orchestra, 'No Leaf Clover', 'Wherever I May Roam'

Lowlights: The cheering, the crowd singing, the clapping

Apropos of something: there was a time (mid-2000s?) when String Quartet Tribute to X albums were wildly popular. That was a good time. Feels like strings kinda fell off nowadays.

If it weren't live, this album might actually get a 4 from me. Alas: 3.

A real must listen for teens

I was quite excited to listen to this because Metallica are good and I thought Metallica with an orchestra would also be good. Boy was I wrong this does not work at all hahahahah

I still remember very well how Metallica’s *S&M* was hyped up in the media because of its supposed innovations. In fact, the idea of combining metal with a symphonic orchestra is not only age-old but is inherent in almost all subgenres of heavy metal.
Since Metallica and Michael Kamen decided at the time not to write any new songs for this album but to draw on existing material, the key question must be whether this made the songs any better.
The answer to this question is a resounding “no,” because there is very little genuine interplay between the orchestra and the band. Instead, Metallica sticks to its own style, and the orchestra either supports them with (appropriate but uninspiring) layered sounds or with additional ideas that don’t quite fit because the band doesn’t give them room to breathe.
For a long time, I believed that Metallica shouldn’t have recorded this album - to me, it was on par with Nirvana’s *MTV Unplugged*. In fact, though, I now see it as a tribute to bassist Cliff Burton, who died far too young, and to longtime superfan Michael Kamen. I think that’s totally fine, but it doesn’t make the recording any better.

Second Metallica album. This is a really beautiful live album. Many have recommended in the reviews that this should be replaced with Ride The Lightning. Personally, I think RTL should be added but this one should also stay. It’s hard to believe that symphonic metal could work, but it does! The live version of Nothing Else Matters brings me to tears each time I listen to it and in my opinion, it’s even better than the original. This is an easy 5 stars.

HOWEVER

If we go to the wikipedia page, we can see all sorts of fancy stuff like the tracklist, producers, and where it was recorded. But we can also see the runtime of this album, which happens to be 133 minutes and 14 seconds. I have a rule when I review albums that says that albums over 90 minutes get one star dropped from its rating. So with how much I love this album, I must give it 4 stars. And yes, this will apply to the Beatles and Stevie Wonder. I’m not singling out Metallica.

I'm familiar with a bunch of these tracks, though I've never listened to this album start-to-finish. I genuinely loathe Lars Ulrich, but I like the other guys. Expect my review to reflect that fact.

This is too big and overblown for its own good. Also, symphony orchestras all-too-frequently just don't understand how to play with enough looseness for anything that's not symphony stuff, and that's on display here. This is sort of a case of "not a terrible idea" with "poor execution" and also "less would have been more." And then on top of it all: Fuck Lars.

A fun way to spend a couple of hours. The concept is good. I enjoyed the older stuff but the Load/ReLoad tracks just seem to merge into each other.

There's no way in hell you want me to listen all of this 2 and a half hour album. So I didn't and just listened to a handful of songs. Heavy metal mixed with a symphony orchestra is actually a cool idea and from the songs I've picked to listen sounds good with an orchestra. I'm sure this album is fine but imma just give it a 3.

It's a good concept. I felt I could be charitable and give this one a 2, which would be a higher rating than I gave to The Black Album and And Justice for All. But, it's so god damned long. And Kirk Hammett is probably my least favorite guitarist I've ever heard.

Orchestra plays soundtrack music, band riff aimlessly, singer grunts.

In the absence of melody or harmony or lyrical meaning it must have been a long day for the orchestra players.

This must have been a thrilling show to be at. It being a live album is helpful, giving everything an added oomph as well as some leeway in trying to mesh two oppositional sounds that a clinical studio environment would struggle with.

Given it's over TWO HOURS long and so peculiar it could make or break a fan but I actually fell somewhere in the middle. Being someone who’s recently gotten into Metallica via Master of Puppets and The Black Album, I found myself “interested” in the added context it gave me about the group rather than being lost in the music like I had been with those studio LPs. The material is generally strong but some of the efforts written post-The Black Album are more alternative rock rather than metal and sound less unique as a result. I also don’t need to hear James Hetfield’s vocals doused in auto-tune, I don’t think it suits the sound.

My main critique is that the orchestra should have been used more sparingly. All involved have pushed for the spectacular symphony to be all over S&M but given the material was not written with these instruments in mind the continual flourishes sometimes sound muddled and messy. When Metallica and the orchestra are on the same page, the classical musicians bolstering the band, it's a pretty effective whole (see: The Thing That Should Not Be and For Whom The Bell Tolls). But overall the concept is cooler than the final product.

Despite all this I admire Metallica for choosing to make a high effort “best of” record rather than just pushing out the hits in a more familiar form.

Fun distraction but nothing else (maters).

Staring with a Ennio Morricone is an odd choice for Metallica but it sets the tone for what to expect for S&M: stagy and orchestral, building to big finishes.
Thrash metal with a symphony.

“The call of Ktuhul” continues that and finally adds the heavy sound of the band to what is essentially a bond theme.

The opening of master of puppets loses a little with the fiddles getting in the way of that iconic riff. Same all the way through really . It’s good and would have been even better live ; but like most live albums it makes me want to listen to the original.

Generally I have a hard time separating Metallica's music, which I mostly enjoy, from the people, who I'm less fond of. This album holds a special place, however, as one I had on CD right when it released and something I listened to on repeat while living abroad.

It's a little sloppy at points, primarily at the start. Where the symphony and the band do not really integrate well together, and the symphony feels like an unfitting after thought addition, but when it works it works quite well. It is also just a bit too long.

Good if you like Metallica. I like the symphonic elements in this live version, but it does contain some of their lesser quality songs and drags on a bit long. Had this only contained songs from their first few albums, it would’ve hit a 5 for me. 4.5/5

Can't understand why some people are mad that this album exists

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.

*Very cool concept, I just don't love Metallica that much as I find they plod along even with cool moments with the guitars