Metallica - S And M DVD > Reviews > Metallica does the impossible.. And pull it off

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Characters / Performances	Outstanding
Soundtrack	Outstanding
How does it compare to similar films?	Outstanding

Advantages:	Metallica and a symphony .  .  .  How cool is that? !
Disadvantages:	none at all

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Metallica? With an ochestra? Very true! Some people would frown on this and maybe say Metallica went away from their roots and turned to sell-outs, but this is very stunning on what the maestro (Michael Kamen) and Metallica have put together! The sound is great, nothing less than expected from Metallica, even with 100+ back-up musicians to boot! With over twenty songs on the two discs it is well worth the price to sit down, watch, and listen to one of the world's greatest thrash metallers go to town with an orchestra! // 9

Content: The DVD has two new songs never released on CD. Those two are "No Leaf Clover" and "- Human" (Minus Human). Two great songs done with Metallica and the Orchestra. Below is the set list and my opinions and ratings out of five possible points for each song.

Disc One:
01. The Ecstasy Of Gold - the introduction of the concert. It's short, but sets everyone in the mood for the upcoming song very nicely. This is just the symphony playing 4/5.
02. The Call Of Ktulu - the first song Metallica plays, and what better way than to start off with an instrumental? There is a flaw to this one, though, and that's it's ever-lasting length of it, but the orchestra adds quite a bit to the song, so it's not as redundant sounding as before 4/5.
03. Master Of Puppets - the symphony adds a lot to the opening piece of MoP, but as the song progresses, I think they downgrade the quality, but again, a great job done, and compared to some live concerts, they actually play the entire song. Hetfield also has the the crowd sing a lot of the lyrics 4/5.
04. Of Wolf And Man - a great song from the Black Album and even better done with the symphony! One of the best songs from the concert in my opinion 5/5.
05. The Thing That Should Not Be - as with "Of Wolf And Man," the symphony adds so much to this song. A very good rendition of it 5/5.
06. Fuel - not the better sounding song on the CD, but very great coming live with the symphony 5/5.
07. The Memory Remains - a good song from the Re-Load album. Not one of the better songs on the DVD, and probably could have added a different song to the set list 3/5.
08. No Leaf Clover - the first out of two new songs done by Metallica and the symphony. This song is great, but a little wobbly. Very interesting to listen to the first couple of times 5/5.
09. Hero Of The Day - a good song, and good with the symphony. Not my favorite solo in the world done by Metallica, but good to listen to 4/5.
10. Devil's Dance - this one expresses more-so to the symphony's sound, and they do a great job 5/5.
11. Bleeding Me - another good addition for the symphony and Metallica. Enough said 4/5.

Disc Two:
01. Nothing Else Matters - after an intermission and a lot of clapping and cheering, they open it back up with this great ballad. Compared to the CD, you can actually hear a lot more of the symphony playing 5/5.
02. Until It Sleeps - this is another song that expresses a lot of emotion through the symphony's sound. Great job 5/5.
3. For Whom The Bell Tolls - a good job. Very emotional, but like with the CD, not a very good ending 4/5.
04. - Human - as the previous reviews have called this "Human" it's actually called "Minus Human," the second new song done with the symphony. I love this song, and has more of a hard rock feel to it 5/5.
05. Wherever I May Roam - great job yet again done by the symphony. You can hear a lot of emotion coming from them and it adds a lot to the song compared to the CD 5/5.
06. Outlaw Torn - not my most favorite song from Metallica, but the symphony boost that morale quite a bit, plus I do believe during the song a person has a little stage dive moment and the camera puts it in slow motion 3/5.
07. Sad But True - "OK, I think we're going to play something heavy now." As said by Hetfield before opening up this great song from the Black Album. Great job, guys 5/5.
08. One - a great song, and they change its sound a bit from the actual CD. A little intro on the DVD that quickly plays back the events that happened on the DVD as the gun fire and explosions are played and everything goes crazy when the adrenaline starts pumping in this song. The downside, in my opinion, is Hetfield and Kirk makes this song sound more patriotic than what they should have done, but it's still great 5/5.
09. Enter Sandman - after a bit of cheering and clapping yet again, they break into Enter Sandman, and the symphony adds a lot to this song. I enjoy it better than the one on CD 5/5.
10. Battery - not much to comment about this song besides the usual "Good job!"

Features (as seen on the back of box) of the two disc DVD are: the entire 2 1/2 hour S&M concert; 41 minute documentary, featuring a look into the making of S&M, including behind the scene footage, interviews with Metallica, Michael Kamen, the SF Symphony, and much more; four Multi-Angel songs, which allow the viewer to choose the camera angel; full combined performance in Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound and stereo plus seperate stereo tracks for band and orchestra; full motion menus; DVD-Rom playability and Internet connection; close-captioning and subtitling. And the special bonus - two additional versions of "No Leaf Clover" ("Slice & Dice" video version and "Maestro Edit"). // 10

Production Quality: The main thing about this concert and the production is the lighting effects. Great job during One and a few other songs. There is not much cursing in this concert compared to past ones besides the few said in the songs. // 9

Impression: What is the most impressive thing on the DVD? Metallica playing with a symphony is my best bet. I love it all, and would buy me another one and buy a few more for my friends. Also has a great cover! // 10