Metallica and the San Francisco Symphony: S&M (1999)

There has been a handful of rock bands that decided to make a whole live album with a symphony orchestra, and Metallica is without much doubt the most heavy of them all to do so. I think that they made this album to support the release of their Load/Re-Load albums, which has obviously been a very great decision. The orchestra plays a very beautiful show and the cooperation between Michael Kamen and the 'Tallicaboys is terrific and one would be a fool to deny that Metal and Classical music have a lot in common. Hetfield, probably especially for this show, adapted a very warm and clean voice that neatly fit in between the riffs, drums, bass lines, but also the orchestra. The set list was obviously made with a lot of measuring in what would be good songs to combine with an orchestra, and which would not be. They have done an amazing job.The sound is simply perfect. The melancholic sound of the orchestra that plays beautiful music in the background hits the spot in combination with the raw and yet so musically rich sound of Metallica.This concert is the product of the coming together of two very different and yet similar musical worlds. And this concert, same as the Metallica's predecessors in this experimental thing, proves that it works. It is great for both fans of classical music as die hard heavy metal fans. There are several options on the DVD: You can either mute the orchestra, or the band, in 2.1 audio quality. But you can, and should, leave them both on and enjoy this eargasmical (excuse me) music fest in all its glory, for both Heavy Metal and Classical Music are eternal, so what would this concert be?10/10. Highly recommended to anyone that's into rock/metal/hard rock and/or classical music.

Being a big Metallica fan I was amazed that Metallica was going to have a concert with an Orchestra and that one of My favorite movie composers Michael Kamen was going to be the Orchestrator and Conductor I couldn't believe it! This was an awesome experience seeing such an extraordinary event! The camera work is remarkable. It catches so many great moments perfectly in My opinion! The songs that were chosen are great and I thought it was really cool to have two new songs just for this concert! The band really performs greatly and James Hetfield's singing is incredible and I just love his voice! Michael Kamen is just so great here! The sound is also great! Overall in My opinion this is one of the most spectacular events of all time! If you love Metallica and want to see them in one of the greatest concerts ever and want to see Michael Kamen do his stuff then I strongly recommend that stop by at Amazon.com and buy the video and/or the DVD and the audio CD today! Movie Nuttball's NOTE: The DVD version has an Easter Egg on it. You can have the Orchestra performing by themselves Its a unique feature and it makes it a totally different experience!

Metallica have done some wild things before this.. they've put a 'Grammy Award LOSERS' sticker on their AJFO album, they've released one of the heavyest albums of all time (The Black album) and they've played a concert near the Artic Circle, but this just beats all. This hellauacious concert with the San Francisco Symphony has to be one of the greatest listening experiences of a lifetime. Alone Metallica's songs are great, but with the backing of a 100 piece orchestra, it blows most of 'Tallica's songs away. Video: 9 The video quality of this DVD is spectacular, with crystal clear quality.Audio: 10 Blown away in 5.1 digital sound, the DVD sounds better than the CD. Not only is the audio quality outstanding, the audio extras make this DVD worth the buy. Not only can you chose 2.0 stero quality sound, you can listen to the band only, or even the symphony only.Extras: 10 A bit to play with, with the audio extras above, you get a 41 min documentry on the making of S&M, a 'Mastro Cut' version of 'No Leaf Clover' and the 'No Leaf Clover' Video. Plus, you get 4 songs with different camera angles of the band members. (You can watch James, Lars, Jason, or Kirk seperately)Overall: 10 A true buy, a must own for any Metallica Fan, or any real fan of music.

Well What to say, Combine the biggest Heavy Metal band the world has ever seen with the power of an orchestra and you get one hell of a ride. Now I must say that I am a very Big fan of Metallica so This may be biased.>The orchestra fits in well with the power of Metallica, coming to the fore in crucial moments and fading into the background when Hammet's pounding riffs come into the fray.The two new songs are both great and it is a shame the most will never hear how they sound with out the symphony backing them up. All of the classics are here and as always are a pleasure to listen to.The DVD contains many extras including a documentary on the making of S & M as well as the ability to change cameras at will. This is a MUST have for any Metallica fan and a great rental for any music fan at all.10/10 (7/10 for non metallica fans)