Ingredients:
A dollop of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra.
A pinch of Michael Kamen.
Metallica to your hearts desire.
What do you get when you mix a hard rocking band like Metallica with the melodious and serene San Francisco Symphony Orchestra conducted by the wizard Michael Kamen? Yes, absolute chaos! In early 1999 Metallica were approached by Michael Kamen with the idea that they could perform with a symphony orchestra, and they agreed instantly. It was Kamen who had to play middle man to two groups of musicians who had not heard each other perform, and also come up with how the orchestra could perform alongside Metallica – being noticed, but not overpowering the rockers. Kamen had worked with Metallica before, he had conducted the orchestra in Metallica’s classic “Nothing Else Matters”. Many hardcore Metallica fans felt that their band was getting mellow, but they were mistaken and how.
The assortment of songs selected by Kamen and the band is to say the least fabulous. One would think that with an orchestra they would like to play the slower ballad-ish songs, but nay. “Mama Said” never featured on this performance, and boy did they rock the house. The performance begins with the orchestra playing “The Ecstasy of Gold”, and you can see it slowly toughen as members of Metallica take the stage one by one (Yep, I have the DVD). This leads up to “The Call of the Ktulu”, and just when you think this song is ending they transcend so comfortably into “Master of Puppets” - that it gives me a natural high every time. The album also contains two previously unreleased songs “No Leaf Clover” and “Human” which are so characteristically Metallica. The album is an amalgamation of the songs of Metallica when they were raw, like “Battery” and “Fuel” to when they were far more mature like “Where ever I may Roam”, “The Memory Remains” and “Until it Sleeps”.
“S&M” is definitely a exceptional album. The band took a risk as they tried out something that many of their hard core fans wouldn’t approve of. What the fans did not know that the “S&M” performance would be the last concert of bassist Jason Newsted with the band. Metallica knew better, and they sure gave a truly outstanding performance as a fitting goodbye.
To conclude, the band’s performance is dazzling, the support from the orchestra is harmonising, and the end product is a virtuoso performance that will remain in the hearts of all Metallica fans for ever.. and ever.