The first time I heard about it, I turned my nose up. Metallica! With an Orchestra!!! But, fortunately, I was living in a hostel, and my neighbor blasted ’The Ecstacy of Gold’ on his amp. And that had me hooked.
S&M is just a rehash of old Metallica songs, with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra conducted by Micheal Kamen backing it up. However, Kamen has done a wonderful job of adding score to the already powerful music. The tracks like ’Outlaw Torn’, ’Nothing Else Matters’, ’For whom the bell tolls’, ’Until it Sleeps’ show a lot of emotions that u generally dont feel while listening to the original versions. The power and punch is still there, but you also find an additional grace. Instead of the lion ready to pounce, you have the tiger who does not need any growls to announce his arrival.
The instrumental pieces too are beautifully crafted, nowhere do you feel that ’something is missing’, or ’they messed this one up’.
Another aspect I liked about this set is the packaging. There are a good many snaps, and a lot of stuff about the whole setup. I always smile when reading about the deafening applause given to the orchestra, who are generally treated to polite claps... and so many other things.
On the whole, its a great experience... dont miss it!