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

Pretty Good

A lot of fun.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

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.

this has got to be the best 2 and a half hours of a lifetime... i wonder why they put it on 2 dvds? would that be because there is just to much awesome for a single DVD to handle...? imagine if you were that single DVD, imagine the responsibility lol Metallica is the freakin' best band in the universe... from now to eternity.... nothing compares, to the beautiful crystal sound. Metallica on their own=awesome, but backed by a 100+ piece orchestra-one of the most respected orchestras in the world-is even better, it combines the greats of 2 different worlds...Metallica should totally do this again...

I'm not a huge fan of Metallica and I don't really like all of their music (the songs from the Black album, as well as ...And Justice for All and the single "I Disappear" are quite good but the rest kind of sound the same to me) -- but this live version even made me love the songs.It's conducted with Michael Kamen and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, who ironically enough contacted THEM with an interest in performing their songs with an orchestra.The result is a loud, powerful, emotional (!) experience. The deep, rich sound of the symphony really makes the songs all sound different. It's quite an experience.The performance is two and a half hours long and the DVD/CD has tons of bonus features including a documentary covering the conception and execution of the entire ordeal.All in all, a real treat, especially for Metallica fans, and perhaps even more so for non-fans who may find they like the music more like this.

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.