Metallica & San Francisco Symphony
S&M2
© Blackened
March 30 - April 5, 2025
Year of Release: 2020
Rating:
Disc One:
The Ecstasy Of Gold
The Call of Ktulu
For Whom The Bell Tolls
The Day That Never Comes
The Memory Remains
Confusion
Moth Into Flame
The Outlaw Torn
No Leaf Clover
Halo On Fire
Disc Two:
Intro To Scythian Suite
Scythian Suite Opus 20 II:
The Enemy God And
The Dance Of
The Dark Spirits
Intro To The Iron Foundry
The Iron Foundry Opus 19
The Unforgiven III
All Within My Hands
(Anesthesia) -
Pulling Teeth
Wherever I May Roam
One
Master Of Puppets
Nothing Else Matters
Enter Sandman
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Classical music has always been a beautiful music genre. Most classical concerts have Orchestras. When it comes to
Rock artists merging with Orchestras, some create the Rock artist's music into Classical form, resulting in a wonderful
event. Some albums where Rock artists/bands performed with orchestras: Procol Harum (Live In Concert With The Edmonton
Symphony Orchestra), Deep Purple (Concerto For Group And Orchestra), Billy Joel (Fantasies And Delusions),
Neil Sedaka (Classically Sedaka). Credit Rick Wakeman also, with his many Classical-related albums. Add Metallica
to that list, as they recorded two albums with the San Francisco Symphony - S&M and this week's review, S&M2.
The first and second concerts were two CDs each. The question is, "Does Metallica and the San Francisco Symphony translate
Metallica's music, into true Classical music form?" The answer is, quite, No.
Disc One: "The Ecstasy Of Gold" leads it off, as it was an instrumental from The Good, The Bad And The
Ugly movie. "The Call Of Ktulu" (originally from Ride The Lightning) is also an instrumental, and just
as orchestrated (and more energetic) as the first track. Ride The Lightning also provided "For Whom The Bell
Tolls" - This 9 minute gem is quite energetic, and full of energy. Another track originally from Ride The
Lightning, is the favorite "For Whom The Bell Tolls." With the symphony orchestra, it's sound with Metallica
is definitely no different - It's Metallica, in their natural heavy/hard rock sound. "The Day That Never Comes"
(orignally from Death Magnetic - the orchestra stands out on this one, from beginning to end. It sounds smiliar
to another Metallica favorite, "Nothing Else Matters" (which comes later, on Disc 2), until it kicks into full gear
Metallica sound, with orchestra. James Hetfield welcomes the audience to S&M2, "a wonderful adventure..." Hetfield
introduces the San Francisco Symphony, conducted by Edwin Outwater. "Let's show the symphony, how loud they can go..."
"The Memory Remains" (originally from Reload), kicks into gear, Metallica style + orchestra. what makes this
track sound more loud, is the audience participation, leading into the next live track, "Confusion" (originally from
Hardwired...To Self Destruct. It's another power-driven, loud, hard rock live track. Continuing from
Hardwired..., is "Moth Into Flame," another hard-driven loud, hard rock Metallica, with orchestra.
"The Outlaw Torn" (originally from Loud, is yes, you guess it right, LOUD, Metallica (for the most part,
loud, 10 minutes in length.) One of the songs from the first S&M is next, No Leaf Clover." Once again, the
orchestra stands out on this one. Written by Metallica members James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich, it's beginning has the
orchestra standout, but yet kicks into another hard-driven Metallica Rock, with the orchestra continuing to standout.
"Halo On Fire" (originally from Hardwired...) ends the first disc, with it's mellow beginnings, and yes,
again, kicks into full Metallica mode. "Doesn'the Symphony sound awesome?" Yes.
Disc Two: What's interesting are the first two live songs from Disc 2: "Scythian Suite, Opus 20 II: The Enemy
God And The Dance Of The Dark Spirits" (written by composer, pianist and conductor Sergei Prokofiev in 1915). The
second track, "The Iron Foundry, Opus 19" (written by Russian composer of the early Soviet era, Alexander Mosolov
in early 1926 and 1927.) It's the orchestra only, that truly stands out on these two Classical pieces. And the orchestra
stands out on "The Unforgiven III" (originally from Death Magnetic. If you're familiar with the first
Unforgiven, "Unforgiven III" is no different. Yet, it's the orchestra that makes III more eventful.
Another nice pleasant sounding track is "All Within My Hands" (originally from St. Anger. Of course, songs
slowed down a bit is needed, as the first disc of this concert was considerably your typical loud and hard rock Metallica.
Yet, "All Within My Hands" does kick into harder rock towards its end, and back to slow-paced. Go figure.
The orchestra helps out on "(Anesthesia) - Pulling Teeth," (originally from Kill 'Em All, and you are
patientially waiting for the hard rock Metallica to come forth - but, yes, it does, at around the 5 minute mark.
"Wherever I May Roam" (originally from Metallica (The Black Album), is an incredible song from the original
studio album. The live version with orchestra is just as great - full of life, sound, and energy. "One" (originally
from And Justice For All - has an eerie intro, leading into yet another classic sounding Metallica song, just as
the original "One" is. The loudness of Metallica comes back on "Master Of Puppets" (title track from their
1986 studio album. Ending the album are two songs from the Metallica (Black Album) - and they are both classics -
"Nothing Else Matters" and "Enter Sandman."
With a symphony performing live with Metallica, were you expecting "Metallica goes Classical" ? The answer is
obviously, No. S&M2 is no way a "Classical themed" album. However, the San Francisco Symphony adds a very good
texture, to Metallica's hard rock sound. On some of the songs, the symphony does stand out. All in all, it's the heavy
rock sounds of Metallica you're familiar with, live, with a symphony orchestra to help out. Four live tracks from this
album were singles (most live albums do not have singles) - "All Within My Hands," "Nothing Else Matters," "Moth Into
Flame," and "For Whom The Bell Tolls." "The Unforgiven III" is another live track that could have been given
the single nod. Metallica rocks it live, and with help from the San Francisco Symphony. This concert was recorded in
2019, and was released as a film in the same year. As mentioned, Metallica rocks it on S&M2. Did they do the same
on the first S&M? That review will come at a later date.
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