S&M is the title of
Metallica's most recent album release. It is a
recording of
Metallica playing in
San Franciso with the
San Francisco Symphony Orcestra, in April 1999. Metallica and a Classical orchestra such as this one are certainly not an obvious match, but the music recorded manages to mix them incredibly well.
The
track listing for the S&M album is as follows:
Before I heard some of the tracks on this album I considered
Metallica to be just another one of the many
bands that wannabe
depressive teanagers
slit their wrists to. I couldn't have been more wrong. "
No Leaf Clover" reversed the way I saw Metallica. Yes, there is a hell of a lot of
guitar on this album, but the
lyrics are not at all
depressing, and the songs are honestly
inspiring.
The songs performed on this album are largely songs featured on
Metallica's previous albums, but of course played
live and with a full
orchestra backing them up. There are also two completely new songs, found only on this album, and for which no
studio recordings seem to exist. These are "
No Leaf Clover" on disk 1, and "
Human" on disk 1, and are among the best on the album.
In short, I wouldn't recommend this album, or any of
Metallica's work, to anyone who can't put up with a bit of loud guitar. This is not to be listened to at low volume. Any existing
Metallica fans, or fans of
rock in general, however, should
love this album. The mix of
classical and
rock music is astoundingly well done. The one and only thing I'd complain about this CD, is the
price of it.. around £18 in most shops in the UK is not what I'd call cheap, but it's very nearly worth it for such a fantastic album.