UMUR "S&M 2" is a double live album release (which in the days of vinyl would probably have been a three- or a four album release). The album was released through Blackened Recordings in August 2020. The title of the album refers to the 1999 "S&M" live album, which is a similar collaborative effort with Metallica playing along side the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. While the original "S&M" (1999) concert performance was conducted by Michael Kamen, the concert performance on "S&M 2" was conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas and Edwin Outwater. The "S&M 2" concert was also filmed and given a theatrical release in October 2019. A Blu-Ray version was released simoultaniously with the live album.

"S&M 2" features 22 tracks and a total playing time of just little under 2 and a half hours. Needless to say it´s a massive body of music, but since Metallica have written so many instantly recognisable heavy/thrash metal tracks, the playing time doesn't necessarily feel that long. Disc 1 is dominated by post-"The Black Album" (1991) material, although it also includes "The Call of Ktulu" and "For Whom the Bell Tolls" (and of course a classical orchestra version of "The Ecstasy of Gold" by Ennio Morricone, which is always the opening track at Metallica´s shows.

Disc 2 predominantly features "The Black Album" (1991) and pre-"The Black Album" (1991) material, although it also includes "The Unforgiven III" and "All Within My Hands", and a couple of classical music pieces (by Sergei Prokofiev and Alexander Mosolov).

Adding a symphonic orchestra to rock music is nothing new and several other rock and heavy metal artists have done it before (including Deep Purple and Metallica themselves as mentioned above), and with varying degrees of success. Honestly I was very critical of "S&M" (1999) when it was released, and I felt it was like standing in between a heavy metal band´s rehearsal room and a concert hall where a classical orchestra played. I don´t think that recording worked that well and the two parts of the music just never gelled. Thankfully "S&M 2" works much better and to my ears the heavy metal part of the music and the classical orchestra parts now function as a unit, and create a new and interesting take on Metallica´s music.

Metallica are as well playing as ever and the album features a superb sounding production job. Everything is audible in the mix and there´s some great audience interaction from Hetfield (relatively sparse, but it works) and you can often hear the audience sing along, which in this case is really nice and definitely enhancing the listening experience. So all in all I´m much more entertained and satisfied with this second "heavy metal meets classical orchestra" attempt from Metallica. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

Pekka Death Magnetic in 2008 was obviously a lengthy step in the right direction following the all-encompassing nadir of the St. Anger era, but I've always had a problem with the well publicized Rick Rubin mindset of re-living the past instead of looking to the future and evolving. Maybe that was what they needed to do to get back on track and win back some credibility as a creative act, but as a fan of the Load era I was disappointed that they almost completely shut down that avenue.

But on Hardwired...to Self Destruct Metallica act their age and embrace not only their thrashing days, but their entire history. The early part of the album is dominated by the faster side of their toolbox while the second is heavy on mid-tempo numbers very much reminiscent of the early-to-mid 90s output - you can even hear a hint of St. Anger in the screeching heaviness of parts of Am I Savage?

Hardwired continues right where Death Magnetic left off with the title track joining My Apocalypse as the most straightforward thrash tunes they've written since maybe even Kill 'em All. The other songs reaching back to the proggier side of 80s - namely Atlas Rise, the absolutely superb Moth into Flame and the furious closer Spit Out the Bone - are extremely effective and convincing. Other fairly strong pieces are the Sad-But-True-meets-The-Thing-That-Should-Not-Be mashup Dream No More, the heavy epic Halo on Fire, the dirt and spit juggernaut Am I Savage? and the pretty basic heavy rock of Confusion that I still for some reason enjoy quite a lot, despite the directionless improvised noodlings behind the second verse.

Apart from the aforementioned improv part and the clumsy beat holding back the pre-solo section of ManUNkind this album thankfully lacks the head scratching arrangement and quality control blunders that plagued parts of Death Magnetic and the sound production is also vastly superior. The excellent Ronnie Rising medley recorded for the at the time recent Dio tribute album, and again included here on the special edition, gave some promise of slightly slicker sound than what's been heard on most of their output this century, and those promises were indeed fulfilled with Hardwired...to Self-Destruct sounding like an album with production values thought beyond a mere "this is what we sound like in our garage". For the first time in his time in Metallica, Robert Trujillo is taken seriously as a ballsy kick ass bassist, and he provides a perfect fat rumble as a foundation for all the Hetfield riffs. Lars limps his way through the faster thrashy beats, but is very very solid most of the way when the tempo is taken down to Load era levels.

With the new album 72 Seasons announced I thought I'd get back to the old review draft I left unfinished around the release of Hardwired, and I find that my respect for the album has diminished somewhat. While in the beginning I was very much enjoying the whole scope from straight up thrash to the sludgy Load soundalikes, now years later I find that the songwriting especially during some of the slower songs on the second half just hasn't stood the test of time that well. On the other hand Atlas Rise and especially Moth Into Flame are hands down some of the finest Metallica tunes from the last 35ish years and the production is leaps and bounds better than anything since Garage Inc.

I always wanted them to release a varied album like this as I felt that the Rubin-led thrashier approach of Death Magnetic was a bit forced and the slower mid-90s sound was the one they were naturally evolving into, but looking at it now I see I was wrong since it's the former that produces the greatest highlights here. It will be interesting to hear what kind of balance they strike on the upcoming 72 Seasons.

martindavey87 Ah… the song that basically kicked off the whole Metallica/Napster ordeal waaaaaaaay back in the year 2000 (if you don’t know about it, look it up!). After years of alternative rocking and symphony collaborations, this was an early sign of Metallica slowly turning a slightly harder corner with their music again. Sure, it’s still hard rock, but it just felt like it was upgrading for the new millennium.

Anyway, nothing came of it, as Metallica ended up becoming the most hated band in the world for a while, lost their bass player, almost split up… etc. etc. It’s been documented a million times over. No need for it now.

But this song? Yeah, this rocks! Had Metallica followed suite with this, rather than gone in the direction their careers went, things could have been totally different (not that their careers faltered in any way!). Great song! Totally naff single, mind you. It’s only the one song, so it’s totally pointless now. Unless, like me, you need to own everything.

martindavey87 What’s interesting about this live EP is that it was recorded in “The Basement”, a small, indoor music venue which is about as far away as you can get from the stadiums that Metallica are used to. Released in 2010 and only available in independent record shops and on the bands website, it’s not the easiest CD to get hold of, especially in the UK, but I did it, and I spent upwards of £25 to get it (including postage).

But really, why bother?

Answer: because I’m a fan who has to own everything.

And that, is pretty much the only reason anyone would have for having this in physical format. It’s not a terrible release, and the more intimate setting actually makes for a more chilled out vibe. But it’s just so overdone. We’ve heard live versions of these songs so many times by now, that this EP, especially for the money spent, is just so pointless unless you’re a super fan like me. Even more is that the band had put out two similar live EP’s that same year, exclusive to Australia, which, you guessed it, I had to own.

Still, it’s got a handful of the classics… ‘Master of Puppets’, ‘Harvester of Sorrow’, ‘Welcome Home (Sanitarium)’, ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’ and ‘Seek and Destroy’… same old, same old. Decent enough sound quality and all that… but it’s just such a pointless EP unless you’re a diehard fan who needs to own everything.

Tupan The first Metallica album, like most debuts, has the energy and excitement generally found in young musicians. The sound is rougher and cruder than any of their late albums, the songs have an urgency that would be more polished later. We are talking about thrash metal, so these aren’t bad characteristics in this context.

And like most the debuts, their early influences are more obvious here. Kill E’m All is basically a mix of Motorhead, Diamond Head, Budgie, Misfits, even some Iron Maiden… Again, nothing wrong, they manage to package all these influences with a Metallica flavour after all. Songs like Seek and Destroy and Whiplash would become immortal thrash classics, and other less known tracks, like Hit the Lights and Metal Milita are pretty great too! There’s even some experimentalism, with the instrumental (Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth.

And I have a personal story with this album. When I was a kid, I remember seeing a brazilian TV show named Fúria MTV. It was, for a long time, one of my only sources for metal these days, since the radio was crap (still is…) and only few friends shared my musical tastes. Anyways, the opening theme of this show was Metal Militia, the closing track of this album! And only years later I would know it, because in that pre-internet era all we could listen were the songs from the Black Album onwards, which played ad nauseam in the media at the time. So, Kill ‘Em All has a place in my metal heart since I’ve listened to it first time. Recommended!

martindavey87 ‘Some Kind of Monster’ is an interesting look at the personal problems that arise amongst band members after having worked together throughout careers that span decades. The biggest rock band in the world is on the verge of breaking up, with one member leaving, one member in rehab and one member being the most hated man in music. It’s compelling viewing, that’s for sure.

However, it’s been often stated that this will appeal to Metallica fans and non-fans alike, and I do consider that a bit of an overstatement. I’m a huge, huge die-hard fan of the band, but at two hours and 10 minutes in duration, and a couple of hours of extra material, even I find this quite a tedious viewing at times.

Essentially, it boils down to the egos of two men, James and Lars, and goes on to become nothing more than “Temper Tantrum: The Movie”. Still, it’s always fun and interesting to see what musicians I admire get up to when they’re not on stage. The process of recording their 2003 dud of album ‘St. Anger’, what they do in their spare time, the auditions for a new bass player and the endless promotional events they partake in.

While this isn’t essential viewing to the average movie-goer, fans of the band will enjoy this stripped and bare movie that shows that even rich and famous rock stars have egos and emotions, and the tolls that that stardom takes on them.

martindavey87 This is basically a DVD highlights package of the two Metallica VHS releases, ‘A Year and a Half in the Life of…’ that the band released in the early 90’s. A harmless enough watch, which looks at the making of one of heavy metal’s most iconic albums, we’re given a track-by-track look at the process of writing and recording each song, and there’s some additional material with band members reflecting upon the album years later.

It’s interesting to watch, but it mostly comprises of footage we’ve already seen in countless other videos, and it lacks all the emotional depth of Metallica’s 2004 movie ‘Some Kind of Monster’.

Still, while it’s hardly going to be the most riveting thing you’ve ever watched, if you’re a fan of Metallica it’s certainly not a bad way to kill two hours.

martindavey87 Let’s face it, when it comes to music videos, Metallica have had some absolute bangers, and some absolute stinkers. Some of them, such as the iconic ‘One’ and ‘Enter Sandman’, have become heavy metal classics, which stand up as well today as they did upon release. Then there’s the not-so-classic ones… ‘Hero of the Day’, ‘King Nothing’ and ‘The Unforgiven II’, all of which are great songs, but the videos could easily be any other generic rock band from that era.

With that said though, this is a cool disc for any die-hard Metallica fans. Music video compilations are obsolete now thanks to YouTube, but it’s still cool for a collector to have these on DVD, especially if they insist on owning everything a band puts out.