Metallica - 72 Seasons - A first listen...

[Stadler]

I think there are bands that sound great as is, and bands whose natural sound could be enhanced by an orchestra doing their thing.

I think Metallica was the first band, but the amazing arrangements (mostly) by Kamen, created something new. As opposed to just doing the normal symphony thing of adding some texture and doubling keys/guitar riffs. I've seen a lot of bands (at least on video) with an added symphony that added virtually nothing. Metallica did something interesting and new with it, and I loved it. S&M 2 felt like the more typical approach, so I didn't connect much.

I get this take, and don't disagree, but there are moments in S&M2 that are just... the two minutes at the end of The Memory Remains is, in and of itself, my entire argument about the idea of "thrash" and "selling out".    That's a song from ReLoad, and it had 18,000 people suspend the moment for TWO FULL MINUTES singing the outro to that song. I can't imagine a better affirmation for an artist that what they are doing is resonating.   If I ever get the chance to interview any of the members of Metallica, one of my questions would be:  "Was that sort of a validation of all the changes and twists and turns your band's career have taken?  That was sort of a communal moment; a little bit antithetical to the idea of "thrash"; how does that fit with the idea that you have some obligation to maintain the "mantle" of thrash?" I'm always the one to say "don't speculate", and I won't here, but I have my suspicions as to what the general nature of the answer would be.

Hard to disagree, but don't the audiences normally do that for that song? It was really cool, but nothing I haven't seen before, and had little to do with the rest of the show. Was just a great Metallica live moment, like 10's of thousands of people screaming DIE together for Creeping Death. Not show specific, just a general live awesome thing.

I've never seen Metallica live (except on video) so I don't know about other shows.  I did change my post above a bit to add my thoughts on S&M2 versus S&M1, and maybe that's where that comes in.

[Grappler]

There are multiple bands that I would love to see and hear with a symphony, but Metallica was never one of them.

How do you feel about S&M1? I would say it's one of those "I did not know I wanted this but it's kinda cool"

By 'kinda cool', you mean 'best live album of all time', right?

Hi there, did you forget about me? 

[cramx3]

I really like S&M1, and overall the set is pretty solid.  I think a few of the songs don't work that well, and I'll always wonder why a song like Fade to Black was not included.

S&M2 is not that great.  Part of it for me is that it is right before James went back to rehab, and he looks pretty rough.  The setlist is just not great either.

The setlist is the ultimate problem for S&M2 for me.  I have it on blu ray and it's a good watch because it's well made, but not something to come back to because the setlist just wasn't great.  S&M1 is still worth watching.

[OpenYourEyes311]

There are multiple bands that I would love to see and hear with a symphony, but Metallica was never one of them.

How do you feel about S&M1? I would say it's one of those "I did not know I wanted this but it's kinda cool"

By 'kinda cool', you mean 'best live album of all time', right?

Hi there, did you forget about me? 

I was a huge fan of the Mexico City show. Played the first two discs over and over throughout the '90s. Then S&M came out and that was the live album I went to from then on pretty much.

[twosuitsluke]

Binge and Purge is great, don't get me wrong, but for my tastes and preferences S&M is literal perfection.

It has the peak 90s production the band had. The setlist was near perfect. I personally love orchestral soundtracks, so to have my absolute favourite band (at the time I heard it) have such epic accompaniment was mindblowing. James' voice is arguably the best it ever was. Jason was still in the band. Lars and Kirk held it down.

The only thing I could ever fault it for, was leaving out Orion. But, I honestly think the original S&M version run of The Ecstasy of Gold > Call of Ktulu > Master of Puppets is the best 20 minutes of music the band EVER recorded. The start of the album just gives me goosebumps the size of golf balls.

I actually heard S&M before Load/Reload, so for me those S&M versions are the definitive versions of the song. I would say there are a couple of songs where Michael Kamen's score didn't elevate the original, but for me that's like 2 or 3 songs max, everything else was just wondrous.

Yea, I adore everything about this album.

[Samsara]

There are multiple bands that I would love to see and hear with a symphony, but Metallica was never one of them.

How do you feel about S&M1? I would say it's one of those "I did not know I wanted this but it's kinda cool"

By 'kinda cool', you mean 'best live album of all time', right?

Hi there, did you forget about me? 

EXACTLY, Grapp. Definitive Metallica.

On another point, Stads' remark about 18,000 "'Tallica" (God, I hate that) fans singing the outro of "The Memory Remains" is interesting to me. Isn't it funny how so many bands are way more popular NOW, than they were at their arguably commercial/artistic peak? Think about it. Metallica played stadiums on TBA tour. Today, they play stadiums, including the biggest on the planet, but every single fan in attendance knows almost every song, no matter how obscure. The same can be said for Iron Maiden. Priest. It goes on and on.

So many factors to consider.

1. How "entertainment" has become a much more widespread acceptable expense by people.

2. Kids of the 70s and 80s now having way more money to spend on said entertainment, particularly growing up with heavy rock and metal bands.

3. The internet and streaming of music has enabled so many more people to absorb music.

And that's just the three off the top of my head. I mean, you walk into a Metallica show, and some random currently 12-year-old kid will know every note, every lyric from "Sweet Amber." (I know the song is on St. Anger, and have heard it, but hell, I don't recall how it goes and wouldn't know it if they started playing it.) It's just uncanny.

I get why Metallica and so many of these bands (Slayer now), just keep going. Because they keep getting bigger and bigger. As much as bands that haven't reached those statuses yet complain about streaming, for the ones who have become huge, streaming has enabled them to keep inflating their audience. Crazy times...

[Dream Team]

Been listening to a lot of Priest since Invincible Shield came out so I haven't spun this in a while. I think it holds up. One thing for sure, amid all the "it's not thrash" arguments, it's still heavier than what any of the other legacy bands are releasing like Priest, Maiden, Saxon, Accept. People forget that when the thrash tagged first started getting applied it was also about heaviness, not just speed. Metallica still has that in spades.