S&M

S&M
Live album by Metallica and the San Francisco Symphony
Released	November 23, 1999 (1999-11-23)
Recorded	April 21–22, 1999 at Berkeley Community Theatre, Berkeley, California
Genre	Heavy metal, symphonic metal, thrash metal
Length	133:02
Label	Elektra, Vertigo
Producer	Bob Rock, James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Michael Kamen
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Rolling Stone link Q Spin Entertainment Weekly B
Metallica and the San Francisco Symphony chronology
Live Shit: Binge & Purge (1993) S & M (1999) Orgullo, Pasión y Gloria: Tres Noches en la Ciudad de México (2009)

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2009)

S&M is a live album by the American heavy metal band Metallica, with the San Francisco Symphony conducted by Michael Kamen, recorded on April 21-22, 1999 at Berkeley Community Theatre. This is the final Metallica album to feature bassist Jason Newsted.

Album information

S&M contains performances of Metallica songs with additional symphonic accompaniment, which was composed by Michael Kamen, who also conducted the orchestra during the concert. The idea to combine heavy metal with an epic classical approach, as James Hetfield has stated repeatedly^[1][2], was an idea of Cliff Burton. Burton’s love of classical music, especially of Johann Sebastian Bach, can be traced back to many instrumental parts and melodic characteristics in Metallica’s songwriting including songs from Ride The Lightning and Master of Puppets.^[3].

In addition to songs from previous albums spanning Ride the Lightning through ReLoad, there are two new compositions: "No Leaf Clover" and "−Human", as well as a symphonic cover of "The Ecstasy of Gold" by Ennio Morricone. "No Leaf Clover" has since been performed by Metallica in concert, using a recording of the orchestral prelude. "−Human", credited as "Minus Human", was included in the soundtrack of the Electronic Arts game NHL 99, but has never subsequently been performed.

Several other songs, including "Wasting My Hate", "The Unforgiven", and "Fade to Black", were considered for selection, but were eventually dropped as it was decided by both Metallica and Kamen that they weren't well suited for symphonic accompaniment.

Changes were made to the lyrics of some songs, most notably the removal of the second verse and chorus of "The Thing That Should Not Be" and playing the third verse in its place.

The "S" in the stylized "S&M" on the album cover is a backwards treble clef, while the "M" is taken from Metallica's iconic logo. "S&M", which ostensibly stands for "Symphony & Metallica" is a play on words referring to Sadomasochism, which is often abbreviated as "S&M".

Reception

Professional reviews:

• Rolling Stone (January 20, 2000, pp. 57–59) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...creates the most crowded, ceiling-rattling basement rec room in rock....[in its] sheer awesomeness...the performance succeeds....the monster numbers benefit from supersizing. The effect is...one of timelessness."

• Spin (February 2000, pp. 114–5) - 8 out of 10 - "...makes their tempo and texture dynamics...into a topic in and off of itself, a deep evocation of bad-voodoo creeping willies culminating in 'One' and 'Enter Sandman'....Freed from ritualized superhuman extremism, it builds a soundtrack to everyday life."

• Entertainment Weekly (December 3, 1999, p. 102) - "Buttressed by grim strings, creaky horns, and thundering timpani, staples...creep with fearful new dimension, like an old Posada print come to life." - Rating: B

• Q (February 2000, p. 86) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...another just about forgivable flirtation with Spinal Tap-esque lunacy....a fine hit-heavy live LP with bolted-on bombast from the S.F. Symphony....Michael Kamen's scores swoop and soar with impressive portent throughout."

• CMJ (December 20, 1999, p. 24) - "...stunning....orchestral renditions of hits from the bands '90s output."

Track listing

Video release

Metallica also filmed and released the concert in DVD and VHS with direction by Wayne Isham. The VHS set has only the concert video, while the double DVD set has 5.1 sound, 41 minute documentary about the concert, and two "No Leaf Clover" music videos: "Slice & Dice" version and the "Maestro Edit." The DVD also contains four songs with multi-angles where each band member can be viewed individually - "Of Wolf and Man," "Fuel," "Sad but True," and "Enter Sandman."

Personnel

Metallica

• James Hetfield – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
• Kirk Hammett – lead guitar
• Jason Newsted – bass, backing vocals
• Lars Ulrich – drums, percussion

San Francisco Symphony

• Michael Kamen – conductor
• John Kieser - general manager
• Eric Achen, Joshua Garrett, Douglas Hull, Jonathan Ring, Bruce Roberts, Robert Ward, James Smelser – French horns
• David Teie principal
• Richard Andaya, Barara Bogatin, Jill Rachuy Brindel, David Goldblatt – celli
• Jeremy Constant concertmaster
• Daniel Banner, Enrique Bocedi, Paul Brancato, Catherine Down, Bruce Freifeld, Connie Gantsweg, Michael Gerling, Frances Jeffrey, Robert Zelnick, Yukiko Kamei, Naomi Kazama, Kum Mo Kim,Gurthanthaclops Yasuko Hattori, Melissa Kleinbart, Chumming Mo Kobialka, Daniel Kobialka, Rudolph Kremer, Kelly Leon-Pearce, Diane Nicholeris, Florin Parvulescu, Anne Pinsker, Victor Romasevich, Philip Santos, Peter Shelton – violins
• Chris Bogios, Glenn Fischthal, Andrew McCandless, Craig Morris – trumpets
• Stephen Paulson, Steven Dibner, Rob Weir – bassoons
• Steven Braunstein – contrabassoon
• Charles Chandler, Laurence Epstein, Chris Gilbert, William Ritchen, Stephen Tramontozzi, S. Mark Wright – double basses
• Anthony J. Cirone, Ray Froelich, Thomas Hemphill, Artie Storch – percussion
• Don Ehrlich, Gina Feinauer, David Gaudry, Christina King, Yun Jie Liu, Seth Mausner, Nanci Severance, Geraldine Walther – violas
• John Engelkes, Tom Hornig, Paul Welcomer, Jeff Budin – trombones
• Julie Ann Giacobassi, Eugene Izotov, Pamela Smith – oboes
• Russ deLuna – English horn
• David Herbert – timpani
• Linda Lukas, Tim Day, Robin McKee – flutes
• David Neuman, Carey Bell, Luis Beez – clarinets
• Ben Friemuth – bass clarinet
• Catherine Payne – piccolo
• Douglas Rioth – harp
• Robin Sutherland – keyboards
• Jeffrey Anderson – tuba

Production

• Bob Rock, James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Michael Kamen – producers
• Bob Rock, Randy Staub – engineers
• Randy Staub, Ovidiu Nistor – mixing
• George Marino – mastering
• Billy Bowers, Paul DeCarli, Mike Gillies, Darren Grahn – digital editing
• Stephen McLaughlin – recording
• John Vrtacic – technical assistance
• James Brett, Darren Grahn, Billy Konkel, Leff Lefferts, Kent Matcke, Stephen McLaughlin – assistants
• Geoffrey Alexander, Ted Allen, Pete Anthony,Chris Wagner, Bruce Babcock, Chris Boardman, Bob Elhai, Michael Kamen, Blake Neely, Jonathan Sacks, Brad Warnaar – orchestration
• Michael Kamen - music director
• James Brett, Blake Neely, Michael Price – music preparation
• Vic Fraser, Blake Neely – music copyist
• Michael Kamen – arranger
• Andie Airfix – design
• Anton Corbijn – photography
• Michael Kamen – liner notes

Video production

• Wayne Isham – Video director
• Bart Lipton – Video producer
• Dana Marshall – Video producer

Chart performance

Album

Singles

References

1. ^ http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/interviews/metallica_james_hetfield_talks_on_cliff_burtons_influence.html
2. ^ http://www.allmetallica.com/info/interviews/destruction.php
3. ^ Michael Custodis, chapter Film Music in Concert: Metallica mit Michael Kamen, in: Klassische Musik heute. Eine Spurensuche in der Rockmusik, Bielefeld transcript-Verlag 2009 ISBN 978-3-8376-1249-3

Certification

Awards