Metallica Plus Strings, Again

The band breaks down its new live album with the San Francisco Symphony.

LAST FALL, 20 years after the first Symphony and Metallica concerts, the thrash-metal firebrands returned for the orchestral shows heard on their new album, S&M2. Here’s how they chose the set list.

1. The Ecstasy of Gold

1966

Since 1983, Metallica’s concerts have kicked off with this Ennio Morricone instrumental. “When you hear an orchestra play that, it’s pretty awesome,” drummer Lars Ulrich says. “It tells me it’s time to harness some confidence from the energy of the universe.”

2. The Call of Ktulu 1984

Guitarist Kirk Hammett credits late bassist Cliff Burton with introducing the band to the classical song structures heard here: “When we were kids, we could only fantasize about [working with an orchestra].”

3. The Memory Remains 1997

“It’s like a ripple in a pond that keeps on getting bigger,” Hammett says of this haunting tune. “And then when the audience participates, it’s bigger than the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.”

4. No Leaf Clover 1999

This was one of two new songs Metallica wrote specifically for the original S&M shows in 1999. “Without the orchestra, it’s much more of a hard-rock song,” Hammett says. “But with an orchestra, that’s how it’s meant to sound.”

5. Iron Foundry 1927

The San Francisco Symphony’s musical director, Michael Tilson Thomas, flipped the script on Metallica and asked them to play this piece by Russian composer Alexander Mosolov. “The minute he suggested it, it just oozed rock collaboration,” Ulrich says.

6. The Unforgiven III

2008

One of S&M2’ s biggest surprises is when James Hetfield sings this Death Magnetic ballad solo, accompanied only by the symphony. “It was amazing to see the orchestration of the guitar solo,” Hammett says.

7. (Anesthesia) — Pulling Teeth 1983

The symphony’s principal bass player, Scott Pingel, paid homage to Burton with an approximation of his showstopping solo on this song. “The energy in the room was goose-bumps city,” Ulrich says.

8. One 1988

Usually, Metallica introduce this anti-war epic with gunfire sounds, but for S&M2, they led with symphony percussion — and Ulrich was so moved, he got in on the drumming. “He wasn’t supposed to do that,” Hammett says, laughing.

9. Nothing Else Matters 1991

A few years before coming up with the idea for the original S&M shows, composer

Michael Kamen contributed the orchestral arrangement for this song, on Metallica’s Black Album. ”That was a turning point,” Hammett says. “It was like, ‘Wow, we’ve made it.’ ”

10. Enter Sandman 1991

As a thank-you to Thomas for his help on S&M2, Metallica invited the musical director to play keyboards on the final song. “It was the icing on the cake,” Hammett says. “He recognizes that a lot of the songwriting techniques we use are similar to classical music. He understands the bombast, the light and the dark.”