Metallica, S.F. Symphony again strike gold on ‘S&M2’
There was never a moment of doubt that we were watching history being made on Sept. 6, 2019, as Metallica and the San Francisco Symphony once again combined forces — after a 20-year wait — on opening night of the Golden State Warriors’ new Chase Center in San Francisco.
It was dubbed “S&M2,” the follow-up to the first “S&M” collaboration in 1999 between these two beloved music institutions at the Berkeley Community Theatre, and it was truly something to behold. The production, repeated at Chase on Sept. 8, featured a cast of nearly 80 musicians onstage — the four mighty men of Metallica as well as a 75-piece symphony orchestra led (mostly) by conductor Edwin Outwater.
It’s of little surprise that the powers that be decided to release an accompanying concert album — also dubbed “S&M2” — given the success of the first “S&M” offering, which sold more than 8 million copies worldwide.
And it’s also unsurprising, especially for anyone who attended those legendary shows at Chase last year, that this new album is another major winner.
Due out on Friday in a variety of formats, “S&M2” does a fantastic job capturing what it felt like to be in the audience during the opening moments of the show, as Metallica made its way through some 16,000 roaring fans to its traditional entrance music of Ennio Morricone’s “The Ecstasy of Gold.” The band members then joined the symphony onstage to kick off the show with “The Call of Ktulu.”
This classic off the “Ride the Lightning” album, which earned a Grammy Award for best rock instrumental performance from the first “S&M,” is 9½ minutes of pure thunder this time around, as Kirk Hammett quickly makes a case for why he deserves to be ranked as one of the top 10 rock guitarists on the planet.
“Welcome friends to ‘S&M2’ — a wonderful adventure. We are glad you are here to witness history with us,” vocalist James Hetfield says to the crowd, before thanking conductor Outwater and the symphony “for taking the risk to play with us.”
Overall, the first disc of the set proves the stronger of the two, as the band feeds off the unbelievable early energy of the crowd and continues to “Ride the Lightning” through “For Whom the Bell Tolls” before somehow cranking it up even higher with “The Day That Never Comes,” which made splendid use of the symphony’s 41-piece string section.
There’s nary a weak moment in the first 65 minutes, as the audience enthusiasm just keeps escalating (listen to the shoutalong in “The Memory Remains”) while the synergy between the band and the symphony grows bigger and bolder. Hammett continues to lay down those epic leads, saving his best for the first-set closer “Halo on Fire.”
But the whole band sounds terrific, from Hetfield’s forceful yet nuanced vocals and expert rhythm guitar to Robert Trujillo’s brawny bass work. And drummer Lars Ulrich? He’s a Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, the architect behind the biggest metal band of all time — why does it always feel like he’s so underrated? On “S&M2,” his driving rhythms serve as the motor that makes the whole thing go, acting as the bridge between the symphony and his band.
The second disc isn’t as cohesive as the first, largely due in part to it being more adventuresome. It begins with a short welcome from Ulrich (from the second night at Chase), then goes into a segment with legendary symphony conductor Michael Tilson Thomas — kicking off his final season with the symphony at the time — who introduces the piece that the symphony (sans Metallica) would use to open the second set.
“This piece that we are playing you now is one of those moments in which classical music and heavy metal sort of fused and combined,” he says.
With that, Tilson Thomas leads the symphony in a wild ride through Prokofiev’s “Scythian Suite, Op. 20 II: The Enemy God and the Dance of the Dark Spirits.” Metallica then joins back in, following closely along as the acclaimed conductor leads the master musicians through Alexander Mosolov’s futurist “Iron Foundry.”
The set continues to zig and zag from there, moving into a tender version of “The Unforgiven III” that features Hetfield
— minus the other Metallica members — performing with the symphony.
There are plenty of interesting moments during the first half of Disc 2, such as when musicians pay tribute to Metallica’s original bassist — the late, great Cliff Burton — with a version of the instrumental “(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth” featuring the symphony’s principal bassist, Scott Pingel.
The second disc doesn’t quite gel — at least not in the way it does during the entire first disc — until the band launches into greatest-hits territory, beginning with “Wherever I May Roam” and continuing through “One,” “Master of Puppets” and “Nothing Else Matters” before coming to a close with, of course, “Enter Sandman.”
What a great memento of such a monumental night in Bay Area live music history.
If you own the first awesome “S&M,” do you need this followup as well? Absolutely.
“S&M2” works as an excellent companion piece to the earlier release, featuring nine different selections — including three from the band’s most recent album, “Hardwired … to Self Destruct” — and showcasing a legendary rock band at a very different, though no less satisfying, point in its musical career.
Can’t wait to watch the Bluray as well. Find information about the various “S&M2” audio/visual formats ($17 to $300) at metallica.com.