S&M (an abbreviation of Symphony and Metallica) is a live album by American heavy metal band Metallica, accompanied by the San Francisco Symphony conducted by Michael Kamen. It was recorded on April 21 and 22, 1999, at The 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, composed by Michael Kamen, who also conducted the orchestra during the concert. According to James Hetfield, the idea to combine heavy metal with an epic classical approach was Cliff Burton's idea.All Metallica – Symphony of Destruction – James Hetfield: 1999 His love of classical music, especially of Johann Sebastian Bach, can be found in many instrumental parts and melodic characteristics in Metallica's songwriting, including songs from Ride the Lightning (1984) and Master of Puppets (1986).Michael Custodis, chapter Film Music in Concert: Metallica mit Michael Kamen, in: Klassische Musik heute. Eine Spurensuche in der Rockmusik, Bielefeld transcript-Verlag 2009 Kamen, who arranged and conducted the orchestral background tracks for "Nothing Else Matters", met the band at the 1992 Grammy award show for the first time, and after hearing the "Elevator version" of the song, suggested the band perform with a whole orchestra; the band, however, did not take him up on the offer until seven years later.Classic Album: Metallica
The approach of mixing a rock band with an orchestra had been taken a number of times before, including by the Moody Blues' Days of Future Passed in 1967, Deep Purple's Concerto for Group and Orchestra in 1969, and Rage's Lingua Mortis in 1996 - an album in collaboration with the Lingua Mortis Orchestra.
In addition to songs from previous albums spanning Ride the Lightning through Reload, there are two new compositions: "No Leaf Clover" and "−Human". "The Ecstasy of Gold" by Ennio Morricone, Metallica's entrance music, was played live by the orchestra. "No Leaf Clover" has since been performed by Metallica in concert, using a recording of the orchestral prelude.
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 logo.
Critical reception
Rolling Stone (January 20, 2000, pp. 57–59) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...create the most crowded, ceiling-rattling basement rec room in rock....[in its] sheer awesomeness...the live performance succeeded....the monster numbers benefit from supersizing. The effect is more 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 band's '90s output." S&M was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. NME ranked the album 48th on its list of 50 Greatest Live Albums. Metal Hammer magazine named it one of the 20 best metal albums of 1999.
Accolades Year Winner Category1999S&MMetal Edge Readers' Choice Award for Compilation Album of the YearMetal Edge, July 20002000S&M ARTIST Direct Online Music Award for Favorite Turn-It-Up-Loud CD2000S&MCalifornia Music Award for Arthur M. Sohcot Award for Excellence 2001 "The Call of Ktulu" Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance
Commercial performance S&M sold 300,000 units in the first week of release, and went on to sell a total of 2.5 million copies in the US. the album had been certified 5× platinum.
20th anniversary
After Kamen's death in 2003, Metallica did not revisit the S&M concept until 2019, when they performed with the San Francisco Symphony, headed by Michael Tilson Thomas, at the Chase Center on the 6th and the 8th of September. The shows included many songs from the original S&M performances, as well as renditions of songs that had been released since then. In August, it was announced that a film of the concerts would receive a limited worldwide theatrical release. The concert was given a limited release and has grossed over 5.5 million dollars. In August 2020, the band released the two 20th anniversary performances as an album, video, and box set entitled S&M2.
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 (also: 2.0 band+orchestra, 2.0 band-only and 2.0 orchestra-only), 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 – rhythm guitar, lead vocals, electro-acoustic guitar in "Nothing Else Matters"; first solo in "Master of Puppets", solo on "Nothing Else Matters", outro solo in "The Outlaw Torn" Kirk Hammett – lead guitar, backing vocals, electric sitar on "Wherever I May Roam" Jason Newsted – bass guitar, backing vocals Lars Ulrich – drums
Video production Wayne Isham – video director Bart Lipton – video producer Dana Marshall – video producer
San Francisco Symphony
Michael Kamen – orchestral arrangements and conducting 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, Barbara Bogatin, Jill Rachuy Brindel, David Goldblatt – cello 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, Yasuko Hattori, Melissa Kleinbart, 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 Catherine Payne – piccolo Douglas Rioth – harp Robin Sutherland – keyboards Peter Wahrhaftig – tuba
Technical personnel
Bob Rock – producer, engineer James Hetfield – producer Lars Ulrich – producer Michael Kamen – producer, orchestration, arranger, liner notes, music director Randy Staub – engineer, mixing Steve McLaughlin – engineer, recording George Marino – mastering Billy Bowers – digital editing Paul DeCarli – digital editing Mike Gillies – digital editing Darren Grahn – digital editing, assistant John Vrtacic – technical assistance James Brett – assistant, music preparation Billy Konkel – assistant Leff Lefferts – assistant Kent Matcke – assistant Geoffrey Alexander – orchestration Ted Allen – orchestration Pete Anthony – orchestration Chris Wagner – orchestration Bruce Babcock - orchestration Chris Boardman – orchestration Bob Elhai – orchestration Blake Neely – orchestration, music copyist, music preparation Jonathan Sacks – orchestration Brad Warnaar – orchestration Michael Price – music preparation Vic Fraser – music copyist Andie Airfix – design Anton Corbijn – photography
Chart positions
Weekly charts +Weekly chart performance for S&MChart (1999–2000)PeakpositionDanish Albums (Hitlisten)3Europe (European Top 100 Albums)2German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)1Irish Albums (IRMA)42 Italian Albums (Musica e Dischi) Set "Tipo" on "Album". Then, in the "Artista" field, search "Metallica".26Mexican Albums (Top 100 Mexico)55 Portuguese Albums (AFP)Music & Media, vol. 16, issue 50; December 11, 1999.1Spanish Albums (AFYVE)6 Chart (2020)Peakposition
Year-end charts +1999 year-end chart performance for S&MChart (1999)Position Australian Albums (ARIA)42 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)58 Danish Albums (Hitlisten)96 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)54 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)89 +2000 year-end chart performance for S&MChart (2000)Position Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)18 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)29 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)62Canadian Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)112 Danish Albums (Hitlisten) 50 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)23 European Albums (Music & Media)23 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)8South Korean International Albums (MIAK)32 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)17 US Billboard 20030 +2020 year-end chart performance for S&MChart (2020)Position Polish Albums (ZPAV)27 +2021 year-end chart performance for S&MChart (2021)Position Polish Albums (ZPAV)36
Singles Year Single Chart Position 1999 "No Leaf Clover" Mainstream Rock Tracks 1 Modern Rock Tracks 18 2000 Billboard Hot 100 74
Certifications and sales
References
External links