21 years ago:
Four men took to the stage; A bass, a drumset, two guitars, a microphone. Normally, these men would be flanked by their sound equipment, a veritable powerhouse of technology designed specifically to rock you to your very core. This time was different. The same four men would take the stage this time, not only backed by their equipment, but also, aided by the fantastic San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. The show would go on to receive great critical reception, and numerous awards and accolades, including winning ‘Best Rock Instrumental Performance’ at the 2001 Grammy Awards Ceremony. 20 years later, the world, just a few months away from the pain and terror of the COVID-19 pandemic, was graced when somewhere in California, the Quartet of Deliverance was hatching a plan to bring us one of the greatest rock and metal performances of the decade. And lucky for us, they decided to ask some old friends back out onto the stage. Let’s Begin. As light crowd noise begins to fill the ears, the sounds of whistles and clapping are immediately deadened by a single bell chime at the beginning of Ennio Morricone’s The Ecstasy of Gold. A song which has bookended the beginning of the majority of Metallica’s live shows since 1983. The song conjures a feeling of epic dread at the same time as conveying notes of hope, of searching. Fitting, as the song was initially written for the Clint Eastwood film, The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly. Light snare drums tickle the air as the S.F. Symphony tears into an unapologetic rendition of this beautiful song, setting the tone for what the rest of the night holds in store for us.
As we hear the final notes ring out into the crowd, we hear an ensemble of strings pierce the quietness, aided with a beautiful echo of percussive chimes. The symphony begins playing the opening of a song that, 20 years prior, ended their previous dalliance with the Heavy metal Icons. We begin to hear the crowd erupt as we are served wholesale the rumble of Lars Ulrich’s tom-toms, sailing into The Call of Ktulu, one of Metallica's best-known instrumental tracks in their catalogue, not to mention one of the only instrumental tracks they’ve written. The S.F. Symphony’s Edwin Outwater does an amazing job of perfectly orchestrating the big band in conjunction with Metallica’s compositions, especially one as complex as Ktulu. Beloved by fans, this symphonic treatment of a classic will stand the test of time. We hear a cymbal flourish before we can regain our composure, and suddenly Lars Ulrich, James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett, and Robert Trujillo are leading this massive tour-de-force in the opening sequence of For Whom The Bell Tolls, another fan favorite. The Intro riff was written on bass guitar with light distortion, featuring a wah pedal, by the late Cliff Burton before he joined Metallica. Eventually, the tune would become a staple of the bands set lists for the next 35 years. On S&M2, It is not until 1 minute and 55 seconds into this track that we hear the first gravelly tenor notes of Metallica’s own James Hetfield, a voice that has irrevocably and unabashedly helped shape the face of heavy metal’s ever changing landscape. Papa Het bellows, “Make his fight on the hill in the early day, constant chill deep inside.” An echo of his voice pierces the quiet as all notes silence in step with each other. Then, cutting like a knife, the glissando strings of the S.F. orchestra lead us into the next line, “Shouting gun, on they run through the endless grey. On they fight, are they right, yes, but who's to say?” The rumbling of the guitars and bass backed by the symphony and Lars Ulrich’s intimidating drumwork really engulf you into the world Metallica creates during this song. A tale based on the Hemingway classic of the same name, this song is another unassailable effort, with an orchestral treatment that truly deserves accolades. The Day That Never Comes, Metallica’s track featured on 2008’s Death Magnetic album, is so lightly tickled by the symphony's instruments in the intro, because it really doesn’t need it. Metallica created such a beautiful intro composition for this song, that it barely required any semblance of overhaul. The hint of flavor you get from the symphony perfectly gels and blends with the intro. Once you get into the meat of the song, they seem to bounce and flow with the band, really sinking into the feeling of the song. James Hetfield croons the song’s chorus: “Waiting for the one, The day that never comes. When they stand up and feel the warmth, but the sunshine never comes”. You can really feel the raw emotion from this song, as the symphony layers textural nuances into the empty spaces of the song, though few and far between those moments may be, the S.F. Symphony finds them and fills the sound in unexpected ways, all of them gorgeous. The next track begins with James welcoming the bands fans and supporters to their show, and asking them to show the Symphony just how loud they can get, as they rip into The Memory Remains, the lead single from 1996’s Reload album. Aided by the backing vocals of Robert Trujillo, and the fantastic guitarwork of ‘Mr. Hammett’ (as James playfully blurts out mid-song, leading into the song’s main solo). During the outro melodic section, out of the crowd comes a huge accompaniment, as they begin to sway and sing along to the section sung initially by Marianne Faithfull, exceeding long after the band has stopped playing. I think they showed the symphony just how loud and passionate Metallica’s fans are. All in all, a fantastic rendition of an underrated cut from an underrated album. The band launches into two tracks from their latest studio release, 2016’s Hardwired…to Self-Destruct. Confusion and Moth Into Flame are two ridiculously heavy tracks that, while they didn’t require symphonic composition, definitely benefited from it. The symphony blends in with the rhythm and feeling of the songs almost too well, its such an uninvasive treatment that still serves the fervor of the songs. Periodically, you hear beautiful stings of pizzicato strings between the volley of percussive notes driven by Metallica. From beginning to end, these two songs fit perfectly within S&M2’s catalogue of recompositions. Opening stunted notes of Metallica’s The Outlaw Torn, from 1996’s ‘Load’, gets beefed up with the help of rolling symphonic elements, in time with the bands flawless ability to hold down the rhythm section of, well, anything. It would also be remiss not to mention Kirk Hammett’s lead guitar playing in this track. It comes together with the symphony so well that you cant tell where S.F. Symphony ends, and Metallica begins, and vice versa. In the final three minutes of the song, we hear light pentatonic swells, culminating in a beautifully bluesy solo section. James’ voice is really showcased during this song, and the next, No Leaf Clover. No Leaf Clover was written for the bands initial foray into the orchestral metal world, the aforementioned S&M from 1999. Few bands were willing to go to the places Metallica would tread. For Metallica, the worlds biggest metal act of the time, this was common practice. Setting the bar and pioneering unconventional acts in the name of metal and defiance. Not conforming to one sound, one style, one feeling, but exploring the unknown. As Lars Ulrich would succinctly state to Spin.com last month in regards to what it was like to make S&M2, “[sic] you can’t help yourself – you have to fuckin’ look at it and turn over those rocks and see what happens.” Truer words were never spoken in terms of progressing your music to the pinnacle and exploring new territories. The chorus of No Leaf Clover is as haunting and foreboding as it is heavy. It’s a beautiful composition, played as it was in 1999, just as powerful, if not, more so the second time around. When you hear James sing “Then it comes to be that the soothing light, At the end of your tunnel, Is just a freight train coming your way” the calmness of his voice and the tone of the words brings a sense of impending dread, but Papa Het knows what he is talking about. It’s a strange dichotomy, but a great choice in terms of recording and composition. The vocal tone and the lyrical composition convey different parts of the story, coalescing in the middle to tell an even bigger tale. Halo On Fire is another newer track, off of Hardwired…to Self-Destruct. Weighing in at an impressive 8 minutes and 17 seconds, its not the longest track on S&M2, but it perfectly wraps up the first half of the show. Its vigor and rawness lends a nice landscape to build upon for the San Francisco Symphony’s orchestral powerhouse of talent. The track starts with open hi-hats in classic rock and roll count-in fashion. The symphony joins the lead guitar in a flurry of notes, backed by Lars Ulrich’s rolling snare. The lead guitar calms, the drums settle into a steady beat, stung by light horns, trumpets, and swelling, roiling strings. Picking up and slowing down, teasing you with buttery smooth guitar passages. The symphony creates an atmosphere in this song that already existed, but layers it up and really envelops you as you listen. That, behind James Hetfield’s commanding growl, make for an exciting piece of music. As the symphony swells and the band descends into what is commonly referred to as a trainwreck, featuring the unmistakable cymbal flourishes Lars is famous four the music silences and Papa Het asks us to take a break, and enjoy the intermission.
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Written by Steve Knudsen
credit to Spin.com for the Lars Ulrich quote [ https://www.spin.com/2020/08/lars-ulrich-says-sm2-makes-it-fun-to-be-in-metallica/ ]
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