First, let me start off that S&M is an awesome album, and is recommended you get it ASAP. If you have it, good on ya, if you dont, go to your local CD retalier and buy a hard copy. This is my first review, so let me off easy, but I just got this album, and I love it already. If you want some background information, look on another review, because, im too lazy to waste good space about background info regarding this Album, with yes, 2 discs, and, to tell you the truth, i dont know much about the background info, so, Im gonna cut straight to the music.
Song Info: Disc 1: 1. The Ecstasy of Gold: This song fades in to a massive crowd screaming their heads off, and at about 35 seconds, a bell goes, and symphony comes in, the second bell sounds, more symphony, 3rd bell, and the drum tapping comes in place, and the crowd letting of some small whistles here and there, 4th bell, the symphony starts to pick up, with a nice soothing tone, getting louder, 5th bell, the drums pick up, symphony gets louder, and you can start to hear the guitar doing its part. It sounds really good, but Media Player seems to not want to play any more, so, thats what I am going to have to leave you with.
2. The Call of the Ktulu: Truly and inspiration, and possibly the second best track on this CD. Opens up with that nice riff, and the symphony really toned down, however starting to pick up. At the 20 second mark, the symphony and guitar are perfect. Once the guitar starts to pick up, the crowd gives some nice oohs and aahs, and the symphony is giving a nice soothing sound. When the drums start to come in, alot cheers, and the symphony imitating the drum beats, then a creepy like symphony comes up at about the 1 and a half minute mark. When the guitars get really into it, the symphony and guitar work is brilliant. I cant believe how good this got together. At about the 2:19 mark, it gets really good, everybody giving all they can give. Truly a track you have to listen to.
3. Master of Puppets: The symphony do the opening dun dun duhhn bit, then it breaks into the distorted riff with the guitar, the crowd going at it, then james screams a good Ooh Yeah! The symphony does some great solo like work, and the guitar goes good together. James began to get the crowd to sing some parts of the verses, and sang the song in a little bit of a different tone. The crowd really belted out the Your Crawling Faster, Obey your Master, Your life burns faster, Obey your master, master! Really a good track to listen to. Then at about the 3:30 mark, the nice soft bit comes up, and the symphony really shines. Up next the solo, which is truly awe inspiring. One of the best songs on this track.
4. Of Wolf and Man: Croud Cheering, 1 2 3 4, the symphony picks up, and the nice guitar riff, the symphony doing some evil like thing. Not too much info to go onto this track, but, if you like this song, and evil sounding symphony, this one's for you.
5. The thing that should not be: Starts off with just the symphony, and the drums starting to slowly, and i mean, slowly, pick up, getting faster, then the awesome guitar riff. The symphony goes well with this, but, this isnt one of my favourite songs, so that is why I gave it a 3. It gets kind of boring when listening to it.
6. Fuel: Gimme Fuel, Gimme Fire, Gimme that which I desire, ooh! The symphony picks in, and a quick ooh from the crowd, and a nice car revving sounds made with the guitar. The song seems to be sung faster than on ReLoad, but, nevertheless, its still awesome. I love this song, and will do so in the future. The symphony gives it that extra kick.
7. The Memory Remains: Here we are. My favourite met song, but not my favourite on the album. Starts off with the familiour Fortune Fame, Mirror Vain, Gone Insane, then the crowd screaming 'But the Memory Remains'. The song seems to be song on a lower note than on ReLoad, and the symphony doesnt do too much, but at times really shines through.
8. No Leaf Clover: This was the first out of 2 songs which was never previously released. Starts off with a marching kind of sound, the symphony getting high then low, high then low, drums starting to come in. After that, it comes in ballad like. Then, in one hit, really strong, thrasy type guitar riffs, and vocal work is some of the best ever. I really do like this song.
9. Hero of the Day: A Quiet crowd, then drum beats, symphony really shines, the guitar playing in the background, but it is really shoved out the way by the symphony. That is the main reason this song got a lowish mark.
10. Devil's Dance: Drums come in, guitar comes in, symphony comes in, and it sounds good. Again, the symphony starts to over power the guitar, and it is hard to hear the guitar. And I dont really like this song, and that gives it a low mark.
Disc 2: 1. Nothing Else Matters: When you see my ratings above, you might be thinking, 6/5, is that a typo? But, no, it isnt. This is by far the best song on the album. The guitar works well with the symphony, and I love this song every time I hear it. The lyrics are sung very well, the symphony sounding awesome, and guitar doing its part too. I love this every time I see this.
2. Until it Sleeps: The guitar goes well with the symphony, good drum work, good lyrics, alot of passion in this song. This is one of the ones I reccomend you listen to.
3. For Whom the Bell Tolls: The guitar goes well, the symphony just throwing the guitar sounds to the audience, and them screaming like hell. An awesome song, and a few oy oy oy's by James. This is an awesome song, and I love it every time I hear it.
4. - Human: The second song on this album which had been released for the first time ever. I dont think the crowd knew what the hell was going on, but they were going to love what was to come. The symphony starts it off, drums coming in, and the crowd shouting out, then an awesome guitar riff, this sounds awesome, and the distortion really pushes through, and the symphony making it sound really nice. Another good song for you to listen to.
5. Wherever I may Roam: The symphony and guitar mix well here, the symphony giving a sad sound, then gets high on the drums, and the guitar really doing its job. Good to listen to, and its another song I reccomend.
6. The Outlaw Torn: 10 minutes of Metallica. And believe me, its 10 minutes of your life well wasted. Starts off with drums, and the guitar riff, no symphony yet. Yet, being the key word. At about 0:25 second, the symphony slowly crawls in, and it really mixes well with the guitar riffs of this song. If this song was edible, I would eat it, and say it was one of the best meals of my life.
7. Sad But True: The awesome guitar riff, very loud, and the symphony loud too, probably the loudest of all songs on this album. The drums come in, and this song is just awesome. The croud singing out hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey. Then it quietens down again, then comes out blaring. This song is awesome to listen to if you are feeling a bit low. You will love this song for many years to come.
8. One: Sad this couldnt be number 1 in my ratings, but number 2 in ratings is still good, true? 5.5 out of 5.0 is a good rating, right? Loud drum beats start it off, then machine gun kind of sounds fill the air for a good 30 seconds, with the symphony picking up a Halo 2 like sound. Sounds really tragic, but this song is so awesome, it kicks me where the sun dont shine if i dont listen to it once a day. The guitar comes in, making it sound even better. This is one of the number 1 songs you should listen to on this album.
9. Enter Sandman: The let down of this album. It was horrible. The Symphony played so loud you couldnt hear the guitar riff what so ever. The vocals were a bit shaky. I was seriously disappointed with this song, not to mention there was no distortion in the song.
10. Battery: The ending song of this Album. for the 7 and a half minutes, it is really worth listening to it all. The symphony start out on this kind of Mexican sound, then when you least expect it, the guitar riff comes out. So you can expect it, it comes in at exactly 1:12. And it gets better. A few screams by James, symphony going really well with the drums, they seem to mix well together. The only reason this didnt get the full 5 marks, was because James dropped the note in some parts a bit too low, and it kind of messed up the song. Other than that, it was good. In conculusion, get this album. Its well worth the money, so, get it as fast as you can. Metallica Rule! For my first review, was this good?
