Metallica - S&M - VHS
By Philip Whitehouse
Oh dear... it's all started going wrong, hasn't it? Many Metallica fans, myself amongst them, became very concerned when the news emerged that Metallica were going to be recording a live show with a full symphony orchestra for a new double-album, video and DVD... had Metallica's alternative-rock pretentions of late finally caught up with them?
Well, I was particularly relieved to discover that the result was less of a pretentious ego-trip of cacophonous sonic clash, but rather an entertaining and inventive re-visit of classic songs. So, after wearing the CD out, I went and purchased the video too.
While it's a worthy effort, the S&M video suffers compared to the likes of Cunning Stunts due to the necessarily more restrained performance of the members - I mean, if James and Kirk had been running around the Berkely Community Theatre in the same manner that they cavorted around Fort Worth, we would surely have been granted with the immortal sight of one of them tripping and becoming lodged in a tuba. Still, lack of amusing prat-falls notwithstanding, the video is still an entertaining one if only for the sheer spectacle of Kirk Hammett's mullet (matched only by conductor Michael Kamen's), and the amusing sight of Metallica fans in suits.
The direction is professional enough, capturing all the major aspects of the performance and also allowing us to admire the spectacular visuals generated by the video screen at the back of the hall. Out of the two videos I own though, I personally would rather watch Cunning Stunts than this one.
7/10
By Philip Whitehouse
Oh dear... it's all started going wrong, hasn't it? Many Metallica fans, myself amongst them, became very concerned when the news emerged that Metallica were going to be recording a live show with a full symphony orchestra for a new double-album, video and DVD... had Metallica's alternative-rock pretentions of late finally caught up with them?
Well, I was particularly relieved to discover that the result was less of a pretentious ego-trip of cacophonous sonic clash, but rather an entertaining and inventive re-visit of classic songs. So, after wearing the CD out, I went and purchased the video too.
While it's a worthy effort, the S&M video suffers compared to the likes of Cunning Stunts due to the necessarily more restrained performance of the members - I mean, if James and Kirk had been running around the Berkely Community Theatre in the same manner that they cavorted around Fort Worth, we would surely have been granted with the immortal sight of one of them tripping and becoming lodged in a tuba. Still, lack of amusing prat-falls notwithstanding, the video is still an entertaining one if only for the sheer spectacle of Kirk Hammett's mullet (matched only by conductor Michael Kamen's), and the amusing sight of Metallica fans in suits.
The direction is professional enough, capturing all the major aspects of the performance and also allowing us to admire the spectacular visuals generated by the video screen at the back of the hall. Out of the two videos I own though, I personally would rather watch Cunning Stunts than this one.
7/10