Published on Jun 7, 2003
Metallica’s
S&M opens with a piece from the soundtrack to
The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, a title that summarizes the
rest of the album. Unfortunately for Metallica fans, there’s a much
higher proportion of bad and ugly (and not the good kind of ugly)
here than of good.
Michael Kamen, best known as a film composer, was handed a
daunting task: add an orchestra part to the music of Metallica. In
the liner notes, Mr. Kamen claims to “live in both worlds,” which
would seem to make him the perfect choice. His arrangements,
however, sound like he lives in the film- and pop-music worlds
rather than the metal world that Metallica helped form.
For example, on almost every track, the orchestra sounds like
either a bad pop keyboardist, or a lead guitarist who refuses to
step back from the spotlight and mindlessly noodles through every
second of a song. Metallica has never had a keyboardist, and they
most certainly have never had a mindlessly-noodling lead
guitarist…so why should they start now? This noodling ruins every
track taken from
Ride the Lightning,
Master of Puppets,
…And Justice for All, and
Metallica. Take “The Call of Ktulu”…the strings are
noodling from the outset; the brass are only slightly more
understated. At around 3:22, the strings are in the midst of their
‘solo’, and fire off a lick so lame that it makes Joe Stump sound
like a genius of melodic invention. The only redemption in this
track comes at 3:27 as the strings rip away at a climactic
shred-line doubled in thirds. This is followed by Hammett’s guitar
solo, loosely based on his original solo from the studio recording.
Not his best solo, but Kamen should really sit down and figure out
why it sounds so much more ‘right’ than any of his string or brass
noodling.
Another example of Kamen’s complete lack of understanding of
Metallica’s world is the way he arranges the heavy metal ‘power
chord’ for the orchestra. Kamen doesn’t seem to understand that the
power chord is more than just a collection of notes but actually a
sound. Kamen sets these power chords as if the orchestra is just
playing the same notes that are being played on the guitars. The
orchestra isn’t running through distortion, though, and it robs the
power from the power chord. (For an example of orchestral power
chords, check out Igor Stravinsky’s
The Rite of Spring.) The opening of “Master of Puppets” is
supposed to be crushing and powerful, not so with string noodling
and unpowerful brass chords that can’t keep up. The only decent
moment for the orchestra and Metallica playing together in this
track comes during an inspired addition of strings to Hammett’s
guitar solo at around 6:07. It’s dark, angry, and aggressive.
Everything the orchestra is capable of, but falls short of
everywhere else in the track. The opening of “No Leaf Clover”
sounds more like “Pirates” by Emerson, Lake, and Palmer than
anything Metallica would have ever written.
There are also a number of missed opportunities, some of which
are so obvious even relative newcomers to Metallica’s music have to
scratch their heads in disbelief. Opening “For Whom the Bell Tolls”
without bells? You’ve got to be kidding me. We already heard the
orchestral chimes in the opening of “The Thing That Should Not Be,”
so we know the SF Symphony didn’t forget to bring them.
Kamen could have even asked Metallica to stop playing in a few
places. Imagine how much better “Master of Puppets” would have been
if the band had dropped out for the slow section. Hammett and
Hetfield could have come back in for the harmonized melody right
before Hetfield’s solo. Or not…even better would be to let the
band sit out during the entire slower section, and crushing the
audience with the return of the fast, aggressive, and heavy section
that sets off Hammett’s solo. Since Kamen seems unwilling to allow
the orchestra to get ugly and aggressive (even they are perfectly
capable of it), the least he could do is allow them to contribute
and shine in the more subdued and sweeter sections. The only track
where he comes close is “Nothing Else Matters.” The softer sections
of “Master of Puppets,” “One,” and “Battery” (the opening) are
disappointing, at best.
There are moments of brilliance on this album, though. I’ve
already mentioned the brief flashes during “Master of Puppets”, and
“The Call of Ktulu.” “Nothing Else Matters” really is quite nicely
done. And the opening of “The Thing That Should Not Be” is fairly
dark and eerie, setting up the song quite well. The orchestra
finally comes close to playing a real power chord in the
introduction to “Outlaw Torn.” The problem is, though, that all
these moments are too few and too far between.
As someone who grew up playing Metallica songs in a garage band
and then went on to become a classical composer, most of this album
offends me, both as a Metallica fan and as a classical composer.
Knowing what potential the orchestra has for matching the power of
the heaviest of metal, I had such high hopes for this album.
Metallica’s
S&M? The code word for me is “eject.”