Metallica 30th Anniversary Show Part 4

Metallica 30th Anniversary Show Part 1
Metallica 30th Anniversary Show Part 2
Metallica 30th Anniversary Show Part 3

The 4th and final Metallica 30th anniversary set was the big one. I mean all the shows looked awesome and I'd have loved to have been there for any or all of them, but how about "Paranoid" and "Iron Man" with Ozzy Osbourne and Geezer Butler? Not enough? How about Dave Mustaine and Jason Newsted. They also played 2 tracks (Dirty Window, Frantic) from St. Anger with Bob Rock. Most people would find this a negative, but honestly I like those 2 tracks (and Some Kind of Monster... plus my boat is named Sweet Amber) from that universally panned CD.

The band's setlist was as follows:

01. Orion
02. Through the Never
03. Ride the Lightning
04. The God That Failed
05. Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
06. Rebel Of Babylon (previously unreleased song from "Death Magnetic" sessions)
07. Blackened
08. Dirty Window (with Bob Rock)
09. Frantic (with Bob Rock)
10. Sabbra Cadabra (BLACK SABBATH cover) (with Geezer Butler)
11. Iron Man (BLACK SABBATH cover) (with Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler)
12. Paranoid (BLACK SABBATH cover) (with Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler)
13. King Nothing (w/ Jason Newsted)
14. Whiplash (w/ Jason Newsted)
15. Motorbreath (w/ Hugh Tanner)
16. Phantom Lord (w/ Dave Mustaine)
17. Jump In The Fire (w/ Dave Mustaine)
18. Metal Militia (w/ Dave Mustaine)
19. Hit The Lights (w/ Lloyd Grant, Dave Mustaine, Ron McGovney)
20. Seek & Destroy (w/ Jason Newsted, Dave Mustaine, Lloyd Grant, Ron McGovney, Hugh Tanner, Mark Osegueda, and THE SOUL REBELS)

Metallica 30th Anniversary Show Part 3

Metallica 30th Anniversary Show Part 1
Metallica 30th Anniversary Show Part 2

The highlights of the 3rd show (of 4) is online now and it's absolutely as rockin as the first 2 shows. Check out the guests kicking ass on stage: Rob Halford, Glenn Danzig, Jerry Cantrell, Pepper Keenan, Gary Rossington and former bassist Jason Newsted. I'm really starting to get jealous of the lucky bastards that got to go to these shows. Please make this a DVD box set Metallica!

The band's setlist was as follows:

01. Suicide & Redemption
02. Master Of Puppets
03. ...And Justice For All
04. Of Wolf & Man
05. Fade To Black
06. The Thing That Should Not Be
07. I Disappear
08. The Outlaw Torn
09. Hell And Back (previously unreleased song from "Death Magnetic" sessions)
10. Blitzkrieg
11. For Whom The Bell Tolls (with Jerry Cantrell)
12. Nothing Else Matters (with Jerry Cantrell)
13. So What?!
14. Tuesday's Gone (LYNYRD SKYNYRD cover) (with Gary Rossington, Pepper Keenan, Jerry Cantrell, and Jim Martin)
15. Fuel (with Jason Newsted)
16. Fight Fire With Fire (with Jason Newsted)
17. Die, Die My Darling (MISFITS cover) (with Glenn Danzig)
18. Last Caress (MISFITS cover) (with Glenn Danzig)
19. Green Hell (MISFITS cover) (with Glenn Danzig)
20. Rapid Fire (JUDAS PRIEST cover) (with Rob Halford)
21. Seek & Destroy (with Jason Newsted, Jerry Cantrell, Pepper Keenan, Jim Martin, Glenn Danzig, Animal, LAAZ ROCKIT, and THE SOUL REBELS brass band)

Metallica 30th Anniversary Show Part 2

I posted a link to part 1 under the video, but on to part 2. Metallica has posted a 33-minute video recap of the second of four intimate shows at the Fillmore in San Francisco as part of the week-long celebration of its 30th anniversary as a band for fan club members only.

Guests included King Diamond, Kid Rock and John Bush and Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian took to the stage with Kirk Hammett to tell stories of hanging out with late bassist Cliff Burton. They played a 20 song set list (below) that included the previously unreleased track "Just A Bullet Away".

The band's setlist was as follows:

01. To Live Is To Die (premiere)
02. Enter Sandman
03. Holier Than Thou
04. Disposable Heroes
05. Bleeding Me
06. Wasting My Hate
07. My Apocalypse
08. Just A Bullet Away (previously unreleased song from "Death Magnetic" sessions; premiere)
09. Breadfan (BUDGIE cover) (with METALLICA fan Andrew Dowis)
10. The Memory Remains (with Marianne Faithful)
11. Killing Time (SWEET SAVAGE cover) (with Ray Haller)
12. Turn The Page (with Kid Rock)
13. The Four Horsemen (with John Bush)
14. Iced Honey (with Lou Reed)
15. The View (with Lou Reed)
16. White Light/White Heat (with Lou Reed)
17. Creeping Death (with Jason Newsted)
18. Battery (with Jason Newsted)
19. Mercyful Fate Medley (MERCYFUL FATE cover) (with Hank Shermann, Michael Denner, Timi Hansen and King Diamond)
20. Seek & Destroy (with Jason Newsted, Scott Ian, Ray Haller, John Bush, Joey Vera, Gonzo Sandoval, and THE SOUL REBELS)



Metallica 30th Anniversary Show Part 1

Metallica 30th Anniversary Show Part 1

Hard to believe it's been 30 years since Metallica started melting faces off, but they recently had their 30th anniversary shows in San Francisco for fan club members only. Actually I've only been a fan of the band for 27 years but it feels like 30 for me too I guess. They've just released a 27-minute long recap of sorts of the 1st show of 4 and I've posted it below. I wish I could have been there, but I also wish I'd win the lottery and that ain't workin' out for me either. So I guess a video will have to do for now... but I'm hopefully there will be a DVD release of some sort.

The set included a salute to Cliff Burton's dad and appearances by Apocalyptica, Jason Newstead and Biff Byford (Saxon!!!!). They played 21 songs including the previously unreleased track "Hate Train" off the Death Magnetic sessions. So watch this, I insist! I've posted the full setlist I found for it below the vid.



Setlist:

01. The Call Of Ktulu
02. No Remorse
03. The Shortest Straw
04. Leper Messiah
05. The Day That Never Comes
06. Carpe Diem Baby (first time performed live)
07. Hate Train (previously unreleased song from "Death Magnetic" sessions)
08. Please Don't Judas Me (acoustic; NAZARETH cover)
09. Wherever I May Roam (with fan-club member John Dent)
10. Sad But True (with John Marshall)
11. (Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth (impromptu jam by Robert Trujillo)
12. No Leaf Clover (with APOCALYPTICA)
13. One (with APOCALYPTICA)
14. Harvester Of Sorrow (with Jason Newsted)
15. Damage, Inc. (with Jason Newsted)
16. Motorcycle Man (with Biff Byford)
17. The Prince (with Sean Harris, Brian Tatler)
18. It's Electric (with Sean Harris, Brian Tatler)
19. Helpess (with Sean Harris, Brian Tatler)
20. Am I Evil? (with Sean Harris, Brian Tatler)
21. Seek & Destroy (with everyone)

Grandma Got Run Over By Metallica

There's a sweet new Christmas present out on iTunes today for Metallica fans. The band has released an EP called "Beyond Magnetic" to coincide with the bands anniversary shows, which they released a new song for all 4 days of the shows. The four songs featured on the EP were all recorded during the Death Magnetic sessions but were never released.



Needless to say I've downloaded all 4 tracks and they pretty much will wash the nasty taste of that LuLu CD right out of your mouth. My personal favorite so far is Hate Train. Merry Christmas!

The band stated the following about the EP.

“During the Death Magnetic album sessions in 2007 and 2008, we originally recorded 14 songs. When it came time to pick the songs for the final album, we decided on 10 songs that you’ve all come to know over the last three years… Some of you may have heard bits and pieces of those other songs on ‘Mission Metallica’ (remember ‘Mission Metallica’?!) or heard rumors about them during the recording process, and wondered, ‘What ever happened to those other four songs???.’ We kept them in the vault and decided to pull them just for this special celebration, so here are the four leftover tracks from the Death Magnetic sessions. They are ROUGH mixes, unfinished to their original degree of mixing from March ’08. These four songs were released as gift to our closest fans, the members of our Fan Club, to enjoy. Now they’re being made available to you."

LuLu = DoDo

I must reiterate here... I love Metallica. They're one of my favorite all-time bands. But now that I've heard their new collaboration with Lou Reed, LuLu, all the way through a few times I'm just blown away by how much wang this thing smokes. It's terrible. Almost laughably terrible. I am however having a lot of fun reading all the reviews on the interwebs. Lots of fun!

MetaCritic has it at a 37/100 from critics right now, which if you don't know is simply dreadful. Here's some of my favorite quotes, and keep in mind these are your usual Internet trolls and chuckleheads, these are critics from places like A.V. Club and Chicago Tribune. Check 'em out:

* The whole thing comes off as either an expensive major label joke or nigh-impenetrable high art concept. Maybe both.

* Lulu is essentially a piece of shock art that's littered with vulgarity both lyrical and musical.

* Any message contained within Lulu is lost in the whirl of discordant guitar work, Reed's mutterings and the complete sense of abject disappointment that surrounds the entire album.

* An utter wreck that curiously, miraculously, might have been great.

* LuLu is a work that invites derision, an album that wallows in a tarpit of ugliness.

* The bulk of Lulu sounds like your dad's drunk friend reciting his self-penned erotica over a melting ReLoad cassette.

* It turns out that "Brandenburg Gate" is one of the only songs with an actual melody. The rest of Lulu is full of recycled, repetitive riffs; endless drones; more sex and violence than a slasher movie.

* Lulu is a joyless mess, a grim, humorless record with no notion of when to say "when."

* The godfather of avant-rock and the popular metal band don't click on any level.

* Audacious to the extreme, but exhaustingly tedious as a result, its few interesting ideas are stretched out beyond the point of utility and pounded into submission.

* At no point does Lou Reed sound like he is singing with Metallica, and the same is true the other way around.

* Not only is Lulu the worst thing any of the players have been involved in, it's quite possibly a candidate for one of the worst albums ever made.

Ha ha now that's fun! The user scores aren't any better, giving it an average of 1.8 at this point (out of 10 believe it or not). It's getting pounded. Here's some favorites:

* Lou Reed's nasally delivery just doesn't fit, it comes off as some uninspired old fart recording his voice in the living room while a metal riff plays in the background.

* I am all for trying new things and pushing the boundaries but sometimes you have to know when to pull back and review your art objectively.....this i'm afraid is just an exercise in self indulge

* This is just an embarrassment made by two creatively bankrupt artists. Please stop your Metallica hero worship and hear this album for what it is: Crap.

* I understand wanting to do something different musically. But the band also needs to understand that sometimes doing something different means that it can still suck. And suck this album does.

Fun stuff!

Please Metallica... I'm begging you... get into the studio as soon as possible and make a new CD so we can put this whole ugly mess behind us. Stop saying we "don't get it" and quite trying to justify it as being "outside the box". I do get it and I've been outside the box before... and it still sucks monkey crotch. Simply terrible. You missed, it happens.

Fortune, Fame, Mirror Vain, Gone Insane But...

The Memory Remains live from Quebec City, Canada on July 16th. Excellent crowd and Metallica sounds fantastic. I'd love to have been at this show. Setlist follows the video:



Setlist

1. Creeping Death
2. For Whom the Bell Tolls
3. Fuel
4. Ride the Lightning
5. Fade to Black
6. Cyanide
7. The Memory Remains
8. Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
9. Sad But True
10. All Nightmare Long
11. One
12. Master of Puppets
13. Blackened
14. Nothing Else Matters
15. Enter Sandman

Encore
16. Am I Evil?
17. Hit the Lights
18. Seek & Destroy

Welcome To Where Time Stands Still

More live Metallica from the tour, this time doing "Welcome Home (Sanitarium) " live in Halifax, Canada on July 14th.

This song, from the album Master of Puppets, is one of my top 5 Metallica favorites. James Hetfield himself said he actually wrote this as tribute to the film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, a classic film. It was Metallica's last single to feature bassist Cliff Burton before his death in 1986.

The Call of Metallica

How about Metallica blasting "The Call Of Ktulu" from Amneville, France on July 11, 2011? Oui, I believe I will sir. Merci.

From the CD Ride The Lightning, the idea of the song is based upon H. P. Lovecraft's book The Shadow Over Innsmouth which was first introduced to the rest of the band by Cliff Burton. The song's name was taken from one of H.P. Lovecraft's main stories featuring Cthulhu, The Call of Cthulhu, which was written in 1928 for the magazine Weird Tales. It's also the last song to include songwriting credit for Dave Mustaine.

Metallica Live In Italy

Metallica just posted this sweet pro-shot video of them playing "Blackened" live in Milan, Italy. Since it doesn't look like they'll be playing anywhere near me this tour, preventing me from seeing them for my 5th time since 2000, I guess these videos from the tour will have to suffice.