Metallica live in Seattle 89

[Trev]

I've got the box set and must've returned to the Seattle show 20 times since I got it. By contrast, I can't watch the other set, San Diego is it? On the black album tour. Musically solid but heading into the Metallica Family pantomime shit that's completely absent from Seattle.

I liked the San Diego one and would still throw it on ocassionaly but it's definitely missing the ferocity of Seattle. A lot more polished and professional, crazy that they're only about three years part

[ldj]

People act like Metallica are where they are because they 'sold out' but they fact is that when they were in their prime they really were just on another level.

The ambitiousness of their songwriting, their ability to craft a great album and of course their live performances just set them apart from the rest of the Thrash pack.

They were arguably too good to be called Thrash Metal.

I love Bonded by Blood for example, but can you really listen it and Master of Puppets and say they're in the same ballpark?

[Eoin McLove]

Different kettle of fish, to be sure.  Whatever about selling out it's clear that they have forgotten the art of songwriting since then. 

[ldj]

True.

They've been doing the copying and pasting riffs thing since St. Anger.

Say what you will about the stylistic changes on Load, they were at least writing cohesive songs.

[Pedrito]

Great point about being too good for Thrash. Time tells all and the wheat is sorted from the chaff eventually. Many great artists and writers were never recognised, or were under appreaciated during their lifetimes. Metallica were part of the creation of a genre and then went on to transcend that genre. Their ambition, however you may view the Black album, was massive. They took a style and developed it as far as they could, to its very limit...spending an ungodly amount of time in the studio..how many guitar tracks did Hetfield have on some songs...40 or 50. They flew in the face of convention, pissed off and lost lots of fans in the process, but they weren't willing to sit still and just churn out the same E chord for the rest of their lives.

Their post Black albums show a band, in my opinon, who basically burnt out all their ideas in the style, and having nowhere to turn to creatively, they were forced to try to reinvent themselves completely, which is an often impossible thing to achieve. That says a lot about the type of people that they are and the band that they are. They probably had tape loads of Echord, For Whom The Bell Tolls stuff, that would have been perfectly fine for their fans, but they chose the more difficult route and the result was somewhat piecemeal sounding, with great ideas interspersed throughout the last number of albums. It's not that they're incapable of writing another chuggy Sad But True or Sanitarium, it's more likely that every time they started on a new one, it started to sound like they were repeating themselves, cloning themselves as such, and real artists, very creative people, tend to burn out an idea and move forward rather than continuously repeat the same concept again and again. I think that would be especially true for those who play, what could be seen as quite a limited genre such as thrash...it can be quite a limited palette as such. 

Will they ever make an album to match the early ones? I would say that that would be highly unlikely, but who knows. The last one showed signs of rebirth, but was it not them going back to a Metallica by numbers kind of scenario? It's a little damned if you don't and damned if you do, but maybe time will allow us to see some of their later work in a more favourable light.

[mick1sheridan]

That whole gig is insane. I was trying to think of a standout song in it but there are so many. Blackened to open any Metallica gig is always good. Harvester of Sorrow might be better than the original here, so much intensity, and James little speech before hand is great. I love how they do Breadfan to finish, I've watched Hetfield shout "GET UP" to the crowd as it kicks in so many times.

[Goatlord]

It was great to see this reissued as part of the AJFA boxset, stunning sound on the vinyl. Really well mastered. Sounds massive

[Trev]

So they've announced an S&M2 in September. Looking at their performances in recent years where they can't keep time with each other I've no idea how they'll be able to lock in with an orchestra

[Eoin McLove]

Sounds like a potential laugh alright 

[Don Gately]

Yes Metallica during the 80s were unreal. I got into them when my cousin from US brought a copy of Ride The Lightning over in 85 maybe, hooked then and liked the Black album too when it came out. Went to see them in the Point in 92? not a great gig tbh, they supported themselves with a video,  segments of songs mashed together, 3 hour set list with endless solos, I was well bored. Looking back they were at their peak in 88/89 , all the talk about the One video single, they really broke ground there.  Fair play to them for that.

[Gibonz]

Another one I remember watching constantly was a show recorded for BBC television, also 'And Justice..' era.

Enjoy man...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nedb6oVInc

[Hank Hill]

This is just a sample of MetConcert100 uploads on Youtube. Well worth checking out.

https://youtu.be/o2EmWosdtuE

[Juggz]

Utterly fucking ferocious.

[Blitzer666]

https://youtu.be/bP5_y16Zwdw

Just shows why Jason should never have been sacked....

[Wiseblood]

https://youtu.be/6gcLW4gMRZE

Pure magic.