S & M

Over the course of my HP career I've never been slow to volunteer for interviews involving the Heavy Rock community, as invariably they're a whole lot more entertaining to talk to than floppy-fringed Indie mumblers who "make music for themselves and if anyone else likes it that's a bonus".

I can still recall the cold chill which crept down my spine when James Hetfield fixed me with a stare combining menace, incomprehension and contempt just after I'd pitched a question as to whether he could ever see his band writing a love song. "To a chick" were the words which stay with me to this day. You see, a lot of bands play Metal but Metallica are Metal. No other band comes close. They exist in a league of their own, which is why in other hands a project like S&M would be the target for derision but with Metallica at the helm makes perfect sense.

S&M is essentially a career-spanning double live album but Hetfield, Ulrich, Hammett and Newsted have upped the ante by roping in the San Francisco Symphony to beef up songs which were already monstrously powerful. The results are as mind-bogglingly dramatic as you'd expect. By the time you're into the devastating 'Master Of Puppets' it's obvious that all resistance is useless in the face of such overwhelming force - the only option is to relish the sheer outrageousness of Metallica's conceit. After two and a quarter hours of concentrated bombardment one is left with nothing but pure admiration for the twisted minds that could conceive of such a notion.

So, the next time your favourite post-Britpop combo go 'upmarket' and haul in a string section for effect dig out S&M and see how the big boys do it.

Metallica. Still unstoppable.