Metallica: Cunning Stunts

Having just launched the follow-up to the Black Album, Load, which came out 1996, the interest around Metallica was huge. Reaching Forth Worth, Texas, as the next gig, Metallica was up for recording it and putting out one of the best Live DVD's I have ever seen. Metallica giving 100% on stage playing classics like Enter Sandman, Master of Puppets and Nothing Else Matters this DVD really gets to you. With a lot of bonuses and multiple angles on some songs this DVD is worth seeing even if you don't like Metallica and just want to see some great live stuff.

What more can I say? I was not a real Metallica fan when I saw this movie but after I saw it I became a Metallica freak!

As a long time Metallica fan, I of course went right to Walmart and bought Cunning Stunts as soon as it was available. The concert was excellent but I was suprised and offended that Hetfield's swearing was dubbed in backwards. I've seen Metallica over 15 times and I bought Binge and Purge, Cliff'em All and Year and a Half....all of which were uncensored. Not that I particularly care for swearing that much, but two things really bother me about Cunning Stunts being censored. The first being that I'm not a kid, so I take offense to someone else deciding which words I shouldn't hear. and secondly, this chopped release leaves me with the feeling that I'm not getting the full deal like I normally do from Metallica.

I swear I will never buy another video or CD from Walmart because my friend bought the Papa Roach "Infest" cd and it's swear words were just missing. My copy of Infest, which I bought at Warehouse was uncensored. Like I said earlier, I'm not advocating bad language, but I think that there should maybe be a "kid's cut" and an "adult's cut" available, and have them clearly marked so I don't have to have my music softened-up for me. When you were a baby, your mommy had to cut your meat for you, but now that you're all grow'd up, you'd kill her if she made a move toward you with a knife, right? All-righty then.

This "Documentary" changed my way of looking at concerts on video. At first I thought they were all alike: boring two hour concerts where you can't hear what the dude says let alone what he sings. But with CUNNING STUNTS it was different. Metallica gave it their best on EVERY song and gave everyone, including me, a great live show (Even if it was on tape).

I love metal and this concert shows that metal still lives!!!

This DVD is an excellent representation of the 90's era of Metallica - an era marking a shift away from the thrash metal of their youth and maturing into greater musicians (in the sense their repertoire has expanded). Exploring blues and country and mixing it with a pop flavour whilst still retaining the hard rock element of the 80's, this DVD reflects all of this.

Opening with a fun jam (a collection of riffs that would later become 'Bad Seed' on ReLoad, which hadn't been released at the time of the concert), they head into 'So What' and the music doesn't stop for another 90 mins or so. James entertains with his usual speeches that never get boring (unlike a certain someone PHIL) and the camera work, whilst not superb, is definitely above par. The lighting however does get annoying at times and a constant blue is not the most interesting.

However, all this aside, it is a collection a Metallica fan would already have. If you're looking to get into Metallica and don't know what album to start off with, try this or S&M.

A down side to the tracklisting however is that they do not delve into much material from their first few albums, save a few concert staples. Medleys do not count - play the entire song.

Check it out.

This tour(1996) was the first time i saw Metallica live and i was 16 years old(29 times now) and I was blown away by the energy! I think this dvd really capture that. It is not that polished and kind of raw. A must see! Not only for fans of Metallica but for any fan of live music! Cheers from Sweden!