After releasing ten studio albums, winning nine Grammy Awards and ranking as one of the most commercially successful bands of all time, it’s safe to say Metallica has made a name for themselves.
For anyone who doesn’t already know them, they are American heavy metal band formed in 1981, in Los Angeles.
They sold more than 125 million albums worldwide, and whether you like the genre or not, they have been on top of the game for a long time.
For those who prefer a more classical approach, here is proof that a metal band can indeed team up with the orchestra—and the results are phenomenal.
All the members of Metallica have had their fair share of incredibly successful gigs, but we found one that will even be interesting to those who aren’t fans of a heavy sound.
It’s a 1999 live performance of “Nothing Else Matters” at the Berkeley Community Theater.
Metallica shares the stage with San Francisco Symphonic Orchestra, and it ends up as being a majestic experience.
For those of you who prefer classical music and opera, this is a performance for you!
The best thing to do is just lay back and listen. Hetfield’s incredible voice, accompanied by a full orchestra, will surely send shivers down your spine.
“Nothing Else Matters” was released in 1992 as the third single from Metallica’s fifth self-titled studio album.
The track is recognized as one of Metallica’s best-known and most popular songs, which is why it doesn’t come as a surprise that the band chose to perform a grandiose version of it.
The band eventually dedicated the song to their fans, and when played live nowadays, Hammett does the first part of the intro before Hetfield joins in.
It goes on like that until the end of the first chorus, when the whole band kicks in. The glorious twist in this video is that the whole orchestra start to play, and it sounds magnificent!
There are many fans of metal music, but you don’t have to be a fan to feel and hear greatness in this rendition.
It makes us think of what it would be like if the electric guitar were a permanent member of the orchestra! It sure sounds fantastic here. The studio version of the song was already a classic, but then Metallica met their own challenge and surpassed themselves.
There aren’t many songs that can span generations and genres, but “Nothin Else Matters” is one of them.
Who knew that Metallica could sound so sublime combined with all those violins? There’s a reason that symphonic metal was born, and we love the entire concept.
Over four million YouTube viewers were probably as stunned as we were by this performance!
As it turns out, there’s also an acoustic remix of “Nothing Else Matters” called “Elevator Version.”
It’s played exclusively on acoustic guitars, and it appears as the B-side to “Sad but True.” In an interview, Hetfield said that it was “a song for myself in my room on tour when I was booming out about being away from home.”
It’s funny that this song became one of Metallica’s classics, and we’d love to hear every possible version of it.
Congratulations to the band and the orchestra on this great performance! Watch the full thing in the link below:
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