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Metallica - Cunning Stunts - VHS
Metallica - Cunning Stunts - VHS
By Philip Whitehouse
Another addition to the ever-expanding Metallica video library, this release records for posterity an entire Metallica concert, chronologically placed between the release of the Load and Reload albums. So immediately, the video loses out on the visual aspect of a long haired group of Metallicats
headbanging like crazy, as they'd all cut their hair by this point. Sigh...
However, as a documentation of Metallica's proficiency in the live arena, the video works a charm. Admittedly, old-school Metallica fans may be slightly offput by the amount of post-Black album material on offer, but Metallica don't forget to play the classics, believe me. Master Of Puppets, Creeping Death, Enter Sandman, Wherever I May Roam, Am I Evil and So What all make an appearance, as well as a blistering medley of songs from Kill 'Em All and Ride The Lightning. Metallica may have moved away from their thrash metal roots on record, but live, they can still rock out with the best of 'em.
The sound production of the video is perfect - no nuance of the songs is lost (to the extent where I think I can hear Kirk Hammett hit a couple of bad notes during the intro to Fuel...), and the direction of the video itself is equally good - never failing to miss a particularly interesting gurn by Jason Newstead or a particularly large-mammaried member of the audience (watch the intro to Hero Of The Day carefully to see what I mean...).
The show itself doesn't rely entirely on the music to carry it (although that would have been perfectly sufficient) - there's a fair smattering of pyro effects (all safely distanced from James 'Crispy' Hetfield, no doubt) and some excellent destructable scenery effects towards the end of the show.
Overall, this is a highly entertaining, well-directed and professional video charting a performance by one of the most reliable live bands in rock music today, and a worthy entry to the Metallica video library. Now I'm just waiting for 'Metallica - James Hetfield, Live In Rehab'...
9/10
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