Speaking with Rolling Stone, Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett and drummer Lars Ulrich offered a song-by-song breakdown of their S&M² set, which featured a repeat performance of the band teamed up with the San Francisco Symphony. Following is an excerpt from the rundown: 

"No Leaf Clover" (1999)

At Metallica’s first S&M shows, "No Leaf Clover" was one of two new songs they prepared specifically to go with the orchestra, and once it was a hit, they kept it in their set lists for their regular gigs. “Other than in ’99, we’ve basically only ever played to the intro tape of 'No Leaf Clover', so having the orchestra play that intro live again was super cool,” Ulrich says. Hammett says that playing the song with the symphony again helped it to come alive. “Playing it without the orchestra, it’s much more of a hard-rock song,” he says. “But with an orchestra, that’s how it’s meant to sound.”

"All Within My Hands" (2003)

“That’s a version of the song that we came up with for our acoustic endeavors,” Ulrich says. “When we sat down and tried to put a balanced set list together, that seemed like be a fun one to throw into the mix rather than the make-as-much-noise-as-possible St. Anger version of the song. Maybe under every Metallica song there’s something pretty waiting to come out.”

“We brought in our friend Avi (Vinocur) to help us with the vocals, and we thought, now that Avi’s here, maybe we can try three-part harmony behind James,” Hammett says. “So Rob and I got with Avi at my place and for three or four days, all we did was play acoustic guitars and sing harmonies. We were like the heavy-metal Bee Gees.”

"One" (1988)

Usually, Metallica introduce their antiwar epic with the sounds of gunfire, but for S&M2, they put the Symphony’s percussion in the spotlight. And Ulrich was moved by the moment and got in on the dramatic drumming. “He wasn’t supposed to do that,” Hammett says, laughing. “That wasn’t in the script. I don’t know what the heck he was doing.” Ulrich explains, “The percussion players were fairly close to me physically, and I have the tendency to get restless when I’m waiting, so it was like a magnet brought me there and gave me a chance to get into some shenanigans.”

Check out the complete rundown here.

Says the band: "In September of 2019, we were on stage for two incredible nights with the San Francisco Symphony commemorating the opening of the new Chase Center here in our backyard as well as the 20th anniversary of the first S&M. Celebrating with fans from all around the world (almost 70 countries represented!) and sharing the stage with our hometown symphony, its legendary Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas, and conductor Edwin Outwater, was beyond inspiring and a major highlight in our crazy, cool time as a band. Now we can all relive those two special nights as both video and audio versions of the shows are available for pre-order now, hitting stores on August 28.

"S&M2, is coming your way in a number of formats, ranging from standard 4LP vinyl, collectible colored vinyl, 2CD, DVD, Blu-ray, and Deluxe Box set, all the way up to the Fifth Member™ exclusive Super Deluxe Box, limited to 500 copies (which members can enter to reserve), each featuring original sheet music used in the show and signed by all four band members. Including the first-ever symphonic renditions of songs written and released since those first S&M shows, the album was produced by Greg Fidelman with Hetfield & Ulrich.

“So why did this take almost 12 months to release?” The concert film is a brand-new edit done by Joe Hutshing (Through The Never) and both the audio and visuals have been taken to the next level from the October 2019 theatrical version that played in over 3,700 cinemas worldwide. Originally planned for a mid-June release, unfortunately pressing plants and printers closed due to COVID-19 just as we were getting ready to manufacture the various configurations. We’re excited that we’re back on track, everything’s in motion, and we can finally get the music to you.

"Fifth Members™ should login for a 20% discount and all pre-orders will receive MP3 downloads of the S&M2 versions of “All Within My Hands” and “Nothing Else Matters.”

Learn more here. Pre-order here. Pre-save on Digital here.

Tracklisting:

"Moth Into Flame" video:

"All Within My Hands" video:

"Nothing Else Matters" video:

Trailer:

Robert Trujillo unboxes the Deluxe Box Set edition: