Metallica "BY REQUEST" Sonisphere 2014

[Hollywood Naitch]

Metallica have been announced (along with Iron Maiden) as one of the headliners for the Sonisphere festival in the UK next summer. However, while quite a number of people have been complaining, saying that we have seen too much of Maiden/'Tallica headlining festivals in the UK in recent years, Metallica have announced that they are letting the fans choose the songs they want to hear in the set list (other than 1 new song which the band are choosing themselves).

They said they usually play about 18 songs in a set, and are asking fans to let them know what they want to hear...I have come up with my own DREAM Metallica 18 song set list...let me know what you think!

1. Sad But True (Metallica)
2. Ain't My Bitch (Load)
3. For Whom The Bell Tolls (Ride The Lightning)
4. Welcome Home (Sanitarium) (Master of Puppets)
5. The Unforgiven (Metallica)
6. Until It Sleeps (Load)
7. Orion (Master of Puppets)
8. Fade To Black (Ride The Lightning)
9. Nothing Else Matters (Metallica)
10. Turn The Page (Garage Inc)
11. The Memory Remains (ReLoad)
12. Bad Seed (ReLoad)
13. Wherever I May Roam (Metallica)
14. One (...And Justice For All)
15. Master of Puppets (Master of Puppets)

Encore

16. I Dissapear (Mission Impossible 2 OST)
17. Enter Sandman (Metallica)
18. Seek and Destroy (Kill 'Em All)

It was hard to come up with a final set list, as there were about 7 or 8 other songs I was really considering, including "Jump In The Fire", "Fuel", "Hit The Lights", "Whiskey In The Jar", "Leper Messiah" and "Cyanide", but I'm pretty happy with what I came up with.

I'd like them to open with a guaranteed crowd pleaser with "Sad But True", that would definitely get the crowd going, and throw one of the anthems "For Whom The Bell Tolls" in early doors as a nice surprise. As with most bands, a slower section in the middle of the set would be good, and Metallica have a lot of songs suitable for that- I think "The Unforgiven", "Fade To Black" and "Nothing Else Matters" do the job very well, plus a personal favourite in their cover of Bob Segar's "Turn The Page", I love that track!

Finishing the regular set off with the classics "One" and "Master of Puppets" is perfect, and then an encore starting with the track that got me into the band "I Disappear" from the MI2 soundtrack would be awesome! Such an underrated song I think! Obviously "Enter Sandman" and "Seek and Destroy" need to be played, and hearing those 2 anthems would be a sweet way to round off an unbelievable set list!

I tried to pick songs that I love but that also cover a lot of Metallica's back catalogue but I surprised myself in only having 1 song from both "Kill 'Em All" and "...And Justice For All", but 2 from the much-criticised "ReLoad" (which I actually really like), but hell....it's my set list and I want to hear those songs! Nothing from "St Anger" or "Death Magnetic" made the cut, as apart from the odd track, those albums did not impress me at all.

So, 'Tallica heads, I know you are out there.....give me your 18 song dream Metallica set list, tell me why you picked those songs, and give your opinion on my set list...is there any glaring ommisions in your opinion?

Talk to me.

 

[Dum Dum Dudley]

I normally go to Download festival and missed Metallica there so I'm definitely making the trip down to Sonisphere. Having looked at your choices, theres one or two I wouldn't put in but that's the beauty of the gimmick; we can vote for those obscure personal favourites. I can't pick fault at much of your choices, however 'I Disappear' sticks out like a sore thumb! But again, it's one of your personal faves and a song they probably wouldn't play so I see why its there.

Having not seen them live and being a huge fan, I'd probably take a lot from Master of Puppets and The Black Album because as much as I want to put the odd Load/Reload song in the set, I still want to listen to the classics that made me such a big fan. I'll comment on the ones I think wouldn't normally be in a set and why. So (in chronological order, I have no idea or preference for the actual order bar the encore);

1. Seek and Destroy - Kill 'Em All
2. For Whom The Bell Tolls - Ride The Lightning
3. Master of Puppets - Master of Puppets
4. Battery - Master of Puppets
5. Welcome Home (Sanatarium) - Master of Puppets
6. Leper Messiah - Master of Puppets
7. One - ...And Justice For All
8. Enter Sandman - Metallica
9. Sad But True - Metallica
10. Wherever I May Roam - Metallica
11. Of Wolf & Man - Metallica a personal favourite, if not my favourite song of there's. The S&M version is even better somehow.
12. Nothing Else Matters - Metallica
13. The Unforgiven - Metallica Hard to pick between this and II but having seen your setlist, I think having the slower of the two would be a smarter choice.
14. Until It Sleeps - Load This song just grew on me the more I listened to it. Probably one of a few gems on Load/Reload
15. Hero Of The Day - Load I think the S&M version has probably affected my decision with this one. Still, a personal fave and something a bit different from the older stuff. Varies the set a bit.
16. Turn The Page - Garage Inc
17. Whiskey In The Jar - Garage Inc
18. All Nightmare Long - Death Magnetic

I've tried to be conservative with how much from Master of Puppets and Metallica I picked but I can't help myself! I've had to leave out so many tracks including Fuel, Memory Remains, Unforgiven II, Disposable Heroes, King Nothing, That Was Just Your Life and more. I feel my set has all the classics I want plus obscure favourites like Turn The Page, Of Wolf & Man and Hero Of The Day.

Having walked on to Ecstasy of Gold, I'd love them to jump right in and I can't see a better opener than your choice of Sad But True. My mate saw them at Download 2012 and he said the encore was:

Battery
One
Seek & Destroy

I would probably go for this too. 3 crowd pleasers, job done. So everything between Sad But True and Battery is in the air, I honestly would not mind what order the set was barring the opener and encore.

Having looked at the tracks I picked, I'm surprised how much of the set is compromised of those 2 albums even when I've purposely restrained myself. I'm also surprised how a Death Magnetic track got in there. I'm still not entirely convinced by that, and if this thread and discussion went on, I could see myself being convinced to change it. I didn't mind the album and would actually go as far as to say I like it, and a lot of the tracks on it are on my gym playlist and get regularly listened to. ANL is just a track that gets me pumped and its probably not needed in a set with so many pumped-up metal hits but as a personal favourite, it goes in (at this moment in time).

Whilst compiling this list, I dug S&M out again and it still blew me away. I found it interesting how some of my favourite tracks on there such as Bleeding Me and Devil's Dance work so well live with the orchestra but don't really do anything for me in their original versions. I think that's why they ultimately didn't make the list.

Finally, I just want to stress how difficult I found this. I went to see the Stones in May and had no problem with their 50th anniversary set, nothing was missing in my opinion. But to go through Metallica's back catalogue and pick just 18 tracks (If we even get 18!!) was infuriatingly difficult. How did you find it?

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Thanks for replying to my thread man, I'm pretty disappointed that not a single person had responded until yourself!

That is a pretty cool selection of songs bro, very similar to mine with only a few differences- there are so many Metallica songs that HAVE to be a dream set list aren't there?! You can't leave out a classic like "Master of Puppets" or "Sad But True!"

Yeah, I can see what you are saying regarding "I Disappear" standing out, but as you noted it is a personal favourite of mine, always has been. So, my perfect Metallica set would have to have that song in there! Same as "Of Wolf And Man"...a personal favourite of yours but that is a track that does absolutely nothing for me. That's what is great about music, there is no right or wrong answer...it's all personal opinion! That's why I love talking about it so much!

I'm surprised a "Death Magnetic" song made into onto your list though. For me the album just isn't anything special. It's listenable with a few decent songs, but it just sounds like any old thrash band could have made it...it's not good enough for Metallica. Each song sounds fragmented and has numerous riffs, they just don't flow in the way older 'Tallica songs do. But again, its only my opinion!

"S&M" is missing from my collection. It's one of those albums I have always planned to buy but never have. I have seen clips of the tracks on YouTube and it does look a fantastic set of songs. I NEED to buy this CD!

I did find making the set list quite challenging, there were 13/14 tracks that I knew I would want to include, but I had about 10 to choose from to fill the final 4 slots, which was hard. My favourite band is Oasis but I would find it nearly impossible to make an 18 song playlist of theirs, as I love almost every single song they ever released. I tried to make a Best Of CD of theirs a few years ago and it ended up being a 3 disc set!