{"id":3865,"date":"2019-02-14T05:00:14","date_gmt":"2019-02-14T05:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/?p=3865"},"modified":"2019-02-14T01:37:10","modified_gmt":"2019-02-14T01:37:10","slug":"metallica-%e2%80%8e-helping-hands-live-acoustic-at-the-masonic-blackened-recordings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/?p=3865","title":{"rendered":"Metallica\u00a0 \u200e\u2013 \u2018Helping Hands… Live & Acoustic At The Masonic\u2019 (Blackened Recordings)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Having a pop at metal behemoths Metallica in 2019 really is like shooting fish in a barrel, just one look at the ticket prices for their upcoming UK dates and the fact that their manager Peter Mensch basically told the fans prior to the tour that he was pushing prices as high as he could should be as easy a starting point as any.<\/p>\n

This aside though just over 2 years ago I last witnessed the band live playing an 850 capacity underground venue in London where the ticket price was a donation to a local charity that helped homeless children to get off the streets. They raised \u00a315,000 that night as well as a hell of a lot of pairs of horns. So, kudos to the band for that.<\/p>\n

\u2018Helping Hands… Live & Acoustic At The Masonic\u2019 very much continues this theme as it is Metallica\u2019s all-new limited edition double live vinyl album that supports the band\u2019s All Within My Hands Foundation, a multi-cause platform set up to support society\u2019s most vulnerable – you can check out the website linked below for more information.<\/p>\n

Getting back this album and the online presale meant you had to be quick out the blocks to get one of these double 140gm blue vinyl beauties as they sold out almost overnight. So, I guess you\u2019re probably wondering, why all the fuss?<\/p>\n

Well, this 12 track set recorded at the Helping Hands Concert and Auction back in November of last year really is Metallica like you\u2019ve never heard them before. I was immediately hooked after seeing the video for \u2018All Within My Hands\u2019, a deep cut from the \u2018St Anger\u2019 album that here, devoid of Lars\u2019 awful cod reggae snare sound and now resplendent with pedal steel guitar, sounds like a completely new song. Likewise, the versions of \u2018Disposable Heroes\u2019 and \u2018Enter Sandman\u2019 that were also video leaked sound almost unrecognisable here, and I can\u2019t help thinking of the \u2018Unledded\u2019 Page and Plant album, albeit forget the Far Eastern influences and instead get ready for Metallica goes Deep South.<\/p>\n

With this in mind the (almost) played straight versions of \u2018Nothing Else Matters\u2019, and \u2018The Unforgiven\u2019 actually come as something of a disappointment, however, the acoustic thrash versions of \u2018The Four Horsemen\u2019 and \u2018Hardwired\u2019 that bring the 71 minutes set to a crashing close really do sound like the band having the most fun they\u2019ve had in years.<\/p>\n

The rest of the track listing is basically made up of covers of songs by the likes of Blue Oyster Cult, Deep Purple, Bob Seger and Nazareth, and again if I\u2019m being totally honest here, I\u2019d much rather have heard a few more of the band\u2019s own deeper cuts being given the acoustic reinvention treatment. However what\u2019s that old adage again about keeping them wanting more? Ha, well Metallica has certainly done that with \u2018Helping Hands… Live & Acoustic At The Masonic\u2019.<\/p>\n

There appear to still be some retail copies of this LP set to hit the shelves (it looks like March) so if you do your search engine homework you can still possibly pre-order copies of this LP on the interweb without having to pay a flipper a Discogs King\u2019s ransom, and trust me when I say it really is worth every penny of the donation you\u2019ll be making to the All Within My Hands Foundation.<\/p>\n

Author: Johnny Hayward<\/p>\n

All Within My Hands<\/a><\/p>\n

Website<\/a><\/p>\n