Dream Sets: Metallica

This one was brutal. Easily the toughest I’ve done so far because so many songs are on the same level in my mind. I basically want to hear the first four albums in their entirety, plus a few from later records. I could cheat and do a few medleys, but I didn’t.

THE MAIN SET

 

1. “Battery” (Master of Puppets, 1986). I always love a good intro that blasts into a heavy song to start a show. This one fits the bill.
2. “Master of Puppets” (Master of Puppets, 1986). When “Battery” ends, my mind is already going to automatically go DUM …. DUM, DUM, DUM. Let’s make it happen.
3. “Broken, Beat and Scarred” (Death Magnetic, 2008). This setlist will likely be a bit light on the newer material, but my kid and wife would kill me if I didn’t have them play this song, and I like it, too.
4. “Blackened” (…And Justice for All, 1988). Black out after the last tune, fade in with that back-tracked intro, then explode into a furious riff. It’s almost like you started the show over three songs in.



5. “Spit Out the Bone” (Hardwired … to Self Destruct, 2016). I can’t believe they don’t play this one every night. It’s easily the best pure thrash tune they’ve done in years.
6. “Welcome Home (Sanitarium)” (Master of Puppets, 1986). Time for a ballady break. Lots of options here, but I’m probably only going to fit one on this list, and this one is always my choice.
7. “Dyer’s Eve” (…And Justice for All, 1988). I’ve always loved this song for some reason, the heaviness, the riding on the edge of chaos. I’ve got to hear it live.
8. “Escape” (Ride the Lightning, 1984). I know the band doesn’t like this one much. I believe they’ve only ever played it live once. They’re wrong.
9. “Of Wolf and Man” (Metallica, 1991). There has to be one song from this record, and if I’m making the call, this is the one.
10. “Seek and Destroy” (Kill ‘Em All, 1983). There were a lot of songs I wanted to drop in this final slot in the main set, but “Seek and Destroy” won out by a narrow margin. You can’t beat that riff.

 ENCORE

 

1. “Last Caress/Green Hell” (Garage Days Re-Revisited, 1987). Metallica likes to do a cover in the encore, and there’s no one that I’d rather hear than this Misfits number.
2. “The Four Horsemen” (Kill ‘Em All, 1983). Probably my favorite Metallica song, and you save the best for last, which leads me to …
3. “Creeping Death” (Ride the Lightning, 1984). This one has it all – heavy riffing, speed, grooves and a crowd sing-along. How can you not close with it.

Notable absences

“Enter Sandman.” Perhaps the most overrated song in the history of overrated songs. I don’t want to hear it on my dime.

 

“One.” The absence of this one would probably anger a lot of fans. They never fail to play it, which also means that I’ve heard them play it every time I’ve seen them. I love “One,” but with room for one power ballad, I went with my favorite.

 

Tough calls

“Motorbreath”

“Whiplash”

“For Whom the Bell Tolls”

“Fade to Black”

“The Thing that Should Not Be”

“Damage, Inc.”

“One”

“Sad But True”

“Nothing Else Matters” (Yes, really)

“The Memory Remains” (Yes, really)

“Cyanide”

“My Apocalypse”

“Moth into Flame”

“Dream No More”