METALLICA — Live Shit: Binge & Purge (review)

METALLICA — Live Shit: Binge & Purge album cover

Boxset / Compilation · 1993 · Thrash Metal

4/5 · 2010-09-26
Stooge

Metallica fans had to wait 12 years before getting their hands on some high quality live footage. The arrival of the Live Sh*t: Binge & Purge box set in 1993 proved to be well worth the wait.

Director Wayne Isham does an excellent job in editing the video content to make for a truly amazing concert experience. The cameras get up close and on stage with the band, giving the illusion at times of being on stage alongside them. Aside from the occasional mistake by the band, their performance as a whole is great in all three cities. Including the video intro to the San Diego concert, dubbed the “20 Minute Metallimovie”, is a nice touch.

While I really enjoy this box set, I’ll admit that it has some flaws. There are two factors that somewhat diminish the value of this package :

1)Set List Variety

When buying any live compilation, set list variety is an important factor to me. Between the three shows in the box set, 13 songs repeat in all concerts, and that’s not even including the songs that make up the Justice medley. If you compare the San Diego and Mexico City set lists, they are virtually identical. Since the concert footage in total spans nearly four years, this is poor planning, and the overlap is the main reason I give the more old-school Seattle concert more playing time than the others. It would be nice if this box set were split up to let fans pick and choose which concert they want so they don’t have to spent as much money to have some nice Metallica live material, similar to what Rush eventually did with their Replay x 3 DVD set.

2)The solo sections

To clarify, I’m not referring to the solos in the middle of a song. I mean the ones in between. This point has its pros and cons. I like the fact that they are included on the Mexico City CDs as many groups omit these from their live albums, but it gives a better overall idea of what you’d experience at a Metallica show. Also, the drum duel between James and Lars is entertaining. On the other hand, the solo spots tend to go on a bit too long. At a concert, this is where many audience members go for a beer break. At home, this is where the fast forward/next option is often employed. Sometimes I’m into them, and sometimes not.

Putting it all together, Live Sh*t makes for an excellent concert experience. I’d recommend it to most fans of rock or metal in general.

more than 2 years ago
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Time Signature wrote:

more than 2 years ago

What I appreciate the most is that they've dropped all those long self-indulgent solos... I'd much rather hear three more songs than one suitar solo.

Stooge wrote:

more than 2 years ago

I haven't seen much new Metallica footage lately, but I know that they do a better job managing their set lists these days.

Time Signature wrote:

more than 2 years ago

My brother had the VHS box, and, while I understand that you like it, I personally found that it became boring in the long run - exactly for the two reasons you list in your fine review. I saw the band live back during that tour, and I thought that was kind of boring, too. I think they're a much better live band now than back in the Black Album day (I caught one of their Death Magnetic shows in Copenhagen last year, and that was one of the best concerts I've been to). Nice review btw :-)