Exactly. I've always been a fan of Metallica. I've got all the albums except the S&M with the San Francisco Orchestra. Then I went ahead and bought it. I pressed "PLAY" and I just couldn't listen to it. I got to the third song and that's it. Now, Metallica are incredibly good in concert, but a live album is not something I want to listen to outside a crowded stadium.
The only good live albums are the "unplugged" ones. For example, Nirvana's Unplugged is a masterpiece. The songs are meant to sound different. And they do.
I find it truly amazing you could be so incredibly naive about live recordings and actually used S&M as an example of what not to like.
Let me ask you this,
why in the hell did you buy it on CD and not on DVD? Looks like most people on Amazon certainly don't agree with you who bought the 5.1 DD mix. And I certainly don't agree either.
http://www.amazon.com/Metallica-Fran...7556776&sr=1-1
If I want to hear a concert LIVE I buy a DVD or Blu-ray, if available. Otherwise, I only waste money buying a live version on CD of a band I really like, because some bands, not all mind you, like to experiment with the concert versions extensively. Artists like Skinny Puppy or Primus (Les Claypool especially so) or even RUSH or old DEVO concerts are all killer on concert videos.
Some bands to me positively suck on studio recordings, and Grateful Dead comes to mind, but then they absolutely come alive on live recordings (see what I did there?) like Infared Roses. Or even Peter Frampton, Frampton Comes Alive, one of the top grossing live recordings of all time, but I couldn't stand any of his studio stuff. Some artists take the energy from the crowd like magic and literally transform it into their music while they play.
Few bands really have the power to do this, and those that do, simply can't convey that energy on a studio release. Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Tool, NIN, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Jeff Beck, Al Dimiola and even Ministry (shudder) all seem to be some of those gifted performers that can transform audience energy magically into part of the music. The studio version is only the launching pad for the greater music to happen live.
And obviously the video along with the 5.1 (or 7.1) mixes make it a complete concert experience. And you simply can't get that same experience on a 2 channel live CD that's been mixed down for a CD release that's mostly done as an after thought now.
Which brings us back to S&M. It was INTENDED for a 5.1 DD VIDEO release. And being as though it was an orchestra involved, it was OBVIOUSLY setup sound wise to record it like that. You really think they put as much time and effort into the down mixed CD copy where they took a perfectly good 5.1 DD mix and turned it into a 2 channel? I can pretty much guarantee you they didn't, and your reaction to it tells me as much. But to try and use that recording as an example for your rant against live recordings is a pretty thin stretch there, considering you haven't heard it on a HT in 5.1 DD and WATCHED it at the same time. I was positively blown away by it the first time I watched and listened to it, and it's unfortunate you felt so adverse to it on CD.