Metallica - The Frayed Ends Of Sanity (pianist reacts to metalhead friend’s suggestion)

[@darrenmetal3338]

This is their best album in my humble opinion. Not one bad song on it. Titel song is an absolute banger!

[@halfeatenapple0903]

I agree justice is the best and second is ride the lightningin

[@slidey1788]

Great songs, horrible production.

[@jakkdaniels6840]

This was my first Metallica album. Blew my mind. No looking back from this..

[@kylehoulihan3875]

@@slidey1788the production is 100% better than on ride and kea

[@MrGmonkeywillruleyou]

Listen to the Justice for Jason versions of these songs on KZbin. So much better sounding

[@ihti20]

As a guitarist, I can tell the song is overly complicated. It's not technically difficult, but when you play it, it feels like you're playing one song and in the middle of the bar you start a whole different, it's hard to connect two riffs, and it goes on and on. Lars considers the song too long and confusing, you don't understand what part you're currently playing, you lose a sense of time and reality, it literally drives you insane. Kirk and James admitted the middle part is the most difficult to play live "leave your hands to play it, never think of what ur doing. A single thought and you mess up". Kirk also said key changes in the middle of the 5th bar during his solo are absolutely random and unpredictable. I really like playing the song tho, especially the middle part, but I understand why they don't perform it live

[@DonCarnage42]

I think that Lars' use of crashes on twos and fours help him remember and play these parts. But of course, this one is one of their hardest to figure out. As a drummer I love the stuff Lars came up with (some times accidentally), like "reversing" the beat in the middle of a part or having crooked measure breaks.

[@metallimatt10]

The middle part is what always trips me up. I tend to be James when I play and I can play and sing the whole thing but get jacked up on the middle

[@beatmet2355]

The rhythm guitar part underneath the solo section is INSANE. James’ right hand is not of this earth.

[@metallimatt10]

@beatmet2355 yeah he's way better than some people give him credit for

[@Kyng_T]

You could say it’s like you’re playing on the frayed ends of sanity. Catharsis. Perfection. Oooweeeeohhh

[@TSE_WOODY]

The switch up that happens in this song is one of my favourite bits of music from Metallica ever. This whole album is fantastic, I just wished it had been mixed correctly (Justice for Jason!)

[@loudtowncar]

I agree. There have been some good rebased and remastered versions on KZbin. But it should have been done better from the start!

[@Huddle_House56]

I’m guessing when it goes to that waltzy swinging thing in the middle of the song after the 2nd chorus? Fucking beautiful.

[@holku.p]

The reason they played it first in Finland is that it was Metallica’s On Request tour where before each show fans could vote and choose between two songs what they should play live. Btw, it’s one of the most underrated Metallica’s song. That riff that James plays during solo is so utterly good

[@jjuutis]

and many like me had a opinion that we need to hear it and we got it on the setlist :D

[@bryang9398]

I tried learning that today over Kirks solo. Shit is insane!

[@thetrentmeister]

One of my favourite tracks of the album. Thanks for doing this one.

[@smith8281]

The shortest straw is probably my fav on that album ,killer solo

[@JamesWilliams-nb8ig]

Also some of lars best drum work

[@may_beck6224]

A personal favourite, thank you for giving it air time.

[@silchasruinedmytea7307]

yeah dudes the riff that starts at around 8:30 of this video is my favorite metallica riff period. the whole transition is just chefs kiss

[@MoCarcass]

Yes! I've been saying for decades how awesome and insane(ly) underrated that section - the riff and the trasnsition that leads to it - is 🤘

[@raja_soundsystem]

Shout out to you guys from Finland! Watching this on the Independence Day of Finland 6th December. Yeah Finland is a cool place, especially weather wise 😁

[@NinaGray-eq9on]

I was delighted to hear New Slang by The Shins played on piano at the start. I also feel in love with this song when first seeing the equally great Garden State at the cinema. Their other song on the superb soundtrack, Caring is Creepy is also a banger.

[@crilf5830]

Yes it’s difficult. I wouldn’t to play it live but I sure am glad they wrote and recorded this beast. Thanks fellers!

[@scorpionking4012]

I love that song so much, the live performance is amazing. One of the most underrated songs, and album.

[@bowelrupture]

This track is my favourite track on the album. Extremely complex, very busy. The track that shows what Thrash Metal is all about. Everything is in this track.

[@harolddeschenes4640]

This is one of my favourite songs to play from Metallica. Good job!

[@VillasBoasTV]

This is one of my favorite songs at all

[@JustAGamerPerson]

This is up there as one of my favourite songs from AJFA. There’s so much to unpack about what is going on, it’s a theory gold mine! Here’s a few: The intro riff (ooo-wee-ooo) is a very simplified version of the main riff (with a shuffle feel). The main riff is so trippy because of the rhythm of James’s playing. Most of the notes at the beginning and end are eighth notes, while the middle has quarter notes. There’s also a few moments of syncopation, both at those quarter notes. The end of the riff is also not at all the end of a riff, meaning it just continuously loops or at all, feels it. The verse riff (part that goes under James’ singing) is a series of dyads (two notes) that have the lower note descending while keeping the higher one the same (with some chugging inbetween as well). In general, there’s a lot of chromaticism in the song, mainly focusing around the same four notes (G#, A, Bb, B). The harmony (bridge) part is one of the most unique harmonies I’ve ever heard. It essentially has James playing a single power chord while Kirk plays a melody going around the ENTIRE scale, and then whenever James changes power chord, Kirk just changes scale. It’s also one of the most epic harmonies I’ve ever heard. The pre-solo riff (you know the one) is pretty much entirely composed of a gallop rhythm (except for those two tails, which are still played as a gallop, just with pull-offs). The riff underneath Kirk’s solo is basically the pre-solo riff with just gallops and the tail, of course with a few changes to keep it interesting. The riff right after the solo is the outro riff.

[@metallimatt10]

This is one of my favorite Metallica songs 🤘🏻

[@Raul-vl7ly]

Judson needs some harvester of sorrow in his Metallica journey. Proceed Richard

[@Funebresto]

I love this song

[@abrodolphlincoler5809]

Fantastic song! It really highlights James Hetfields ability as a lyricist. And the theme is really on point and as a person who struggles with mental health issues i can relate alot.

[@MyklEnigma]

This is my FAVORITE Metallica album...Listen to it all the way through 🤜👊🤛🤘

[@paulransdell]

The Shins! This is a great album. Nice reaction.

[@UKEDNHAT7]

I'd love to see his thoughts on 'Rime of the Ancient Mariner' by Iron Maiden

[@beatset]

Love The Shins! Thanks for that bit, Judson

[@wanik4]

I love how composer dude generally looks unamused, but I also love it when something rings well with him and his ears perk up.

[@evilervcowart6234]

Love the channel! As a musician myself (drummer), and a lover of music from all genres, it's quite interesting to see reactions and interpretations from others. I would like to suggest the song At The Graves by King Diamond; it is the opening track from the album Conspiracy and has multiple changes spread throughout. Keep rockin' and stay heavy! Wishing everyone peace, love, and good happiness stuff (thank you, Steve Vai!) from the mountains of northeastern Alabama \m/

[@Greatmeasures]

My lady and I actually visited Mentone a few years back. Such a beautiful area up there!

[@mattblatchley2061]

Finland is definitely a bucket list visit!!!

[@fattymcgee123]

Used to whistle the intro to New Slang all the time while tree planting. Always reminded me of Mmm Mmm Mmm by crash test dummies

[@akafterhours]

This song is insane. It’s a metal masterpiece that doesn’t get its just due. It’s a challenge, for sure. I love how Metallica had to come back and play it live one more time just to make up for a couple little mess ups in the original performance. Things most people probably never even noticed. Their last performance of the song is absolutely phenomenal.

[@alyssahudson1743]

Once again a great video my number one favorite bands of all time I bought ride the lightning when I was 13 was instantly hooked got Master of puppets next saw them with Ozzy was blown away next time I seen them was on the monsters of rock tour in Buffalo NY James asked if we wanted to hear some new stuff and they played harvester of sorrow I was blown away

[@AN-nt3uv]

I started Metallica with this album, as One sometimes appeared being played on radio or TV (1991) and later came to the wonderful treasures of the Cliff era of Metallica. This song is one of my favorites and was for my long car drives from university later in my life to my parents place for a visit crossing Germany from South to North….but hey Richard, how can you check your phone, while he plays piano???

[@beatmet2355]

Justice was my first metal album, first Metallica album Still my all time favorite

[@stangaloski4208]

I love the shins! Got a few of thier disks in my ride now

[@Hilariumosis]

That whome mid section just slaps, that whole lead up to the faster part and that faster part that just rocks and then a solo that fits the title, like spiraling down into madness losing it🤘🏻

[@JuhaAuvinen]

Why they played this in Finland? It was a fan vote. Fans got to vote songs to the set list and they played them. Here's a video I shot from that show: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eKjYi2qdf7hpns0

[@jannesundelin115]

There was a deliberate Finnish voting campaign for Frayed. Finnish fans spread the word that everyone should vote Frayed so that Finland would get it live.

[@Greatmeasures]

This is awesome. Thank you.

[@user-hf2ik1uf1l]

ISMO is awesome!! Metallica even more so 🎸🥁🤟🎹

[@toiddiot1629]

Great measures!

[@petrilampela]

Everyone always talks about the lack of bass on this album but no-one ever mentions the china cymbal (4:50). I absolutely love that sound and it still gives me chills after all these years. I don't remember hearing quite a similar cymbal sound on any other album. It sounds even better when it's a bit more buried in the mix like in 7:49. The only other drum sound that gives me goosebumps is Mike Portnoy's snare in A Change of Seasons. And now that I think of it they kinda have a similar color to them.

[@richpeltier9519]

Yeah, other guys had used china cymbals as accents for a few years, but Lars was the first person I ever saw do THAT with it. The series of sharp accent hits in series made my brain burn when I first heard it. Got a china immediately and destroyed a few of them over the next couple years.

[@petrilampela]

@@richpeltier9519 I'm not a drummer so I've always wondered why chinas are not commonly used because I love the sound. Are they more expensive than crash cymbals and do they break more easily because they are shaped so differently?

[@richpeltier9519]

@petrilampela they are on average a little more expensive than normal cymbals. I went through a few at the beginning because the first few I got were cheap and I abused them. Once I learned to use it properly and got a good Zildjian, never had another issue.

[@MrGmonkeywillruleyou]

Justice for Jason on KZbin is much better than this recording

[@petrilampela]

@@MrGmonkeywillruleyou To me it sounds way worse than the original mix. The bass kinda floats on the top of the instruments and doesn't fit in. The 30th anniversary box set of the album included a raw mix that has more pronounced bass track than the final master but it's not as loud as in Justice for Jason. To me that was perfect, but sadly the raw mix is missing some guitar and vocal parts.

[@IROCZSPEED]

I'm working 7x12s. With commute it's like 7x15s. Heading to the jobsite and I see y'all took my request. Joyful tear to my eye!

[@Greatmeasures]

Thanks for hanging out with us!

[@nieksalomons]

Garden State is a beautyful film. And ISMO is a great comedian. Frayed ends seems fitting, great and beautyfull! I wonder what our musical prodigy thinks of symfonic metal, in the form of Dimmu Borgir, maybe let him react to a song called Progenies of the great apocalypse, in the Forces of the Northern Night-version, great orchestral masterpiece!

[@davidbentley6399]

Love the way Judson said Richard in the styling of James lol

[@NicolasSilvaVasault]

this is my favorite song of the entire discography of Metallica, not kidding, this is my song lol

[@richchristensen4640]

We need WEEN!!

[@olli__]

HELLO FROM FINLAND🤪

[@SentientNr6]

I like this song a lot. It's actually one of my favorites on AJFA. It has an amazing solo and while harsh it represents the album very well. I never skipped this song while I might have skipped the 2 after One by occasion.

[@BrianYates-ue8hf]

Hello from up North way in New England...As a drummer of 41 yrs this is one Metallica song I never bothered to learn just bc it's hard to get into a groove bc of all the changes... You'd have to be extremely mindful of where you're at in the song every second...Having had my own struggles I can relate to the subject matter although I've been clean for 14 yrs 🤘🧐✌️

[@SuperNovaForTheBlind15]

Great Album 💿 & the Song One is a masterpiece! The band was really in sink with each other as well during this time , we’ll Jelled if you will !

[@williamreus7697]

Very good reaction, I would like the next Metallica song that Judson reacted to was To Live is To Die

[@raoulduke3770]

They already did that one

[@s.e.gutierrez]

Already did: kzbin.info/www/bejne/m3Wad5dsp5JnpbMsi=z8jGJ6pMY5RHsorm

[@williamreus7697]

@@raoulduke3770 ohh ok thank you!!

[@Kylora2112]

This is my favorite Metallica song.

[@josuaspaulding3576]

You guys should try some Voivod!!!!!

[@metallimatt10]

4:10 it was the By Request show and they voted for it

[@antonnerd]

Ssuomi mainittu!

[@jhawk4480]

Funny. I didn’t skip any songs. What in hated was when you flipped the cassette tape over after “One” you were already 1/3 of the way into Straw. Every song is a masterpiece.

[@bennikolajevs5865]

The shins are the bomb

[@joelj1754]

The wizard of oz chant is a fifth intervall while this intro is a sharp four, so that´s an interesting way of avoiding copywrite issues. I also like the drumming on this album, not too "busy", kind of unpredictable.

[@Ijoi8586]

more metallica!!!!!!

[@mjm5081]

❤❤❤❤

[@ominayu]

can we have "Haggard- de la morte noir" please

[@tonybp]

Most Metallica fans would say MOP is their favorite album, mine is AJFA. Interestingly, Frayed Ends Of Sanity is one of the songs that grew on me, especially when I started learning about music and playing the song.

[@unforg1v3n]

I couldn't remember where I heard the song in the beginning, I was thinking Scrubs. Close enough I guess :p

[@TimSpaw1leg]

I'd like to see both your reactions to "Archspire-Drone Corpse Aviation"... they are very heavy metal and classical inspired... your eyes will definitely open wide.. Jetson might like their drum work...

[@Greatmeasures]

I love Archspire. Been trying to figure out where to start with them.

[@edcummings2379]

The wizard of Oz intro 😂

[@gregclark8997]

This one is actually my personal favorite on Justice. The middle section feels really progressive compared to some of their other work.

[@IROCZSPEED]

Also great pronunciation. That's how they say it back home in Sicily

[@IROCZSPEED]

I thought I read somewhere that they never played it because of it's difficulty. I believe this becomes apparent when you watch the live performance.

[@richardthomas8065]

Wow that's insane, if he is correct about this song never being performed live until 2014. I definitely didnt know that. This song is in a 3way tie for my favorite Metallica song, stuck in a 🪨 📃 ✂️ match with battery and of course, to live is to die

[@SteveCoronado2]

Ismo is amazing 🤘🏻💥🔥🙏🏻💯

[@dan.j.boydzkreationz]

So, they had Helsinki Winkies?

[@ijustneedmyself]

Ooh, At the Gates anyone? 🤔

[@mrch6200]

🤠

[@ralphabs558]

Interesting song choice. Btw you guys gotta fix your Mic volumes, they're very loud and super compressed or something like that...

[@superlink235]

We should have Judson get music like The Shins for Richard to react to

[@thescourgeofathousan]

I wonder if submerging the base in And Justice was an attempt to share the feeling of loss and absence resulting from Cliff’s death…

[@vikusen1857]

They played it because the people "fans" could choose the setlist, through voting. So the setlist changed for every country they played in.

[@SuperNovaForTheBlind15]

There’s a Movie ,, Beast of the Southern Wild ,,, Yall might like it !

[@jp1170]

How you could ever ever ever think about skipping this song is crazy to me. Its the best on the album hands down

[@nachocheez9690]

Nah forreal tho. Insane

[@rodrigolj]

Why they didn't play it: it's long. AJFA album was the last one they did in that style, the next album had them a lot shorter and that's what they wanted to go with, and they felt the crowd was bored during the long pieces. They didn't really create longer songs up until Rober Trujillo came to the band, or songs that reminded them of Cliff Burton. He specifically said that when he got into the band, the two songs he wanted to convince them to play live again were Dyers Eve and Frayed Ends, and eventually he got them both. I believe they also felt more comfortable Robert to play instrumentals in which Cliff was the focus: Anesthesia and Orion.

[@JoseEchoes378]

The intro track on the piano made me think of Bryan Adams

[@larrydj549]

Banger... one of the best from this one but u gotta play him to live is to die

[@Greatmeasures]

It’s the first video we ever uploaded. Stick around till the end of that one.

[@larrydj549]

​​@Greatmeasures1 oh yeah Harvester of Sorrow? This is the first CD I ever bought. (They were still new), cds that is. I got into metallica on the radio on KNAC in California. This was the first album of theirs I bought as well. I think i saw it when yall started but Ill revisit it

[@olekjaruga9907]

give him one please

[@jessegunn2033]

Notice on the drums parts of when Lars plays keeps changing like he adds new parts and the guitars chorus stays the same props to Lars

[@thesoundpurist]

3:15 wait what? I could swear I saw a video from the 90’s where they play it… if I recall well Lars f*cked up and James spat on him

[@jerryflick7187]

Was it this album or The Black Album perhaps both that Jamez and Lars put the drum tracks together using a digital caliper? 🤟 Analog All they way.

[@KC_rocka]

great reaction, please react to Welcome Home (Sanitarium) from Master of Puppets, what an awesome song that is

[@Un4GivNX]

React to Equilibrium - Kurzes Epos! :D

[@Bmm1620]

you should keep the mic on or keep the volume when he plays the piano when the song is playing. As a musician I want to hear him nail the note and key 🤣

[@bumblefluff79]

I'd say this album has the strongest songs of all their albums, just a shame it didn't have the production of Puppets.

[@laggyluke5700]

You can blame only one man for that - Lars.

[@mattblatchley2061]

That's really the bottom line isn't it?

[@JerryMabrey]

James and actually the whole band and Dave Mustaine battles with addiction was alcohol, that's why they use to call them alcoholica because they drank so much and I'm sure that wasn't all they did but the alcohol was what was always brought up and thats why Dave was booted because he was the biggest alcoholic of the all of them.

[@TaureanMixing]

That Wizard of Oz chant however is a remake. How do we know? Because other than key differences, the original was a perfect 5th interval. Metallica's is a diminished 5th. Listen to them back to back, and you shall see.

[@bradennichols3154]

my whole right side of my body hates me after trying to play 3 minutes of this song. Imagine if you had to play this song 3 times a day everyday or you would die. Imagine how jacked your right arm would be

[@paulmichaelfreedman8334]

There's a maneuver for beefing up that right arm of yours :)

[@bradennichols3154]

@@paulmichaelfreedman8334 cracking pecans??

[@mattblatchley2061]

Yeah papa Het's down picking has gotta be exhausting

[@paulmichaelfreedman8334]

@@bradennichols3154 I suppose, depends on the size of your nuts :)

[@craigroaring]

Just occurred to me how much the verse riff sounds like Anthrax.

[@The_Masked_1der]

Anything that chugs that awesomely is gonna sound like anthrax lol.. Hetfield and Scott Ian are the rhythm hand kings, and my forearms burn just thinking of all the downpickimg hahaha

[@The_Masked_1der]

I found myself bobbing my head to it out of muscle memory, then I spot in the Richard cam, that's he's rocking out in the exact same way.. Judson was pretty close to it in a few places as well! "THE POWER OF THE RIFF COMPELS ME!" 🤘🖖👍

[@Greatmeasures]

🤘

[@raulhernandez7518]

You could play what he is doing on the piano while listening to the song

[@kuplung22]

No

[@Werter666]

Teraz poproszę o utwór z repertuaru Death.

[@dontanton7775]

"And Then There Was Silence" from Blind Guardian is really something for a classically trained dude like him I would say.

[@sick_noises]

nothing beats Sepultura's Arise

[@TheBFN]

SUICIDAL TENDENCIES.. waking the dead...rocky never gets his props as a great metal guitar player

[@glenns7252]

And justice for all is my favorite album, but frayed ends of sanity isnt the strongest track, but everything on that album is such a level above and beyond other albums even the weaker tracks are great

[@dismal-26]

According to the original producer of this album, the sound was supposed to be a lot different and made MOP Sound like a demo tape. Him and James had worked on the sound of the record, and when Lars came in the room he was distraught that his drums didn't sound the way he wanted and that the bass was too high. So to appease Lars the producer changed the drums to the way he wanted, turned it down until you could barely hear the bass, and at that point the original producer threatened to leave because he couldn't let himself be apart of that album sounding like that, but he was convinced to stay. You should take this with a grain of salt obviously since we only really heard one side, but here's the interview with the original producer kzbin.info/www/bejne/op6pmJh8nZehotk

[@gerryj8839]

Lars might not be able to play that song on a constant basis. It's quite technical from a drumming and tempo standpoint and Lars is not the greatest drummer (I don't mean that in a condescending way, he's perfect for the SOUND of Metallica)