Listening to Metallica’s reunion with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra on “S&M2” (Blackened Recordings, Inc.), is both rousing and redundant. On its own merit, the new “S&M” is thrilling, thrashing and thoroughly enjoyable. It would be great if they weren’t rehashing the original “S&M,” which was released 20 years ago. This time around, it’s for diehard-fans only, as this musical document adds a few songs, but does a lot of circling back to the first with orchestration padding Metallica hits. The first 11 minutes is almost indistinguishable from its predecessor, with a slow-fade in on the sound of applause and the ominous opening arpeggio of “The Ecstasy of Gold,” the soaring Ennio Morricone film cue that has opened Metallica concerts since 1983. “The Call of Ktulu” follows, with a frenetic string section whipping at the band like a cat o’ nine tails. Love or hate Metallica, the bands got bravado and braggadocio going for them. Be it making ‘thriller concert films,’ partnering with the Lou Reed, or playing freaking Antarctica, these heavy titans still have a young man’s passion for jumping into situations and asking questions later. At this point in their career, Metallica isn’t in the business of trying to prove anything to anyone, nor grab legions of young fans. ‘S&M2’ sees the band happily rip through their back catalog, supercharged once more by a talented orchestra and some hardcore fans. It’s a reminder that, despite many hiccups along the way, their live prowess and influence stand unmatched in the genre. Let’s just hope they don’t keep going back to the same well.

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Ronnie Earl is back with another set of blockbuster blues on his new record with the Broadcasters, “Rise Up” (Stony Plain). On his 27th album, the set is contemporary, perhaps a reaction to the history-making year that 2020 has been. The set opens with a solo acoustic, instrumental read of “I Shall Not Be Moved.” Closely associated with the Civil Rights Movement, the song’s roots lie deep in the Delta blues (Charlie Patton cut it in 1929). Elsewhere, on “Rise Up,” Earl & the Broadcasters – Dave Limina on keyboards, Diane Blue on vocals, Paul Kochanski on bass and Forrest Padgett on drums – lead listeners on a journey through a wide swath of musical stylings.

Recorded just west of Boston days before the pandemic struck, Earl mixes socially conscious studio cuts with a few live performances. “Rise Up” bears some similarities to 2019’s “Beyond the Blue Door” by being a true band album, and it finds Earl stretching out more with those goosebump- inducing epic solos of his, too. These are blues for the recently lost, for the cries for justice, and for the impact of Covid-19, mixed in with some blues standards, some of which are live recordings from Daryl’s House Club. (Hall of Hall and Oates fame.) Earl gets down and dirty on the rugged, Texas styled Stevie Ray Vaughan peppy shuffle “Albert’s Stomp” and even lets Limina display his piano skills on the boogie-woogie “Mess Around,” the only track without a guitar solo. Earl, who had back surgery earlier this year, sounds like a new man. And plays like one, too.

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Singer/songwriter Suzanne Vega, of “Luka” fame, serves up “An Evening of New York Songs and Stories” (Amanuensis/Cooking Vinyl), a collection of new tales and favorite tunes, captured live at NYC’s historic Café Carlyle with a small combo, 16 tracks and some between-song chatter. The set is intimate and features stripped-down arrangements of the originals and takes advantage of Vega’s at-ease stage manner. Some of the tunes are predictable, “New York Is A Woman,” and “New York Is My Destination” among them, (both are from her tribute to author Carson McCullers). Others are sparked by her comments, like “Gypsy,” inspired by her stint as a folk-singing, disco dance counselor at a camp in the Adirondacks. “Two skills every girl needs,” she jokes. With age and maturity, she’s found her fit with an audience that’s happy to have grown along with her. Few artists are so capable of making music that allows intimacy to emote so expressively. Vega makes the transition from best-selling artist to piano-bar chanteuse seem effortless-and desirable. She’s good at this. Her songs seem tailor-made for the cabaret setting, and the lyrics’ intimate stories are only enhanced by the cozy space. Maybe that’s why this album works so well: it’s a refinement of what she’s been doing all along. The smaller venue only helps (where, maybe, the larger halls she played in the ’90s didn’t). From the sound of it, a good time was had by all.

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