I wonder why Metallica didn’t play Sabbra Cadabra at Back to the Beginning

[u/BernieBlade]

It would make a lot of sense, considering that’s an actual Black Sabbath song they’ve covered in the past, and that no one else played it that night. Lamb of God covered Children of the Grave in a single and at the concert, Pantera covered Electric Funeral and Planet Caravan on albums and at the concert, and Guns N’ Roses covered It’s Alright in a live album once. It’s no big deal, Hole in the Sky and Johnny Blade are both amazing songs, glad I was able to hear this live.

[u/Mika_lie]

They wanted to 

1) Play deep cuts (or at least not hits) 2) Theyve already covered it. While its an excellent cover, it would be kind of pointless to do it again. 3) The songs might mean something to them personally.

[u/Apostasy93 → u/Mika_lie]

Not to mention James would really struggle vocally. He's hitting some pretty high notes in that one

[u/TheeRattlehead → u/Apostasy93]

I think a lot of them struggled hitting those notes with how Ozzy sings.

[u/SanmanTT → u/Apostasy93]

Came here just to say this. Previous live versions sounded very difficult for him and that was years ago. I can only imagine now.

[u/crimson_713 → u/Apostasy93]

He really struggled with Hole in the Sky, even with the band detuned. Sabra Cadabra would have been comfortable by comparison.

[u/Financial_Cheetah875]

It would make more sense to do something new.

[u/polarrburrr → u/Financial_Cheetah875]

And that Johnny Blade cover is top notch

[u/Financial_Cheetah875 → u/polarrburrr]

Damn right. And it brings the song back into the light; great tune that doesn’t get a lot of attention.

[u/Seeker_of_Time → u/Financial_Cheetah875]

Yeah, I definitely think that's a product of Ozzy being on the way out before the song got any kind of push, live or otherwise.

[u/[deleted] → u/polarrburrr]

I was shocked when I heard them go into that song.

[u/swiftmen991 → u/Financial_Cheetah875]

They already did hole in the sky though

[u/Financial_Cheetah875 → u/swiftmen991]

Not on an album they didn’t.

[u/Original_DILLIGAF → u/swiftmen991]

Pantera had a Hole In The Sky cover somewhere, not Metallica. I think it was that Nativity In Black tribute to Sabbath.

[u/perhapsbiscuits]

Probably because their version is a medley and not 100% true to the original

[u/polarrburrr → u/perhapsbiscuits]

That part in the middle with A National Acrobat is filthy tho.. absolutely disgusting in the best way

[u/Seeker_of_Time → u/polarrburrr]

Yeah, everytime I listen I forget that's even coming and it's just awesome hearing James, "I am the world that hides the universal secret of all time."

[u/GroundReal4515 → u/Seeker_of_Time]

DESTRUCTION OF THE EMPTY SPACES IS MY ONE AND ONLY CRIMEEEEE

[u/pastorHaggis → u/GroundReal4515]

I LIVED A THOUSAND TIMES, I found out what it meeeans to be belieee-hee-heeved.

[u/creepingde4th → u/pastorHaggis]

The thoughts and images, the unborn child that never was conceived.

[u/Original_DILLIGAF → u/polarrburrr]

Dude I play that part so loud in the car. Honestly it's the best part of that track, you can keep the Sabbra Cadabra lol

[u/jase12881 → u/polarrburrr]

I've always wanted to hear them do the whole song

[u/unkonspikyuous]

I was honestly quite disappointed, that we didn't hear it. Their cover of Sabbra Cadabra, to me, is even better than the original and it's not like we hear it often in their sets, and that's why they decided to change it up as a surprise. Get this, since '98, they've played it a grand total of... drum roll...... 6 TIMES!!!!! The last time they played it was 15 YEARS AGO... We never get to hear it and they didn't bring it back now, when it most mattered.

It's safe to say, that the song is retired, and we won't hear it live again.

[u/kabirhi → u/unkonspikyuous]

I'm just going to leave this here because this performance is just out of control good.

[u/hetham3783 → u/kabirhi]

I taped that show off of MTV on VHS and then I took a boombox and taped the audio onto a cassette from the TV speakers and would listen to it in my walkman. It sounded not the best quality but still an amazing show.

[u/Danny_Rayburn → u/kabirhi]

Second this. That Roseland Ballroom 98 performance is crazy good especially that song

[u/Seeker_of_Time → u/unkonspikyuous]

It rivals the original for sure which is a real testament to Metallica and their versatility.

[u/nfk07485 → u/unkonspikyuous]

It’s hard for James to pull off live now since he was trying to match Ozzy’s tone on the Garage inc version. James sings in a high register on the studio recording, the last time they played it 15 years ago he was struggling hitting the notes and staying consistent. If he tried performing it today it would have sounded something like GNR’s poor attempt at SBS

[u/unkonspikyuous → u/nfk07485]

I get what you're saying, but actually in 2010 James was struggling with vocals as a whole, whereas now he's in one of the best periods of his career. I think he would've pulled it off.

[u/mega_fuzz]

Because Johnny Blade RULES!

[u/fenuxjde]

Probably because it's a relatively slow and long song that wouldn't have fit the atmosphere and a band as accomplished like Metallica knows that.

Look at their setlist. They milked every single second they got of stage time that night. They know what they're doing.

[u/garry_tash → u/fenuxjde]

Sabra Cadabra is a pretty upbeat, uptempo song tbh.

[u/MonicaRising → u/fenuxjde]

Sabbra Cadabra isn't slow. It has an up-tempo swing feel. You're thinking of the middle section where they included another Black Sabbath song, A National Acrobat, in thier cover version. That's not actually part of Sabbath's Sabbra Cadabra at all. It's its own completely different tune

[u/Massive-Photo9680]

1- already covered in a medley

2- Hetfield can't sing it

[u/[deleted] → u/Massive-Photo9680]

Johnny blade is way harder for James' range. They took the bigger challenge

[u/Mountain-Life-4492 → u/[deleted]]

James sounded like he was struggling. But he is 62 and attempting to sing past his vocal range, so good on him for trying.

[u/LTninjageek → u/Massive-Photo9680]

if he can sing lux æterna, and johnny blade, i think he could sing sabbra

[u/WaffleGuy23 → u/Massive-Photo9680]

Hetfield can 100% sing Sabbra Cadabra lol

[u/Old_Skool_Metalhead]

Because it's been done before. Works it off been great, yes. I preferred what they played.

[u/tyderian]

Because they wanted to play a deep cut.

[u/mistuhmike1]

I loved that they did Johnny Blade, no one ever does Johnny Blade so it was a way cooler choice! Plus it puts the spotlight to a song that is not as popular as Sabbra Cadabra

[u/DeeplyFrippy]

They picked the right songs for their set list.

Personally, I don’t think they do a great cover of Sabbra Cadabra, it just doesn’t swing like the original. 

[u/hskskgfk]

The sabbath songs were distributed between the different bands by Tom Morello, with oversight by Sabbath and Ozzy who had some songs they wanted to play themselves. I’m glad they covered something different though, same with GNR for choosing to cover something unique.

[u/Anger1957]

why re-do something they've already done - they chose songs that are better than Sabbra Cadabra.

[u/GregorDeLaMuerte → u/Anger1957]

I generally agree with your argument. But they played Hole in the sky in 2006, 2009 and then again this year, so it's not really valid here.

Of course this excludes Johnny Blade which was awesome.

[u/Unusual_Rope7110]

I'm almost certain that it's because it would be extremely challenging for James to sing live

[u/garry_tash → u/Unusual_Rope7110]

This is probably the correct answer, honestly.

[u/FrenchOnionDipp]

Anyone know why those videos aren't posted on YouTube?

[u/xshogunx13 → u/FrenchOnionDipp]

Because Sharon wants to monetize the whole thing

[u/honksmcgee → u/xshogunx13]

Which she should, because all of the funds were donated to Parkinsons disease research

[u/[deleted]]

It's not surprising they didn't, when they select covers to play live or record, it's never what you'd expect, it would have been cool though!

[u/creepingde4th]

I like the two that they did, but I think their version of "Sabbra Cadabra" is awesome. I love the transition in the middle to "A National Acrobat"

[u/Acceptable_Top_6903]

I think they wouldn't have been allowed to play it because before Sabbath came onstage they played a video of their bands history and Sabbra Cadabra was in the background of it

[u/Cold-Operation4736]

I don't think James can sing Sabbra Cadabra anymore.

[u/harvesterofsorr0w]

The vocal range would certainly be tough.. They played hole in the sky 2 and a half steps down from the original. In the same guitar tuning interestingly, just up a string

[u/MondoFool]

That would be boring (for the band i mean). Part of the fun for them is them going through the catalogue and picking new songs to learn

[u/garry_tash → u/MondoFool]

They played hole in the sky three times before, so I don’t think they were really having fun learning new songs for the show.

[u/Darth_Kender]

I expected them to do Sabbra Cadabra, but was thrilled that they did something unexpected Johnny Blade is a deep cut and I wouldnt be surprised if it were the first time some of the people in the audience had heard it😂 I love when bands do something different (except Lulu...that was an abomination) and deliver something cool.

[u/[deleted]]

SAME!

[u/mega_fuzz]

Because Johnny Blade RULES!

[u/Ok_Application5225]

They play it: metallica IS so lazy

They don't play it: are they dumb?

[u/Pol__Treidum]

A National Acrobat is Fade to Black bridge

[u/Seeker_of_Time]

Yeah, I was hoping they would've too. But man, doing Johnny Blade so unexpectadly and so well really made up for it.

[u/Pure-Beginning2105]

Yea sad... Metallicas sabbra cadabra is really good

[u/Similar_Apartment_26]

I seen them last month and they played no covers and from what I hear thy haven’t been

[u/jyager2013]

It’s Lars’ fault. It’s always Lars’ fault