10 Amazing Songs That Were Never Performed Live
1. Orion (w/Cliff) - Metallica
As time has gone on, almost every single Metallica song has managed to find its way onto the live stage. Though the era of St. Anger and Load/Reload don't merit that many repeated performances, every single track from Kill Em All to the Black Album has met the live stage, even if James Hetfield has disdain for some of them. Even with Orion finally finding its way to the masses, it did so without the key factor everyone was looking for.
When this instrumental was actually released on Master of Puppets, most instrumentalists were taken aback by the massive bass performance that Cliff Burton put across its 8 minutes. Being Cliff's baby, this entire track is a delve into metal by way of classical music, with crushing riffs that are complimented by musical vignettes on the same level as composers like Bach and Brahms. Although Cliff was proud of his endeavor, he never got to see his masterpiece take to the road.
Although Robert Trujillo plays this song from time to time during Metallica's recent live shows, Cliff never got the chance to perform it how it was supposed to, dying in a bus accident before it was even added to the setlist. With it being the cornerstone music played at the bassist's funeral, Orion still stands as one of the greatest musical moments in thrash metal history.