10 Bands That Made The Same Song Twice
3. For Whom the Bell Tolls - Metallica
If you want the reason why Cliff Burton should be so missed, For Whom the Bell Tolls is a pretty good case. For a man that only had one albums' worth of recording experience under his belt, the riff that opens up the song is absolutely fantastic, almost bringing a tinge of prog rock into the metal world. The only thing holding the record back was the production of the time, which was taken to gargantuan proportions when the real orchestra was brought in.
Since Cliff was such a big fan of classical music during his time on this Earth, S&M feels like the most logical place to put For Whom the Bell Tolls, as Michael Kamen adds on different extensions that most of us would have never thought of. After years of playing it live, Metallica knew that the bass guitar was the signature of the song, and the rest of the song sets out to accentuate it. For all intents and purposes, the entire orchestra is serving that little bass guitar melody, as James Hetfield soars above the rest of it with his vocals.
Compared to the first version, the production also gives an added sense of drama to the mix, like when James talks about taking a look to the sky for the last time and the orchestra collapsing around him before rushing back in. After years of slogging it out on the road playing the best metal music they could, this feels like the greatest performance that Cliff never got to give.