Master of Puppets

This was the album that catapulted Metallica to lasting fame and it remains a firm favourite. A towering thrash metal classic featuring a varied assortment of fresh and technically excellent tracks with well written lyrics, guitar solos aplenty from Kirk Hammett, some fantastic bass lines from Cliff Burton, strong drumming from Lars Ulrich and the powerful vocals of James Hetfield in top form. It appears on every list of the top heavy metal albums and it deserves to be there. With Master of Puppets Metallica brought together their talents to great effect and exerted a lasting influence on the rock world.

It was their third album and Elektra Records released it in 1986. Up until this point Metallica were still relatively unknown but their reputation was spreading fast, not through marketing and endless radio play but through word of mouth and a growing legion of loyal fans. It was a commercial success on release reaching number 29 on the US Billboard chart and it sold half a million copies without any major promotion remaining in the charts for 72 weeks. The album continued to sell for the next few years and they have shifted well over 6 million copies in the US alone to date.

Master of Puppets made Metallica into one of the biggest metal bands in the world and offered an exciting alternative to the pop sound of glam metal, something which was altogether more meaty and satisfying. They supported Ozzy Osbourne for a US tour and then embarked on a world tour of their own. Sadly it was during the Damage Inc. Tour to promote Master of Puppets that bass legend Cliff Burton was killed when the band’s tour bus crashed in Sweden. After some soul searching Jason Newsted was recruited and the band continued.

The album lasts 55 minutes and features eight songs. Although each track is unique they are all built around the theme of control. The album kicks off with the explosive Battery before launching into perhaps the most popular track, Master of Puppets, which is an epic song lasting over eight minutes and the first single released from the album. It features several time signature changes with an addictive riff, a fantastic guitar solo and some powerfully affecting lyrics on the subject of drug addiction. It remains one of their best songs and is a regular feature at live shows. Next up was the slow and heavy The Thing That Should Not Be based on a Lovecraft story.

Welcome Home (Sanitarium) was the third single released from the album and it conjured memories of Fade to Black. It was apparently inspired by One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest becoming harsher and more distorted as it progressed. They followed that with the intensely speedy Disposable Heroes which featured some amazing drumming from Lars and the head banging Leper Messiah. Orion was Cliff Burton’s finest moment and his incredible bass guitar skills crafted an instrumental here which is haunting, complex and soulful. The album was rounded off with the classic thrash track Damage Inc. which is dripping with anger.

Master of Puppets still sounds fantastic and for many early Metallica fans the band was never able to reach this high again.