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Master of Puppets is the third album by American thrash metal band Metallica. The album was released on March 3, 1986 through Elektra Records and reached #29 on the U.S. Billboard 200 album chart and was the band's first gold record for sales of over 500,000 copies. This was done without any radio airplay or the release of a single or music video. The album eventually sold over 6 million copies in the United States and was certified 6x platinum by the RIAA.[1] Master of Puppets marks the last recording by bassist Cliff Burton, who was killed in a bus accident while on tour to promote the album.
Master of Puppets met with significant critical acclaim at the time of its release. The album is considered a classic thrash metal album by fans, critics, and the band members themselves alike, and is also considered one of the greatest heavy metal albums of all time.
Reception and legacy
Allmusic's Steve Huey commented that Master of Puppets "was the band's greatest achievement." "Some critics have called Master of Puppets the best metal album ever recorded", Huey noted.[7]
Master of Puppets has been featured on several "greatest albums of all time" lists. The album is present in the "The All-TIME 100 Albums" published by TIME magazine in November 2006.[8] In TIME critic Josh Tyrangiel's opinion, "Metallica didn't bother with hooks or pop discipline" in writing Master of Puppets.[8] IGN ranked it #1 in a list of the "Top 25 Metal Albums" issued in January 2007.[9] The album is featured in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die and Q magazine counted it among the 50 heaviest albums of all time. In 2003, the album was ranked number 167 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. The album has frequently been tagged by critics as "one of the most influential thrash metal albums of all time."[10]
As an early parody of the PMRC's "explicit lyrics" warning labels, many prints of Metallica's 1986 release of Master of Puppets sported an octagonal sticker on the front saying:
- "The only track you probably won't want to play is "Damage, Inc." due to the multiple use of the infamous "F" word. Otherwise, there aren't any "Shits", "Fucks", Pisses", "Sucks", "Cunts", "Motherfuckers" or "Cocksuckers" anywhere on this record."
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of its release, Metallica played the album in its entirety on their Escape from the Studio '06 tour for the first time ever at the Rock am Ring festival on June 3, 2006. These concerts included the first-ever complete performances of the instrumental "Orion" (previously only portions of the song's lengthy middle section had been performed onstage as part of instrumental medleys and bass solos).
The title track was ranked #51 in the "The Greatest Guitar Solos" from Guitar World. In 2006, the album was voted the fourth "greatest guitar album of all time" in Guitar World. And the April 5th edition of Kerrang! was dedicated to it, providing readers with the cover album "Master of Puppets: Remastered". In March 2007, the guitar magazine Total Guitar ranked the 100 greatest riffs of all time and the main riff of the album's title track was ranked number one.
"Damage, Inc." is the last of four songs to feature writing from all members of the Cliff Burton-Kirk Hammett era of Metallica.
Every song from this album except "Leper Messiah" and "Damage, Inc." is playable on the music video game Guitar Hero: Metallica. The song "Battery" is featured in the game Rock Band 2.
Personnel
- Additional personnel
Track listing
| Writer(s) |
| 1. |
"Disposable Heroes" |
Hetfield, Ulrich, Hammett |
8:15 |
| 2. |
"Leper Messiah" |
Hetfield, Ulrich |
5:42 |
| 3. |
"Orion" (Instrumental) |
Burton, Hetfield, Ulrich |
8:25 |
| 4. |
"Damage, Inc." |
Hetfield, Ulrich, Burton, Hammett |
5:31 |
Notes
- In the song "The Thing That Should Not Be", James Hetfield sings, "Not dead which eternal lie; stranger aeons, death may die". That lyric is taken from the short story "The Nameless City" by H.P. Lovecraft. Most of the song is inspired by the Lovecraftian Cthulhu Mythos.
Chart performance
| Year |
Chart |
Position |
| 1986 |
The Billboard 200 |
29 |
| 1986 |
UK Albums Chart |
41 |
| 2004 |
Finnish Album Chart[11] |
7 |
| 2008 |
Australian ARIA Top 50 Albums Chart |
33 |
| 2009 |
Mexico Album Chart |
66 |
Certifications
Since the beginning of the SoundScan era in 1991, Master of Puppets has sold 4,578,000 copies.[12]
Covers
- Several bands, including Mastodon, Trivium, Anthrax, Chimaira, Machine Head, Funeral for a Friend, and Bullet For My Valentine recorded a tribute album for the twentieth anniversary of the album's release; the project was sponsored by Kerrang! called "A 20th Anniversary Tribute, Kerrang! Presents 'Remastered' Metallica's Master Of Puppets Revisited", and copies were distributed with the magazine. Mastodon covered 'Orion', Chimaira covered 'Disposable Heroes', Machine Head covered 'Battery', Bullet For My Valentine and Anthrax both covered 'Welcome Home' separately, and Trivium covered the title track.
- Machine Head released Battery as a bonus track on its special edition version of The Blackening album.
- Dream Theater has covered the entire album at a live concert, something they have also done for other historically significant progressive or metal albums, including Iron Maiden's The Number of the Beast, Deep Purple's Made in Japan and Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. Dream Theater also covered "Damage, Inc." live at an 'uncovered' show, with Napalm Death singer Barney Greenway on vocals.
- Cello metal band Apocalyptica also recorded a cover of many Metallica songs including "Master of Puppets" on their album Plays Metallica by Four Cellos.
- Shai Hulud has covered the song "Damage, Inc." for the series of 7 inches LPs as a tribute to Metallica called "Crush 'em All".
- Funk metal trio Primus has covered the title track live and "The Thing That Should Not Be" on their EP Rhinoplasty.
- The folk metal band Ensiferum covered "Battery" on their single Tale of Revenge and the same cover was later featured on a limited edition of their album Iron.
- Scott D. Davis recorded a tribute album "Pianotarium" which includes "Master of Puppets", "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)", and songs from other albums composed in solo grand piano.
- The Mexican duo Rodrigo y Gabriela recorded a cover of the song "Orion" on their self-titled 2006 album, using two acoustic guitars.
- The Scorched Earth Orchestra recorded a symphonic version of the entire album in 2007.
- The Sins of Thy Beloved covered the track "The Thing That Should Not Be" on their 2000 album Perpetual Desolation.
- Limp Bizkit performed a live cover of "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" for the MTV Icon: Metallica tribute concert.
- "Master of Puppets," "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" "Orion" and the intro to "Battery" were performed on harp by the tribute duo Harptallica on their album Harptallica: A Tribute.
- The second solo of "Master of Puppets" was often performed by Sum 41 at their live performances, including the Metallica MTV Icon show in 2003 as well as the whole song was played in 2009 at Hoodwink festival.
- Pendulum covered the song as an intro to their track 'Slam' whilst on their 2008 European tour.
- "Battery" was covered by German a cappella metal act Van Canto on their 2006 debut album A Storm to Come, and later covered the titular song "Master of Puppets" on their 2010 album Tribe of Force.
- Chicago area jazz band The Paul Abella Trio played the album in its entirety in a concert at The Store on November 13, 2009.
References
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