METALLICA — Master of Puppets (review)

METALLICA — Master of Puppets album cover Album · 1986 · Thrash Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
5/5 ·
Stooge
Many of my peers in elementary school were heavily into Metallica in Grade 8. For some reason, I didn’t quite appreciate them at this stage of my life. Two years later, I stumbled across a copy of Master Of Puppets at a second-hand store. Taken by the album cover, I immediately purchased it. I’m not sure why, but I decided to listen to the instrumental “Orion” first. From the initial fading in of the growling bass and steady drumming, I immediately got chills down my spine. They remained there upon the fade-out. Why did it take me two years to get into this band??

There is absolutely no filler on this album at all, and each song is structured in such a way that you don’t even make notice of the running time. It is a 50+ minute album that has the feel of a 30-minute album. Song length is well balanced. Not one song is under 5 minutes long yet not one over 9 minutes.

In my 10+ years of listening to metal music, I still have yet to find an album that blends aggression with melody in such a fine fashion. Tracks range from all out thrash metal mayhem (“Battery”), to the somewhat-sludgy (‘The Thing That Should Not Be”) to the near-symphonic (the title track and “Orion”), but throughout it all, Metallica maintain their signature sound and attack found on Kill’em All and Ride The Lightning.

It is often said that a unit is only as strong as it’s weakest link; an analogy that is certainly applicable to the Metallica on their third album. James Hetfield’s barking vocals are in top form, his riffing is the inspiration for millions of guitarists (and air-guitarists!!), and his lyrics have matured and are delivered with exceptional confidence. Lars Ulrich, while perhaps not as skilled as contemporaries such as Dave Lombardo of Slayer or Charlie Benante of Anthrax, pumps much of the life into songs like “Damage Inc.” and “Disposable Heroes” from behind the drum kit. It’s his performance on Master of Puppets that has highly revered drummers such as Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater citing Ulrich as an influence. Kirk Hammett has crafted some of the finest leads in his career, and is the standout performer on “Welcome Home (Sanitarium)”. I’m particularly fond of his lengthy solo during “Disposable Heroes”. Cliff Burton, on what would be his last studio recording, absolutely shines as a bassist and composer. He is most often credited by the band as being the driving force behind much of “Orion”. The solo starting at 6:35 of “Orion”, which I assumed to be guitar for the longest time, is Burton’s, as is the intro to “Damage Inc.”.

Not much else for me to say. Five stars for Master Of Puppets is the easiest decision I’ve had to make all day (and would be for most days).
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