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Master of Puppets

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For the title track of the album, see Master of Puppets (song).
Untitled

Master of Puppets is the third studio album by American thrash metal band Metallica. The album was recorded in 1985[2] and released by Elektra Records on March 3, 1986[1] in North America.

The album proved to be a modest commercial success upon its release, reaching #29 on the U.S. Billboard 200, making it the very first thrash metal album to crack the Top 40. With the band's rising popularity from the release of …And Justice for All, awareness of the album has increased, and according to the RIAA, it has sold over six million copies in the U.S. alone. It was the last album the band recorded with bass player Cliff Burton, who died in a tour bus crash six months after it was released.

Historical significance

The band's line-up during the album's recording was James Hetfield on vocals and rhythm guitar, Lars Ulrich on drums, Kirk Hammett on lead guitar, and Cliff Burton on bass. The album is remembered in part due to the death of Burton shortly after the release of the album in a bus accident while supporting the album on tour.

When it was released, Master of Puppets provided many metal fans with an alternate image to the commercially popular glam metal bands, such as Poison, Bon Jovi, Mötley Crüe, and Ratt. The album has frequently been tagged by critics as "one of the most influential heavy metal albums of all time."[3]

As an early parody of the PMRC's "explicit lyrics" warning labels, many prints of Metallica's 1986 release of Master of Puppets sported a sticker on the front in the shape of a stop-sign 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" (though portions of the song's lengthy middle section had been performed at various times as part of instrumental medleys and bass solos since the early 1990s).

The title track was ranked Number 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 5, 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 in the album's title track was ranked number one.

Former Metallica guitarist Dave Mustaine has long claimed to have written the riff for "Leper Messiah". Metallica has denied it.

Reception

Upon its release, Master of Puppets was immediately commercially successful, selling over half a million copies at its time of release without any major video/radio airplay, making it the band's first record to be certified Gold by the RIAA.

According to Allmusic's Steve Huey, Master of Puppets "was the band's greatest achievement." "Some critics have called Master of Puppets the best heavy metal album ever recorded", Huey noted.[4] Master of Puppets has featured on several "greatest albums of all time" lists. The album is present in a list dubbed "The All-TIME 100 Albums" and published by TIME magazine in November 2006.[5] In TIME critic Josh Tyrangiel's opinion, "Metallica didn't bother with hooks or pop discipline" in writing Master of Puppets.[5] Metal Rules rated the album as being number one in a list of the "Top 100 Heavy Metal Albums" published in September 2003,[6] whereas IGN also rated the album as being at first position in a list of the "Top 25 Metal Albums" issued in January 2007.[7] It is included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, and Q magazine counted it among the 50 heaviest albums of all time. Template:RS500

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Battery"James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich5:13
2."Master of Puppets"Hetfield, Ulrich, Cliff Burton, Kirk Hammett8:36
3."The Thing That Should Not Be"Hetfield, Ulrich, Hammett6:37
4."Welcome Home (Sanitarium)"Hetfield, Ulrich, Hammett6:28
5."Disposable Heroes"Hetfield, Ulrich, Hammett8:17
6."Leper Messiah"Hetfield, Ulrich5:41
7."Orion"Hetfield, Ulrich, Burton8:28
8."Damage, Inc."Hetfield, Ulrich, Burton, Hammett5:30

Personnel

Charts

Album

Year Chart Position
1986 Billboard #29
1986 UK Albums Chart #41
2008 Australian ARIA Top 50 Albums Chart #33

Certifications

Country Certification Sales/shipments
United States 6x Platinum[8] 6,000,000
Canada 5x Platinum[9] 500,000
Australia Platinum 70,000

Covers

A number of bands have covered songs from the album. These include:

Notes

  1. ^ a b "Timeline 1986". Roadrunner records. 2008-06-25.
  2. ^ "Metallica's history". Retrieved 2008-01-30.
  3. ^ Steve Huey. "Master of Puppets at allmusic". Allmusic. Retrieved 2008-01-30.
  4. ^ Huey, Steve. "Master of Puppets at allmusic". Allmusic. Retrieved 2008-01-30.
  5. ^ a b Josh Tyrangiel (2006-10-13). "The All-TIME 100 Albums: Master of Puppets". TIME.
  6. ^ "The Top 100 heavy metal albums".
  7. ^ Spence D. (2007-01-19). "Top 25 Metal Albums". IGN. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthor= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ "Gold & Platinum". RIAA. Retrieved 2008-08-23.
  9. ^ CRIA Gold & Platinum certifications for October 2006. Retrieved July 25, 2007.
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