Master of Puppets

Nice drum and guitar sound, and James Hetfield is a good frontman. The songs are strong too, although, like most thrash albums, it does get a bit samey in places.

I mean, it’s an OK album.

But it’s not the bleedin’ Messiah.

Better than Coldplay

Love it.

Riffs, vocals and guitar are as good as Metallica get. Song composition is enticing.

Drums have absolutely no nuance or subtlety at all, but it kinda works?

Better then when I first listened to it 2 years ago, but I’ve never liked thrash metal . 3.5/5

Why is Metallica trying to influence me with their bullshit? I thought they weren't like those other entertainers! Disposable Heroes? Leper Messiah? Don't bring that outside shit here. I just want to listen to heavy music, baby.

eh... još jedan prije svega DOSADAN album od metalike... nakon šta sam prvo slušao lajv simfonijsku dosadu, a potom studijsku dosadu, slušam sad još jednu studijsku dosadu, možda najdosadniju dosad(a!). čak mi je bilo za kečinu, ali su na predzadnjoj pjesmi, instrumentalu, pokazali da zapravo znaju osmisliti i izvesti nelošu stvar, pa će zbog te numere biti dvojka. ostatak je bezveze i, ako nisam već rekao, dosadan. eh

What can be said that hasn't been said before about this? Maybe this: if great thrash metal albums were peanuts and you were allergic to peanuts, you'd die listening to this album!

Ever since YouTube cooking start Adam Ragusa randomly made a video about Metallica and I decided to give them a go I have came back to this album specifically time and time again

I’m not normally into metal but this is just a masterpiece, each song is very long but none of them feel too long

Favs: Leper Messiah, Orion

5

Metallica are one of the few metal bands I actually have some experience with before starting this project. Much to their dismay, I fondly remember waiting hours for my slow dial-up internet to download some of these songs off Limewire in middle school. However, metal never fully clicked for me back then and, when I started this project 548 days ago, I would have probably put metal in my bottom 3 preferred genres. I didn’t like the harsh, screaming vocals, the double bass drumming, and was a bit burnt out on guitar driven music in general. At the time of starting this project, I basically only listened to psychedelic rock, indie rock, and folk. Little did I know, even then metal had already been slowly seeping into my subconscious and this album, specifically the song Master of Puppets being featured so heavily in Stranger Things, was one of the main reasons for me to give metal another proper shot (other influences include King Gizzard’s metal albums, Karl Ove Knausgaard’s descriptions of black metal in the Morning Star series, and this list itself where I’ve enjoyed every metal album more than I expected). I still like all the music I did before, but now I think it’s fairly safe to say I am also a metalhead; I’m even going to my first metal show tonight.

Anyways, Master of Puppets is a great album! An absolute classic! I’m happy that after all these years I’ve finally come all the way around to enjoying this music. I also appreciate that they’re not afraid to play with more dynamics and melody than some of their contemporaries who basically just played a loud and fast as possible.

Thrash metal with ....... prog overtones?? This was obviously their magnum opus before they decided to go over the top with '...And Justice For All'. And then they degenerated into an over-rated heavy rock band.
This is great. Self-indulgent, and probably overly long, but generally great. Highlights include Battery, Damage Inc, Disposable Heroes and Sanitarium.

I liked this more than I thought that I would

Love how the opening track starts with delicate strings but then shifts into something speedy and reminiscent of King Gizzard. (I recognize that this comparison should be the other way around, but I’m not really into metal, so hey, doing my best here.)

The music is more varied than some metal, which sometimes strikes me as just a solid wall of impressive but uninteresting speediness. And the singing style is distinctive: short, declarative statements coming from a deranged leader standing at the mouth of a cave at the top of a mountain beset by lightning bolts and dark, threatening clouds. OK hang on, I’ve taken this imagery a little too far here.

I don’t know whether I’d go back to this anytime soon, but I liked a lot of it. It has more going for it for me than a lot of more recent metal, with all the growling screaming vocals.

An album I've always liked rather than loved, but one where the highs truly make me appreciate Metallica for the institution that they are.

It peaks early for me and doesn't really recapture that same fury of the first two tracks often enough. I like full throttle Metallica, not self-serious mid tempo Metallica at all, and I can take or leave their more groove-laden showpieces, but I do own and infrequently revisit Master of Puppets for that opening assault and where the pace picks up therein.

Generally I'm much more likely to reach for Kill 'Em All or Ride the Lightning for something a bit more primal and less rehearsed if I want Metallica, and I prefer the fluidity of Megadeth and savagery of Slayer if I'm looking at the Big 4 picture.

Probably the best of its type. Outstanding Musicianship and virtuoso playing.

Perhaps better listened to in sections as hearing it in one sitting does get a bit relentlessly samey over the course of an hour. And, now that you mention it, an hour does seem to test its welcome.

And it is let down a little by the lyrics, which are of the Satanic-Cthulu-Insane-Overwrought-Melodrama style.

However, it could probably be bottled as a testosterone booster.

1) Disposable Heroes
2) Master Of Puppets
3) Battery

Least Favourite: Leper Messiah

Ponderous.

Master of Puppets is the best metal album of all time. It's not my favorite Metallica album, but it's objectively a perfect album. For the time that this came out, nothing on the planet was anything like it. This album is one of if not the most important progressive metal precursors. Master of Puppets exemplified that metal could be more than just fast guitar solos and heavy riffs- that the songwriting could be brought up to a new level with complex structures and layers of orchestrations played through guitars. Not only is this album absolutely groundbreaking, but it fucking rips.
James Hetfield on Master of Puppets at the time was something the world had never seen. The anger that shrieks through these vocal performances should absolutely be more recognized. Every lyric you can feel and visualize so vividly- it's just awing. His rhythm playing is ruthless, with some of Metallica’s fastest and definitely heaviest riffs being composed on this project.
This is also Cliff Burton's last studio performance before his tragic death in a fatal bus accident. Master of Puppets is Cliff's magnum opus, with his passion for classical music shining through the song orchestrations and his Lovecraftian lyrics. What his contributions to bass playing did is immeasurable. The complexity this album has in terms of songwriting is pure fucking genius and it cannot be understated what he added to the band.
Kirk Hammett is definitely at his peak on this album in terms of soloing. Every song features some of the best metal leads of all time, with not a single miss. You can really hear every member shining on this record at their fullest, and it’s just so infectious.
Hell, even Lars was a demon on this thing. His thrash drumming was perfect, and his double kick on the faster tunes absolutely rip.
It starts small and sinister with Battery's acoustic chords and suspenseful stacking harmonies. Then it just explodes like a volcano, introducing us into the madness that this album is about to unveil. I could make an argument and say that Battery is the greatest metal opening track of all time, if not one of the greatest openers of all time in general. It perfectly encapsulates the sheer amount of rage, complexity, and heaviness that this album is going to offer. Kirk's solo absolutely rips too.
The title track is probably one of the most influential songs on the planet. The amount of people that started playing guitar because of this song (me included) is definitely not a small number. This exact song showed that thrash metal could be expanded into something much larger. The middle section is one of the greatest bridges in existence. Hetfield's solo under that hypnotizing progression makes you wish it was an eternity. The harmonies organized as well that sandwich the solo are, in my opinion, the best harmonies in their catalog, which is saying a lot. The sheer amount of ruthless technique in this song's main riffs are insane too. Living in the universe at the same time as this song is a privilege.
The Thing That Should Not Be is another credit to Master of Puppets immeasurable influence on the metal genre. This dark D standard tune is one of the nastiest sludge/doom metal precursors. Kirk's solo sounds like a demonic dolphin in the creepiest way possible. The main riff is also one of Metallica's most underrated parts. The lyrics however, are some of my favorites in Metallica's catalog. The ominous, terrifying, and unimaginable depiction of a Lovecraft inspired monster is just so fucking cool.
Sanitarium at most points was my favorite Metallica song, just absolutely perfect from start to finish. The best thing about this track by a mile are the 4 solos. These 2 melodic and 2 shredfest leads are some of the greatest recorded metal performances of all time. Welcome Home is a beast that gradually builds and builds from a haunting ballad to a thrash chainsaw as the intensity of the riffs and solos rise. The clean riff is also one of the most hauntingly beautiful things I've ever heard. The lyrics are also killer.
Disposable Heroes by Metallica has the greatest lyrics of all time. The vivid description of a soldier’s traumatizing role in society is shrieked perfectly by Hetfield. The motif ingeniously screams "BACK TO THE FRONT" by a sergeant to a soldier, playing on words and symbolizing the intensity of how all soldiers are crafted the same, led into battle to die. The riffs on this thing are incredibly intense too. Kirk’s choice of modes on his solo show that he’s getting very involved on this record. At this point in the band’s history, every member was at their peak, and this song exemplifies that for sure.
Leper Messiah is an underrated gem. This is one of the nastiest songs in Metallica’s catalog, sinisterly depicting the corruption of finance in religion. Throughout the whole album, each song reinforces the themes of evil corrupting the oblivious, which just makes the entire listen very cohesive. The progressive aspects of this song are super sick, specifically the bridge section where the track transforms into this thrashfest.
Orion. God this song is a progressive metal masterpiece. It begins with these bass drones along with crescendoing drums pulsing as the track begins to build to the break in the main theme. This song is Cliff’s masterpiece, as you can see 3 bass solos throughout it as well as the incredible orchestrated nature of the harmonies. The middle section transcends you, immersing the sound in the sonics of the galaxy. Every solo taken, every riff chug, and every bend strung in this song is just written for the gods.
Lastly, the album closes with Damage Inc. This is the last song that features Cliff Burton in the studio, and what he begins the track with could not be more perfectly fitting. The bass swells sound like a horn’s call, or like a full orchestra performing together, even though it’s just a bass. Because Cliff could do those things. Metallica were on a completely different level of songwriting while constructing this project, and the mixing, performances, lyrics, and riffs just prove this.
Master of Puppets start to finish is perfect. Not a single second is wasted, and the effort and genius in the songwriting blows my mind. Not another album in history is anything like this. I hope Cliff knows how much the world loves his masterpiece.

Favorite track(s): Battery, Master of Puppets, The Thing That Should Not Be, Welcome Home (Sanitarium), Disposable Heroes, Orion

Kicks ass. 'Nough said.

Heard before
Previous rating: 9/10

Much better than the black album. Only a couple of these songs need to be over 5 minutes.

Very much not for me with the thrashing and the metaling. I actually don’t mind a handful of their songs I suppose, but only a few of these got close to being there for me.