Master of Puppets is the third album by American
heavy metal band
Metallica. The album was released on March 3, 1986 through
Elektra Records and was met with high critical reception. "
Puppets" is now considered a classic heavy metal album by fans, critics, and the band members themselves alike. It reached #29 on the U.S.
Billboard 200 album chart and was the band's first Gold record for sales of 500,000 copies. This was done without any radio airplay or the release of a single or
music video. The album is now 6× Platinum in the U.S.
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.
Reception and legacy
According to
Allmusic's Steve Huey,
Master of Puppets "was the band's greatest achievement." "Some critics have called
Master of Puppets the best metal album ever recorded", Huey noted.
Master of Puppets has been featured on several "greatest albums of all time" lists. The album is present in a list dubbed "The All-TIME 100 Albums" published by
TIME magazine in November 2006.
In TIME critic Josh Tyrangiel's opinion, "Metallica didn't bother with hooks or pop discipline" in writing
Master of Puppets.
rated the album as being at first position in a list of the "Top 25 Metal Albums" issued in January 2007. 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."
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 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 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
Track listing
Chart performance
Certifications
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! 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.
- Shai Hulud has covered the song "Damage, Inc." for the series of 7 inches LPs as a tribute to Metallica called "Crush 'em All".
- The Scorched Earth Orchestra recorded a symphonic version of the entire album in 2007.
- Limp Bizkit performed a live cover of "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" for the MTV Icon: Metallica tribute concert.
- 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.
