Metallica Master of Puppets

When you hear the term thrash, what comes to mind?  Chugging riffs, blindingly fast blast beat drums and screaming vocals delivered in such a way as to be completely unintelligible?  Satan and death and doom and all rolled up into one noisy annoying package?  Sadly this is the stereotype that this genre has become.  But in the early 1980’s this form of music was extreme but melodic, heavy and creative.  The vocalists are vocalists instead of the barking cookie monster sounding vocals of today’s metal bands.

Thrash was born from a mixing of punk, hardcore and the New Wave of British Heavy Metal bands of the late 1970’s the most famous and important of being Iron Maiden, Diamond Head and Motorhead.    This was the music that fueled a young Danish kid named Lars Ulrich to form a band.  Most of us know at least the high points of how this kid put together a band and talked his way onto the first Metal Blade records compilation called Metal Massacre.  They went on to release their debut album Kill Em All in 1983 and were the innovators and inventors of thrash metal.  This, however, is not that story.  Today’s discussion is regarding their third LP, the monumentally influential Master of Puppets.  This album was released in 1986 and featured the then permanent and iconic lineup of James Hetfield on rhythm guitar and vocals, Kirk Hammet on lead Guitar, Lars Ulrich on drums and the late Cliff Burton on bass. 

Metallica ‘s album was a collaboration between them and Danish producer Flemming Rassmussen.  This was the second outing with Rassmussen at the helm, the first being their second LP Ride the Lightning.  Metallica headed into uncharted territory with this album.  They had begun to tire of the copycat bands in the thrash genre and aimed to distance themselves from their contemporaries, a move they had begun to formulate during the Ride the Lightning record. 

Master of Puppets is loud and fast with razor sharp chops and at least three tempo changes per track, however, each song is skillfully crafted into musical movements that feel more like epic classical compositions than heavy metal songs. 

From the lightly strummed beginnings of Battery, the listener begins to settle in and try to get a feel for the journey ahead.  The acoustic strumming gives way to a galloping riff that, while powerful and heavy, is simply the tip of the iceburg.  The band feel like they are holding back something which is both amazing and frightening considering the sonic landscape that is created.  The album progresses to the title track Master of Puppets.  Here the listener is treated to the first indication of how important arrangement is to this record.  Razor sharp chops between drum and guitar, multiple tempo changes, infectiously catch chorus and then the entire track breaks down into a light and melancholy instrumental section as technically difficult as any classical piece.  Of course in my humble opinion, no track on the album is better than the instrumental track Orion. 

The arrangements on this record are largely influenced by Cliff Burton.  Cliff was the oldest of the group and looked at by the other members of the band as both big brother and mentor.  Cliff’s influences were wide and varied, from classical music which he studied in school to the Misfits, however his favorite band was Lynyrd Skynyrd.  Cliff played a 6 string guitar when he wasn’t playing bass for Metallica and because of this, he approached the bass as much as a lead instrument as James or Kirk approached their own guitar. 

Master of Puppets is 26 years old this year, Sadly Cliff was lost to a bus accident less than a year after recording this masterpiece.  In the 26 ensuing years, this album has been revered as one of the most technically accomplished albums of all time.  It is always on the top 100 of greatest metal albums of all time and almost always lands in one of the top two spots.  No other band has this kind of longevity and managed to stay relevant in their genre  like Metallica has.  Metallica has also outgrown the metal genre to become of of the largest rock acts of all time.  In 2008 they were inducted into the Rock and Roll hall of fame, becoming one of the first heavy rock bands to be inducted.  Only one contemporary in the Hall of Fame, Black Sabbath, would be considered anywhere near as heavy as Metallica.  It is also noteworthy to mention that Metallica inducted Black Sabbath into the hall the year before. 

And now, audiophiles, lets discuss the technical aspects of this record.  This one has seen many many pressings in different countries and on different labels.  I have not had the pleasure of listening to the many different releases of this album on vinyl, however the one that we are discussing today is the 2008 45RPM series.  This is a double LP pressed on 180 gram vinly in a gatefold jacket.  Instead of an insert sheet with the lyrics, they are printed on the inside of the gatefold.  CD owers, this is the exact same content as in the cd booklet but imagine it at a size that you can actually read!  This album was half speed mastered from the original analog tapes.  Let me tell you that you have never heard metallica like this.  First off, make sure to set your turntable to 45 RPM for this one.  There are two songs per side and play at 45 rather than the standard 33.  This allows the record to be recorded louder than other pressings.  Doing a side by side comparison between the LP and CD is rather unfair.  The cd of course was converted from analog to digital and to the trained ear contains all of the digital artifacting that you would otherwise expect on a cd.  This doesn’t mean that the cd doesn’t sound good, because it sounds great. The LP, however presents the sound field as it should be with far more dynamics.  Drums are punchier, riffs are harder and the bass guitar is more audible on this mix. 

Vinyl is what separates the casual listener from the true audiophile.  And having this LP is what separates a casual Metallica fan with a hardcore die hard fan of the greatest metal band of all time.  The half speed master will be out of print soon enough as sadly most of the other half speed masters are quickly going out of print.  Get this record.  Your collection has a gaping hole in it until you do.