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.
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