So why is Metallica’s Master of Puppets on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
During the research phase of this long and fun journey through the best 1,000 albums ever, I jotted down the following about Master of Puppets:
Extremely impressive, head thrashing, meticulous, fully kick ass speed metal.
Or I can state it like this: for my money, Master of Puppets is the greatest speed metal album of all time.
Let’s start with “Damage, Inc.,” which I have particular adoration for.
I was on the rugby team in college at Binghamton University in upstate New York, and while there were lots of parties and wild times, there was also a surprising amount of discipline and even rituals built into playing the sport and participating with some degree of seriousness.
During the season, Friday night was a quiet night. We didn’t go out, we didn’t drink, and we didn’t party (trust me, we saved this for Saturdays; we didn’t deprive ourselves for long). On Saturday morning, we’d head to a bagel shop to fill up on carbs before gametime, a grueling 90-minute match that ironically is more strenuous for the bigger dudes in the “pack” (which is where I played) versus the smaller, quicker guys who played on the “wing.”
And then on the way to the game, as ritual dictated, my guy Jake – who I’ve known since elementary school – would throw on a song by Metallica called “Damage, Inc.”
One of the fantastic things about “Damage, Inc.” is the lengthy and completely non-metal section that kicks off the track. It’s beautiful and yearning and yet dark and mysterious all at once. But then… then it comes.
The metal.
Incredible searing speed metal the likes of which has rarely if ever been laid down. As you can see if you’ve been following along as we get ever closer to the best 100 albums ever, generally speaking I’m more of a metal appreciator versus metal superfan (punk rock, hard rock, and alt rock are the aggressive areas I more normally tread in).
We chew and spit you out
We laugh, you scream and shout
All flee, with fear you run
You’ll know just where we come from
Damage incorporated
But man, “Damage, Inc.” and Master of Puppets are a clear cut above.
It got us ready to play rugby, I can tell you.
The title track, “Master of Puppets,” is on a similar level, yet it’s arguably a slightly more tuneful speed metal track. And the chorus on this one is just killer.
It’s nuts that this one runs for eight and a half minutes but maintains its kinetic energy and powerhouse momentum throughout.
Bonus: “Master of Puppets” is used to glorious effect in Old School, one of the best comedies to come out this century, I’d wager.
And the van in that clip reminds me much of the one Jake drove back in the day, so there’s that nostalgic Metallica-ish tie-in for me there as well.
“Leper Messiah” has a tasty (as Tenacious D might put it), sludgy metal guitar riff that you could imagine roaming around Kurt Cobain’s brain as he wrote the songs that would eventually end up on Bleach.
And I can envision a long line of wannabe metal guitar gods auditioning somewhere and each in turn being told, “Not bad, kid, but come back when you’ve mastered the intricate rhythms and masterful musicianship displayed on ‘Orion.’”
It’s another eight-plus-minute track that showcases Metallica at their very peak.
Whether you’re a mullet head, an egghead, both, or something in between, there’s no denying that Metallica is the best pure metal and speed metal band in all the lands.
Some stats & info about Metallica – Master of Puppets
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? Metal, Heavy Metal, Rock Music, SoCal Bands
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – #97
- All Music’s rating – 5 out of 5 stars
- When was Master of Puppets released? 1986
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #114 out of 1,000
Metallica’s Master of Puppets on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from Metallica’s Master of Puppets that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
End of passion play, crumbling away, I’m your source of self-destruction.
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective review of what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.