No.14 Metallica – Master of Puppets

Metallica were always a band I’d heard about but never actually heard and as I was starting to explore bands like Guns and Roses and Iron Maiden, this felt like something I should address. But I was 14 and didn’t have any money or friends who liked Metallica, so my chances seem pretty slim of getting to hear them. Then the band released One and that changed everything, this was a band I needed to hear.

I don’t know how it came about, but one of my friends in school had a neighbour who was a big metal fan. Somehow I arranged that my friend Gavin would get me copies of their albums from some guy I never met. And this person was a legend. I got Metallica’s albums in order and a few months apart so I wouldn’t just rush through their music. I’d get to know it first, so I could hear how much they are improving with each album. It was the perfect introduction and so I salute you, my unknown metal Brother, whoever / wherever you are.

As the gentle acoustic intro to Battery opens the album, absolutely no one is being fooled about what is going to happen next. And as the sound breaks into a gallop you can’t help but grin and wish for a mosh pit to charge into.

I could go through this album song by song and it would just be repeating myself over how good every track is. I still have a chuckle to myself when I remember my Dad hearing Leper Messiah and complaining it sounded like a truck dragging its gearbox on the ground. Bless, the man is a big Country ‘n Irish fan and Thrash metal chugging just isn’t his thing.

There’s arguments that Ride the Lighting is a better album but for me it feels like a first draft. Ride was where the band figured out who they were, what they wanted to sound like. MoP was where they perfected it. I’ve also seen people claiming that MoP is actually a Prog album. These people can get stuffed. This is the pinnacle of Thrash Metal, this and Reign in Blood are what you see if you look Thrash Metal up in the dictionary. Trying to call it anything else is disingenuous at best and this is a pointless hill that I will die on. I might even get a little sniffy. 

It’s also important to remember here that Metallica were 23 when they recorded this album. Just let that sink in a bit, have a think where you were in your life at 23 and then, to make it worse, remember that this is the third album of theirs to change the face of metal. It’s incredible. The run of albums from Kill em All to …and Justice is untouchable by anyone and I’m going to just straight out say that MoP is the best metal album of all time. Nothing out there is this good. This is perfect. This is the peak of metal as far as I’m concerned and it’s never been topped. Ironically, it’s only the second best Thrash album, Reign in Blood will always be the peak for speed and aggression.

Metallica could never top this. …And Justice is really good, but has a few duff songs and no bass and after that? Well, let’s not get into that. But here on Master of Puppets? Metallica were the best that anyone has ever been.

https://lynkify.in/song/the-thing-that-should-not-be/4tIz6yzx