Review by Saxy S for Metallica - Master of Puppets (1986)

Climbing the Ladder of Metal Immortality...For Better And Worse

Metallica already had sky high expectations heading into 1986 following the surprisingly dense Ride The Lightning. But I don't expect that anyone who was around to experience the thrash boom of the 1980s was prepared for what was to come. Metallica saw the success of their previous album and knew that they had to take it up another notch. 

The first thing that I noticed upon hitting play on Master of Puppets is just how clean it sounds. By comparison, Ride the Lightning is a dream-y album with its arguably excessive use of reverb and echo effects across the board. Vocals, guitar, drums and hell even bass manage to foam together to create an environment that is just as uncomfortable as the debut, while doing a sensational job of leveling up the songwriting capabilities. Master by contrast is a lot more controlled and clean; it has a lot of similar traits that you might hear in the modern age from metalcore acts. Cutoffs on "Battery", "Master of Puppets" and "Disposable Heroes" are executed with grace and precision.

From a songwriting standpoint, I have yet to hear a thrash metal album that values melody, hooks and drive as much as Master of Puppets; a large reason why it is held in such high regard even outside of the metal community. "Master of Puppets" may go down as one of the greatest heavy metal songs of all time despite its runtime; with its iconic main chorus, calming bridge and the way in which this band is able to effortlessly modulate back to its primary motif is one that deserves the utmost praise. Beyond that, the rest of the album is just as solid, even if it does have more than a few progressive tendencies. Such as the excellent ballad "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)", another long song structure on "Disposable Heroes" and of course, one of the finest heavy metal instrumentals you will ever hear on "Orion".

I think it should go without saying at this point that despite their drastically different sound palettes, Master of Puppets and Slayer's Reign in Blood are practically inseparable. I have already spoken at length about Slayer and how they developed a sound for heavy metal that was unfulfilling as part of a musical composition and was more interested in aggression, speed and intensity. Master of Puppets has plenty of all of these things, but also makes it worthwhile by incorporating it as part of a unified collection of ideas and themes. It's a large party why I think the album closer "Damage, Inc." is the albums weakest track; feeling closer to a thrash metal aggressive rump than a well constructed idea.

This actually brings me to another compliment for this album that I had never really grasped until recently. Master of Puppets is the true "transition" album. Sure, Metal Academy darling, and onetime favourite Metallica album of mine, ...And Justice For All has plenty of the cleanliness of Master, but without the well engineered sound design that left the album feeling "dry and sterile" according to Steve Huey. I personally believe it was because Lars never liked Jason Newsted (it's not like it would be the first time a band treated its bass player like a second class band member Slipknot), but I digress. Getting heavy metal to a wider audience is no small feat; it takes a lot of time and patience. Metallica were not about to start becoming dad rock just yet, but the simpler song structures, despite their lengths, cleaner sound design and a more welcoming mix lured folks in like lemmings, and once the gang was all assembled, Metallica could go the commercial route. It would cost them some of their identity, but it did exactly what it was intended to do and for that, I am eternally grateful.

I realize most of this is anecdotal, but I am sure that a lot of newer heavy metal fans can relate to my story with Metallica and Master of Puppets in particular. Heralded as the greatest metal album of all time (right alongside the first two Black Sabbath albums) and a monumental achievement for a genre that desperately needed a spark so that it would not fade away prematurely with its lack of innovation or commercial success. Any gushing that I give this album will only get lost at this point amongst a sea of similar praise. It is undeniably an unconventional way of approaching things, but this album is deserving of legendary status.

P.S. Just for the record, Ride The Lightning is my personal favourite Metallica album.