Metallica - Master of Puppets Review

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Master of Puppets

General Information

Original Author: FretDancer69

Album: Master of Puppets

Artist: Metallica

Genre: Thrash Metal

Year of Release: 1986

Track Listing

1. Battery
2. Master of Puppets
3. The Thing That Should Not Be
4. Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
5. Disposable Heroes
6. Leper Messiah
7. Orion [Instrumental]
8. Damage, Inc.

== Sound (10/10) ==

The album features incredible fast speed and heavy riffs that will make you headbang without even thinking of it twice. The guitar's distortion sound perfect, the drums add that aggressiveness to the album and the Bass adds really fast base lines and some melodic as well (Orion).

Guitars (10/10)

The guitar riffs are really heavy and well constructed, they vary in each song but they always keep a good similarity between them, making this album very distinguished. Some riffs are faster and some are slower but they always are kept heavy.

The guitar solos are crazy too, most of the songs contain fast speed solos by Kirk, and many of them contain more than 1 solo. Really good melodic solos are found on this album as well, an example of this is the Instrumental track Orion which features 3 really good melodic guitar solos and 1 stunning Bass Solo made by the great Cliff Burton (R.I.P).

Drums (10/10)

The aggressive drums performed by Mr. Lars Ulrich add the aggressive touch to the heavy riffs found in the album. The sound of the drums is just great and gives more reason to headbang NONSTOP!

Bass (9/10)

The bass work done by Cliff is amazing, specially in the Instrumental track Orion (which is mostly Cliff's composition). This track features 2 great Bass interludes and one awesome Bass Solo almost at the end, simply amazing.

In other tracks the Bass sometimes cannot be heard but you can still feel it thumping in your feet and body! The bass is always there. Sadly, this was Cliff's last album, but imo, he left this great album to headbang and listen to before leaving this world.

Vocals (10/10)

The vocals by James Hetfield sound great. Very different from the albums that were yet to be released and thats probably a reason why this album might be considered Metallica's best. James rough and heavy voice adds a huge touch to the album.

Lyrics (10/10)

The lyrics found in the album are really powerful and deep. These are lyrics that even if read without vocals, like if you just found them in a piece of paper on the streets, would make an impact. Lets take a look:

From Master of Puppets:

End of passion play, crumbling away
I'm your source of self-destruction
Veins that pump with fear, sucking darkest clear
Leading on your deaths construction

The song is about cocaine if I'm not mistaken. You can see how the lyrics describe the effects of cocaine addiction in a person's life. "Leading on your death's construction" Of course means, the end is being constructed as the person keeps using the drug. Very deep.

Overall Impression

As mentioned before, probably Metallica's best contribution to Heavy Metal. Everything is awesome in this album. Its an album I look for regardless my mood.