Master Of Puppets is the third studio album by American heavy metal band Metallica. The album was recorded in 1985 and released by Elektra Records on March 3, 1986 in North America. Now widely considered a classic of thrash metal, the album proved to be a modest commercial success upon its release by reaching #29 on the U.S. Billboard 200, making it the very first thrash metal album to crack the Top 40. With the band's rising popularity from the release of Metallica, awareness of the album has increased, and according to the RIAA, it has sold over six million Read more on Last.fm.
Black Sabbaths debut might be the first metal album ever, but Metallicas Master Of Puppets just might be the best. The die hards (hi) swear by it, the purists treat it like a Bible and the dectractors concede easily that its the bands defining moment.
Master Of Puppets comes third after Metallica’s epic, if not still imperfect, Kill Em All and the thunderous, uniquely riveting Ride The Lightning. It is 9 shots of pure, unrepentant metal grandiosity filtered through a funnel of determination. Opening with classical guitar, nylon strings echoing in the ether, Master quickly descends into the thrash classics “Battery”, “Master Of Puppets”, the labored near ballad “Welcome Home” and the best instrumental metal song ever recorded, the peerless “Orion”.
Master is the fiercest Metallica record, pummeling and fast, organic, huge and yet defiantly selective. It is quite more important than Slayers Reign In Blood, Megadeths Peace Sells or Panteras Vulgar Display Of Power. It’s The Godfather of thrash metal, influencing everything that came after and, truly, paying little homage to what came before.