Master of Puppets

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Master of Puppets

Studio album by Metallica
Released	February 28, 1986
Recorded	September - December 1985 at Sweet Silence Studios in Copenhagen, Denmark
Genre	Thrash metal
Length	54:49
Label	Elektra Records
Producer(s)	Metallica, Flemming Rasmussen
All Music Guide link Rolling Stone link Kerrang!
Metallica chronology
Ride the Lightning (1984)	Master of Puppets (1986)	Garage Days Re-Revisited (1987)

Master of Puppets is the third album by American thrash metal band Metallica, released by Elektra Records on February 28, 1986 (see 1986 in music) in North America. The album reached number twenty-nine on the U.S. Billboard 200, selling over six million copies. It was the last album the band recorded with bass player Cliff Burton and is considered a landmark in the history of heavy metal. Rolling Stone magazine ranked Master of Puppets at number 167 on its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.^[1] Another list compiled by Metal-Rules of the top 100 metal albums placed it at number one^[2] as did IGN's list of the top 25 metal albums.^[3]

1 Historical significance
- 1.1 Innovation
2 Covers
3 Track listing
4 Credits
5 Notes and references

[edit] Historical significance

When it was released, Master of Puppets provided many metal fans with an alternate image to the commercially visible pop metal sounds of the era (e.g. Bon Jovi, Poison, Mötley Crüe, and Quiet Riot) - it sold over half a million copies at its time of release without any major video/radio airplay, making it the band's first record to be certified Gold by the RIAA. The album is often credited for innovating thrash metal, while also frequently being tagged by critics as "one of the most influential heavy metal albums of all time".^[4]

The band's line-up during the album's recording was James Hetfield (vocals, guitar), Lars Ulrich (drums), Kirk Hammett (lead guitar), and the late Cliff Burton (bass). The album is remembered in part due to the death of Burton shortly after the release of the album in a bus accident while supporting it on tour.

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of its release, Metallica played the album in its entirety on their Escape from the Studio '06 tour and at the Download '06 festival on 10 June. These concerts included the first-ever complete performances of the instrumental "Orion" (though the song's lengthy middle section had been performed at various times as part of instrumental medleys and bass solos since the early 1990s). The title track was ranked Number 51 in the "The Greatest Guitar Solos" from Guitar World. In 2006, the album was voted the fourth "greatest guitar album of all time" in Guitar World.^[5]

[edit] Innovation

With Master of Puppets, Metallica innovated the thrash metal scene by adding a high level of complexity to the songs, melodic sounds (most notably in "Battery", "Master of Puppets" and "Orion") that showed some similarities with power metal and progressive metal, playing an important role for the later post-thrash creation.

[edit] Covers

In February 2002 the progressive metal group Dream Theater performed the album in its entirety in concert, and have sinced released it as a live CD via YtseJam Records.
The April 5, 2006 edition of Kerrang! magazine was dedicated to this album, providing its readers with the cover album Master of Puppets: Remastered.