Review Summary: "Master of Puppets" is one of the metal genre's most prized possessions and one of Metallica's masterpieces.
There's a lot to say about Metallica's "Master of Puppets." It is one of the best metal albums of all time. There's something special in how it dances around, sprinkling seeds of the metal genre to come. These were the guys to start the whole thing, basically; no disrespect to Sabbath.
"Battery" is such a great opener to an absolute monster of an album. It is very thrashy with some speed metal stylings.
"Master of Puppets" is a classic. I will forever be impressed with how James downpicks that whole song. My wrist freezes up halfway through playing it on my guitar. The track has a great, memorable chorus with a beautiful guitar passage. Seeing them play this live not too long ago was phenomenal. James' solo leading into that heavy-ass breakdown, my lord. MASTER, MASTER! Kirk's amazing solo leads into another beast of a breakdown, jeezus. "Master of Puppets" is an outstanding song that is one of their best.
Enter the deep sea thriller, "The Thing That Should Not Be," an off-the-wall head-banging-friendly "groove metal" swinger. Although it is a bit repetitive, the song's intensity powers you through until the end. Kirk has another phenomenal solo, which is one of my favorites of his. Great song.
"Welcome Home (Sanitarium)"... what can I say, one of their all-time greats. Beautiful guitar work all around. Touching and incredible lyrics from Papa H. This song has one of their best choruses and possibly one of the best in the entire metal genre. More gorgeous Kirk Hammett guitar solos. Why can't he tap into that a little more nowadays?.. oh well. Lars provides some incredible drum lines here as well. There's another impressive thrashy bit towards the end. We're all prisoners here!
The one song I can't stand is "Disposable Heroes." Although it is probably an unpopular opinion, I'm aware. I can't do the super repetitive drum beat, and it feels like it takes forever to get a new part of the song in.
"Leper Messiah" is one of my favorites on the album. That super simple, pounding beat is fantastic! This track features some more solid drum work from Lars. Like the title track, the song critiques religion or just following some "God." Awesome song. A beautiful middle guitar passage leads into Kirk's "sweeping" guitar solo. Seeing them play this one live was a real treat, too.
Now it's time for the "chill-ness" to step in with "Orion." Cliff's time to shine. Cliff is present throughout the entire album, but this song is his moment. The halfway mark on this one takes you straight into space, soaring amongst the stars to infinity and beyond. Cliff's solo is just simply mindblowing.
"Damage Inc." takes you back down to earth in a pummelling fashion. The ominous intro tells you, "Wait... there's more," and "brace yourself" subsequently. It is a ferocious thrash metal song, taking us back to where this album began with "Battery." What a way to end an album. "Master of Puppets" is one of the metal genre's most prized possessions and one of Metallica's masterpieces.
