Instead of listening to Master of Puppets back in 1986, I was spinning other records I’d purchased at the time by Ted Nugent, Van Halen, The Rolling Stones, Anita Baker, and Prince. I missed out on one of the seminal records of the 80s. Well, until a couple of years later when …And Justice For All was released and that opened the floodgates of my Metallica fandom.
I had good friends who were in to Metallica immediately in 1983 when the band released their first album, Kill ‘Em All. Shout out to AF and TG! So, I was well familiar with the boys from the Bay. But I found them a bit harsh. I hadn’t yet discovered the part of my brain that likes thrash and speed metal. I guess I just wasn’t ready for them until later.
It doesn’t really matter when I figured out the genius of Metallica. They are one of my favorite artists ever. And they are one of the greatest concerts anyone could ever hope to see. I had the opportunity to see them play live in the 80s, the 90s, and the 2000s and they got better every time. If you haven’t seen them in concert yet, get to the next show they play near you.
Thinking about how they, along with Megadeth, Anthrax, and Slayer, but mostly Metallica, took a genre they basically invented and dragged it into the mainstream…it’s remarkable what they accomplished, becoming one of the biggest bands in music history. My admiration for them is unbound.
My Rating:
Rolling Stone, usually insultingly condescending about anything metal, gave a glowing review declaring, “Master of Puppets is the real thing. Metallica has the chops, and yes, subtlety to create a new metal. If they ever award a titanium album, it should go to Master of Puppets.”1
Kerrang! published a story about the making of Master of Puppets in 2021. Ian Woodward wrote:
“On rhythm guitar, the proficiency and precision of James Hetfield left the producer (Flemming Rasmussen) spellbound. Each of the songs on Master Of Puppets features at least six identical guitar parts, overlaid so as to thicken the album’s sound. Each of these was recorded afresh, rather than overdubbing one part numerous times, as is the norm.
‘I’ve never seen anything like that since, and neither do I expect to,’ said the producer.”2
In 2007, the BBC heaped effusive praise on the record:
“It’s hard, fast, rock with substance that doesn’t require the listener to wear eye-liner or big fire-hazard hair to enjoy. It also features more serious themes (albeit expressed in a particularly aggressive and direct way) and more complex arrangements than similar acts of the same era.
This is probably among the slowest thrash you'll ever hear, what it is is a very heavy, joyously aggressive record, packed with melody, that feels genuinely inclusive, and is superbly written and performed. Hetfield’s a master of establishing; maintaining and manipulating musical tension and mood, creating songs that really suck you in. This is hard rock as high drama (without the opera).”3
In 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, Joel McIver wrote:
“Master of Puppets, Metallica’s third LP, is a masterpiece on all levels.”
It offered…a precisely measured and perfectly gauged combination of aggression, speed, melodic beauty, and musical intricacy.”
“ ‘Orion’, an instrumental epic, shows just how talented bass player Cliff Burton could be at his peak: his premature death only months after the album’s release makes in an appropriate swan song.”
Charts
• Peak on Billboard 200 album chart: #294
• Singles on Billboard Hot 100 chart: n/a
• RIAA certification: 6x Platinum | June 9, 20035
Released on March 3, 1986. Here’s what else was happening:
Pop Culture
• Number one song: “Kyrie” by Mister Mister6
• Number one album: Welcome to the Real World by Mister Mister7
• Number one movie: Pretty in Pink by John Hughes8
• Most watched TV programs: The Cosby Show, Family Ties, Murder She Wrote9
• NYT bestseller, fiction: Lake Wobegon Days by Garrison Keillor10
• NYT bestseller, non-fiction: Bus 9 to Paradise by Leo Buscaglia11
Other albums released that month
• Balance of Power by Electric Light Orchestra
• Guitar Town by Steve Earle
• Headed for the Future by Neil Diamond
• Twitch by Ministry
• Rrröööaaarrr by Voivod
• Black Celebration by Depeche Mode
• Who's Got the 10½? by Black Flag
• Rapture by Anita Baker
• 5150 by Van Halen
• Dirty Work by The Rolling Stones
• Please by Pet Shop Boys
• Parade by Prince and the Revolution
• The Pack Is Back by Raven
• Shot in the Dark by Great White
• 9½ Weeks by Various Artists
• Born Sandy Devotional by The Triffids
• Candy Apple Grey by Hüsker Dü
• Little Miss Dangerous by Ted Nugent12
Sport
• Mar 1 Quebec's Peter Šťastný becomes just the 2nd player in NHL history to score 100 points in each of his first 6 seasons.
• Mar 2 The first million dollar purse for a handicap race is won by British bred 5-year old Greinton with Laffit Pincay Jr. aboard taking out the $1,359,500 Santa Anita Handicap.
• Mar 7 Wayne Gretzky breaks his own NHL season record with 136th assist.
• Mar 8 7th Big East Men's Basketball Tournament: St. John's beats Syracuse, 70-69.
• Mar 8 Martina Navratilova is 1st tennis player to earn $10 million.
• Mar 9 Gilbert Perreault of the Buffalo Sabres becomes the 12th NHLer to score 500 career goals.
• Mar 10 Ernie Lombardi (NL MVP in 1938) and Bobby Doerr, elected to Baseball Hall of Fame.
• Mar 11 New York Islanders Mike Bossy, 1st NHLer to score 50 goals in 9 straight seasons.
• Mar 25 Canadian Kurt Browning becomes the 1st figure skater to land a quadruple jump.13
Notable Births
• Mar 4 Margo Harshman, American actress (NCIS), born in San Diego, California.
• Mar 4 Mike Krieger, Brazilian-American entrepreneur and software engineer who co-founded Instagram, born in São Paulo, Brazil.
• Mar 14 Jamie Bell, British actor (Billy Elliot), born in Billingham, England.
• Mar 16 Alexandra Daddario, American actress (Percy Jackson films; White Lotus; Mayfair Witches), born in New York City.14
Historical Events
• Mar 6 After losing all appeals, American rock singer David Crosby begins serving 5 year sentence for drug and weapons convictions in Texas state prison.
• Mar 9 16th Easter Seal Telethon raises $30,100,000.
• Mar 9 NASA announces searchers found remains of Challenger astronauts.
• Mar 11 1 million days since the foundation of Rome on April 21, 753 BC
• Mar 13 12th People's Choice Awards: Sylvester Stallone & Meryl Streep win (Motion Picture) and Bill Cosby, Linda Evans win (TV)
• Mar 13 Microsoft has its Initial public offering.
• Mar 13 Soyuz T-15 carries 2 cosmonauts to Soviet space station Mir.
• Mar 20 New York City passes its first lesbian and gay rights legislation.15
Notable Deaths
• Mar 4 Howard Greenfield, American song lyricist ("Calendar Girl"; "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do"; "Love Will Keep Us Together"; theme to "Bewitched"), dies of a brain tumor at 50.
• Mar 4 Richard Manuel, Canadian rock vocalist and pianist (The Band - "The Shape I'm In"; "Tears Of Rage"), commits suicide at 42.
• Mar 6 Adolph Caesar, actor (Club Paradise, Soldier's Story), dies.
• Mar 6 Georgia O’Keeffe, American sculptor and painter (Cow's Skull, Flowers), dies at 98.
• Mar 10 Ray Milland, Welsh actor (The Lost Weekend-Academy Award 1945), dies at 81.
• Mar 11 Sherman Kent, American professor known as the father of intelligence analysis, dies at 82.
• Mar 11 Sonny Terry, American bind Piedmont blues musician, dies at 74.
• Mar 18 Bernard Malamud, American novelist (The Fixer, The Natural, Pulitzer 1967), dies at 71.16
Enjoy and listen without prejudice. Cheers!
Prime: 139. Master of Puppets by Metallica
More videos from the playlist: You're Welcome 139; Master of Puppets by Metallica
Ibid.