When it comes to Metallica albums there's a lot of controversy over which is the best. Some would say Kill'em'All (people who judge based off how loud it is), others Metallica (people who judge based off total sales) and others would say St. Anger (people who haven't heard any other Metallica record). The most common level headed response to this however is Master of Puppets, the last album to contain their classic line-up (Burton, Hammett, Hetfield, Ulrich). But how good is it as a record on it's own?
We start listening to this record with Battery. Like most of the early metallica albums it starts with accoustic guitars (played in a sort of latin style), and then suddenly the accoustic guitars are replaced by electrics, and drums are added in, just in case you thought you got the wrong album. After this it turns into your standard thrash metal song, although with quite a few speed guitar sections to stop it from getting too repetitive. Overall quite a good song.
This is followed by the title track (Master of Puppets), a nine minute mini epic which might make Jon Anderson proud (musically if not lyrically). It consists of a string of a dozen different riffs which deserve all the renown they get. This is behind a complex (for Metallica) lyric, about an imaginary controller, and his domination over your life. The song has a lot of changes in it, which I won't go into here for the sake of brevity, but it really is one of their greats.
Unfortunately the flair of Master of Puppets is short lived. Lovecraft inspired The Thing that should not be is heavier than the past two songs, however, the complex interplay of riffs is replaced by one riff repeated over its near seven minute run, which always seems to go longer than that. A guitar solo halfway through adds to the effect of it's spookiness, but even with the conceptual edge it fails to a degree as a piece of music.
The fourth track on the album, and the last on side one, Welcome Home (Sanitarium), is a foreshadow of the band's later works, for better or for worse. For the most part, the song is a slow guitar part (at least its electric) although it picks up later on with the bass and drums adding themselves in. Unfortunately, even with these, the song remains essentially the same throughout (although a bit faster).
The first song on side two of the record is the obligatory thrash metal war song, this one about the views of regular soldiers by corrupt officers (this power thing is a recurring theme if you haven't already guessed). Disposable Heroes brings back the speed of Master, but without the progressive flair. It is a reasonable song, but it's dragged on far too long for the most part.
And then we have the much simpler Leper Messiah, Which follows the same chord changes for nearly six minutes. Once again it is saved by some clever guitar work by Kirk Hammett, but overall it's still a bit underpar.
Track six, Orion, is the only instrumental featured on the record, and like many Metallica Instrumentals, one of their better songs. The opening riff on rhythm guitar and bass is strong if a bit repetitive, and it is used to back the lead guitar, which is much better than James Hetfield's voice at any rate. Around the four minute mark the song suddenly goes quiet and starts in a new direction, being more dominant in the bass, and without the repetitive rhythm guitar, which means the dual lead can work it's magic.
Damage Inc., the final track starts unlike any Metallica song which has to be worth a point. However it quickly turns into just as good an example of thrash as any other song. A solid, if not perfect end to the album.
Master of Puppets is one of the definition records of 80s heavy metal, and it does so with good reason. Not only does it have the prerequisite mass of the genre to appease the metalheads, but it also has far more accessibility than some other albums which shan't be named, and it even has a touch more virtuosity than what is found in most other records of the genre. If any album is perfect for an introduction to thrash metal it would be this one. More reviews