Some records are just timeless. Sometimes a great band just hits that peak moment when they create something of real brilliance and genius that dwarfs all that came before and after in their career. For my money, that shining moment for Metallica has always been their 1987 masterpiece Master Of Puppets.

It was a time when Metallica were the ultimate metal anarchists. They shunned the big-hair cliches of metal by dressing down, but played just a bit louder, a bit faster, and a lot heavier than most of their contemporaries. They spear-headed an onslaught - that also featured Slayer, Anthrax, Overkill, and their former compatriot Dave Mustaine's Megadeth - which had taken the then-glamorized metal world by storm. But while most of the others in their genre took the money and ran, letting some conventional wisdom in, they refused to conform to the norm. This made them the undisputed kings of the turf - their uncompromising attitude and tenacity garnered them total respect and made them the leaders.

And their clashes with what was expected and becoming played-out metal cliches abounded. They wouldn't do big, flashy productions live. They wouldn't put on make-up. They would cover only their obscure heroes - The Misfits, Angel-Witch, Motorhead, etc.-rather than jam constantly re-hashed Bob Seger and Lynnyrd Skynnyrd tunes. They wouldn't let their concerts be built around predictable encores. And they would NEVER bow down to MTV and slavishly make video after tacky video to keep the network buzzing. It was a glorious (and tragically bygone) era of the band. It was when they examplified rebellion, which was what metal was formed on. And metal is what Metallica was.

And Master of Puppets was their fineest hour. It was a more mature record than Kill Em All, Ride The Lightning or any of their lesser known EPs, but it retained the anger and the drive. The songwriting took on a new dimension. They new how to write great, long metal opuses that went on for seven minutes at a time without losing their impact or becoming monotonous. For example, "The Thing That Should Not Be," and perhaps their finest song EVER, "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)." These were intense, pulverising epics worthy of the best Black Sabbath records. That songwriting spark died after this album - on And Justice For All the long opuses are just long-winded and don't have that mesmorising drive that keeps the Puppets material so thoroughly interesting. Then of course, the songs all became shorter and more accessible to radio and...well, you know the rest.

But Master Of Puppets was their glorious moment in the sun. Their Appetite For Destruction, their Paranoid, their Destroyer, their defining record as a band. Their one true perfect chestnut. And how better to re-discover this work of metal greatness than on the all-new DCC Compact Classics 24K Gold re-issue. Wow, the all-new vivid clarity enhances the already stunning performances and masterful songs and gives it a power never felt before.

From the beautiful, newly tuned-in resonance of the accoustic intro to "Battery" to the full hammering crunch of "Damage Inc." which now pounds harder than ever where the previously available version seems limited and closed up, this brings the sound wide open. Fuller, brighter, and more intense. Its a real treat to get such a new sonic gift from an old friend like this. If only the band that WAS, for a time, metal (and now regrets having the word 'metal' in their name) could come up with a new record to even almost live up to this re-issue...

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