Master Of Puppets - Metallica (1986)

Charging into the 80s on my trip through the decades with one that I spent a lot of time with as a kid.

80s thrash metal (or speed metal if you like) certainly sounded like metal. But it was also informed by hardcore punk and featured a lot of that naked aggression and energy.

Metallica were one of the best at it. While some of their peers faded away and others continued to flog the same horse for decades, Metallica used their musical and business savvy to evolve into ever greater audiences.

This would be the last record with bassist Cliff Burton, who would die on tour in a bus accident. My car’s stereo doesn’t have an equalizer advanced enough to tune in Burton’s wildly inventinve basslines here, but I’d recommend finding something that highlights or isolates the bass.

This album is a massive achievement, and a massive part of my early love of loud music. It’s always special for me when I listen to it again.

Tracks I Liked

Master Of Puppets - a masterpiece

The Thing That Should Not Be - a theory: this song is Black Sabbath’s War Pigs, with Bill Ward’s jazzy syncopation sucked out and bolted down to a straight 4/4 beat

Leper Messiah - An entirely different lyrical concept built (I assume) from a single line of Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust.