It may seem like time itself is crawling faster now that Metallica’s Master of Puppets is officially 40 years old.
The metal legends’ third studio effort was first released on March 3, 1986. The album continued to push the boundaries of thrash on its way to becoming one of the most seminal and influential albums in heavy metal music history, as evidenced by its octuple-Platinum RIAA certification and its induction into the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry in 2015.
Master of Puppets is centered around its epic 8 1/2-minute title track. Frontman James Hetfield’s meditation of drug addiction is intensified by fiery down-picking and dueling guitar solos.
Today, the song “Master of Puppets” is Metallica’s most-played song live, and its legacy continues to live on in new ways. In 2022, “Master of Puppets” made its debut on the Billboard Hot 100 after its use in the season 4 finale of Stranger Things. Metallica’s also named their upcoming Life Burns Faster residency at the high-tech Sphere venue in Las Vegas after a lyric from “Master of Puppets.”
Along with the title track, Master of Puppets includes the ripping opener, “Battery,” and the instrumental “Orion,” which was written primarily by bassist Cliff Burton. “Orion” would turn out to be something of a swan song for the 24-year-old Burton, who was killed in a bus accident during Metallica’s tour in support of Master of Puppets in September 1986.
Burton was replaced by Jason Newsted, who was then replaced by current Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo.
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