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Annus Domini 1986. A legend is born. "Master Of Puppets" is born.
I look at the box where I ate the ice cream. In the meantime, I've inserted the CD. Something distracts me: it's just the window shutter banging. I close it and... oh... what's that noise? Ah yes, the CD I just put in... let's see what these Metallica are like. But wait, what a sound! Guitars at full throttle, technical drums; what speed in execution! The vocalist has started singing, determined and strong. Here's a solo, no, it's not a solo, the rhythm continues. Instrumental part... here's the solo! What speed! The solo finishes... the song ends. I pause the CD for a moment. I need to recover. What music! What is the name of this song? "Battery"... let's hope the other seven are of the same level! Let's continue... ARGH! I knew I shouldn't have put it on maximum! Anyway, what guitars here, what's it called? "Master Of Puppets"... ... ... The song finished. I'm stunned. Not because they're ultra-technical (because they're not), not because they're emotional (they're not this either), but because, as they say, they "rock". "Master Of Puppets" is the complete song, it has everything: riff, lyrics, solo, break... Meanwhile, "The Thing That Should Not Be" starts. Immediately, I notice that it has a captivating rhythm and that Hetfield puts all his anger into it. "Welcome home (sanitarium)" has a lot of technique (and I like it because I've been listening to prog for a while) and a truly incredible ending. A "Great Final", I would call it. Meanwhile, I've already gotten used to the album's rhythm. So far, one of the best moments of my life! And this moment will continue...
But what track is this? I read "Disposable Heroes"... after the first minute I can already say: "This will be the bass player's best performance!". What strikes me most about this song is the riff with an abrupt pause! With that riff in my head, I listen to "Leper Messiah". I must say it is indeed a very heavy song! But... wait... from the solo, it becomes very fast! Great progression! As in "Master Of Puppets", after the second chorus. Hearing "Orion", I reconsider what I said before: it's here where Burton shows his best! After listening, I can say it's one of the most beautiful instrumentals I've ever heard! And unfortunately, we are at the last song of the album... "Damage, Inc.". It starts slow, but... here it goes! And who can stop those guitarists now! A little masterpiece! And what a chorus! The solo comes... powerful, beautiful, and rhythmic!
The album ends. What a pity. With the album ended one of the most beautiful moments of my life. An hour ago, I didn't think these eight tracks could engage me so much. Now instead, I've listened to the most beautiful record in thrash metal history. All the band members impressed me, Hetfield, Hammett, Burton, Ulrich. They just miss a keyboardist. But, alas, Metallica will not repeat the beauty of this album.
But I will surely listen to it again two, three, four, ten, twenty times. But the thing I wonder is: "How can a thrash metal album engage me so much?". I think I'll never know.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
01 Battery (05:11)
Lashing out the action, returning the reaction
Weak are ripped and torn away
Hypnotizing power, crushing all that cower
Battery is here to stay
Smashing through the boundries
lunacy has found me
cannot stop the Battery
Pounding out aggression
turns into obsession
cannot kill the Battery
Cannot kill the family
Battery is found in me
Battery
Crushing all deceivers, mashing non-believers
never ending potency
Hungry violence seeker, feeding off the weaker
Breeding on insanity
Smashing through the boundries
lunacy has found me
cannot stop the Battery
Pounding out aggression
turns into obsession
cannot kill the Battery
Cannot kill the family
Battery is found in me
Battery
Circle of Destruction, Hammer comes crushing
Powerhouse of energy
Whipping up a fury, Dominating flurry
We create the Battery
Smashing through the boundries
lunacy has found me
cannot stop the Battery
Pounding out aggression
turns into obsession
cannot kill the Battery
Cannot kill the family
Battery is found in me
Battery
02 Master of Puppets (08:38)
End of passion play, crumbling away
I'm your source of self-destruction
Veins that pump with fear
Sucking darkest clear
Feeding on your death's construction
Taste me and you will see
More is all you need
You're dedicated to
How I'm killing you
Come crawling faster
Obey your master
Your life burns faster
Obey your master
Master
Master of puppets I'm pulling your strings
Twisting your mind and smashing your dreams
Blinded by me, you can't see a thing
Just call my name, 'cause I'll hear you scream
Master
Master
Just call my name, 'cause I'll hear you scream
Master
Master
Needlework the way, never you betray
Life of death becoming clearer
Pain monopoly, ritual misery
Chop your breakfast on a mirror
Taste me and you will see
More is all you need
You're dedicated to
How I'm killing you
Come crawling faster
Obey your master
Your life burns faster
Obey your master
Master
Master of puppets I'm pulling your strings
Twisting your mind and smashing your dreams
Blinded by me, you can't see a thing
Just call my name, 'cause I'll hear you scream
Master
Master
Just call my name, 'cause I'll hear you scream
Master
Master
Master, master
Where's the dreams that I've been after?
Master, master
You promised only lies
Laughter, laughter
All I hear and see is laughter
Laughter, laughter
Laughing at my cries
Fix me
Hell is worth all that
Natural habitat
Just a rhyme without a reason
Neverending maze
Drift on numbered days
Now your life is out of season
I will occupy
I will help you die
I will run though you
Now I rule you too
Come crawling faster
Obey your Master
Your life burns faster
Obey your Master
Master
Master of Puppets I'm pulling your strings
Twisting your mind and smashing your dreams
Blinded by me, you can't see a thing
Just call my name, 'cause I'll hear you scream
Master
Master
Just call my name, 'cause I'll hear you scream
Master
Master
Ha, ha, ha
Ha, ha, ha
03 The Thing That Should Not Be (06:39)
Messenger of Fear in sight
Dark deception kills the light
Hybrid children watch the sea
Pray for Father, roaming free
fearless Wretch
insanity
He watches
lurking beneath the sea
great Old One
forbidden site
He searches
Hunter of the Shadows is rising
immortal
in madness You dwell
Crawling Chaos, underground
cult has summoned, twisted sound
Out from ruins once possessed
fallen city, living death
fearless Wretch
insanity
He watches
lurking beneath the sea
timeless sleep
has been upset
He awakens
Hunter of the Shadows is rising
immortal
in madness You dwell
Not dead which eternal lie
stranger eons Death may die
drain you of your sanity
face The Thing That Should Not Be
fearless Wretch
insanity
He watches
lurking beneath the sea
great Old One
forbidden site
He searches
Hunter of the Shadows is rising
immortal
in madness You dwell
04 Welcome Home (Sanitarium) (06:27)
Welcome to where time stands still
no one leaves and no one will
Moon is full, never seems to change
just labeled mentally deranged
Dream the same thing every night
I see our freedom in my sight
No locked doors, No windows barred
No things to make my brain seem scarred
Sleep my friend and you will see
that dream is my reality
They keep me locked up in this cage
can't they see it's why my brain says Rage
Sanitarium, leave me be
Sanitarium, just leave me alone
Build my fear of what's out there
and cannot breathe the open air
Whisper things into my brain
assuring me that I'm insane
They think our heads are in their hands
but violent use brings violent plans
Keep him tied, it makes him well
he's getting better, can't you tell?
No more can they keep us in
Listen, damn it, we will win
They see it right, they see it well
but they think this saves us from our Hell
Sanitarium, leave me be
Sanitarium, just leave me alone
Sanitarium, just leave me alone
Fear of living on
natives getting restless now
Mutiny in the air
got some death to do
Mirror stares back hard
Kill, it's such a friendly word
seems the only way
for reaching out again.
05 Disposable Heroes (08:21)
Bodies fill the fields I see, hungry heroes end
No one to play soldier now, no one to pretend
running blind through killing fields, bred to kill them all
Victim of what said should be
a servant `til I fall
Soldier boy, made of clay
now an empty shell
twenty one, only son
but he served us well
Bred to kill, not to care
do just as we say
finished here, Greeting Death
he's yours to take away
Back to the front
you will do what I say, when I say
Back to the front
you will die when I say, you must die
Back to the front
you coward
you servant
you blindman
Barking of machinegun fire, does nothing to me now
sounding of the clock that ticks, get used to it somehow
More a man, more stripes you wear, glory seeker trends
bodies fill the fields I see
the slaughter never ends
Soldier boy, made of clay
now an empty shell
twenty one, only son
but he served us well
Bred to kill, not to care
do just as we say
finished here, Greeting Death
he's yours to take away
Back to the front
you will do what I say, when I say
Back to the front
you will die when I say, you must die
Back to the front
you coward
you servant
you blindman
Why, Am I dying?
Kill, have no fear
Lie, live off lying
Hell, Hell is here
I was born for dying
Life planned out before my birth, nothing could I say
had no chance to see myself, moulded day by day
Looking back I realize, nothing have I done
left to die with only friend
Alone I clench my gun
Soldier boy, made of clay
now an empty shell
twenty one, only son
but he served us well
Bred to kill, not to care
do just as we say
finished here, Greeting Death
he's yours to take away
Back to the front
you will do what I say, when I say
Back to the front
you will die when I say, you must die
Back to the front
you coward
you servant
you blindman
Back to the front.
06 Leper Messiah (05:42)
Spineless from the start, sucked into the part
circus comes to town, you play the lead clown
Please, please
spreading his disease, living by his story
Knees, knees
falling to your knees, suffer for his glory
You will
Time for lust, time for lie
time to kiss your life goodbye
Send me money, send me green
Heaven you will meet
Make a contribution
and you'll get a better seat
Bow to Leper Messiah
Marvel at his tricks, need your Sunday fix
blind devotion came, rotting your brain
Chain, chain
Join the endless chain, taken by his glamour
Fame, Fame
Infection is the game, stinking drunk with power
We see
Time for lust, time for lie
time to kiss your life goodbye
Send me money, send me green
Heaven you will meet
Make a contribution
and you'll get a better seat
Bow to Leper Messiah
Witchery, weakening
Sees the sheep are gathering
set the trap, hypnotize
now you follow
Time for lust, time for lie
time to kiss your life goodbye
Send me money, send me green
Heaven you will meet
Make a contribution
and you'll get a better seat
Lie.
08 Damage, Inc. (05:31)
Dealing out the agony within
charging hard and no one's gonna give in
Living on your knees, conformity
or dying on your feet for honesty
Inbred, our bodies work as one
bloody, but never cry submission
Following our instinct not a trend
go against the grain until the end
[Chorus:]
Blood will follow blood
Dying time is here
Damage Incorporated
[End Chorus]
Slamming through, don't fuck with razorback
stepping out? You'll feel our hell on your back
Blood follows blood and we make sure
life ain't for you and we're the cure
Honesty is my only excuse
Try to rob us of it, but it's no use
Steamroller action crushing all
Victim is your name and you shall fall
[Chorus]
We chew and spit you out
we laugh, you scream and shout
All flee, with fear you run
You'll know just where we come from
Damage Incorporated
Damage jackals ripping right through you
sight and smell of this, it gets me goin'
Know just how to get just what we want
tear it from your soul in nightly hunt
Fuck it all and fucking no regrets
Never happy ending on these dark sets
All's fair for Damage Inc. you see
step a little closer if you please
[Chorus].
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Other reviews
By cliffburton86
Eight unforgettable minutes, which have made metal history, are making it and will continue to do so.
Simply the greatest masterpiece of Metallica...
By Nowitzky
Master Of Puppets gives us MetallicA in great, tremendous form, still at the pinnacle of their dawn.
This album is a gem in the musical landscape of recent years, a collector’s item.
By joe strummer
Despite not being technically excellent musicians, the four manage to write captivating songs, superior to other thrash groups.
Master Of Puppets is a masterpiece, though being of a genre not enjoyed by all, the allure of these songs is undeniable.
By metallara1
You’ll be left speechless right from the first track 'Battery,' which starts off pounding and determined at a crazy speed.
It’s impossible to find terms that could simplify in words the magic of their music, which made history and will continue to do so.
By sweep picking
Listening to just a few seconds of the first track is enough to realize you are dealing with something very different from a simple good thrash metal album.
Master of Puppets is a must-listen for every genre lover and is also an excellent antidote for eardrums now stressed by what is sold today as metal.
