This album is THE classic metal album from the 80s. At a time when bands such as Kiss, Poison, Van Halen and other limp wristed rockers were dominating the metal charts, along came Metallica with this, their third album...and blasted the competition away with a display of such strength and power that the world of heavy metal would never be the same again. Many have tried to immitate, but none have found the sheer class which is Metallica and none have even come close to matching this album for power.
Master Of Puppets opens, perhaps surprisingly, with an accoustic number, but on 38 seconds we are introduced to what the album is really about. ’Battery’ slams through the speakers, building to a peak before hitting you with the kind of riff for which Metallica have become famous. Our minds are slammed against the wall and ground forcibly under the hobnailed boot of one James Hetfield who barks ferocious, venom tipped lyrics into our throbbing steaming ears before breaking for Kirk Hammett to launch into a screaming solo. Once more the riff returns and again we find ourselves pummelled into submission. Mercifully perhaps, it ends as suddenly and as violently as it began.
But we are not left alone for long. The crunching riffs of Metallica’s anthem song, ’Master of Puppets’ begin filtering through our senses. The anti-drugs stand is clear despite the simplicity of the lyric and we defiantly raise our fists in the air at the chorus. Once again we have an accoustic break, haunting amidst the bone-crushing power of its surrounding - but again we are tossed suddenly back into the maelstrom.
In a salute to H.P. Lovecraft, the next song is entitled ’The Thing That Should Not Be’. This is a break from the speed and venom of those tracks which preceded it, being instead a darkly evil number which drags itself from some primaeval swamp and slithers into your mind touching its darkest recesses...but only briefly before it is forced to recoil by the oncoming ’Sanitarium(Welcome Home) - a song about the treatment of the insane in the US. This, to be fair, is not a great song and doesn’t really fit with the rest of the album in my opinion, but is still quite good in its own right as its that which follows it in the form of disposable heroes which again doesn’t seem to fit but would be good on a lesser album. Sanitarium is almsot ’poppy’ in comparison to its predecessors and feels extremely out of place whilst Disposable heroes is a violent sensual onslaught again, but fails to measure up in terms of overall effect to its peers. These are the two minor blips on an otherwise perfect album.
However, we return to brilliance again with the excellent Leper Messiah, which has nothing to do with God-hating and all that other rubbish often associated with heavy metal, but is instead aimed at the television evangelist - the ’send me your money and be saved’ brigade. A savage attack is mounted upon these bloodsuckers, but in a style which is very reminiscent of the later offerings of Load and Reload - almost ’poppy’ in its approach but with some killer riffs.
It ends. But there is a noise in the background. A noise which seems to be expanding, getting closer, louder and louder until with the usual crunch the guitar rips through again, leading us into the instrumental that is ’Orion’. Here we have a heavy metal melody, a tune, almost a dancehall classic to be walzed to - but of course, not quite. In some ways its beautiful, in others its simply a chance to come down from the sensory assault which the rest of the album has subjected us to...no, its definitely beautiful...but then come Damage Inc.
Angry isn’t the word, this song is incredibly p*ssed off and it wants us to know it. A cacophony of noise assaults our senses and jangles every nerve ending - is playing that fast possible? Apparently so, Hetfield barks at us again, gripping us by the throat and refusing to let go as the guitar solo screams at us one more time, before hurling us to the floor abruptly as it roars to a conclusion. Silence...
As a youth stuck in a Grammar school which I hated and with all the frustrations of being a teenager, Metallica and bands like them were something of a lifeline to me. Here was a chance to express my anger, a chance to rebel against authority - here was music that spat in the face of authority. Indeed, here was sanctity. As an adult, I have some great memories associated with this band, and especially this album which was their finest hour. I still play it occassionally for nostalgic reasons, or when I am particularly angry at the world and the effect hasn’t become damped by the tides of time. This is truly a masterpiece.