Master of Puppets
Master of Puppets is the third album by American heavy metal band Metallica. The album was released on March 3, 1986 through Elektra Records. Master of Puppets marks the last recording by bassist Cliff Burton, who died in a bus accident while on tour to promote the album. After debating whether to break up, or to move on with a new bass player, Metallica decided to hire a new bassist, Jason Newsted, who would stay with the band until 2001.
Master of Puppets met high critical reception upon release, and is now considered a classic heavy metal album by fans, critics, and the band members themselves alike. All of the band members consider it Metallica's Magnum opus.[citation needed] Master of Puppets reached #29 on the U.S. Billboard 200 album chart and was the band's first Gold record for sales of 500,000 copies. This was done without any radio airplay or the release of a single. The album is now 6× Platinum in the U.S., with over 6 million copies sold in the U.S. alone. Almost every song now has radio play, with the title track and Welcome Home (Sanitarium) receiving the heaviest airplay.
Released March 3, 1986
Recorded September 1985 -
December 1985
Genre Thrash metal
Length 54:45
Label Elektra
Producer Metallica
Flemming Rasmussen
Track List
All songs written by Mark Mothersbaugh and Gerald Casale, except where noted.
1-"Battery" 5:13
2-"Master of Puppets" 8:36
3-"The Thing That Should Not Be" 8:36
4-"Welcome Home" (Sanitarium) – 6:37
5-"Disposable Heroes" 8:17
6-"Leper Messiah" 5:41
7-"Orion" (Instrumental) 8:28
8-"Damage, Inc" 25:30
Bonus Tracks
10-"Battery" (Live Version) 4:53
11-”The Thing That Should Not Be (Live Version) 7:02
Personnel
James Hetfield — lead vocals, rhythm guitar, lead guitar
in "Master ofPuppets"&"Orion"
Kirk Hammett — lead guitar
Cliff Burton — bass guitar, backing vocals
Lars Ulrich — drums, percussion
Flemming Rasmussen — production, engineer
Michael Wagener — mix engineer
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