When I listened to Megadeth the other day, I felt compelled to listen to a number of other metal albums I used to listen to a lot when I was a kid.
Master of Puppets - by Metallica, is one of those influential albums that I have never properly owned. Garage Day's, And Justice For All... were the first two albums I purchased by Metallica when I was in 4th grade and I eventually got around to owning Kill Em All on cassette also. I just never owned Ride the Lightning or Master of Puppets for some strange reason.
I'm totally familiar with the work on the album. I learned about the band through a Zorlac skate deck and recall seeing the shirt "Damage, Inc." and "Metal Up Your Ass" a lot in the mid 80's... I naturally went out of my way to find out who exactly Metallica was.
I fell in love with them instantly. Every song was blistering in speed and aggression... the guitar work was equal parts elaborate and focused.
Of all the records I used to stare at for hours on the shelf - Master of Puppets - remains atop my list of album covers I would spend hours trying to draw by hand. If memory serves me correctly, the back of the album features a picture of the band performing in front of a stadium crowd. I'm not sure if it's the Oakland Coliseum or from their Monsters of Rock show... but it always left an impression on me that they were fucking HUGE.
Listening to the album for the first time in nearly 15 years, I didn't look back on it as fondly as say And Justice for All... None of the songs on this album are truly radio friendly... the album only has 8 tracks, it weighs in just under 54 minutes and the shortest song is just over 5 minutes. I almost found it laborious to sit through a few of the tracks... but could not stop thinking about well put together this album is. I have no idea how they were able to tour and perform a number of these songs live.
Stand out Tracks:
Artists: Metallica
Album: Master of Puppets
Producer: Flemming Rasmussen
Label: Elektra
Recorded: Sweet Silence Studios