Music Banter - View Single Post - The Playlist of Life --- Trollheart's resurrected Journal

Trollheart · 10-27-2013, 05:42 AM

Master of puppets --- Metallica --- 1983 (Elektra)

Sure it's a bit obvious to those of you who know the album, but I'm not a huge fan of Metallica and have not heard as much of their catalogue as many of you may have done, so this is a first listen for me. Someone help the Batlord up: I think he fainted there!

Anyhoo, it's supposed to be one of their masterpieces, so I thought I'd give it an airing and see if it deserves that title.

I see two, no, three eight-minute tracks. Hmm. Opens on soft acoustic or maybe Spanish guitar, slow and relaxed but hell I'm not fooled. With a title like "Battery" it's bound to ... ah, there it goes. Hard electric cuts in and the drums pound their way into the tune, it kicks up in tempo and rhythm and we're away. Rapid-fire delivery on the vocals from James Hetfield, with more than a hint of the punk in the chorus --- well, one line: the title of the song. Great screaming solo --- oh no wait, it's not: cut off a few seconds later. Sort of slows down in the midsection with some nice guitarwork and a sort of instrumental break rather than a solo, which follows it as Kirk Hammet gives it all he's got. Must be honest, I'm not that gone on this as an opener. Bit basic really, but we'll see how the album develops.

The title track is up next, and it's one of those eight-minuters I mentioned. Big hard guitar intro with both Hetfield and Hammet working overtime, Lars Ulrich bashing out an energetic rhythm on the drumkit, a lot of energy and anger in the vocal when Hetfield comes in. Reminds me of a cross between Tank and Iron Maiden, then about halfway in with get a lovely laidback guitar piece that's classic Lizzy or Maiden, slowing everything down but still keeping the heavy aspect of the song. A very politically-charged lyric of course, and ties in nicely with the album artwork. A storming solo from, I assume, Kirk Hammet, and a big evil laugh at the end to bring it all to a close. Impressive.

I think it may be slide guitar that opens "The thing that should not be", then it marches along on the back of solid guitar and percussion and takes as its lyrical inspiration "The Lord of the Rings", instantly making Metallica a favourite with nerds, and also making being a nerd cool. Great grinding rhythm to this and it really suits the subject matter. Everything slows down then for "Welcome home (Sanitarium)" with some rising guitar work at the opening and a less frenzied vocal from Hetfield, though of course it does speed up and Hammet goes a little wild on the frets, which is all good. Great powerful dramatic ending too. On we go, into "Disposable heroes", another eight-minute epic. Again opening with a huge guitar fest, and it rattles along nicely with another heavy political lyric as you would expect.

With a "One! Two! One-two-three-four!" we're off into "Leper messiah", kind of a fast grinder which actually puts me in mind of one of the few Metallica songs I know well, that everyone knows, and though it's not really "Enter Sandman" I hear some similarities in the melody. The final eight-minute track is an instrumental that goes under the title of "Orion", and gives Kirk Hammet a chance to show what he can really do when let loose. He doesn't disappoint, himself and bassist Cliff Burton giving a virtuoso show, sadly the last Burton would play on any Metallica album, as during the tour to support this one in Stockholm he was tragically killed in a road accident. Perhaps horribly ironic that the last album he worked on before passing away is one that features crosses and headstones on its cover?

Finishing up with some fine slide guitar before "Damage, Inc." brings down the curtain, it's a fine closer with hard, heavy guitar and thunderous drumming, a return to the faster Metallica of songs like "Disposable heroes" and the title track, and an angry vocal from Hetfield with some nice staccato guitar from Hammet, and a screeching, finger-burning solo just to add the icing on an already very tasty cake.

TRACKLISTING

1. Battery
2. Master of puppets
3. The thing that should not be
4. Welcome home (Sanitarium)
5. Disposable heroes
6. Leper messiah
7. Orion
8. Damage, Inc.

It's clear to see why this is so revered an album, showing a band who would go on to more or less dominate the thrash and speed metal scene for the next few years at the top of their game. There's very little bad you can say about it --- or would dare! --- other than as I mentioned the opener could be a bit more hard-hitting, but once the album gets into its stride there's no stopping it. With songs that have stood the test of time and still appear regularly on Metallica's setlist, and have been covered by more artists than I want to count, "Master of puppets" has to be one of not only the most seminal Metallica albums ever, but also one of the most important in the thrash subgenre overall.

If an album was meant to put down a marker and showcase a band who were in it for the long haul, not just fly-by-nighters who intended to make their money quickly and retire, Metallica's third album said it all. And could there be a better tribute, if unintentional, to the memory of their tragically departed bass player?

Read more here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metallica

10-27-2013, 05:42 AM	#2002 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,970	Master of puppets --- Metallica --- 1983 (Elektra) Sure it's a bit obvious to those of you who know the album, but I'm not a huge fan of Metallica and have not heard as much of their catalogue as many of you may have done, so this is a first listen for me. Someone help the Batlord up: I think he fainted there! Anyhoo, it's supposed to be one of their masterpieces, so I thought I'd give it an airing and see if it deserves that title. I see two, no, three eight-minute tracks. Hmm. Opens on soft acoustic or maybe Spanish guitar, slow and relaxed but hell I'm not fooled. With a title like "Battery" it's bound to ... ah, there it goes. Hard electric cuts in and the drums pound their way into the tune, it kicks up in tempo and rhythm and we're away. Rapid-fire delivery on the vocals from James Hetfield, with more than a hint of the punk in the chorus --- well, one line: the title of the song. Great screaming solo --- oh no wait, it's not: cut off a few seconds later. Sort of slows down in the midsection with some nice guitarwork and a sort of instrumental break rather than a solo, which follows it as Kirk Hammet gives it all he's got. Must be honest, I'm not that gone on this as an opener. Bit basic really, but we'll see how the album develops. The title track is up next, and it's one of those eight-minuters I mentioned. Big hard guitar intro with both Hetfield and Hammet working overtime, Lars Ulrich bashing out an energetic rhythm on the drumkit, a lot of energy and anger in the vocal when Hetfield comes in. Reminds me of a cross between Tank and Iron Maiden, then about halfway in with get a lovely laidback guitar piece that's classic Lizzy or Maiden, slowing everything down but still keeping the heavy aspect of the song. A very politically-charged lyric of course, and ties in nicely with the album artwork. A storming solo from, I assume, Kirk Hammet, and a big evil laugh at the end to bring it all to a close. Impressive. I think it may be slide guitar that opens "The thing that should not be", then it marches along on the back of solid guitar and percussion and takes as its lyrical inspiration "The Lord of the Rings", instantly making Metallica a favourite with nerds, and also making being a nerd cool. Great grinding rhythm to this and it really suits the subject matter. Everything slows down then for "Welcome home (Sanitarium)" with some rising guitar work at the opening and a less frenzied vocal from Hetfield, though of course it does speed up and Hammet goes a little wild on the frets, which is all good. Great powerful dramatic ending too. On we go, into "Disposable heroes", another eight-minute epic. Again opening with a huge guitar fest, and it rattles along nicely with another heavy political lyric as you would expect. With a "One! Two! One-two-three-four!" we're off into "Leper messiah", kind of a fast grinder which actually puts me in mind of one of the few Metallica songs I know well, that everyone knows, and though it's not really "Enter Sandman" I hear some similarities in the melody. The final eight-minute track is an instrumental that goes under the title of "Orion", and gives Kirk Hammet a chance to show what he can really do when let loose. He doesn't disappoint, himself and bassist Cliff Burton giving a virtuoso show, sadly the last Burton would play on any Metallica album, as during the tour to support this one in Stockholm he was tragically killed in a road accident. Perhaps horribly ironic that the last album he worked on before passing away is one that features crosses and headstones on its cover? Finishing up with some fine slide guitar before "Damage, Inc." brings down the curtain, it's a fine closer with hard, heavy guitar and thunderous drumming, a return to the faster Metallica of songs like "Disposable heroes" and the title track, and an angry vocal from Hetfield with some nice staccato guitar from Hammet, and a screeching, finger-burning solo just to add the icing on an already very tasty cake. TRACKLISTING 1. Battery 2. Master of puppets 3. The thing that should not be 4. Welcome home (Sanitarium) 5. Disposable heroes 6. Leper messiah 7. Orion 8. Damage, Inc. It's clear to see why this is so revered an album, showing a band who would go on to more or less dominate the thrash and speed metal scene for the next few years at the top of their game. There's very little bad you can say about it --- or would dare! --- other than as I mentioned the opener could be a bit more hard-hitting, but once the album gets into its stride there's no stopping it. With songs that have stood the test of time and still appear regularly on Metallica's setlist, and have been covered by more artists than I want to count, "Master of puppets" has to be one of not only the most seminal Metallica albums ever, but also one of the most important in the thrash subgenre overall. If an album was meant to put down a marker and showcase a band who were in it for the long haul, not just fly-by-nighters who intended to make their money quickly and retire, Metallica's third album said it all. And could there be a better tribute, if unintentional, to the memory of their tragically departed bass player? Read more here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metallica __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018 Last edited by Trollheart; 11-01-2013 at 01:28 PM.