Master of Puppets (song)

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"Master of Puppets"
File:Metallica - Master of Puppets single cover.jpg
Single by Metallica
from the album Master of Puppets
B-side "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" (7")
Released July 2, 1986
Recorded 1985
Studio Sweet Silence Studios, Copenhagen
Genre Thrash metal[1]
Length 8:36
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
{{{This album}}}

"Master of Puppets" is a song by American heavy metal band Metallica, released on July 2, 1986, as the only single from the album of the same name. It was also issued as a promo single in the US by Elektra Records.[2]

The song was recorded during October–December 1985 at Sweet Silence Studios in Copenhagen, Denmark.[3][4]

It is the second and title track of the album, preceded by a shorter, high-speed typical thrash metal track, "Battery", a similar sequencing heard on Metallica's second (Ride the Lightning) and fourth (...And Justice for All) albums. "Master of Puppets" is also notable for its extensive use of downpicking and long instrumental section, beginning at 3:34.

The song, as lead singer James Hetfield explained, "deals pretty much with drugs. How things get switched around, instead of you controlling what you're taking and doing, it's drugs controlling you."[5] The song was bassist Cliff Burton's favorite song on the album, as he said when the album was released. The song is one of the band's most famous and popular songs, frequently played at concerts.

Live performances

The videos Cliff 'Em All, S&M and S&M2 include live performances of "Master of Puppets" in its entirety. A shortened form appears in Cunning Stunts. Both versions can be seen in the video portions of the Live Shit: Binge & Purge box set.

"Master of Puppets" is the band's most played song, first played on December 31, 1985, at San Francisco's Bill Graham Civic Auditorium for a crowd of 7,000.[6] As of April 24, 2024, the song has been performed 1,687 times.[7] During the band's World Magnetic Tour, additional live performances were filmed in Mexico City; Nîmes, France and Sofia, Bulgaria. These performances were released on video in November 2009 (Mexico and Nîmes) and October 2010 (Sofia).

The French electronic music duo Justice also played a version of this song on their first live album "A Cross the Universe" which was released on 24 November 2008. The last song on the live album named "Final" contains a fairly large sample of "Master of Puppets".

Track listing

French 7" single
No. Title Length
1. "Master of Puppets" (7" Edit) 3:27
2. "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)"   4:06

Personnel

Metallica

Production

Awards

VH1 ranked the song as the third greatest heavy metal song ever.[8]

In March 2005, Q magazine placed it at number 22 in its 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks list.[9]

Martin Popoff's book The Top 500 Heavy Metal Songs of All Time ranked the song at number 2. Popoff composed the book by requesting that metal fans, musicians, and journalists nominate their favorite heavy metal songs. The author derived the final rankings from a database tallying almost 18,000 votes.

The song also ranked number 1 on a 100 Greatest Riffs poll conducted by Total Guitar magazine.[citation needed]

The readers of Guitar World voted the song as ranking at number 51 among the 100 Greatest Guitar Solos. Lead guitarist Kirk Hammett's solos for "Fade to Black" and "One" ranked significantly higher on the same list.[citation needed]

In 2020, Metal Hammer ranked the song number 1 on its list of the 50 best Metallica songs of all time.[10]

Charts

Chart performance for "Master of Puppets"
Chart (2022) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[11] 24
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[12] 38
26
Ireland (IRMA)[13] 58
Netherlands (Single Tip)[14] 10
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[15] 24
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[16] 47
UK Rock and Metal (Official Charts Company)[17] 1
US Billboard Hot 100[18] 40
US Hot Rock Songs (Billboard)[19] 6

Certifications

Certifications for "Master of Puppets"
Region Certification Sales/shipments
Italy (FIMI)[20] Gold 25,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[21] Silver 200,000
United States (RIAA)[22] Gold 500,000

*sales figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone
double-daggersales/streaming figures based on certification alone

Inspiration

A riff from David Bowie's song "Andy Warhol" (at 0'48") is quoted in "Master of Puppets" (at 6'19"). It is an homage made by Cliff Burton and Kirk Hammett to whom Bowie was a huge influence.[23]

Usage in media

"Master of Puppets" is featured in a scene of the 2003 film Old School and is heard as actors Luke Wilson and Will Ferrell play characters who are busy kidnapping people off the street to join their new fraternity.[24] The song appears in the finale of the fourth season of Stranger Things where Eddie Munson is seen playing the track during the scenes in the Upside Down to attract the Demobats. The band said they were "blown away" by the scene.[25] Like with Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill", the song regained popularity and started charting again following the scene. The song also appears in a trailer for the upcoming game Marvel's Midnight Suns. The song was featured in the opening credits for the film Zombieland: Double Tap.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ "Metallica – Chart history" Canadian Hot 100 for Metallica.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ "Archive Chart: 20220708" UK Singles Chart.
  17. ↑ "Archive Chart: 20220708" UK Rock Chart.
  18. ↑ "Metallica – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for Metallica.
  19. ↑ "Metallica – Chart history" Billboard Hot Rock Songs for Metallica.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Select Online in the field Sezione. Enter Metallica in the field Filtra. Select 2019 in the field Anno. The certification will load automatically
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Enter Master of Puppets in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select single in the field By Format. Select Silver in the field By Award. Click Search
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH
  23. ↑ To Live is to Die, the life and death of Metallica’s Cliff Burton, by Joel McIver, second edition, Jawbone Press, 2016, p.265.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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