Master of Puppets (song)

"Master of Puppets"
"Master of Puppets"
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
Length	8:36
Label	New Electric Way; Music for Nations; Elektra;
Songwriter(s)	Cliff Burton; Kirk Hammett; James Hetfield; Lars Ulrich;
Producer(s)	Metallica; Flemming Rasmussen;
Metallica singles chronology

"Master of Puppets" is a song by American heavy metal band Metallica. It was released on July 2, 1986, as the only single from the band's 1986 studio 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 August 25, 2021, 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).

Track listing[]

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

Personnel[]

Metallica

James Hetfield – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, first guitar solo
Kirk Hammett – lead guitar
Cliff Burton – bass, backing vocals
Lars Ulrich – drums

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.

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.

Certifications[]


Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Italy (FIMI)^[10]	Gold	25,000
United Kingdom (BPI)^[11]	Silver	200,000
Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References[]

^ Cush, Andy (November 3, 2016). "Metallica's Lars Ulrich Thinks He Might Get Too Old to Perform "Master of Puppets"". Spin. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
^ "Metallica - Master Of Puppets". Discogs.
^ Gulla, Bob (2009). Guitar Gods: The 25 Players who Made Rock History. ABC-CLIO. p. 103. ISBN 9780313358067.
^ Brannigan, Paul; Winwood, Ian (2011). Birth School Metallica Death. 1. Da Capo Press. p. 195. ISBN 9780306821868.
^ Hetfield, James (1988). "Interview with Metallica, from Vol. 6, No.8" (Interview). Interviewed by Pushead. Thrasher Magazine. Archived from the original on January 5, 2008. Retrieved 2008-01-30.
^ Brannigan, Paul; Winwood, Ian (2011). Birth School Metallica Death. 1. Da Capo Press. pp. 199–200. ISBN 9780306821868.
^ https://www.setlist.fm/stats/metallica-3bd680c8.html
^ "VH1 40 Greatest Metal Songs". VH1. Archived from the original on November 18, 2007. Retrieved 2008-01-30.
^ "Rocklist.net...Q Magazine Lists."
^ "Italian single certifications – Metallica – Master of Puppets" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved September 30, 2019. Select "2019" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Select "Master of Puppets" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Singoli" under "Sezione".
^ "British single certifications – Metallica – Master of Puppets". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved June 26, 2020.

[1] Cush, Andy (November 3, 2016). "Metallica's Lars Ulrich Thinks He Might Get Too Old to Perform "Master of Puppets"". Spin. Retrieved October 19, 2019.

[2] "Metallica - Master Of Puppets". Discogs.

[3] Gulla, Bob (2009). Guitar Gods: The 25 Players who Made Rock History. ABC-CLIO. p. 103. ISBN 9780313358067.

[4] Brannigan, Paul; Winwood, Ian (2011). Birth School Metallica Death. 1. Da Capo Press. p. 195. ISBN 9780306821868.

[5] Hetfield, James (1988). "Interview with Metallica, from Vol. 6, No.8" (Interview). Interviewed by Pushead. Thrasher Magazine. Archived from the original on January 5, 2008. Retrieved 2008-01-30.

[6] Brannigan, Paul; Winwood, Ian (2011). Birth School Metallica Death. 1. Da Capo Press. pp. 199–200. ISBN 9780306821868.

[7] ttps://www.setlist.fm/stats/metallica-3bd680c8.html

[8] "VH1 40 Greatest Metal Songs". VH1. Archived from the original on November 18, 2007. Retrieved 2008-01-30.

[9] "Rocklist.net...Q Magazine Lists."

[ItalyMetallicaMaster_of_PuppetssingleCertRef-10] "Italian single certifications – Metallica – Master of Puppets" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved September 30, 2019. Select "2019" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Select "Master of Puppets" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Singoli" under "Sezione".

[United_KingdomMetallicaMaster_of_PuppetssingleCertRef-11] "British single certifications – Metallica – Master of Puppets". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved June 26, 2020.

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show v t Metallica
James Hetfield Lars Ulrich Kirk Hammett Robert Trujillo Ron McGovney Dave Mustaine Cliff Burton Jason Newsted
Studio albums	Kill 'Em All Ride the Lightning Master of Puppets ...And Justice for All Metallica Load Reload St. Anger Death Magnetic Hardwired... to Self-Destruct
Cover albums	Garage Inc.
Collaboration projects	S&M (with the San Francisco Symphony) The Big Four: Live from Sofia, Bulgaria (with Anthrax, Megadeth & Slayer) Lulu (with Lou Reed) S&M2 (with the San Francisco Symphony)
Extended plays	The $5.98 E.P. – Garage Days Re-Revisited Beyond Magnetic
Live albums	Orgullo, Pasión, y Gloria: Tres Noches en la Ciudad de México Six Feet Down Under Six Feet Down Under Part II Live at Grimey's Through the Never
Box sets	The Good, the Bad & the Live Live Shit: Binge & Purge Limited-Edition Vinyl Box Set The Metallica Collection
Singles	"Whiplash" "Jump in the Fire" "Creeping Death" "Master of Puppets" "Harvester of Sorrow" "Eye of the Beholder" "One" "Enter Sandman" "The Unforgiven" "Nothing Else Matters" "Wherever I May Roam" "Sad but True" "Until It Sleeps" "Hero of the Day" "Mama Said" "King Nothing" "The Memory Remains" "The Unforgiven II" "Fuel" "Turn the Page" "Whiskey in the Jar" "Die, Die My Darling" "Nothing Else Matters '99" "No Leaf Clover" "I Disappear" "St. Anger" "Frantic" "The Unnamed Feeling" "Some Kind of Monster" "The Day That Never Comes" "All Nightmare Long" "Broken, Beat & Scarred" "The View" "Lords of Summer" "Hardwired" "Moth into Flame" "Atlas, Rise!" "Now That We're Dead" "Spit Out the Bone"
Promotional singles	"Fade to Black" "For Whom the Bell Tolls" "Don't Tread on Me" "Ain't My Bitch" "Bleeding Me" "Better than You" "My Apocalypse" "Cyanide" "The Judas Kiss"
Other songs	"Seek & Destroy" "Am I Evil?" "Blitzkrieg" "Breadfan" "The God That Failed" "Astronomy" "Tuesday's Gone" "Last Caress/Green Hell" "Stone Cold Crazy" "So What?" "Overkill" "The Unforgiven III"
Video albums	Cliff 'Em All 2 of One A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica Cunning Stunts S&M The Videos 1989–2004 Français Pour une Nuit Orgullo, Pasión, y Gloria: Tres Noches en la Ciudad de México The Big Four: Live from Sofia, Bulgaria Quebec Magnetic Metallica: Through the Never S&M2
Tours	Damage, Inc. Tour Damaged Justice Wherever We May Roam Tour Guns N' Roses/Metallica Stadium Tour Nowhere Else to Roam Tour Shit Hits the Sheds Tour M2K Mini Tour Summer Sanitarium Tour Madly in Anger with the World Tour Sick of the Studio '07 World Magnetic Tour 2012 European Black Album Tour Metallica By Request Tour Lords of Summer Tour WorldWired Tour
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