Master of Puppets

"Master of Puppets"
Single by Metallica
from the album Master of Puppets
Released	1986
Recorded	Sweet Silence Studios Copenhagen, Denmark September-December, 1985
Genre	Thrash metal
Length	8:38
Label	Elektra
Writer(s)	James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Cliff Burton, Kirk Hammett
Producer	Metallica, Flemming Rasmussen
Metallica singles chronology
"For Whom the Bell Tolls" (1985) "Master of Puppets" (1986) "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" (1986)

"Master of Puppets" is a song by heavy metal band Metallica. It is the title track of their 1986 album of the same name.

The album shares a similar album structure with Ride the Lightning in having the title track as the second track, preceded by a shorter, high-speed typical thrash metal track. There are several such track similarities on Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets, and ...And Justice for All. "Master of Puppets" is also notable for its extensive use of downpicking and its long instrumental section beginning about three and a half minutes into the song.

The song, as 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." ^[1] The lyrics "chop your breakfast on a mirror", for instance, refer to the act of preparing powdered cocaine.

This song also featured in the track list on the music game Guitar Hero: Metallica.

Track listing

7" Single Side A:

1. "Master of Puppets"

Side B:

1. "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)"

12" Promo Single: Side A:

1. "Master of Puppets" (Part 1) (03:32)

Awards

The song has been ranked as the third greatest heavy metal song ever by VH1.
^[2]
In March 2005, Q magazine placed it again at number 1 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks. The song was ranked #2 in Martin Popoff's book The Top 500 Heavy Metal Songs of All Time. Popoff put together this book by requesting thousands of metal fans, musicians, and journalists to send in their favorite heavy metal songs. Almost 18,000 individual votes were tallied and entered into a database from which the final rankings were derived. It also came first in a recent 100 Greatest Riffs poll from Total Guitar. A distinguished honor was from the readers of Guitar World, who voted the song as ranking at number 51 on the list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Solos. Hammett's solos for Fade to Black and One ranked significantly higher in the same list.

Live performances

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The song has been played live at almost every show since the release of their 1986 album with the same name. During the early 90's from 1991 to about 1997 the band only played up to the second chorus but after Cunning Stunts (The last time it would be played this way) they started playing the song in its entirety again for the first time since the Damaged Justice Tour in 1989. Live versions are available on Cliff 'Em All and S&M in its entirety while a shorter version is available on Cunning Stunts, both versions are available on Live Shit: Binge & Purge (Short on Mexico City CDs and San Diego DVD and full on Seattle DVD). There are new versions available on the Mexico City and Nimes, France DVDs filmed from the World Magnetic Tour released on late November 2009.

Covers and usage

Master of Puppets has been covered by multiple artists.

• Ugly Kid Joe covered the song for Metallic Attack: Metallica - The Ultimate Tribute
• Green Day has covered a part of the song live as part of a jam.
• Therapy? have played the song's opening in concert, usually leading into their own song "Potato Junkie".
• Trivium recorded a cover of this track which was released on Master of Puppets: Remastered and the re-release of Ascendancy. It was also covered on Kerrang! Metallica's Master of Puppets Revisited. They also regularly perform some of this song live.
• Primus has been known to play the opening of the song as a "tease" where Les Claypool, bass player and lead vocalist, plays the guitar part on his bass. The most notable performance of this "tease" was at Woodstock 94.
• Canadian punk band Sum 41 also covered it at a live medley at MTV Icon Metallica in 2003 also they play the full song in 2009 at the Hoodwink Festival.
• Progressive metal band Dream Theater covered it live along with the rest of the album as a tribute.
• Finnish band Apocalyptica released a cover of the song played only by cellos.
• German punk band Die Ärzte samples it in the middle of their song FaFaFa from the album Die Bestie in Menschengestalt.
• Anthrax sampled a short segment of "Master of Puppets" in their song "I'm the Man".
• Tribute duo Harptallica recorded a harp version on their album Harptallica: A Tribute.
• As a tribute to Metallica, Underground New York rapper Necro recites the pre-chorus in his song "Underground" off his album I Need Drugs.
• Limp Bizkit has covered it live, with guitarist Wes Borland singing, rather than vocalist Fred Durst.
• Sevendust has covered parts of the song live.
• French band Justice remixed this song and often plays it at their concerts.
• The Drum ’n’ Bass group Pendulum made a remix at a liveset on BBC's Radio 1 Mash up show.
• The Bang Camaro song "Swallow the Razor" uses the lyric "I Chop My Breakfast on a Mirror".
• The power metal band Sonata Arctica performed a live cover of the title track "Master of Puppets".
• On a sketch from Late Night with Conan O'Brien featuring Triumph, the Comic Insult Dog. Triumph recruits some second rate Grammy Winners to trash John Mayer's hotel room to the tune of Master of Puppets.

The song has also been used in various media as a theme song;

• The song was featured in the movie "Old School".
• Conservative talk show host Michael Savage uses this track as the opening of his radio show, The Savage Nation.
• The song is the theme song for the Philadelphia Phillies' third baseman, Pedro Feliz.
• It was also featured in the Simpsons episode "The Mook, the Chef, the Wife and Her Homer" when Hans Moleman drives away as Metallica is playing on the back of his truck.
• Welsh performers Dirty Sanchez used the opening riff during their live performances throughout the UK festivals in 2006.
• It was also used as the trailer song and appears in Guitar Hero: Metallica.
• It was planned for Pump it Up: the Prex 3, but canceled due to licensing issues.
• The Spanish band Baderna has covered the song live.
• It is used in Metal: A Headbanger's Journey
• Rodrigo of the mexican guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela often covers this song live.
• The Swedish army makes recruits sing the first verse and chorus during a selfcontrol test where recruits have to bathe in ice cold water, and in order to get up they have to sing the first verse and chorus flawless and without stuttering.

References