Metallica - Master Of Puppets review
| Band: | Metallica |
| Album: | Master Of Puppets |
| Style: | Bay Area thrash metal |
| Release date: | February 1986 |
01. Battery
02. Master Of Puppets
03. The Thing That Should Not Be
04. Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
05. Disposable Heroes
06. Leper Messiah
07. Orion
08. Damage, Inc.
I know I am in the minority here, but I don't care. Coffee is not as bad for you as everyone says it is, ten million Coldplay fans are wrong and Master Of Puppets is not Metallica's best album. This album is considered to be a classic and it is a great effort, but it is no Ride The Lightning. Master Of Puppets may have become more popular than Metallica's first two albums and it may be every critic's darling but that alone does not make it a better album or the greatest thrash record of all time. What matters is the music itself and therein lies my problem with considering this album a mind blowing masterpiece, which it is not.
I can find no better analogy for how Metallica's first three albums sound than their respective cover art: Kill Them All has a murder weapon on its cover, Ride The Lighting has an execution device, and Master Of Puppets simply has graves. This is most fitting, because Metallica's inspiration (with the exception of writing good lyrics) was somewhat dead too by the time they got to their third album. Master Of Puppets does sound epic just like Kill Them Alll and Ride The Lightning, but the epicness is forced this time. The solos, the vocals and even some of those famous riffs lack the true killing spark that made the previous albums so great. Many of the tracks are long for the sake of being long; they outstay their welcome by a good few minutes and become repetitive. While it is undeniable that Master Of Puppets contains some awesome riffs, it is also undeniable that when a good thing is repeated too much, it becomes boring. "The Thing That Should Not Be" is a good example of this. It is a good riff, but when you hear it for the hundredth time, it isn't quite so exciting anymore. The sign of a truly great song is the feeling that you want to hear it again immediately after it's over, only a few songs on Master Of Puppets have this effect and the rest leave one exhausted from the repetition. To sum it all up: professionalism and repetition do not make up for the loss of true inspiration, which is the problem with Master Of Puppets even though - I need to emphasize this - it is still a good album.
The reason for the comparisons to Kill Them All and Ride The Lightning in this review were not to praise those albums, but to point out that Master Of Puppets is not that great for one simple reason: Metallica's previous albums demonstrated that they could do much better than this. Master Of Puppets will no doubt remain a favorite for most Metallica fans, for this reviewer it will remain a good, but somewhat disappointing follow-up to two thrash metal masterpieces.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 9 |
| Songwriting: | 8 |
| Originality: | 6 |
| Production: | 9 |
Written by Account deleted | 06.06.2012
Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
Rating:
10
10
|
Rating: 10 |
A classic between classics and the top of Metallica like a band. The album that made history, the cd of the cds, the best album of the best band. The album that any person who wants to know what is that world called Metal music needs to have, and listen to. From the intro of "Battery" to the last guitar riff of "Damage Inc." the cd is just perfect, incredible and all the adjectives you want. In this album Metallica composed the song of songs: "Master of Puppets", astonishing. 8 minutes 38 seconds of pure Metal. The virtuosity on composing of Metallica appears clearly in that song. In Master of Puppets some songs are really dark and paranoid like "The Thing that should not Be". A ballad is also included, which is called "Welcome Home " and Metallica still includes in this album an instrumental track: "Orion" Read more ›› |
Rating:
9.3
9.3
|
Rating: 9.3 |
Master of Puppets is a master class in structuring an album, The tracks and the way they're ordered is near perfection. A landmark album. Master Of Puppets is a timeless classic, A hybrid, Which features the best characteristics of many different kinds of metal. Many people consider it one of the greatest albums of all time and for good reason. Read more ›› |
Comments
Comments: 67
Visited by: 301 users
| Svneatr Vitharr Posts: 118 |
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| Heart_of_METAL Posts: 40  |
I Agree with You only with the Ride the Lightning is best album of Metallica. But other things in your review, I can't see it like you.
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| Cal Wolvington Account deleted |
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| Angelic Storm Melodious Posts: 6675  |
I don't agree with the tone of the review, though I do agree that Ride The Lightning is definitely MOP's superior, (I also believe it to be Metallica's greatest album) and is a metal masterpiece. For me, MOP is a great album, but RTL is the one that should be the most lauded, and be singled out for legendary status in Metallica's discography.
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| Cal Wolvington Account deleted |
Cal Wolvington
Account deleted Written by Angelic Storm on 06.06.2012 at 13:31 Maybe I should have made a one-sentence review that just said: "Ride The Lighting is superior, the end". 
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| Angelic Storm Melodious Posts: 6675 |
Written by Guest on 06.06.2012 at 13:34 It would be pretty foolish to tailor your review just so that it fell into line with my own views of the album.
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| AndMetalForAll kual21 Posts: 314  |
Don't agree at all!! Master is a masterpiece of thrash metal. Metallica hit their peak in this album. Ride The Lightning in my opinion is the band's second best. Agree with you about Ride being a true classic, it's definitely an amazing album but Master Of Puppets is a 10/10..
---- greets, kual21
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| Zap Guest Posts: 3517  |
Ride The Lightning is indeed THE Metallica album, all the others are way behind, even though I still really like them all (talking 80's here).
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| Xylem Posts: 50  |
I'm just gonna go right out there and say that I agree wholeheartedly with this review, but I prefer Kill 'Em All to Ride the Lightning. Not that I listen to Metallica much anymore...
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| Unhealer Eclecticist Posts: 2311  |
This looks like an article on why RTL is better than MOP instead of a review of the latter. I like this one a bit more, I feel "Escape" as an imperfection on RTL.
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| Cal Wolvington Account deleted |
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306  |
The only thing I can comment on is how annoying it is seeing Kill 'Em All stylized as Kill Them All.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| Angelic Storm Melodious Posts: 6675 |
Written by Troy Killjoy on 06.06.2012 at 17:15 I actually didn't notice that... Well spotted! Yep... "Kill Them All" hardly has the same ring to it... 
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306 |
Written by Angelic Storm on 06.06.2012 at 17:26 He also wrote "Lighting" instead of "Lightning" at the beginning of the review.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| Angelic Storm Melodious Posts: 6675 |
Written by Troy Killjoy on 06.06.2012 at 17:30 Don't mods usually clean up spelling mistakes when they're proof reading reviews before they're published on the site?
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306 |
Written by Angelic Storm on 06.06.2012 at 17:32 Not if they don't catch them. 
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| Dark Blood The Avenger Posts: 1435  |
Written by Troy Killjoy on 06.06.2012 at 17:15 It's Kill Them Alll with 3 l's sir! This review feels more like an excuse to compare the album with their previews, other than reviewing the actual Master of Puppets. I don't want to sound picky, but that's how I felt about the review.
---- It is humanity who must pay homage to the greatness of the Universe... not the Universe to the human narcissism. 
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| AnGina-- Dark Phoenix Posts: 3555  |
Written by Angelic Storm on 06.06.2012 at 13:31 I agree to every letter in that post.
---- You think darkness is your ally? You merely adopted the dark. I was born in it. Molded by it. I didn't see the light until I was a man. But it was nothing to me but blinding.
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18274  |
I almost never compare albums in a band's discography. I preffer to take a look at an album for how it stands by itself and nothing else... Which is why I'm no so keen on this review as I don't find the constant comparison review-material. PS: Not that much of a Metallica fan. So this has nothing to do with how I agree or not with your opinions regarding their albums. I haven't even listened to a full Metallica album.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Druss Posts: 274  |
Written by Dark Blood on 06.06.2012 at 19:03 +1. The only thing really mentioned about Master Of Puppets (apart from its standing in the mind of the reviewer) is that the songwriting is decent and that it has good, but drawn out and sometimes reptitive, riffs. The review just seems to be too much about justifying the review itself rather than decribing the album, in my opinion. But seen as that's the topic at hand, for me, there isn't any definite ''best'' album from Metallica (from their earlier catalogue, including Metallica itself). From all their albums, I've picked and choosed songs to listen to; on each of them, there's at least three or four songs I didn't like or found that they put me off the flow of the album to a certain extent.
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| bitethepain Posts: 78  |
I recently listened to Metallica's entire discography. Hadn't listened to them in a while and wondered what my new perspective on the albums would be. Interestingly, I found Ride the Lightening not as good as I remembered it. While there are classic songs on it, there are too many songs I don't care for. I also came away with a deeper respect for the Black Album I now consider it a masterpiece. And St. Anger is actually pretty interesting. I enjoyed it. Master of Puppets is still a metal masterpiece and would be THE album I would recommend to anyone who wanted to know what metal is. Their first album I think is their funnest album. Load and Reload irritated me and I used to like them a lot better. Justice for All is still my favorite.
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| Ernis 狼獾 Posts: 6807  |
I like how the other reviews rate the album with 10, 9.3 and 10 and now comes your 8.3 as some sort of lightning from clear sky... I like the more objective factor which balances the "general" opinion about MOP being "the top of the tops"... Oh yeah, almost forgot... high five from another coffee snob...
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| Mattybu Posts: 2589  |
Written by Troy Killjoy on 06.06.2012 at 17:15 lol, agreed 100%.
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| M C Vice ex-polydactyl Posts: 3353  |
Written by Guest on 06.06.2012 at 13:05 I won't high five you either. Bucking the trend, I think Puppets is the worst album from Metallica (excluding Lulu and St Anger, which I havn't heard). So I'll say you're too kind to Puppets. Now, who's gonna slam me first for bagging one of metals greatest masterpieces?
---- "Another day, another Doug." "I'll fight you on one condition. That you lower your nipples." " 'Tis a lie! Thy backside is whole and ungobbled, thou ungrateful whelp!"
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| Ace Frawley The Spaceman Posts: 1458  |
Quote: Nah, couldn't be bothered. Each to their own.
---- The sun shines over The Fool...
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306 |
Written by M C Vice on 07.06.2012 at 10:46 Not me. Of the '80s releases, MoP is their worst for me. Kill 'em All is 10x better.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18274 |
Written by M C Vice on 07.06.2012 at 10:46 Not me, because trust me... You are not that special I do find it amusing that you think other major shit like Load ad Re-Load is better than this, Woah. But at least you weren't the guy who wrote "The album that killed metal". Dear lord is that one ofthe most hilarious reviews I've ever read.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Angelic Storm Melodious Posts: 6675 |
Written by X-Ray Rod on 07.06.2012 at 20:08 Yeeup! Bagging on anything Metallica will garner you much praise from many in the metal community. Long gone are the days when bashing Metallica was a rare thing, and doing so invoked the ire of most metalheads, not just Metallica fanboys. I actually like "Load", but it's totally different from MOP style wise, so it's a bit silly to compare them really... And yes, that infamous Ultraboris review... lol I have read some terrible reviews in my time, but that one definitely ranks as one of the worst I've ever seen!
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18274 |
Written by Angelic Storm on 07.06.2012 at 20:22 I wouldn't compare them either... but looking to how they stand on their own.... The difference in quality is clear. About that review... I don't hate it because I disagree with the raing or not (Like I said before, I don't know that much Metallica but it certainly it's not a zro anyways). I hate it mainly because he took every single argument right off his ass. 
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306 |
Written by Angelic Storm on 07.06.2012 at 20:22 Up there with this one.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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