"Master of Puppets" is a song by American

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, 2007, . ...

band

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

, 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 Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the 1 ...

. The song was recorded during October–December 1985 at

Sweet Silence Studios Sweet Silence Studios was the leading Denmark, Danish recording studio for rock music during most of its existence. It was originally built in Amager by Danish engineers Freddy Hansson, Flemming Rasmussen and Stig Kreutzfeldt beginning in February ...

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, Denmark. The song was bassist

Cliff Burton Clifford Lee Burton (February 10, 1962 – September 27, 1986) was an American musician who was the bassist for heavy metal band Metallica from 1982 until his death in 1986. He performed on ''Kill 'Em All'' (1983), '' Ride the Lightning'' (1984 ...

'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.

Background and composition

It is the second and title track of the album, preceded by a shorter, high-speed typical

track, "

Battery Battery most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source *Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...

", 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 Downpicking, sometimes referred to as down-stroke picking, is a technique used by musicians on plucked string instruments in which the player moves the plectrum, or pick in a downward motion, relative to the position of the instrument, against o ...

and long instrumental section. According to

Dave Mustaine David Scott Mustaine (born September 13, 1961) is an American musician. He is the co-founder, lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and primary songwriter of the thrash metal band Megadeth, as well as their sole consistent member. Mustaine has releas ...

, Lars Ulrich composed the song's opening riff, while Mustaine was still a member of Metallica. A riff from

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

's song "

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...

" (at 0'48") is quoted in "Master of Puppets" (at 6'19"). It is an homage made by

and

Kirk Hammett Kirk Lee Hammett (born November 18, 1962) is an American musician who has been the lead guitarist and a contributing songwriter for heavy metal band Metallica since 1983. Before joining Metallica, he formed and named the band Exodus. In 2003, ...

to whom Bowie was a huge influence.

Lyrical meaning

The song, as lead singer

James Hetfield James Alan Hetfield (born August 3, 1963) is an American musician. He is the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, co-founder and a main songwriter of heavy metal band Metallica. He is mainly known for his intricate rhythm playing, but occasionall ...

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."

Live performances

The videos ''

Cliff 'Em All ''Cliff 'Em All'' is a compilation of video footage, and the first video album by the American thrash metal band Metallica. It was released on November 17, 1987, as a tribute to Metallica's bassist Cliff Burton, who died in a tour bus accident on ...

'', '' S&M'' and ''

S&M2 ''S&M2'' (stylized as ''S&M2'') is a live album by American heavy metal band Metallica and the San Francisco Symphony. It is a follow-up to '' S&M'', a live collaborative album released in 1999. The album was recorded during a live performance in ...

'' 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 A box set or (its original name) boxed set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists and bands ...

. "Master of Puppets" is the band's most played song, first played on December 31, 1985, at

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

Bill Graham Civic Auditorium The Bill Graham Civic Auditorium (formerly San Francisco Civic Auditorium) is a multi-purpose arena in San Francisco, California, named after promoter Bill Graham. The arena holds 8,500 people. About the venue The auditorium was designed by re ...

for a crowd of 7,000. As of , the song has been performed 1,718 times. During the band's

World Magnetic Tour The World Magnetic Tour was a 2008–2010 concert tour by American heavy metal band Metallica in support of the band's ninth studio album, ''Death Magnetic'', which was released on September 12, 2008. The tour officially kicked off in October ...

, additional live performances were filmed in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

;

Nîmes Nîmes ( , ; oc, Nimes ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the prefecture of the Gard department in the Occitanie region of Southern France. Located between the Mediterranean Sea and Cévennes, the commune of Nîmes has an estimated population of 148,5 ...

, France and

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

, Bulgaria. These performances were released on video in November 2009 (Mexico and Nîmes) and October 2010 (Sofia). The French electronic music duo

Justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

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

Reception and awards

VH1 ranked the song as the third greatest heavy metal song ever. In March 2005, ''Q'' magazine placed it at number 22 in its 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks list.

Martin Popoff Martin Popoff (born April 28, 1963) is a Canadian music journalist, critic and author. He is mainly known for writing about the genre of heavy metal music. The senior editor and co-founder of ''Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles'', he has additionally ...

's book ''

The Top 500 Heavy Metal Songs of All Time ''The Top 500 Heavy Metal Songs of All Time'' is a book by Martin Popoff who is the editor in chief and writer of the Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles magazine as well as the senior editor of bravewords.com. He also wrote The Top 500 Heavy Metal Albu ...

'' 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 ''Total Guitar'' is a monthly music magazine based in Bath, the United Kingdom, that has been in circulation since 1994. The magazine is owned by Future plc, who publish many other magazines ranging from drums and video games to technology mag ...

'' magazine. The readers of ''

Guitar World ''Guitar World'' is a monthly music magazine for guitarists – and fans of guitar-based music and trends – that has been published since July 1980. ''Guitar World'', the best-selling guitar magazine in the United States, contains original art ...

'' 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. In 2020, ''

Metal Hammer ''Metal Hammer'' is a heavy metal music magazine and website founded in 1983, published in the United Kingdom by Future, with other language editions available in numerous other countries. ''Metal Hammer'' features news, reviews and long-form ...

'' ranked the song number 1 on its list of the 50 best Metallica songs of all time. In 2021, it was listed at No. 256 on Rolling Stone's "Top 500 Best Songs of All Time".

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 John William Ferrell (; born July 16, 1967) is an American actor, comedian, and producer. He first established himself in the mid-1990s as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'', where he performed from 1995 to 200 ...

play characters who are busy kidnapping people off the street to join their new fraternity. The song was featured in the opening credits for the film '' Zombieland: Double Tap''. The song also appears in a trailer for the upcoming game ''

Marvel's Midnight Suns ''Marvel's Midnight Suns'' is a tactical role-playing game developed by Firaxis Games in collaboration with Marvel Games. It features comic book characters from multiple Marvel Comics properties, such as Midnight Sons, Avengers, X-Men, and Run ...

''. The song is featured in the fourth season finale of the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

series ''

Stranger Things ''Stranger Things'' is an American science fiction horror drama television series created by the Duffer Brothers, who also serve as showrunners and are executive producers along with Shawn Levy and Dan Cohen. Produced by Monkey Massacre Prod ...

'', where the character

Eddie Munson ''Stranger Things'' is an American science fiction horror television series created for Netflix by the Duffer Brothers, set in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, in the 1980s. The first season, set in November 1983, focuses on the invest ...

is seen playing the track in the Upside Down to attract the Demobats. The band said they were "blown away" by the scene. Like with

Kate Bush Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer and dancer. In 1978, at the age of 19, she topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks with her debut single "Wuthering Heights (song), Wuthering Heights", ...

's "

Running Up That Hill "Running Up That Hill", titled "Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)" on some releases, is a song by the British singer and songwriter Kate Bush. It was released in the United Kingdom as the lead single from Bush's album '' Hounds of Love'' o ...

", which was also featured in the season, the song regained popularity and started charting again following the release of the finale, notably entering the U.S. and UK charts for the first time since the song's original 1986 release. It then peaked at number four in the Netherlands.

Track listing

Personnel

Metallica *

– lead vocals, rhythm guitar, first guitar solo *

– lead guitar *

– bass, backing vocals *

Lars Ulrich Lars Ulrich (; ; born 26 December 1963) is a Danish musician best known as the drummer and co-founder of American heavy metal band Metallica. The son and grandson respectively of tennis players Torben and Einer Ulrich, he played tennis in his ...

– drums Production *

Flemming Rasmussen Flemming Rasmussen (born 1 January 1958) is a Danish sound engineer, record producer, and owner and founder of Sweet Silence Studios in Copenhagen, Denmark. Rasmussen is currently main engineer/producer at Sweet Silence North in Helsingør. Bio ...

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 1985 songs 1986 singles Elektra Records singles Metallica songs Songs about drugs Songs written by Cliff Burton Songs written by James Hetfield Songs written by Kirk Hammett Songs written by Lars Ulrich Stranger Things (TV series)