Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Master of Puppets!
To all my fellow Metallica fans…
This iconic album was released on March 3, 1986.
This is an image of the cover art for the album Master of Puppets by the artist Metallica. Copyright Elektra Records.
Master of Puppets became Metallica’s and Thrash Metal's first platinum album, and by the early 1990s Thrash Metal successfully challenged and redefined the mainstream of Heavy Metal. Metallica and a few other bands headlined arena concerts and appeared regularly on MTV, although radio play remained incommensurate with their popularity. Master of Puppets is widely accepted as the genre's most accomplished album and paved the way for subsequent development. The album, in the words of writer Christopher Knowles, "ripped Metallica away from the underground and put them atop the metal mountain.” Master of Puppets was certified 8× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). In 2015, Master of Puppets became the first Metal recording to be selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." The year 1986 is seen as a pinnacle year for Thrash Metal in which the genre broke out of the underground due to Master of Puppets, as well as albums such as Megadeth's Peace Sells... but Who's Buying? and Slayer's Reign in Blood. Anthrax released Among the Living in 1987, and by the end of the year these bands, alongside Metallica, were being called the "Big Four" of Thrash Metal. Master of Puppets' artwork, designed by Metallica and Peter Mensch and painted by Don Brautigam, depicts a cemetery field of white crosses tethered to strings, manipulated by a pair of hands in a clouded, blood-red-sky, with a fiery orange glow on the horizon. The album is the band's most recent to date to feature a runtime of under an hour. Instead of releasing a single or video in advance of the album's release, Metallica embarked on a five-month American tour in support of the late Ozzy Osbourne. The band opened for Ozzy when the Ultimate Sin tour arrived in Kansas City on April 1, 1986. Master of Puppets is the band's final album to feature bassist Cliff Burton. While touring in support of the album, Cliff died on September 27, 1986, after the band's tour bus was involved in an accident in Dörarp, Sweden.
Source: Wikipedia.org
The power of music…
Master of Puppets is my favorite Metallica album, and I consider the title track to be the band’s magnum opus. "Master of Puppets" is the band's most played song live. I have seen Metallica in concert twice, including thirty years ago at Lollapalooza. However, each time they played a shortened version of this masterwork [bummer…]. This song’s interlude is a mysterious, yet palpable force, which puts most listeners (myself included) into a trance, then a frenzy; the power of music.
Master of Puppets also fueled my strength training and conditioning throughout the Summer of ‘94, as I prepared for tryouts with our city’s professional indoor soccer team. These songs still inspire me to do a few more reps or finish with a strong kick in the final quarter mile!
Image by Ben Brunner from Unsplash
Fun facts: Metallica opened for the late Ozzy Osbourne when the Ultimate Sin tour arrived in Kansas City on April 1, 1986. Ozzy’s performance was filmed and released later that year as the home video The Ultimate Ozzy. Portions of the video for “The Ultimate Sin” were filmed at various locations throughout my hometown.
“In the rest of the video, the Kansas City Convention Center can be seen as Osbourne rides away from the hotel in a white limo [from 2m 2s to 2m 18s]. The scenes are interlaced with footage of him singing the song at Kemper Arena.”
- Gutierrez, Lisa, The Kansas City Star. “Ozzy Osbourne fan recalls when heavy metal icon filmed music video in Kansas City”. July 24, 2025
Coming full circle…
Metallica was the featured supporting act at last Summer’s “Back to the Beginning” benefit concert in honor of the late Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath. The kings of Metal took to the stage and proceeded to drop an aural warhead on the venue, including covers of “Hole In The Sky” and “Johnny Blade”. In turn, Metallica gave us the opportunity to witness an unforgettable performance of their own iconic works, including “Master of Puppets”. The great James Hetfield paid tribute to the headliners, stating to everyone there and around the world, “Without Sabbath, there would be no Metallica. Thank you boys for giving us a purpose in life."
Photo Credit: Anthony Woodard
Disclaimer: The above camera-captured livestream concert images (photos) used under fair use. Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act, allowance is made for 'fair use' for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research. All rights to the original content belong to their respective owners.