Re: whats so great bout master of puppets
"What's so great about Master of Puppets!?"
Well, it was really a landmark metal album. I remember very well when it first came out. Right around the time it came out, "Fade to Black" was just starting to be played on the radio so people were getting to know who Metallica was. And in 1986 metal was really in it's infancy yet. In fact if you had to "chart" the history of metal with a bell graph, it'd start sometime in the late 60's with Black Sabbath and Deep Purple. Then the curve would slowly rise up, then take a sharp upwards turn in the early 80's. I believe it's peak would be right around '86-'87 and slowly decline until early 90's Seattle scene when it would take a sharp plunge and never really recover...yet.
MOP was really the first album of it's kind in a lot of ways. It had a much heavier sound than Metallica's previous efforts and really helped establish a new metal standard. And unlike many of the "Spinal Tap-ish" themes that were popular in metal at the time, MOP tackled topics like cocaine addiction ("chop your breakfast on a mirror") and religion ("make a contribution and you'll get a better seat.")
Compositionally, Metallica proved they could do much more than just a quick, 3-chord speed metal tune. They experimented with various timing changes, extended songs, and insightful lyrics. "Disposable Heroes" proved they were professionals that had something worthwhile to say, "Orion" proved they knew how to play their instruments, and "Damage, Inc." said "oh...and we still do the speed metal better than anyone else!" Go ahead. Try and play "Damage, Inc." It's not as easy as it sounds.
It's easy to criticize MOP now almost 20 years later. AJFA offers a better heavy sound. So does King's X's Dogman. Compositionally, Dream Theater is much more complex. But none of these guys had anything to say in 1986. MOP was the ****. It's easy to improve upon something, it's much harder to be original. MOP was to metal what "The White Album" was to rock. What "The Joshua Tree" was to art-fag-college rock. What "Rising Force" was to shredders.
And almost 20 years later, if Master of Puppets came out today it would still sound fresh, interesting, heavy, and blow away any contemporary metal.
