Metallica - Master Of Puppets (1986)

Track Listing:

1. Battery
2. Master of Puppets
3. The Thing That Should Not Be
4. Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
5. Disposable Heroes
6. Leper Messiah
7. Orion
8. Damage Inc.

Lineup:

• James Hetfield
• Kirk Hammett
• Cliff Burton
• Lars Ulrich

this album can easily share the throne along with SLAYER in the greatest thrash metal album of all time. after releasing a great album in RIDE THE LIGHTNING,metallica surprised even their hard core critics with the release of MOP.

all the songs here talk about power & control & how everything is ultimately under the control of a higher authority.

the opening track couldnt have gotten a better name than 'battery', as it batters your ears till they bleed. the sense of melody is just impeccable & the solos are drool material. & its such a highly addictive song, that it took me 2 months to listen to the other tracks in the album!

'welcome home(sanitarium)' is taken from the perspective of an asylum inmate, while 'disposable heroes' is about how a soldier takes lives & sacrifices his own just at the order of his superiors.

and the 8 songs here clock over 60 minutes & whats great about that is, not a single section is boring or repetitive.
with this album, METALLICA have raised the bar so high, it became an impossible act to repeat. they were at the top, & it seemed like, there was only one way to go. down.

life can really be cruel as this happened to be the last album of bass player Cliff Burton before he passed away.

'Master of Puppets' is an extreme song & one has to think metallica sold their soul to the devil to come up with genius stuff. they slow down a bit with 'The Thing That Should Not Be ' and 'Leper Messiah' but the gargantuan guitar riffs just boast of power. absolute power. 'Orion' is a cool instrumental, & at that point of time, Kirk Hammet was billed over Eddie Van Halen as the next big thing to happen in guitar. 'Damage Inc.' as the name suggests can cause serious ear damage if abused on the ipod.

every song is a masterpiece, epic, brutal, hard yet melodic & powerful. this album is one of those rare releases that feels better with every repeated listen.

my rating
10/10

review by Pritham 'Metal farmer' D'Souza

Metallica - Ride The Lightning (1984)

Track Listing:

1. Fight fire with fire
2. Ride the lightning
3. For whom the bell tolls
4. Fade to black
5. Trapped under ice
6. Escape
7. Creeping death
8. The call of ktulu

Lineup:

• James Hetfield
• Kirk Hammett
• Cliff Burton
• Lars Ulrich

even though a lot of people keep debating as to which is the best METALLICA album ever, 1984's RIDE THE LIGHTNING comes very close to being one of the best ever in metal history. this is pure unadulterated thrash metal, music that after one listen, makes you wanna beat up someone.

the opening track 'Fight fire with fire' starts with a cool sounding classical guitar piece, which then evolves into a barrage of thrash riffs created to numb your brain.

even though this is not really a concept album, death seems to take centre stage in every song here. the nuclear apocalypse tinged opening track, 'ride the lightning' talks about the electric chair execution, 'trapped under ice' talks about drowning, 'creeping death' talks about the famous moses & the pharoah incident mentioned in the bible, 'fade to black' talks about suicide.

also fade to black is probably the greatest ever power ballad/thrash song ever written. that one song has inspired more people to playing metal guitar than any other song on the planet.

Lars in an exceptional drummer & James is perhaps the greatest rhythm guitarist ever. there is not a single dull moment in the entire album.

the solos are crafted to perfection, the rhythm section is totally made to injure the spine, the drums are on fire & the vocals though not yet matured, couldnt have been done better by anyone else

the production is good & gives an ambiance of a dark, war ravaged wasteland where everything seems to just die.

a 100 years from now, & this will still be regarded as one of the all time classics in music history.
you can bet on that

my rating
10/10

review by Pritham 'Metal farmer' D'Souza