Metallica had already taken the world by storm with 1984’s Ride The Lightning, but they hadn’t yet conquered it. Ride The Lightning had everything that would set Metallica heads and shoulders above their thrashing contemporaries: daring to preface a face-melting onslaught like “Fight Fire With Fire” with acoustic guitars, playing a ballad (“Fade To Black”), a midtempo, musically simple song (“For Whom The Bell Tolls”), and an instrumental (“The Call of Ktulu”). The bold moves hinted at Metallica’s willingness to think far outside the box and not allow themselves to become victim to the limitations of playing heavy metal - namely, don’t deviate too far from your debut album to keep the old school fans happy. Metallica’s contemporaries and old school fans had no idea, then, what was in store for them when 1986 came around.

Much like Ride the Lightning, things are off to an understated start on Master of Puppets. Instead of a power chord, a choked cymbal or a vicious riff, we have James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett leading us in with delicately played classical guitars - even more an unforgivable affront than the lilting acoustic guitars of its album-opening predecessor. With the addition of electric guitars and Lars Ulrich’s drums, the intro builds to a crescendo, before the famous main riff rips through the calm and takes us into “Battery”, as aptly-named as song as there ever was. “Battery” established that Metallica would certainly hold nothing back with their music on Master of Puppets, and that worked both ways - a song could (and would) have both insane double bass, low-E riffing to make the muscles in your arm fall off the bone, and an acoustic guitar intro. The formula of opening a heavy album, or song, with a classically-influenced unplugged guitar or piano piece would become so popular as to be cliched in the future. But back in 1986, with the song’s bullet-like speed and a chorus that look audience participation to new heights, “Battery” was it.

No sooner than the last power chord fades away, though, comes the punch of “Master of Puppets”, the song that would come to define Metallica, Master of Puppets, thrash metal, heavy metal, etc. etc. While “Battery” was a quick (if varied) punch to the jugular, the title track for Metallica’s third album is an epic symphony of metal, with section after section coming from James Hetfield’s impossibly strong right hand. When the main riff (so popular it’s been doodled by bands as diverse as Limp Bizkit, Primus and Green Day) kicks in, you know that Metallica wrote something special with the Master of Puppets album - and you’re only two songs in. The chorus (another live highlight) shows off Metallica’s ability to write complex, yet catchy hooks, which would give them the accessibility (and commercial recognition) that their peers would either hit or miss. While most bands would have been content to give us verse-chorus-bridge-solo, Metallica do the unfathomable and turn things down a notch, with Hetfield springing a melancholy, thoughtful clean riff on us, even while his call of “Master!” is still ringing in our ears. That whole section was a sign of things to come on Master of Puppets - just when you thought Metallica gave it their all, they go one better. It foreshadows Cliff Burton’s ethereal bass solo on “Orion”, and the generally seamless way Metallica would integrate heaviness and melody into their music. Whole bands would form their identities around this duality - Iced Earth and Arch Enemy come to mind - but as Hetfield and Lars Ulrich resume the assault, and the song heads for its unstoppable, irresistible climax, you understand why just with two songs, Metallica wrote one of the three best heavy metal albums of the 1980s. and why they would go on to become one of the biggest bands in history.

How popular are “Battery” and “Master of Puppets”? One and/or the other has been featured on every Metallica live album since their release in 1986. They helped Master of Puppets receive 5-star ratings on Allmusic, Q, Kerrang!, Punk News and Rolling Stone magazine. Over at Last.fm, they’re the two most popular songs from the album. Both songs have been covered by a plethora of artists within and without the heavy metal genre. The momentum that they jointly established for Master of Puppets lead the way to out-and-out thrashers like “Disposable Heroes” and “Damage, Inc.”, while also giving the album its softer moments (“Welcome Home (Sanitarium)” and “Orion”), which collectively would make Master of Puppets the heavy metal landmark that it has since become. Dream Theater covered the entire album live, and Metallica themselves celebrated the 20th anniversary of Master of Puppets during the Escape From The Studio ‘06 tour by playing the full album from start to finish. Whenever they do turn their amps off for the last time, Metallica will be remembered for many great songs and albums; Master of Puppets will be at the top of that list, put there by the two songs that start it.