(56th) Metallica - Master of Puppets (1986)

Obviously, this is a classic of early trash-metal combinated with
more symphonic song structures. Despite the fact that it was a
milestone back then in the 80's, I somehow managed to skip
it. Not totally, but it did not hit me that hard at all.
Welcome Home (Sanitarium) was of course the song I learned to play, but anyhow, back in those days it was more or less Kill 'em All and
Ride The Lighnting, which made my days to go. I did not like the sound of
the album, it was a bit too soft for me. And it still is. Compared to the previous ones.
Because of that it lacked the raw energy, while it seems, nowadays, be built upon the more complex way of playing and arranging. Still, I have to admit, that this keeps on being a classic and a definite milestone in metal music.

The title song, and the riff especially is something way too obvious to be left out of every guitar player's musical vocabulary. Like ususally, I've enjoyed the song more than playing it. This comes from the fact that back then, when I had the enthousiasm to learn it, I was lacking the skills (the teacher and the notes/tabs too!) and now when I suppose I've got the skills I lack the enthusiasm totally. The song itself is complex and partly progressive in a familiar way. Like most of the Metallica songs, it evolves more or less naturally from part to another.

Overall the album is like most of the songs, a dark description of our time. I even find myself liking the chorus/phaser/flanger -effect on the clean guitars. James Hetfield could not sing back then, at least compared to the latest album releases, but the voice is brilliantly fit to match the songs themselves. The soundscape is strange mix between soft and dirty, I myself would've liked the guitars to be in more dominating role. And the Bass. And the drums. The sound  is a bit too 80.s in my ears, still. It was back then, and it still is. And the instruments,  especially mr Burton's bass is mixed somewhere there in between the other mushmush. So actually, it's not the songs, it's the mixdown that does NOT kick my ass :D

Overall, I could give this statement, that this is a good album, but not THAT good, so it will
receive a 'nice' rating, 4 capital J:s plus 1 small one. Despite the fact that the sound and the
song quality is only kind of ok in my books, the album itself has been fighting against the time
really well, unlike any of the Anthrax -ablum from the same era. It still is not a complete cup of tea for me :D.


JJJJj

PS. Wikipedia has a good description about the album