The Vinyl Collection - Metallica "Master of Puppets"

Following the rude interruption of Xmas in the otherwise perfect equilibrium of Eminent Silence, the realm now finds itself in possession of a record player.  To maximise the potential of this new toy steps have been taken to find appropriate items to facilitate the functionality of the latest addition to the available technology in the realm.  Ok, the short version, I bought some vinyl records.

However, owning a cloud library that itself contains a fair few days worth of listening material as well as a reasonably sized CD collection means that not just any old release will find its way to my turntable.  Since I spend most of my week travelling and living in hotels it is obvious my record listening habits will be limited to weekends so the titles that will occupy my vinyl collection will be only those considered as "classics".

This leads me nicely to another excuse to write random reviews of aforementioned vinyl classics, starting with Metallica's 1986 thrash metal opus "Master Of Puppets".

At whatever point in their discography you personally feel Metallica "lost it" (and I haven't got the time nor the inclination to debate it here), few would argue that during the 80s Metallica were still straight up thrash metal with no interest in commercial or mainstream success.  Having delivered two hungry and energetic records already - with a marked improvement in sound and maturity already evident - their third effort was again a step up in the progress and development of the band.  Whilst we had speed galore from the likes of Slayer, Metallica offered a more technical edge to their musicianship which although far from flawless was still skilled enough to stand out from the crowd.

It is hard to sit here some 29 years after the event and not consider "Master Of Puppets" a landmark record in both Metallica's discography and thrash metal's evolution also.  The hard hitting force of tracks like "Battery" and "Damage Inc" still hold punch today whilst the structure and composition on the title track and "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" in particular stand as tall today as they did nearly 30 years ago,

Whilst I am never sure of the longevity of tracks like "Leper Messiah" and "Disposable Heroes" there is no denying that both still chug and chop like true thrash machines.  I have always been of the opinion that you have to work your way through an entire album to truly appreciate the overall quality of all parts.  Sometimes you have to sit through a couple of sub-par tracks (like the aforementioned) in order to be rewarded with the stellar output that lies beyond.  The final two tracks on the album are varied in comparison to each other and offer the most memorable combination - that underpins the whole record - of solid composition and structure as well as heavy as hell thrash, delivered with a real sense of aggression and fury.

There's a mountain of reviews online that reason this to be the start of the decline of Metallica or "the last great" Metallica release. One review I read picks up on a "lack of thrash" on "Master.." which is ridiculous, if anything you won't find a better example of blending composition and thought with the immediacy and familiarity of riffs recognisable as being as 80s thrash as it gets.  Regardless of your stance on MoP, here at Eminent Silence it has earned its place on the Classics list and will be on the turntable for many years to come.