It’s no doubt that James has a presence here, though I find his vocals on “Ride The Lightning” to be superior as he juggles his higher, lower, and melodic range much more equally there compared to this record. I believe “Masters Of Puppets” sets the tone that his vocals would follow here on out with “The Black Album” touring screwing up his vocals so much that he can barely hit his range here, let alone like he could on “…And Justice For All”. Noticeably James Hetfield's vocals have begun to transition more gruff like with his more screechy and higher pitched vocal style taking the back burner here. The best thing about “Master Of Puppets” is its musicianship, if I really think about it. At one point I thought of “Master Of Puppets” to be one of the greatest achievements in the metal genre, then at some point in time after developing parts of my palette I began to hate the record, despising it, and finally now with all of my tastes in place and my understanding deepened, my finale views of the album is in a much more positive light though with a underline critical perspective. Just as the process of aging changed my body, so did my viewpoint on this release.

Of course, as I’ve gotten older and my musical knowledge proliferated and my tastes developed like ravenous breeding lagomorphs, I began to view “Master Of Puppets” and the whole of Metallica in vairing different lights. Little did I know that the type of music that I heard here would become one of my musical favorites and passions. So then I’d be presented with the title track, “Master Of Puppets”, then down the line I’d hear “Fight Fire With Fire”, then “One”, and so on and so forth. I remember my first time hearing “Battery” and being blown away from the sheer speed and intensity that I had just heard.

If anything, “Master Of Puppets” (or one of their other songs from their first four, though I am certain it was “MOP”) I believe was my introduction to thrash metal, let alone possibly my introduction to metal in general.

Just like many metalheads here today that never had the luck to grow up in the public conscious once this record was released I was, at the very least, lucky enough to hear its contents when I was young, either hanging around my brother and father as they turned on the radio or when they inserted in an original cassette of the record. “Master Of Puppets” is an album I've had a plethora of interesting discussions about regarding its musicianship, quality, and status over the years.

Master of puppets doom