Master of Puppets - Song By Song

[Zzzptm]

Welcome Home (Sanitarium)

The slow starting section really resonated with me when I was an angry young teen/twentysomething. While the lyrics don't make me say "YEAH!" as much anymore, the musicality of the section persists in giving me pleasure. But it's the faster second half that really pulled me in when I was a kid and it still gets me the same way, 35 years later. There's a string of great solos, each going well with the other, capping up in a twin lead section that turns into a "guitar army" part.

It's a great track, lovely to hear it again.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

Welcome Home (Sanitorium)

This has always been one of my favourites, the fast ending requires the slower beginning to hi-light how good it is. One of Mr Hetfields better vocal performances.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

Disposable Heroes

I can never remember this song... it's a bit forgetable! When I do hear it however it's fine.... perhaps a little long for me, I think 5 minutes would have been more than enough.

[Zzzptm]

Whereas, I really dig Disposable Heroes. BACK TO THE FRONT! When I was playing Close Combat 3: Eastern Front, I loved having this song come up whenever my infantry was confronted with a tank column. It's a desperate song for a desperate time with a great headbanging beat to it.

As I later discovered, the futility of combat was a common theme in mid-late 80s metal, as the world could still contemplate a superpower clash leading to a global war, potentially thermonuclear. What does bravery mean when there's a machine gun, gas canister, high explosive, or nuclear weapon with your name on it? That question crossed my mind often in my youth and continues to do so, making this song relevant to me pretty much my whole life. I consider it to be Orgasmatron's faster cousin.

[Charger]

Come on guys...don't leave me behind damn it!

Welcome Home (Sanitarium) is another one of my favourites. Which again might be bit odd as this is the least thrashy song on the album, being a slow number, but it's not it's a ballad or anything.
The vocal melody on this one is hands down one of their finests. Also the clean solo is something of a treat after all those wah wah wahs of the previous songs. And when the songs starts to speed up towards the end it begins to build some huge momentum.

The lyrics are the weak point but honestly that's a minor gripe, otherwise this song is rather brilliant.


Disposable Heroes cranks things up again to a high great right from the start with a monsterous riff of the brilliant intro section...well granted Lars' bang bang bang something drumming leaves much to be desired but I just tune the drums out and listen to the guitars on this one.  James' vocals are top notch as well as is his delivery.
This is a long song but unlike KDC I don't think it could have been any shorter, there's nothing really extra in it. There isn't too much repetition and it's musically moving along like a freight train..

Lyrically I'm not that keen about these anti war songs as they've become bit of a cliche over the years starting from War Pigs...but this is hardly the worst lyrical piece on the subject matter.

Brilliant all out thrash song.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

Leper Messiah

Probably my favourite track on side 2 of the album. If any track was 8+ minutes long I would have liked it to have been this one. A nice catchy song with a good solo after the tempo change, I think there was scope to make it longer!

[Zzzptm]

Glad you caught back up, Charger!

Leper Messiah is a great tune, with the march up front and then thrashy part after 3:30 giving some nice contrast in the sections. A nice return to the march theme completes the sonata format of the song.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

I'll go ahead with Orion.

This is the low point on the album, an 8½ minute instrumental. They've thrown in a few extended instrumentals in their career and none of them add anything to the albums they're found on. While musically proficient and it's not actually dreadful it doesn't go anywhere either.

[Charger]

Leper Messiah is one of the two meh songs for me on the album. While the plodding riff is kind of funnily strange for the first few listens it gets old fast. Also this is the only song on the album where the music and the vocal melody don't match at all. James is singing like this would be a super fast thrash song while musically it's just plodding along.

The tempo change in the middle saves the song from being a bad song. But I just wish they had started the song off with that kind of energy.


Orion is the worst song on the album for sure. I mean come on over 8 minutes of instrumental!??! What were they thinking?? A great instrumental is a nice little interlude or at tops a 4 minute battering ram (like Losfer Words from Maiden for example) but plodding along for 8 minutes it just gets tiresome really really fast. Maybe if there would be some mad soloing or a proper jam of some other stuff going on, but there really isn't. It's just a rather boring repetetive drag. This is an automatic skip. -> Next.

[Zzzptm]

Orion is the song to get up and go to the bathroom, have a stretch, fix a snack to... it'll still be there when you get back.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

The album ends with Damage Inc.

This is a good closer, possibly the most thrashy on the album! The start is somewhat non-descript, and I can never quite work out when the heavy guitar comes in! The vocals are fast and rough (almost punky) but they work for the song.

[Zzzptm]

No holds barred on this one. It takes the rawness of Symptom of the Universe and then cranks up the aggression. I love it as the closer, definitely wakes you the hell up if you fell asleep during Orion.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

I'll the songs on this album as:

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

[Zzzptm]

I just tell the songs that I like 'em all and don't tell Orion that I don't like it.

[Charger]

Damage Inc is a proper rocker, or thrasher I suppose in this case. The fastest song on the album...although the weird intro doesn't exactly give it that premise.

But once the song starts going it fires on all cylinders.

Parts of the lyrics were reused on St. Anger...where they actually kind of fit better than on this track.

I think this track would have worked better as the opener than Battery and maybe put Disposable Heroes as the finale.



I'd list the tracks:

1. The Thing That Should Not Be
2. Disposable Heroes
3. Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
4. Damage Inc.
5. Battery

6. Master Of Puppets (the overplaying has brought this song down on the list...a lot)
7. Leper Messiah
8. Orion