Master of Puppets - Reception and Legacy

Reception and Legacy

Allmusic's Steve Huey commented that Master of Puppets was "the band's greatest achievement." "Some critics have called Master of Puppets the best metal album ever recorded," Huey noted.

Master of Puppets has been featured on several "greatest albums of all time" lists. The album is present in the list "The All-TIME 100 Albums", published by TIME magazine in November 2006. In TIME critic Josh Tyrangiel's opinion, "Metallica didn't bother with hooks or pop discipline" in writing Master of Puppets. IGN ranked it number 1 in a list of the "Top 25 Metal Albums" issued in January 2007. The album is featured in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die and Q magazine counted it among the 50 heaviest albums of all time. In 2003, the album was ranked number 167 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Music critic Piero Scaruffi ranks Master of Puppets as the second best metal album of all time. In 2012, Slant Magazine listed the album at number 90 on its list of "Best Albums of the 1980s". Many have regarded Master of Puppets as the most influential and important metal album ever made, surpassing Black Sabbath's popular album Paranoid. The album has frequently been tagged by critics as "one of the most influential thrash metal albums of all time."

As an early parody of the PMRC's "explicit lyrics" warning labels, many prints of Metallica's 1986 release of Master of Puppets featured an octagonal sticker on the front stating:

"The only track you probably won't want to play is 'Damage, Inc.' due to the multiple use of the infamous 'F' word. Otherwise, there aren't any 'Shits,' 'Fucks,' 'Pisses,' 'Cunts,' 'Motherfuckers,' or 'Cocksuckers' anywhere on this record" (six of George Carlin's Seven Dirty Words).

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of its release, Metallica played the album in its entirety on its Escape from the Studio '06 tour for the first time ever at the Rock am Ring festival on June 3, 2006. These concerts included the first-ever complete performances of the instrumental "Orion" (previously, only portions of the song's lengthy middle section had been performed onstage, as part of instrumental medleys and bass solos).

The title track was ranked number 51 on The Greatest Guitar Solos from Guitar World. In 2006, the album was voted the fourth "greatest guitar album of all time" in Guitar World. The April 5th edition of Kerrang! was dedicated to it, providing readers with the cover album Master of Puppets: Remastered. In March 2007, the guitar magazine Total Guitar ranked it in the 100 greatest riffs of all time and the main riff of the album's title track was ranked number one.

"Damage, Inc." is the last of four songs to feature writing from all members of Metallica while Cliff Burton was still a living member of the band.

All of the songs from the album, with the exceptions of "Leper Messiah" and "Damage, Inc." are playable on the music video game Guitar Hero: Metallica. The song "Battery" is also featured as a playable track on Rock Band 2.

ESPN has used the title track, "Master of Puppets", to promote the NASCAR Nationwide Series.

The album's title track is also featured in the 2003 comedy film Old School, starring Luke Wilson, Vince Vaughn and Will Ferrell.