The 80s marked a cataclysmic time for music. Big hair, big riffs, leather, pastels, and all sorts of other things you’d probably rather not think about. Despite its disasters, the decade produced some very enduring music (look at the current 80s night craze). One such example is Metallica’s Master of Puppets. released 20 years ago today. In celebration of this historic event, staff writer, and resident metal expert, Mark Manson penned an expose on the history of the band and the album that solidified their place as a part of rock’s legacy.

Enjoy….

Which band has garnered more disrespect and ire from the general music-listening community in the last decade than Metallica? From Lars Ulrich’s Napster homicide; to overpriced releases and re-releases of old material; to their tours with Limp Bizkit and Mudvayne; to their steady musical decline that culminated in 2004’s St. Anger; to their—holy shit, I’m getting pissed off just writing this.

Truthfully though, you can do worse than a recent Metallica record. You can also turn on MTV and see bands who pander to the masses with less shame. There are even bigger assholes than Lars Ulrich. Yet, Metallica seems to weather more disdain and repugnance than any of them. Why? The explanation is actually simple. Unlike all of the other crap bands that plague American pop culture, Metallica once contributed brilliantly to modern music. It angers us because we witnessed their fall from grace. We stomached watching one of the most exciting new rock bands morph into egomaniacal has-beens that simply won’t go away. The pain is from the lost potential: not what they are, but what they were.

Twenty years ago today, Elektra released Metallica’s breakthrough Master of Puppets. With no airplay and little publicity, it managed to break the top 30 on the Billboard Charts and exposed the band to a wider metal fan-base. Not only did it revolutionize the genre, but it’s generally considered by critics to be the best heavy metal album ever recorded.

Metallica’s brand of metal started earnestly in 1981. A small metal movement was underway on America’s west coast that combined the bombastic riffery of conventional metal with the unbridled angst and speed of punk. Deemed “thrash metal,” bands such as Metallica, Slayer, Testament, and Exodus ravaged clubs and bars around San Francisco. At first—as exemplified by Metallica’s 1983 Kill ‘Em All—thrash existed as an angry, raucous counterpart to the typical party metal of the day (Van Halen, KISS, etc.) Songs like “Motorbreath,” “Seek and Destroy,” and “Hit the Lights” simply emanated machismo and borderline insanity. The music was fast but relatively simple, and the artistic depth rarely passed pure “no life ‘til leather” attitude.

Metallica’s second offering, Ride the Lightning, solidified them at the forefront of the burgeoning sub-genre. Lightning possessed longer, more complex songs, acoustic intros, and a brooding minor modality. Gone were the blues riffs on amphetamines, and the directionless palm-muted frenzies. Lightning worked to create a more thematic sound, and began to mold harmony into coherent musical ideas, as on the brilliant “Call of the Ktulu,” and somber “Fade to Black.” Despite the quantum leap of this sophomoric effort, much of the album remained unrefined. Solos and riffs meander through “Trapped Under Ice” and “Escape,” as they seem little more than complex versions of Kill ‘Em All tracks. Regardless, this album set the course for a quickly maturing band that would inevitably shake the heavy metal scene.

Master of Puppets perfected the revolutionary progression started with Ride the Lightning. The compositions are tighter and more forceful and James Hetfield’s riffs matched ferocity with musicality. For example, the 8-minute chugging of “Disposable Heroes” not only retains the intensity of older Metallica riffage, but manipulates the lines into subtly melodic ideas that seamlessly run together. The title track still stands as one of the crown jewels of metal guitar riffs and is a must-know for any wannabe metal guitarist.

The album also pushes further some of the experimental ideas revealed on Ride the Lightning. Although it’s not as impressive now, eight and nine minute metal songs were epic back then—headbangers were not accustomed to maintaining an attention span beyond three-minute thrashings. A lot of this resulted from the band exploring their softer side to new degrees. The dreary interlude to the title track that divides the song into mini-movements was unprecedented at the time, and Cliff Burton’s bass lullings on “Orion” and “Damage Inc.” were truly progressive. The boys confidently tampered with form and structure like the waltzing interlude of “Orion” (possibly the best metal instrumental track ever recorded), and the asymmetrical composition of “Leper Messiah.” Also, the moody escalation of “Welcome Home (Sanitarium)” is not only beautifully choreographed, but some of Kirk Hammett’s best finger-noodling spews forth as he matches the growing intensity with each subsequent guitar solo.

The album didn’t just expand musically. In a genre rife with immaturity and an overt party mentality, Master of Puppets was an extremely serious affair. Ultimately, it would be the catalyst that would place metal on the map as a serious artistic endeavor. In contrast to the larger-than-life images and songs of Motley Crue and Poison, Metallica held themselves as real people writing songs about real issues. Singing about power struggles, social injustice, and self-empowerment and backing it up with refined and deliberately crafted metal, people quickly began taking Metallica seriously—something few metal bands enjoyed before. This is perhaps the largest influence of Master of Puppets: Ever since, metal bands have felt liberated to view themselves as serious artists and focus on real themes and issues. The direction prior to the advent of Metallica was riddled with Def Leppards, Alice Coopers and Twisted Sisters; the orientation after led to the rise of bands who didn’t fuck around, like Pantera, Fear Factory, and Sepultura.

It’s in this light that Metallica’s subsequent floundering and demise are so wrenching. Most great bands taper out and are slowly forgotten; Metallica has simply plummeted into the doldrums of mediocrity. But, even if they never return to their former glory, Master of Puppets will live on as their greatest offering to music. By span of influence, innovation, and simply kicking fucking ass, it’s hard to imagine the album will ever be usurped from its metal throne.