10 Perfect Rock Songs That Don't Have Any Lyrics

When Cliff Burton was taken from us all the way back in 1986, it felt like he was still starting to come into his own. Here was a man that was already on his third record with Metallica, and had already made some of the greatest basslines that the world had ever known like For Whom the Bell Tolls and the screams of the Call of Ktulu. Orion was always Cliff's baby though, and they were going to turn it into a musical extravaganza on Master of Puppets.

While Cliff doesn't have as many writing credits on this record as Ride the Lightning, Orion evens things out entirely, taken from different pieces of song ideas that he had. Since the bass is acting as the lead instrument here though, you can hear his bass boosted in the mix, reaching for the higher notes on the neck that leaves almost all of James Hetfield's guitar riffs in the dust.

Cliff's taste went beyond just metal though, and the second act of this song is almost a metallic take on classical music, weaving together different melodies left and right combined with beautiful guitar harmonies. This wasn't just an opportunity to showboat either, with Cliff bringing in some tasteful bends during his bass solo and managing to shred something suited for a guitar player just with his fingers. Even though Rob Trujillo can match this song practically note for note every time he plays, there was always a magic in between Cliff's fingers.