A Beginners Guide To Thrash Metal

1. Metallica €“ Master Of Puppets €“ 1986

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6LA7v1PApU Predictable, that this is number one? Yes. Deserving? Without a doubt. It was a struggle to choose from Metallica€™s first four full lengths, which are all definitely Thrash Metal albums. Debut €˜Kill €˜Em All€™ is where it all began and is seen as the first proper Thrash album. Sophomore outing, €˜Ride The Lightning€™, released only a year later is a huge leap in maturity and quality whilst still being a thrashing classic. €˜...And Justice for All€™, is progressive and brilliantly overblown (eight songs covering over an hour of running time.) It is here though that Metallica perfected their early sound. Again, with just eight songs, but such is the strength and depth of the music on offer, it is hard to single out any highlights. Track two shares its name with the album and twenty seven years after being unleashed on the world still fills rock club floors, and has metal heads going nuts. Metallica always had shown glimpses that they could do the melodic and thought provoking better than the rest of their peers but this is where that side really came to the fore, and sandwiched between all the aggression and angst, its effect is even more poignant. The last album to feature bass monster, Cliff Burton, before his tragic death, whose identity and musical nous is all over this record. It really does have it all, from the slow, eerie and heavier than anything, Lovecraft €“ inspired, €˜The Thing That Should Not Be€™, to the ultra fast opening and closing tracks, €˜Battery and €˜Damage Inc.€™ respectively. If Aliens came down and asked what this thing is us humans call, €œThrash Metal€ then a copy of €˜Master...€™ is what you should hand them.