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40 Years Ago, These Thrash Metal Stars Went Mainstream With Groundbreaking Single That Nods to David Bowie

“Master of Puppets” was highly praised in 1986, but a TV show feature almost 40 years later had it charting in the US for the first time.

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On July 2, 1986, Metallica released the only single from their foundational third album, Master of Puppets. The album already dropped that March to high praise, but the release of the title track as a single brought even more attention to Metallica as a pillar of the heavy metal genre.

“Master of Puppets” is the second track on the album, following the more traditional thrasher “Battery”. But where “Battery” opens the album with high-octane speed and sound, “Master of Puppets” takes a different approach. For one, it’s almost four minutes longer with a considerable instrumental stretch. It had a similar structure to a few earlier tracks, with a guitar solo that’s since become an iconic........

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