We’re in the final four and I could see one of these getting zero votes.
Have some taste and pick One over Master of Puppets in the finals
2nd Matchup of the Semfinals
Nothing Else Matters
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Band members James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, and Kirk Hammett wrote this. According to Hetfield, he wrote the song about a girlfriend he once had, but when he looks back at it, he can’t remember why he wrote it. Now, Metallica just considers it a song about their fans, because nothing else matters but their fans.
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James Hetfield has cited the band’s constant touring as an inspiration for this song. They wrote pieces of the song on their tour bus and in numerous hotels.
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This is one of the few Metallica songs where James Hetfield played the guitar solo rather than Kirk Hammett.
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Hetfield explained this song to Mojo magazine December 2008. Said the Metallica singer: “It’s about being on the road, missing someone at home, but it was written in such a way, it connected with so many people, that it wasn’t just about two people, it was about a connection with your higher power, lots of different things.”
Hetfield told Mojo that after penning this love ballad, he was initially concerned about playing it to the rest of the band. He explained: “At first I didn’t even want to play it for the guys. I thought that Metallica could only be the four of us. These are songs about destroying things, head banging, bleeding for the crowd, whatever it is, as long as it wasn’t about chicks and fast cars, even though that’s what we liked. The song was about a girlfriend at the time. It turned out to be a pretty big song.”
versus
Master of Puppets
This is Metallica’s most popular live song, played in concert more than any other. The crowd dutifully shouts back “Master!” at appropriate times, which could be seen as the kind of conformity the song warns against, but is simply an irresistible, adrenaline-fueled release.
At the end of the song, you can hear backwards recordings of the band’s guitars while the bandmember’s echoed laughter is played.
When Metallica played two shows in China in 2013, the Chinese government told them not to play this song - perhaps not wanting to harbor unrest with lyrics about being controlled by a greater entity. The band complied, although Kirk Hammett made sure to play the riff during their sets.
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The “Master” of puppets is a reference to drugs. Throughout the song the “Master” controls you and your life. This is evident in lyrics like, “chop your breakfast on a mirror,” “The Master Of Puppets is pulling your strings, twisting your mind and smashing your dreams.” Drugs is the Master while the drug user is the puppet.
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This is one of the most famous and enduring songs of 1986, but it wasn’t released as a single, except in France. Metal was still seen as a niche, and few radio stations would touch it. Putting it out as a single would have been pointless because it wouldn’t have gotten airplay and Metallica’s fans were far more likely to buy the whole album (and with a running time of 8:36, it wouldn’t have fit on one side of a 45).
But the album went Gold almost immediately (500,000 copies in America), and two years later went Platinum (one million), which changed perceptions. Rock radio found room for Metallica amongst offerings from Guns N’ Roses and Mötley Crüe. MTV even got on board, launching Headbangers Ball in 1987. When Metallica released their next album, …And Justice for All (1988), they were commercial enough for a single and video, which they delivered with “[One]).” That song got them on the Hot 100 for the first time, landing at #35.
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James Hetfield plays the first solo during the slow instrumental part, Kirk Hammet plays the final, fast heavy solo. While playing the solo, Kirk pulled the top string off of the fretboard of the guitar (usually done by accident when someone bends the high string down instead of up) to make the really high siren-like sound. Everyone loved the way it sounded on the track so they kept it that way.
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There are two ways the song is played live. There is one where they just play the song how it is normally played in it’s entirety, and another where they play the first two verses, and when it’s time for the instrumental part they play another song (like “Nothing Else Matters” or “Sanitarium”) and when that song is done they continue the final verse of “Master Of Puppets.”
- Nothing Else Matters
- Master of Puppets
0
voters
1 Like
going to leave these up for 3 days as usual
4 hours left for these super close polls
This is so different than the Led Zeppelin tournament. I wouldn’t have been surprised if about a dozen different songs had won that.
Here, the only two that feel like they have any business winning are the finalists.
I voted for Nothing Else Matters just to avoid the shutout. It’s a good song and doesn’t deserve that. Master of Puppets is the clear #1 of this final four.
polls closed, will likely post final matchup today.
FINAL SHOWDOWN - 5 days
Two GOAT TIER songs for sure
Master of Puppets
This is Metallica’s most popular live song, played in concert more than any other. The crowd dutifully shouts back “Master!” at appropriate times, which could be seen as the kind of conformity the song warns against, but is simply an irresistible, adrenaline-fueled release.
At the end of the song, you can hear backwards recordings of the band’s guitars while the bandmember’s echoed laughter is played.
When Metallica played two shows in China in 2013, the Chinese government told them not to play this song - perhaps not wanting to harbor unrest with lyrics about being controlled by a greater entity. The band complied, although Kirk Hammett made sure to play the riff during their sets.
- The “Master” of puppets is a reference to drugs. Throughout the song the “Master” controls you and your life. This is evident in lyrics like, “chop your breakfast on a mirror,” “The Master Of Puppets is pulling your strings, twisting your mind and smashing your dreams.” Drugs is the Master while the drug user is the puppet.
- This is one of the most famous and enduring songs of 1986, but it wasn’t released as a single, except in France. Metal was still seen as a niche, and few radio stations would touch it. Putting it out as a single would have been pointless because it wouldn’t have gotten airplay and Metallica’s fans were far more likely to buy the whole album (and with a running time of 8:36, it wouldn’t have fit on one side of a 45).
But the album went Gold almost immediately (500,000 copies in America), and two years later went Platinum (one million), which changed perceptions. Rock radio found room for Metallica amongst offerings from Guns N’ Roses and Mötley Crüe. MTV even got on board, launching Headbangers Ball in 1987. When Metallica released their next album, …And Justice for All (1988), they were commercial enough for a single and video, which they delivered with “[One]).” That song got them on the Hot 100 for the first time, landing at #35.
- James Hetfield plays the first solo during the slow instrumental part, Kirk Hammet plays the final, fast heavy solo. While playing the solo, Kirk pulled the top string off of the fretboard of the guitar (usually done by accident when someone bends the high string down instead of up) to make the really high siren-like sound. Everyone loved the way it sounded on the track so they kept it that way.
- There are two ways the song is played live. There is one where they just play the song how it is normally played in it’s entirety, and another where they play the first two verses, and when it’s time for the instrumental part they play another song (like “Nothing Else Matters” or “Sanitarium”) and when that song is done they continue the final verse of “Master Of Puppets.”
vs
One
- This song is about a soldier fighting in a war and a mortar blows off in his face. He can’t hear, see, smell, taste and he doesn’t have arms or legs. He comes out of a coma in a hospital. During the time he is in the hospital he reflects on his life and things his father told him. Eventually the doctors get worried because he’s having spasms all the time, but he doesn’t seem to be dying. They call in the general and he can’t figure it out either but the soldier with the general recognizes it. “It’s Morse code,” he says. The general asks what he is saying and the soldier looks for a minute and then says, “He is saying K-I-L-L- M-E over and over again.”
- The lyrics are based on the 1939 novel Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo, which is about World War I. A specific passage that inspired the song is: “How could a man lose as much of himself as I have and still live? When a man buys a lottery ticket you never expect him to win because it’s a million to one shot. But if he does win, you’ll believe it because one in a million still leaves one. If I’d read about a guy like me in the paper I wouldn’t believe it, cos it’s a million to one. But a million to ONE always leaves one. I’d never expect it to happen to me because the odds of it happening are a million to one. But a million to one always leaves one. One.”
James Hetfield was introduced to the book by his older half brother, David Hale, who was also in a band.
- In 1971, Johnny Got His Gun was made into a movie that was directed by Trumbo starring Timothy Bottoms and Jason Robards. The video for the song uses images and monologues from that movie.
- This was the first single released by the band to feature bassist Jason Newsted, who continued playing with Metallica until 2001. You have to listen very carefully to hear his playing, however, since the bass was buried in the mix.
This was the first video Metallica made. As part of their us-against-the-world ethos, they distanced themselves from MTV, which ignored metal until 1987 when the network gave it 90 minutes every week on Headbangers Ball . Directed by Bill Pope and Michael Salomon, the “One” video looked nothing like what was in hot rotation on MTV. Morbid and sepia-toned, it runs 7:44 with disturbing images from the film Johnny Got His Gun . Metallica did give in my making a video, but they did it on their terms. The MTV presence helped them reach an audience far larger than any metal band had before
Because it is used in the video, Metallica had to pay royalties to use the film Johnny Got His Gun , which ended up being substantial. Instead of pulling the video or continuing to pay, when it came time to re-negotiate the license they simply bought the rights to it. When the film was released on DVD, it was their doing.
When Metallica appeared on The Howard Stern Show in September 2013, James Hetfield explained that this was not so much an anti-war song as an observation. “War is a part of man,” he explained. “We’re just writing about it. It’s not good or bad, it’s just a thing.”
- Master of Puppets
- One
0
voters
4 Likes
Thanks for running this. I’ve had a lot going on in my life so I haven’t had the chance to pay attention to this thread as much as I initially wanted to, but I plan on going back through to listen to some songs that I’m not familiar with.
5 Likes
I’m going with One.
I think its the epitome of Metallica, the music video is GOAT, background/story behind the song is GOAT, its metal AF, so dark, lyrics great, riffs great.
just vote ONE
3 Likes
Darkness imprisoning me
All that I see
Absolute horror
I cannot live
I cannot die
Trapped in myself
Body my holding cell
Landmine has taken my sight
Taken my speech
Taken my hearing
Taken my arms
Taken my legs
Taken my soul
Left me with life in hell
1 Like
and 5:48 Solo
I have to think about this. It’s a close matchup and I want to do the right thing.
Won’t be disappointed if either one wins though.
i think its close and to be clear i did a full relisten of both cuz honestly at first i was leaning MOP but once i listened again, it became clear One is the choice.
Won’t be mad either way.
For a number of years Metallica refused to make music videos. So it’s funny to say this song, in part because of its video, is the epitome of the band.
yea im saying they finally decided to make one, it was this one, and its the GOAT
1 Like
True story, I quoted these lyrics in an essay in 9th grade. I can’t remember what the topic was but it worked and I got an A.
Alas, even after listening to One a couple times I still can’t vote against MOP. Excellent tournament, I’m not mad either way.
4 Likes
What is Democracy?
It’s got something to do with young men killing each other, I believe.
fucking hardcore
2 Likes
I respect the subversive anti-war message of One and I would never have read Johnny Got His Gun without being exposed to the music video, but MOP just rules school, it’s clearly the better heavy metal song.
1 Like