Metallica’s iconic track ‘Master of Puppets’ has reached a remarkable milestone on Spotify. The band announced this achievement on X (formerly Twitter). The thrash metal classic has joined the streaming platform’s prestigious Billions Club, marking a significant achievement for the genre.
The thrash metal classic has joined the streaming platform’s prestigious Billions Club, marking a significant achievement for the genre
“We’re psyched to share that ‘Master of Puppets’ has just made its way into Spotify’s Billions Club – Thank you!” the band announced through their official social media channels.
The streaming milestone showcases metal music’s enduring appeal across generations in the digital era.
Streaming Achievement Context
MetalSucks revealed that ‘Master of Puppets’ has become Metallica’s third track to reach the billion-stream milestone on Spotify. ‘Enter Sandman’ and ‘Nothing Else Matters’ from their 1991 ‘Black Album’ previously achieved this feat.
The song gained substantial streaming momentum after its appearance in Netflix’s ‘Stranger Things’ Season 4. The character Eddie Munson performed the track in a pivotal scene.
Historical Significance
Blabbermouth noted the special significance of ‘Master of Puppets.’ It stands as the final album Metallica recorded with bassist Cliff Burton before his tragic death.
The album’s title track remains a cornerstone of Metallica’s live performances. It has established itself as a defining piece of thrash metal history.
Cultural Impact
Data from ChartMasters shows how classic metal songs continue finding new audiences through digital platforms and popular media.
The streaming achievement validates the band’s lasting legacy. It demonstrates how streaming platforms have connected traditional metal fans with a new generation discovering the genre through modern media.
“As dry as could be”: The Metallica album James Hetfield felt was trying to be too perfect
Considering all the highs and lows Metallica have experienced throughout their career, it’s not entirely unexpected that some material isn’t viewed as accomplished as others. However, while many disregard songs and even entire records for being too fundamentally un-Metallica, some of these sonic deviations are less about a lack of direction and more to do with too much effort. Well, according to James Hetfield, that is.
Despite being hailed as one of the greatest rock acts in music history, Metallica have faced more challenges than most groups. For starters, they have had to face pressures from establishing the reign of their early breakthrough while following artistic directions they feel are best, all against the unavoidable expectations of loyal fans. And, on more than one occasion, they slipped up.
However, this remains relatively subjective, especially considering anything they ever put out will always, no matter what, be compared to masterpieces like Master of Puppets and Ride the Lightning, which set an unreachable standard, sometimes even for them. With labels as monolithic as thrash pioneers, anything below the belt or slightly different would always irk some loyalists.
That said, while these mixed receptions peaked around the release of three specific records—Load, Reload, and to some degree Death Magnetic—one that Hetfield regards as a major turning point, at least sonically and when it came to their studio attitudes, was …And Justice For All. During the album’s creation and its sessions, Hetfield noticed one thing that had become too much: the push to create the best sound possible.
A self-proclaimed perfectionist, Hetfield told Music Radar that realising as such enhanced during Justice, particularly in response to the record’s guitar parts, which he felt fell too flat, mainly because he tried too hard to make it feel as “in-your-face and dry” as possible: “I realise you’ve got to have some looseness and character,” he said, adding: “I think the ‘anal-ness’ peaked right around Justice,” he said.
He continued: “It was like, how dry can the guitar be? I wanted it as in-your-face and dry as could be. Reverb was, you know, ‘Get that outta here, what are you thinking!’ After a while, that got to be a little lifeless and flat, so I realised there was a balance to be struck.” Incidentally, however, this quest to strike the right “balance” eventually led to two of their most divisive records—Load and Reload.
While they focussed more heavily on creating a sound that was “looser” than Justice, mainly due to Hetfield’s desire to soften his grip on creating the “perfect” album, this encouraged a more organic recording process, where Hetfield could exercise the two sides between perfectionism and enjoyment. Some might have strongly disliked the outcome, but it allowed him to exercise more restraint regarding enhanced control.