Following in the footsteps of Metallica's comprehensive reissues of Kill 'Em All and Ride The Lightning, the metal icons will issue an exhaustive deluxe version of Master of Puppets, the group's first album for the Elektra label.
Master of Puppets found the group further expanding their unique, thrash-driven approach to metal. Recorded in drummer Lars Ulrich's native Denmark, the album is an impeccably sounding, increasingly complex one--a cornerstone of '80s metal through and through. It became the band's first record to break the Top 40 of the Billboard 200, the first thrash album to be certified platinum (ultimately earning a 6x platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America) and, in 2016, the first metal preserved by the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry.
The group's ambitious tour was, unfortunately, marred by tragedy in 1986 when, after a show in Stockholm that September, a tour bus rolled on an icy road, killing bassist Cliff Burton. Ulrich, frontman James Hetfield and guitarist Kirk Hammett canceled the remainder of the tour leg, regrouping in their hometown of San Francisco before hiring Jason Newstead to replace their fallen comrade.
Burton's legacy and Newstead's arrival are both present on the scores of bonus material in the Master of Puppets box set, encompassing three LPs, 10 CDs, a cassette and two DVDs! The audio includes:
- The remastered original album
- Nine shows from the Damage, Inc. tour, sourced from unreleased soundboard recordings except for fan recordings of Burton's final show. (All audio-only shows on non-CD formats will include digital download cards)
- Three discs of alternate studio material, including rough mixes, demos and outtakes
- Two discs of vintage audio interviews
- Excerpts from Newstead's audition
- Material from the $19.98 Home Video: Cliff 'Em All, including unreleased performances
- MTV footage
The box is rounded out with a 108-page hardcover book, a lithograph, a folder of handwritten lyrics and a set of six buttons. For those with less shelf space, additional formats will be sold, including the remastered album on CD or LP and a 3CD edition that features highlights from the studio and live material alongside the original album. (Bundles on Metallica's official store combine the album-only and expanded sets with the box set's book.)
All formats are available on November 10. Some Amazon links are not yet available, but all formats can be pre-ordered on the band's official site. Check out the full specs on all editions below!
Master of Puppets: Deluxe Box Set (Blackened Recordings, 2017)
Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada / Amazon U.K.
* soundboard recording ** fan recording
LP 1: Remastered album (originally released as Elektra 60439, 1986)
- Battery
- Master of Puppets
- The Thing That Should Not Be
- Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
- Disposable Heroes
- Leper Messiah
- Orion
- Damage, Inc.
LPs 2-3: Live at the Aragon Ballroom, Chicago - 5/25/1986 (previously unreleased) *
- Battery (incomplete beginning)
- Master of Puppets
- For Whom the Bell Tolls
- Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
- The Thing That Should Not Be
- (Anesthesia) - Pulling Teeth
- Damage, Inc.
- Fade to Black
- Seek & Destroy
- Creeping Death
- The Four Horsemen
- Guitar Solo
- Am I Evil?
- Whiplash
CD 1: Remastered album
CDs 2-3: Interviews (previously unreleased)
- Metal Forces Magazine Interview with Lars
- Interview with Cliff
- Metal Madness Magazine Interview with Cliff
- WYSP Philadelphia "Metal Shop" Radio Interview with Lars & James
- Sounds Magazine Interview with Kirk, Cliff & Lars
- Swedish Radio "Rockbox" Interview with Lars
- Swedish Radio "Rockbox" Interview with Lars & Jason
CD 4: Rough Mixes From the Vault (previously unreleased)
- Battery (October 1985, Work in Progress Rough Mix)
- Master of Puppets (November 1985, Work in Progress Rough Mix)
- The Thing That Should Not Be (December 1985, Work in Progress Rough Mix)
- Welcome Home (Sanitarium) (November 1985, Work in Progress Rough Mix)
- Disposable Heroes (November 1985, Work in Progress Rough Mix)
- Leper Messiah (December 1985, Work in Progress Rough Mix)
- Orion (November 1985, Work in Progress Rough Mix)
- Damage, Inc. (October 1985, Work in Progress Rough Mix)
- The Money Will Roll Right In (Work in Progress Rough Mix)
- The Prince (Work in Progress Rough Mix)
CDs 5-6: Riffs, Demos & Outtakes From Lars' & James' Vaults (previously unreleased)
- Battery (1985, from James' Riff Tapes)
- Battery (1985, from James' Riff Tapes II)
- Master of Puppets (1985, from Kirk's Riff Tapes)
- Master of Puppets (1985, from James' Riff Tapes)
- Master of Puppets (1985, from James' Riff Tapes II)
- The Thing That Should Not Be (1985, from James' Riff Tapes)
- Welcome Home (Sanitarium) (1985, from James' Riff Tapes)
- Welcome Home (Sanitarium) (1985, from James' Riff Tapes II)
- Disposable Heroes (1985, from Kirk's Riff Tapes)
- Disposable Heroes (1985, from James' Riff Tapes)
- Leper Messiah (1985, from James' Riff Tapes)
- Leper Messiah (1985, from James' Riff Tapes II)
- Orion (1985, from James' Riff Tapes)
- Damage, Inc. (1985, from James' Riff Tapes)
- Disposable Heroes (May 1985, Writing in Progress)
- Battery (May 1985, Writing in Progress)
- Welcome Home (Sanitarium) (May 1985, Writing in Progress)
- Disposable Heroes (May 1985, Writing in Progress II)
- Battery (Early June 1985 Demo)
- Disposable Heroes (Early June 1985 Demo)
- Welcome Home (Sanitarium) (Early June 1985 Demo)
- Master of Puppets (Mid-June 1985, Writing in Progress)
- Master of Puppets (Mid-June 1985, Writing in Progress II)
- Master of Puppets (Mid-June 1985 Demo)
- Disposable Heroes (Late June 1985 Demo)
- Battery (Late June 1985 Demo)
- Welcome Home (Sanitarium) (Late June 1985 Demo)
- Master of Puppets (Late June 1985 Demo)
- Damage, Inc. (Late August 1985, Writing in Progress)
- Leper Messiah (Late August 1985 Demo)
- Damage, Inc. (Late August 1985 Demo)
- Leper Messiah (Late August 1985 Demo II)
- Orion (September 1985 Drum Room Demo)
- The Thing That Should Not Be (September 1985, Writing in Progress)
- The Thing That Should Not Be (September 1985 Drum Room Demo)
- The Money Will Roll Right In (September 1985 Drum Room Jam)
- The Prince (September 1985 Drum Room Jam)
- Welcome Home (Sanitarium) (Late 1985 Guitar Solo Outtakes)
- Orion (Late 1985 Guitar Solo Outtakes)
- Orion (Late 1985, Kirk & Lars in the Control Room)
CD 7: Live At The Meadowlands, East Rutherford, NJ - 4/21/1986 (previously unreleased) *
- The Ecstasy of Gold
- Battery
- Master of Puppets
- For Whom the Bell Tolls
- Ride the Lightning
- Welcome Home (Sanitarium) (incomplete - tape ran out)
- Seek & Destroy (incomplete)
- Creeping Death
- Am I Evil?
- Damage, Inc.
CD 8: Live At Hampton Coliseum, Hampton, VA - 8/3/1986 (previously unreleased)
- Battery
- Master of Puppets
- For Whom the Bell Tolls
- Bass Solo
- Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
- Seek & Destroy
- Creeping Death
- Am I Evil?
- Damage, Inc.
CD 9: Jason's Auditions / Live At The Country Club, Reseda, CA - 11/8/1986 (previously unreleased) *
- Master of Puppets (First Audition)
- Battery (First Audition)
- Seek & Destroy (Second Audition)
- Creeping Death (Second Audition)
- Fight Fire with Fire (Second Audition)
- Master of Puppets
- For Whom the Bell Tolls
- Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
- Ride the Lightning
- Guitar Solo
- Whiplash
- Seek & Destroy
- The Four Horsemen
- Am I Evil?
- Damage, Inc.
CD 10: Live At Grugahalle, Essen, West Germany - 1/25/1987 (previously unreleased) *
- Master of Puppets (incomplete beginning)
- For Whom the Bell Tolls
- Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
- Ride the Lightning
- Bass Solo
- Whiplash
- The Thing That Should Not Be
- Creeping Death
- The Four Horsemen
- Guitar Solo
- Am I Evil?
- Damage, Inc.
- Blitzkrieg
Cassette: Live At Solnahllen, Stockholm, Sweden - 9/26/1986 (previously unreleased) **
- The Ecstasy of Gold
- Battery
- Master of Puppets
- For Whom the Bell Tolls
- Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
- Ride the Lightning
- (Anesthesia) - Pulling Teeth
- Whiplash
- The Thing That Should Not Be
- Fade to Black
- Seek & Destroy
- Creeping Death
- The Four Horsemen
- Guitar Solo
- Am I Evil?
- Damage, Inc.
- Blitzkrieg
- Fight Fire with Fire (taken from different audience recording of same gig)
DVD 1
Live At Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, MI - 4/4/1986
- Master of Puppets (incomplete)
- For Whom the Bell Tolls
- Ride the Lightning
- Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
- Seek & Destroy
- Creeping Death
- Am I Evil?
- Damage, Inc.
Tracks 6-8 from $19.98 Home Video - Cliff 'Em All (Elektra 40106, 1986)
Live At Roskilde Festival, Festivalpladsen, Roskilde, Denmark - 7/6/1986
- The Ecstasy of Gold
- Battery
- Master of Puppets
- For Whom the Bell Tolls
- Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
- (Anesthesia) - Pulling Teeth
- The Four Horsemen
- Fade to Black
- Seek & Destroy
- Creeping Death (incomplete)
- Am I Evil? (incomplete)
- Damage, Inc.
- Whiplash (incomplete)
Tracks 5-6 from $19.98 Home Video - Cliff 'Em All (Elektra 40106, 1986)
MTV HEAVY METAL MANIA
- Part I
- Part II
- Part III
Portions released on $19.98 Home Video - Cliff 'Em All (Elektra 40106, 1986)
DVD 2
Live at Aichi Kinro Kaikan, Nagoya, Japan - 11/17/1986 (previously unreleased)
- Battery
- Master of Puppets
- For Whom the Bell Tolls
- Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
- Ride the Lightning
- Bass Solo
- Whiplash
- The Thing That Should Not Be
- Fade to Black
- Seek & Destroy
- Creeping Death
- The Four Horsemen
- Guitar Solo
- Am I Evil?
- Damage, Inc.
- Fight Fire with Fire
Masa Ito Interview (previously unreleased)
- Excerpt from "Music Tomato World"
MTV News Interviews (previously unreleased)
- James & Kirk
- Lars & Jason - Part 1
- Lars & Jason - Part 2
Master of Puppets: Expanded Edition (Blackened Recordings, 2017)
3CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada / Amazon U.K.
1CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada / Amazon U.K.
1LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada / Amazon U.K.
Disc 1: Remastered album
Disc 2: Riffs, Demos, Rough Mixes & Interviews
- Battery (Early June 1985 Demo)
- Master of Puppets (Late June 1985 Demo)
- The Thing That Should Not Be (September 1985 Drum Room Demo)
- Welcome Home (Sanitarium) (Late June 1985 Demo)
- Disposable Heroes (May 1985, Writing in Progress II)
- Leper Messiah (1985, from James' Riff Tapes II))
- Orion (November 1985, Work in Progress Rough Mix)
- Damage, Inc. (1985, from James' Riff Tapes)
- The Money Will Roll Right In (Work in Progress Rough Mix)
- The Prince (Work in Progress Rough Mix)
- Metal Madness Magazine Interview with Cliff
Disc 3: Live From The Damage, Inc. Tour
- Battery (Live @ The Meadowlands, East Rutherford, NJ - 4/21/1986)
- Master of Puppets (Live @ The Meadowlands, East Rutherford, NJ - 4/21/1986)
- For Whom the Bell Tolls (Live @ Hampton Coliseum, Hampton, VA - 8/23/1986)
- Ride the Lightning (Live @ Grugahalle, Essen, West Germany - 1/25/1987)
- Welcome Home (Sanitarium) (Live @ The Country Club, Reseda, CA - 11/8/1986)
- The Thing That Should Not Be (Live @ The Aragon Ballroom, Chicago - 5/25/1986)
- (Anesthesia) - Pulling Teeth (Live @ The Aragon Ballroom, Chicago - 5/25/1986)
- Damage, Inc. (Live @ The Aragon Ballroom, Chicago - 5/25/1986)
- Fade to Black (Fan Recording - Live @ Solnahallen, Stockholm, Sweden - 9/26/1986)
- Seek & Destroy (Live @ The Country Club, Reseda, CA - 11/8/1986)
- Creeping Death (Live @ The Aragon Ballroom, Chicago - 5/25/1986)
- The Four Horsemen (Live @ Grugahalle, Essen, West Germany - 1/25/1987)
- Am I Evil? (Live @ Hampton Coliseum, Hampton, VA - 8/23/1986)
- Whiplash (Live @ The Aragon Ballroom, Chicago - 5/25/1986)
Joe D says
That is a LOT of discs! Certainly this is the one album in their catalog that should get this kind of treatment, but its too much for me. I will be, for sure, get the 3 disc set. I was disappointed that they did not offer smaller CD sets for the KEA and RTL resissues.
Ed Weiland says
I've been eagerly awaiting this announcement since Kill 'Em All and Ride the Lightning were remastered/released. While I won't be buying into the huge set, I will certainly be picking up a basic remaster copy. Classic metal album well overdue for a remaster. Now all we need is a remaster and remix of Justice - then my Metallica remaster appetite will be satisfied.