John 5 Names One Thing That Makes Metallica’s ‘Master of Puppets’ a ‘Perfection’: ‘That Just Takes It Over the Edge’

“It sounds so amazing, even today… It’s really a wonderful, wonderful record.”

John 5 expressed his love for Metallica’s “Master of Puppets”, arguing that the album’s production makes it a true “perfection”.Metallica’s third studio album is by and large considered to be one of the best-crafted and best-loved albums in metal history — so much so that it famously became the first heavy metal album that was chosen for preservation in the Library of Congress. And while there’s, of course, the musical genius of Lars Ulrich, James Hetfield, Cliff Burton, and Kirk Hammett, a lot of credit is also due to Flemming Rasmussen, the Danish engineer who further honed Metallica’s sound on “Ride the Lightning” and arguably out-did himself on its follow-up.Speaking with Radioactive MikeZ on 96.7 KCAL-FM radio station’s “Wired in the Empire” show, the new Mötley Crüe guitarist John 5 was asked to pick a favorite between Metallica’s second and third studio albums, to which he said (transcription via Blabbermouth):

“I would pick ‘Master Of Puppets’, and here is why. Everybody has their opinion. Everybody has their opinion, but the production… I’m not saying the songs are any better than ‘Ride The Lightning’, or ‘Ride The Lightning’ songs are any better than ‘Master’ or anything like that, but the production on ‘Master Of Puppets’ is crazy great. And that just takes it over the edge. I mean, it’s perfection.”

“It sounds so amazing, even today… It’s really a wonderful, wonderful record. And all those songs are just so well-written and so well-executed. But it’s just that production. And then, if I’m gonna go a little further, the cover. Oh my god — the ‘Master Of Puppets’ cover is… I mean, that’s a beautiful piece of art — it’s gorgeous. And then the back cover is rad too. So, I don’t know. Maybe it’s just me, but I got ‘Ride The Lightning’ first, then I got ‘Master Of Puppets’. Yeah, that’s what I would have to say.”

Asked about his favorite Metallica song, the guitarist said:

“I have to say… Boy, let’s see. That’s a really good one. And this is an odd choice, but I love ‘…And Justice For All’. Now the reason I love ‘…And Justice For All’ — I was with Metallica on the ‘…And Justice For All’ tour for a lot of dates. I was just really good friends with those guys. And I would travel around with them, and we had a blast. And I remember I would jam ‘…And Justice For All’, the intro, with Kirk, and so it just has like a special fondness in my heart, ‘…And Justice For All’.”

While commenting on the fact that “… And Justice For All” was heavily criticized for its production choices, which included virtually inaudible bass and a rather thin guitar sound, John 5 said:

“Absolutely. But if it was up against ‘…And Justice’ and ‘Master’, I would pick ‘Master’, just for the production. But with these albums, with the production, you look at the first two KISS records. I mean, the production wasn’t great — they had no money — but I wouldn’t want to hear those records with amazing production. I love how it’s primitive. I love how it’s like that. And I don’t know if I’d wanna hear ‘…And Justice For All’ with a different production either. It’s like you don’t wanna change classic Coke. You just want Coke to be like that. ‘Well, we could improve it like this.’ Well, I’m kind of used to it like this. That’s how I remember it.”

Recently, ex-Megadeth’s David Ellefson similarly argued that the production of Metallica’s albums is one of the key reasons why they turned out so great, saying:

“That’s one thing I always liked about Metallica records, they always sounded good. Lars always took the time to get a great drum tone. And I guess when you’re the boss and the leader, you can do that. [Laughs]”