Rock music is notoriously difficult to record but every now and then a record comes along which towers above the rest. I chose Metallica’s landmark album which came out in 1986 titled Master of Puppets that remains an important milestone in the history of heavy/speed metal. The album was recorded from September to December at Sweet Silence Studios in Copenhagen, Denmark and was mixed by Michael Wagener at the Amigo Studios in North Hollywood, California. The LP was issued on the Music for Nations label with catalogue number MFN60 in 1986.
The sound is immediately apparent in the first parts of ‘Battery’ the opening song. The acoustic guitar is prominent and strikingly clear and as a full band comes in the sound changes considerably with aggression very prominent. The prominence of Cliff Burton’s bass is something which characterises the recording balance especially in tracks like ‘Orion’, an epic instrumental as well as the title song where the central section also includes an acoustic part.
Wagener’s recording also gives prominence to the drums and cymbals where we can hear Lars Ulrich’s incredible versatility especially in tracks such as Disposable Heroes, that is the least well known on the album. The variety of the rhythm and electric lead guitars is also very forward and pronounced especially in the epic ‘Welcome Home (Sanitarium)’ track where all the pain and anger of an insane man is starkly brought out.
There’s no denying the incredible power of this album, and the recording does full justice to it. The record is cut at a slightly lower level than normal, but that adds to the clarity since distortion is completely absent especially in the higher passages. ‘Master of Puppets’ is indeed a classic metal recording in every sense of the word.
Question:
Does recorded sound have an effect on the way the music is effectively portrayed?
Works Cited:
Zak Albin: Sound as Form, 1991, Print
