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Metallica celebrated the 35th anniversary of its classic third album, Master Of Puppets, by performing the song “Battery” on last night’s (Wednesday, March 3) episode of ‘The Late Show With Stephen Colbert’. You can check it out below.
This is not the first time that Metallica has appeared on a talk show hosted by Stephen Colbert. In May 2017, the metal titans performed the song “Now That We’re Dead” on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. Prior to that, the band sat down for an interview and performed on Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report in September 2013. More recently, Metallica performed “Enter Sandman” on ‘A Late Show: Super Bowl Edition’, a live special edition of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, on February 7.
Master Of Puppets was the first album Metallica recorded after signing a major label deal with Elektra Records. The set only reached No. 29 on the Billboard album chart but has sold over six million copies in the U.S. since. It is the last record to feature bassist Cliff Burton, who was killed later that year in a tour bus crash.
The third album by the rock figureheads formed in San Francisco’s Bay Area (after Kill ‘Em All and Ride The Lightning) was again produced by the band with Flemming Rasmussen. It contained the latest development of their epic sound, on a record which the Virgin Encyclopedia of Heavy Rock later described as a “taut, multi-faceted collection that both raged and lamented with equal conviction.”
Rolling Stone’s review at the time praised the band’s ability to avoid the usual clichéd approach to rock music as some kind of salvation, hearing it instead as “the sound of global paranoia.” Tim Holmes’ critique went on: “Metallica has the chops, and yes, subtlety to create a new metal. If they ever award a titanium album, it should go to Master of Puppets.”
Several songs from the album are still staples of Metallica’s live set, including “Battery”, “Welcome Home (Sanitarium)” and the title track.
Listen to the best of Metallica here.