If you asked me before some time i would say to you this is one amazing pressing of the album and one of my favorites. Still it is but right now i believe i have a better image because i have listened more album pressings. Released on March 3, 1986, the album had a 72-week run on the Billboard 200 album charts and earned the band its first gold certification. [5] The album debuted on March 29 at number 128 [44] and peaked at number 29 on the Billboard 200 chart. [7] Billboard reported that 300,000 copies were sold in its first three weeks. [45] More than 500,000 copies were sold in its first year, even with virtually no radio airplay and no music videos. [46] In 2003, Master of Puppets was certified 6× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), with six million copies shipped in the United States. Between the beginning of the Nielsen SoundScan era in 1991 and 2023, 7,980,000 copies were sold. [47] The album was less successful on an international level, despite entering the top 5 on the Finnish and the top 40 on the German and Swiss album charts in its inaugural year. [48] In 2004, it peaked within the top 15 in Sweden. In 2008, the album reached the top 40 on the Australian and Norwegian album charts. [49] It received 6× platinum certification from Music Canada and a gold certification from the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for shipments of 600,000 and 100,000 copies, respectively. [50] [51] Steffen, Chris (June 10, 2013). "Metallica Dig Deep for Orion Fest Setlist". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on June 12, 2013 . Retrieved June 12, 2013. This pressing has the explosion of the "1st Elektra US" pressings and also amazing power. Also you can feel the power of the drums here. In the "Japanese" and "MFN" original pressings you do not feel any power from the drums but in this pressing you get that. Also the music is very sharp but is thin and it lags on bass. To be honest, i prefer the album like that. I want "Master of Puppets" sharp with tight sound. No noisy sound or an extra bass like the "Vertigo" 89 EU pressing. P.S: This version remind you a lot the "MFN 45 RPM of 1987. Both of them have big mass and they sounding very loud with punchy sound.

Master of Puppets was hailed as a masterpiece by critics outside of the thrash metal audience and cited by some as the genre's greatest album. [21] In a contemporary review, Tim Holmes of Rolling Stone asserted that the band had redefined heavy metal with the technical skill and subtlety showcased on the album, which he described as "the sound of global paranoia". [43] Kerrang! wrote that Master of Puppets "finally put Metallica into the big leagues where they belong". [6] Editor Tom King said Metallica was at an "incredible song-writing peak" during the recording sessions, partially because Burton contributed to the songwriting. [28] By contrast, Spin magazine's Judge I-Rankin was disappointed with the album and said, although the production is exceptional and Metallica's experimentation is commendable, it eschews the less "intellectual" approach of Kill 'Em All for a MDC-inspired direction that is inconsistent. [32]Hart, Josh (March 22, 2012). "Metallica Post 'Disposable Heroes' Video from 'Three Nights in Mexico City' DVD". Guitar World . Retrieved June 12, 2013. First of all this is a high quality material. Mastered at haft speed in 2x12'. It sounds very louder (the most louder vinyl version of the album out there) and also the most heavier. You can hear amazing mass and explosion too but all these things have and the downsides.

Vertigo Europe 89 Press. This pressing it sound "ok" but nothing serious. Has big low end and combinied with the "DMM" process the sound is very muddy and mess the clarity of the music. Also the pressing it is not so loud and when you up the volume you listen only the low end the cover all the instruments and you thing the upper end and the mids has deleted. But overall it's "ok" (I guess?) pressing for casual listenings. Beyond the reasons why this version is so famous and also so expensive, i believe is one of the best pressings of the album or the 2nd best pressing. Comparing with "Europe" pressings, this one it sound with much more power, explosion and clarity. The sound is very clean and the bass don't mess the sound. Some people say this version is little thin. No. For me has great and very explosive sound. All here sound amazing and especially the drums. Also the solos have amazing realistic sound in your space and general all instruments its straight forward in your face. For example when the "Disposable heroes" start you can understand in secs the difference against some others pressings around the world. And the reasons for all these difference is because here they did "Direct Metal Mastering". And they did great job on that because and the "MFN 1987 45 rpm version" has "Direct Metal Mastering" but it's sound completely different than this one here. Both of them sound great but this is more punchy and more brighter with more details. All in all, is one great pressing compare it with the 80% pressings of the album out there but it can't touch the truly best pressings of the album and that's is the problem. Still it's a amazing and very rare/expensive material to have in your collection.

For those of us still marvelling at their unparalleled and sophisticated leap from the Kill ’Em All debut to their Ride The Lightning album, Master was a whole other level of erudition. Strange to think now that there was outrage in some quarters when they introduced acoustic guitars to the audience at Hammersmith Odeon (think Bob Dylan’s ‘Judas’ debacle when he went electric, but in reverse) on the Lightning tour. Though if their audience and critics were still clinging to the past, Metallica were marching purposefully forward to the beat of their own drum (toms and double bass drums, mostly), setting the spark to the flame of a genuine musical revolution.

The feeling that chaos was about to erupt was palpable": Thurston Moore's memoir Sonic Life is a fascinating insider account of life-changing outsider art, and one music geek's insatiable lust for the loud Master of Puppets is the third studio album by the American heavy metal band Metallica, released on March 3, 1986, by Elektra Records. [1] Recorded in Copenhagen, Denmark at Sweet Silence Studios with producer Flemming Rasmussen, it was the band's last album to feature bassist Cliff Burton, who died in a bus accident in Sweden during the album's promotional tour. When this vinyl came out, I saw outside the writings "Louder, Faster, Heavier" and said to myself "Oh my God !!.. How will sound this version??".. But the truth is, i expected more from that series and specially on this version. In a different view this version looks like one small remix from them. With this remastered LP, the album sound different than any other version i have heard. New Zealand album certifications – Metallica – Master of Puppets". Recorded Music NZ . Retrieved November 9, 2021.

Notes

Anderson, Kyle (March 3, 2011). "Metallica's Master Of Puppets Turns 25". MTV. Archived from the original on June 9, 2012 . Retrieved July 31, 2013.