Master of Puppets is the third studio album by the American heavy metal band Metallica, released on March 3, 1986, by Elektra Records.
Recorded in Copenhagen, Denmark, at Sweet Silence Studios with producer Flemming Rasmussen, it is the band’s final album to feature bassist Cliff Burton. While touring in support of Master of Puppets, he died on September 27, 1986, after the band’s tour bus was involved in an accident in Dörarp, Sweden.
The album’s artwork, designed by Metallica and Peter Mensch and painted by Don Brautigam, depicts a cemetery field of white crosses tethered to strings, manipulated by a pair of hands in a clouded, blood-red sky, with a fiery orange glow on the horizon.
The album is the band’s most recent to date to feature a runtime of under an hour. Instead of releasing a single or video in advance of the album’s release, Metallica embarked on a five-month American tour in support of Ozzy Osbourne.
The European leg was canceled after Burton’s death in September 1986, and the band returned home to audition a new bassist.
- Genre(s): Classic Metal, Heavy Metal, Metal, Thrash Metal
Disclaimer: All transcriptions are provided "as is" for purely EDUCATIONAL purposes. All other uses are prohibited. All copyrights in the original works remain the property of the owners.
Albums will be added as tabs are created for them.
Read here for details on how I make them and my committment to accuracy.
Tracklist
- 001 - Battery Bass tab
- 002 - master of puppets Bass tab
- 003 - the thing that should not be Bass tab
- 004 - Welcome home (sanitarium) Bass tab
- 005 - disposable heroes Bass tab
- 006 - leper messiah Bass tab
- 007 - orion (instrumental) Bass tab
- 008 - damage, inc. Bass tab
001 - Battery Bass tab
Nothing here yet, my dude...
002 - master of puppets Bass tab
- Instrument: 4 String Bass Guitar
- Page Count: 18
- Format: Interactive PDF
- difficulty Level: Advanced
- Tuning: E Standard (E-A-D-G)
- Key(s): E Locrian, E phrygian, F# Locrian, F# Lydian, Em
- Download Size: 2.5MB
003 - the thing that should not be Bass tab
This song is a bit of an anomoly for Metallica. It's heavily Chromatic and parts of it don't fit into traditional diatonic Keys or Modes.
Tune down a whole step to D Standard (D-G-C-F) and play this sucker like you're dragging Stonehenge up a hill! I will be doing a Drop D version of this; it's a bit harder to play but requires less on the hoof tuning...
The Pre-Choruses are non-diatonic with a bunch of Chromatic notes so they're marked up with NO Key Signature; each bar is a riff based on a minor 3rd interval but since it "could" be one of any number of things, I've marked it up as a blank Key sig.
Choruses and Solo are in E minor with an A# tritone (NOT a B♭ because we're in a Sharp Key).
- Instrument: 4 String Bass Guitar
- Page Count: 12
- Format: Interactive PDF
- difficulty Level: Intermediate to Advanced
- Tuning: D Standard (D-G-C-F)
- Key(s): F# Locrian, B Locrian, Em
- Download Size: 2.2MB
004 - welcome home (sanitarium) Bass tab
Nothing here yet, my dude...
005 - disposable heroes Bass tab
Nothing here yet, my dude...
006 - leper messiah Bass tab
Nothing here yet, my dude...
007 - orion (instrumental) Bass tab
This transcription is a long one because it has 2 Bass Guitar lines in it. This comes into play in the interlude where Cliff takes a major solo and layers a harmony part.
- Instrument: 4 String Bass Guitar
- Page Count: 19
- Format: Interactive PDF
- difficulty Level: Intermediate
- Tuning: E Standard (E-A-D-G)
- Key(s): Em, F#m
- Download Size: 3.1MB
008 - damage, inc. Bass tab
Nothing here yet, my dude...
