Metallica’s 1986 Hit “Master of the Puppets” Creeps Up Charts After ‘Stranger Things’ Feature

Metallica’s “Master Of Puppets” has re-entered the charts and is climbing up after the title track of the band’s 1986 album was featured on an episode in the fourth season of Stranger Things.

Featured in the season finale on July 1, the song set the scene for the character Eddie Munson, played by Joseph Quinn, who performs what he calls “the most metal concert ever,” and shreds to “Master Of Puppets” on his Warlock guitar to help his friends kill the demo Vecna in the Upside Down world.

As a result of the renewed interest in the song on the Netflix series, “Master of Puppets” has been creeping up the charts, hitting No. 12 on the Spotify Top U.S. chart and No. 26 on its Top 50 Global chart.

Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo and his 17-year-old son Tye Trujillo also contributed additional guitar tracks to the “Master Of Puppets” version that appears in the series. Trujillo later revealed that Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett also contributed to the remastered track.

That’s my boy, proud of ya Tye,” wrote the bassist on his Instagram page. “‘Stranger Things’ finale shredding it on ‘Master of Puppets’ and big thanks to Kirk Hammett on helping.”

Released on Feb. 24, 1986, Master Of Puppets was Metallica’s third album, the band’s first after signing with a major label, Elektra Records, and their last with founding bassist Cliff Burton, who died that year in a bus crash while on tour. 

Upon its initial release, the album sold more than six million copies and reached No. 29 on the Billboard Album chart. Today, several Master of Puppets tracks remain on Metallica’s set list, including the title track, “Welcome Home (Sanitarium)” and “Battery.” The album continues to sell several thousand copies a week in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan and was inducted into the Library of Congress National Recording Registry in 2016.

That same year, the band collaborated with writer Matt Taylor for a book on the making of  the album Metallica: Back to the Front: A Fully Authorized Visual History of the Master of Puppets Album and Tour.

Photo: Herring & Herring