Metallica's Master of Puppets named most influential metal album

Metallica's classic 1986 record Master of Puppets has been selected as the most influential heavy metal album of all time by pop culture web site IGN Music. The editors explained their choice by saying that the band's third effort "built upon and perfected everything they had experimented with prior. It's the album where all the pieces come together in glorious cohesion and it's the album that finally woke the general public up to the power and the glory that Metallica was born to spread." Two other Metallica discs also made the Top 10, more than any other act.

The band itself seemed to recognize the status of Master of Puppets last summer when it played the album in its entirety on a European tour. Drummer Lars Ulrich told us that playing the entire set live has also influenced the direction of the next Metallica effort: "It was a great thing having to revisit Master of Puppets because it kind of forced us to step it up a little. You know, a lot of the fans, I think, recognized that we were kind of maybe firing on more cylinders last summer when we played the European run and so on, and I think we've got some of that same energy going now. There's a lot of attitude and it's pretty high energy."

The band is currently recording its ninth studio album with producer Rick Rubin for release later this year.

IGN's Top 10 most influential heavy metal albums of all time were:
1. Metallica - Master of Puppets
2. Black Sabbath - Paranoid
3. Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast
4. Megadeth- Rust In Peace
5. Metallica - Ride The Lightning
6. Ozzy Osbourne - Blizzard of Ozz
7. Slayer - Reign In Blood
8. Dio - Holy Diver
9. Metallica - ...And Justice For All
10. Motorhead - Ace of Spades

The extended Top 25 included albums from Pantera, Judas Priest, Motley Crue, Deep Purple, Scorpions and others.

Metallica Featured On 'We All Love Ennio Morricone'

More information has been revealed about the upcoming tribute album to Italian composer Ennio Morricone, best known to Metallica fans for writing "The Ecstasy Of Gold", the song from the classic film "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" which Metallica has used at its live shows since 1983, reports Blabbermouth.net.
Titled "We All Love Ennio Morricone", the tribute album features Metallica performing "The Ecstasy Of Gold" as well as various other artists paying tribute to the composer, including Celine Dion, Bruce Springsteen and Roger Waters. According to Amazon, the album is due out February 23. The track listing is as follows:

01. I Knew I Loved You - Celine Dion
02. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly - Quincy Jones featuring Herbie Hancock
03. Once Upon a Time in the West - Bruce Springsteen
04. Conradiana - Andrea Bocelli
05. The Ecstasy of Gold - Metallica
06. Malèna - Yo-Yo Ma
07. Come Sail Away - Renée Fleming
08. Gabriel's Oboe - Ennio Morricone
09. Conmigo - Daniela Mercury featuring Eumir Deodato
10. La Luz Prodigiosa - Dulce Pontes
11. Love Affair - Chris Botti
12. Je Changerais d'Avis - VANESSA AND THE O'S
13. Lost Boys Calling - ROGER WATERS
14. The Tropical Variation - ENNIO MORRICONE
15. Could Heaven - DENYCE GRAVES
16. Addio Monti - TARO HAKASE
17. Cinema Paradiso - ENNIO MORRICONE

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