‘Master of Puppets’: Dave Grohl’s favourite Metallica song
Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl loves a lot of music. From indie newcomers Wet Leg to classic disco enthusiasts the Bee Gees, the former Nirvana drummer has made it clear in his time that genre-defining tags do not concern him; it’s the quality of the art that counts.
One genre that Grohl is particularly inextricable from is metal. A fan of classic outfits like Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and Rush during his youth, when drumming in the influential hardcore band Scream in his late teens, he would be particularly interested in the music that metal, now a multifaceted behemoth with many different subgenres, was producing.
As he established his distinctive style as a drummer during this period, the metal aspects of Grohl’s playing became more prominent. They would provide his post-Scream band, Nirvana, with some of their most thunderous moments. Whether it be the John Bonham-esque introductory fill of breakout single ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’, the technical nouse of ‘In Bloom’, or the thrashy blasts of ‘Scentless Apprentice’, Grohl’s connection to the world of metal is clear.
Throughout his career, Grohl has discussed the brilliance of bands such as Slayer, Pantera, Sepultura and even crossover legends Cro-Mags. As a lifelong fan of metal, an artist who has witnessed it splinter off into many different areas for over three decades, he is better placed than most to comment on its history.
Despite having a strange and brief feud with their drummer Lars Ulrich, Grohl remains a longtime fan of Metallica. He’s even claimed that their frontman, James Hetfield, influenced his performing style as much as other artists he holds dear, like the late David Bowie.
During a conversation with Q, which has been collated on the Foo Archive, Dave Grohl listed his 20 favourite metal songs of all time, and amongst them was his ultimate Metallica anthem. It is ‘Master of Puppets’, the title track from the 1986 album of the same name. The composition is a cornerstone of the thrash genre, and for many budding musicians of Grohl’s generation, it was a significant building block in their progression, pushing them to play harder and faster.
He said of the song: “I bought this mail order from some catalogue based purely on the description of the album. It said ‘thrash metal’ which I’d never heard before. It came and I couldn’t believe it. I’d heard Motorhead and some punk but not a band as fast and tight and as metal.”
Listen to ‘Master of Puppets’ below.
