METALLICA's 'Master Of Puppets' Is 'Top Metal Song Of All Time'

METALLICA, JUDAS PRIEST, IRON MAIDEN and BLACK SABBATH are among the artists who have made Gibson.com's list of "Top 50 Metal Songs Of All Time".

Check out the entire list below:

01. "Master of Puppets" - METALLICA
02. "Ace of Spades" - MOTÖRHEAD
03. "Crazy Train" - OZZY OSBOURNE
04. "Iron Man" - BLACK SABBATH
05. "The Number of the Beast" - IRON MAIDEN
06. "War Pigs" - BLACK SABBATH
07. "Paranoid" - BLACK SABBATH
08. "One" - METALLICA
09. "Hallowed Be Thy Name" - IRON MAIDEN
10. "Breaking the Law" - JUDAS PRIEST
11. "Children of the Grave" - BLACK SABBATH
12. "Welcome to the Jungle" - GUNS N' ROSES
13. "Black Sabbath" - BLACK SABBATH
14. "Hells Bells" - AC/DC
15. "The Trooper" - IRON MAIDEN
16. "Painkiller" - JUDAS PRIEST
17. "Stargazer" - RAINBOW
18. "Enter Sandman" - METALLICA
19. "Back in Black" - AC/DC
20. "Runnin' with the Devil" - VAN HALEN
21. "The Hellion/Electric Eye" - JUDAS PRIEST
22. "Run to the Hills" - IRON MAIDEN
23. "Let it Go" - DEF LEPPARD
24. "Epic" - FAITH NO MORE
25. "Hangar 18" - MEGADETH
26. "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" - IRON MAIDEN
27. "You've Got Another Thing Comin'" - JUDAS PRIEST
28. "Fear of the Dark" - IRON MAIDEN
29. "Raining Blood" - SLAYER
30. "Walk" - PANTERA
31. "Holy Diver" - DIO
32. "Highway to Hell" - AC/DC
33. "Heaven and Hell" - BLACK SABBATH
34. "Bulls on Parade" - RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE
35. "Fade to Black" - METALLICA
36. "Angel of Death" - SLAYER
37. "Peace Sells" - MEGADETH
38. "Freak on a Leash" - KORN
39. "Them Bones" - ALICE IN CHAINS
40. "Cemetery Gates" - PANTERA
41. "Detroit Rock City" - KISS
42. "Devil's Child" - JUDAS PRIEST
43. "Run with the Wolf" - RAINBOW
44. "Would?" - ALICE IN CHAINS
45. "We're Not Gonna Take It" - TWISTED SISTER
46. "Hell Bent for Leather" - JUDAS PRIEST
47. "Beyond the Realms of Death" - JUDAS PRIEST
48. "Bomber" - MOTÖRHEAD
49. "Unchained" - VAN HALEN
50. "10,000 Days (Wings, Part II)" - TOOL

According to The Pulse Of Radio, it was 25 years ago this month that METALLICA released its epic third studio album, "Master Of Puppets". The disc was released on March 3, 1986 and was produced by Flemming Rasmussen, who also produced 1984's "Ride The Lightning" and 1988's "...And Justice For All" for the band. In an interview with Phoenix New Times, Rasmussen was asked if he knew the album was special while he was working on it. He replied, "Oh yes. Right from the demos, we pretty much knew this was gonna be a killer album. I think we all felt that this was gonna be the best METALLICA album yet, as we had a bunch of really strong songs. Even the instrumentals were awesome."

"Master Of Puppets" was the last album to feature bassist Cliff Burton, who died in a tour bus crash in September 1986 and was replaced by Jason Newsted. Rasmussen said about Burton, "He was surely one of a kind, and even though Jason is a great bass player, it was impossible to fill out Cliff's shoes."

Many fans consider "Master Of Puppets" METALLICA's greatest album, which the band itself acknowledged when it played the record in its entirety on a summer 2006 tour of Europe. The Pulse Of Radio asked frontman James Hetfield if the band would ever like to play another album in its entirety in concert. "It's pretty important that the fan be involved in that, you know," he said. "It was more of a fan's asking for that than us wanting to do it. You know, that was a pretty important album in our career, so pretty historic for a lot of people and that made sense. But as far as, you know -- I'd love to play any and every one of them, but you know, it does really come down to the fans really holding that dear to their heart or not."

"Master Of Puppets" was METALLICA's first gold album, for sales of more than half a million copies. Many songs from the disc, including "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)", "Battery", "Leper Messiah" and the title track are still part of the band's live set to this day.