Metallica's "Master Of Puppets" Is Atop of The Charts Thanks To The Stranger Things Season 4 Finale

SF Chronicle - Metallica may be on track for a Kate Bush-style Gen Z revival after its song “Master of Puppets” was used in the season four finale of the Netflix show “Stranger Things.”

The song just hit No. 1 on the iTunes rock chart, some 36 years after it was originally released.

In the second volume of the series’ fourth season, the cast’s resident metal-head — the long-haired, leather-clad Eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn) — plays a scorching instrumental version of the Bay Area rock band’s 1986 track in one of the episode’s key scenes.

“The way The Duffer Brothers have incorporated music into ‘Stranger Things’ has always been next level, so we were beyond psyched for them to not only include ‘Master of Puppets‘ in the show but to have such a pivotal scene built around it,” Metallica said in an Instagram post on Tuesday, July 5. “We were all stoked to see the final result and when we did we were totally blown away… it’s so extremely well done, so much so, that some folks were able to guess the song just by seeing a few seconds of Joseph Quinn’s hands in the trailer!! How crazy cool is that?”

Pretty fuckin cool Lars.

If you haven’t completed Season 4 of Stranger Things yet, what the hell are you waiting for?

The finale to the finale to the season finale is only like 6.5 hours long. The good thing about it though is that it flies by because it’s so well written, acted, and filmed.

I think aside from Season 1, this was the best one yet.

And music had a large part to play in that.

I already blogged about the Kate Bush resurrection, and how “Running Up That Hill” has become so popular, it’s not only atop the iTunes Charts, you’ll also hear it being played at big clubs and festivals this summer. 

That was featured heavily in the first half of season 4 in a pivotal scene with Max, and also rearranged it to fit other scenes as well.

Which is also what The Duffer bros did with another 80s GEM: “Separate Ways” by Journey.

I won’t spoil it, but when that scene began with the keyboard intro from the song, and now they edited it to slowly build into a dramatic crescendo, definitely got the blood flowing. Only disappointment was that it cut off and ended in a cliff hanger and we didn’t get to hear Steve Perry wail, “love dividddddddddddddes”.

But the real jaw dropper, and again, not to spoil anything, was without a doubt when Eddie (who came on the scene out of nowhere and really stole the season acting wise if we’re being totally honest), picked up the axe and started fucking SHREDDING “Master Of Puppets”.

You can watch the clip in the Metallica Instagram post if you don’t mind having part of the plot spoiled for you.

If you’ve seen it already, you knew exactly what the scene was before even clicking this blog.

It’s that well done.

I’m a total dork when it comes to soundtracking movies and television shows. My dick gets rock hard when the music or score fits so perfectly to what’s happening on the screen that it makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up straight, or gives your goosebumps, or causes a smile to form across your face without even thinking consciously to do it. I fucking love that stuff.

I also love when directors and producers take chances by swinging big with big time songs, getting them cleared, and incorporating them into big time scenes.

The Duffer’s, with Metallica’s blessing, crushed that in this season.

P.s.- it’s kind of nuts how many lame music “hipsters” there still are today. That Kate Bush blog I wrote drew so many fucking losers chirping about how “her version isn’t even the best version of that song”, or idiots trying to argue that Stranger Things featuring it had nothing to do with it rocketing to #1 thirty five years after its debut.

It will be the same thing here with die hard Metallica fans I’m sure. The weirdest thing is when huge fans of a band or group or artist get territorial or offended when a new wave of fans become interested in “their” band. It’s a good thing guys. It’s how groups stay relevant and enjoy longevity. A show like Stranger Things introducing younger generations to actually good music and them flocking to it is a good thing. Embrace it.

P.p.s.-