Metallica: how we made Master of Puppets

Lars Ulrich, drums

When we recorded Ride the Lightning in 1984, our producer was Flemming Rasmussen, a Dane. He was definitely our kind of guy: quick on the draw, really smart. The exchange rate between the dollar and the krone was so much in our favour that we decided to record the next album in Denmark. Plus, if you’re going to transplant a bunch of 20-year-old American kids anywhere in western Europe, Copenhagen’s not a bad place. Everyone speaks English, they’re very aware of American culture and there’s lots of good beer.

We had so much energy and belief. It’s interesting how instinctive things used to be, how impulsive. I don’t remember labouring over ideas or ways to do things. We just did it. When you’re 21, you just do shit. When you’re 51, everything is an ordeal.

All the songs had been written, except The Thing That Should Not Be, which we did in the studio. We had a tendency to look at our albums as a collection of different dynamics: there’s a fast song, a mid-tempo song, a ballad, an instrumental. It’s like food groups – you need your carbs, your protein, all of that. So we knew there was a spot for a slow, super-weighty song, and The Thing That Should Not Be came together easily.

We recorded two more songs, initially intended as B-sides: The Prince by Diamond Head, and The Money Will Roll Right In, by a California punk band called Fang. But we thought the punkish nature of the songs was being lost – they were becoming too polished. So we sacked them. Maybe one day they’ll see the light of day.

I remember mixing the record in LA. We used to hang out with Iron Maiden’s manager, Rod Smallwood. He had a house two blocks from Sunset Boulevard that frequently became an after-hours hang. One night, our song Welcome Home (Sanitarium) came on in the background. Rod said: “That was really cool, can I hear it again?” It was as if God had spoken. I thought: “You know what? I think this is going to work out.”

Flemming Rasmussen, producer

Whenever a group comes into the studio, they always want to be the biggest band in the world – but with Metallica, I felt like they could actually pull it off. And they did.

They were ambitious, hard working and always made good demos, so the songs were more or less done when they arrived in Copenhagen. The Thing That Should Not Be turned out great – I’m a sucker for those slow, grinding songs – and I have a fondness for Sanitarium because I messed around with a few things during the recording and it all worked out. During the intro guitars, if you listen on headphones, it starts out in mono then I flick a switch and everything goes into stereo. It’s kind of nice.

We all had the same vision of how the album should sound, so we all pulled in the same direction. That doesn’t happen very often. I had a strong sense that we were making a classic record. It felt like a joyride. I don’t remember a single argument. That’s pretty unusual, too. Now people talk about what happened after their Black Album – all the problems they had in the studio and the egos clashing – but when we made Master they were on the rise. Every time they made a record, it was bigger than the previous one. They were young and full of confidence. You can’t beat that.

It was Cliff Burton’s last album [the bass player died in a bus crash in Sweden in 1986 during a subsequent world tour]. I remember how brilliant he was at arranging harmonies and the melodic side of everything. He had to hang around a lot while we sorted out the drums and rhythm guitars, and he was really, really bored. But when he came to record his parts he was out of this world.

I’ve always kept in touch with Metallica. We shared a special experience. And the albums we made still get me work today.