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Metallica: Back to the Front
Back to the Front tells the amazing, fully authorized story of the band’s seminal Master of Puppets album and tour.
Released on March 3, 1986, Metallica’s Master of Puppets album became an instant classic and announced the band as the most electrifying new voice in rock. Thirty years later, this six-time platinum album is considered to be the high-water mark of Metallica’s incredible career, with songs like “Battery,” “Welcome Home (Sanitarium),” and the title track, “Master of Puppets,” still a staple of their sell-out live shows. Sadly, this hugely successful period for Metallica was marred by a tragedy that shook the band to its the death of bassist Cliff Burton in a tour bus accident on September 27, 1986.
For the first time, Back to the Front tells the fully authorized story of the creation of the Master of Puppets album and the subsequent tour. Featuring new and exclusive interviews with band members James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, and Kirk Hammett, this is the definitive account of the most venerated period of Metallica’s history, from the incredible highs of touring in support of Ozzy Osbourne to the lows of losing a key member of the band and crucial part of the Metallica sound. Back to the Front will also feature interviews with other important figures in the band’s history, including managers Cliff Burnstein and Peter Mensch, Faith No More guitarist Jim Martin, Anthrax band members Scott Ian and Charlie Benante, and many, many more.
Filled with hundreds of never-before-seen images from the band’s personal archives, this deluxe volume will combine an in-depth narrative with stunning visuals, taking fans further into this defining period of the band’s career than ever before. Released to coincide with the thirtieth anniversary of the Master of Puppets album and tour, Back to the Front is created with the full cooperation and support of the band. The result is a treasure trove of stories, anecdotes, and never-before-seen photographs that legions of Metallica fans will cherish for generations to come.
Released on March 3, 1986, Metallica’s Master of Puppets album became an instant classic and announced the band as the most electrifying new voice in rock. Thirty years later, this six-time platinum album is considered to be the high-water mark of Metallica’s incredible career, with songs like “Battery,” “Welcome Home (Sanitarium),” and the title track, “Master of Puppets,” still a staple of their sell-out live shows. Sadly, this hugely successful period for Metallica was marred by a tragedy that shook the band to its the death of bassist Cliff Burton in a tour bus accident on September 27, 1986.
For the first time, Back to the Front tells the fully authorized story of the creation of the Master of Puppets album and the subsequent tour. Featuring new and exclusive interviews with band members James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, and Kirk Hammett, this is the definitive account of the most venerated period of Metallica’s history, from the incredible highs of touring in support of Ozzy Osbourne to the lows of losing a key member of the band and crucial part of the Metallica sound. Back to the Front will also feature interviews with other important figures in the band’s history, including managers Cliff Burnstein and Peter Mensch, Faith No More guitarist Jim Martin, Anthrax band members Scott Ian and Charlie Benante, and many, many more.
Filled with hundreds of never-before-seen images from the band’s personal archives, this deluxe volume will combine an in-depth narrative with stunning visuals, taking fans further into this defining period of the band’s career than ever before. Released to coincide with the thirtieth anniversary of the Master of Puppets album and tour, Back to the Front is created with the full cooperation and support of the band. The result is a treasure trove of stories, anecdotes, and never-before-seen photographs that legions of Metallica fans will cherish for generations to come.
276 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2016
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202 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
October 4, 2016
Warning: for die-hard fans only. There were multiple times while reading this book that I thought "there's practically no other band that I care enough about to want 200+ pages about the genesis of one album". But if you're a big-time Metallica fan, this is basically mind-blowing. The little details, the behind-the-scenes photos, and the random stories are brilliantly served up in an oral history style. In addition, the book serves as a tribute to Cliff Burton and does so in poignant fashion. For fans, short of a time machine, it doesn't get better than this.
November 29, 2022
I was 15 in early 1986 when Metallica’s third album Master of Puppets came out and it pretty much ruled my life. My friends saw then open for Ozzy in Philly (don’t recall why I didn’t go!) and raved about them, even tho we already had the album. This book is everything I’ve always wanted to know and see about that era that I couldn’t get from metal mags or MTV (not that they were ever even on TV then). Gorgeously mounted as a coffee table book and with an avalanche of rare pix and interviews, I can’t think of a better account of one rock band’s hard-won ascent to rock’n’roll… well, mastery. OBEY!
Oh yeah: if you can read the afterword by Ray Burton, Cliff Burton’s father, without at least one tear in your eye you’re more a man than I, I guess.
Oh yeah: if you can read the afterword by Ray Burton, Cliff Burton’s father, without at least one tear in your eye you’re more a man than I, I guess.
September 13, 2016
Beautifully created full-color hardcover book centering on the early years of Metallica, especially the "Master Of Puppets" era and their time with bassist Cliff Burton, who died in a bus accident in 1986 while the group was on tour. Tons of photos, many of which are rare or never-before-seen, and lots of details revealed from that time by the band, crew, family, friends, and the people in the music business. Author Matt Taylor really put together something special here, and his Introduction, which intersperses the band members' biographies and their early grouping with the events of Burton's death, is a must-read.
If you're a Metallica fan, there's no doubt you will love going through this book. I definitely did.
Read my full review:
http://www.geeksofdoom.com/2016/09/13...
If you're a Metallica fan, there's no doubt you will love going through this book. I definitely did.
Read my full review:
http://www.geeksofdoom.com/2016/09/13...
October 24, 2016
Fascinating read about the writing, recording & touring behind 'Master of Puppets'. And sadly, Cliff Burton's death. I forgot how much of a fanatic I was for the band 30 years ago: the 'Load', 'ReLoad' and 'St Anger' albums were just terrible and made me wonder if they were actively trying to lose their fans - but in the 80's Metallica freaking ruled... and Cliff Burton was the rock in all the chaos as the band exploded out of the underground.
(Some buddies and I went to a Metallica in-store appearance in Fort Worth about 4 months before Cliff's death - we arrived about 3 hours early and were 3rd in line. That autographed poster now hangs framed in my home office.)
(Some buddies and I went to a Metallica in-store appearance in Fort Worth about 4 months before Cliff's death - we arrived about 3 hours early and were 3rd in line. That autographed poster now hangs framed in my home office.)
March 27, 2020
I would give this book 10 stars if I could. Amazing account from the band, personnel, fans, etc.. Master of Puppets is a quintessential album for them ans and this book shows that journey in all its glory. My favorite band and now favorite book about them.
May 12, 2017
A fantastic time capsule of the Master of Puppets album and tour, and a truly great celebration of Cliff Burton's life. A must-read for any Metallica fan.
January 26, 2017
Great book, so many memories, and very sad. Unputdownable, if it wasn't so blinking Heavy. (Pun intended).
January 10, 2018
Summary or TL:DR: Simply put if you are a Metallica fan then yes, this is definitely worth reading and in my opinion owning, if on the other hand you do not care about Metallica, then no it isn’t worth your time
Review: This is mainly a recollection of the writing, recording and touring of the Master Of Puppets album and subsequent tour by Metallica although the beginning introduction is a short quick history of the band prior to 1986 and a more in depth account of September 27th 1986 when their tour bus crashed and Cliff Burton was killed
The main meat of the book surrounds the bands adventures during 1985-86 and each part chronicles something that happened (when they played Donington to a crowd of 70,000, playing Day On The Green in Oakland California etc) these are accompanied by stories and anecdotes from the band members themselves or managers, friends, roadies etc. I did find that a fair amount of the book is an honouring of Cliff Burton’s memory which as this moment in Metallica’s history is marred with his unexpected death, this is understandable and in my opinion a nice homage to him
Having read other Metallica biographies I found that as this is focused on a small period of time (2-3 years), it goes into more detail and has things that were not in other biographies for example Cliff Burton leaving late for the Day On The Green concert, driving on the hard shoulder to get past traffic, being crashed into by a group of fans, running from the car with his bass and his friend parking his ruined station wagon beside Sammy Hagar’s Ferrari.
Also the book is full of photos, at least 2-3 per page in a 300 page book, some of which are popular photos that have been widely seen, others are photos from private collections that have not been shown as frequently
The only negative points I can possibly think of is that it ends quite abruptly after Cliff Burton’s last gig and although it is already nearly 300 pages, more would be greatly appreciated. Other than that for a Metallica fan this is an incredible volume and a great insight into the band from the time they went from relative obscurity to dominating metal globally
Review: This is mainly a recollection of the writing, recording and touring of the Master Of Puppets album and subsequent tour by Metallica although the beginning introduction is a short quick history of the band prior to 1986 and a more in depth account of September 27th 1986 when their tour bus crashed and Cliff Burton was killed
The main meat of the book surrounds the bands adventures during 1985-86 and each part chronicles something that happened (when they played Donington to a crowd of 70,000, playing Day On The Green in Oakland California etc) these are accompanied by stories and anecdotes from the band members themselves or managers, friends, roadies etc. I did find that a fair amount of the book is an honouring of Cliff Burton’s memory which as this moment in Metallica’s history is marred with his unexpected death, this is understandable and in my opinion a nice homage to him
Having read other Metallica biographies I found that as this is focused on a small period of time (2-3 years), it goes into more detail and has things that were not in other biographies for example Cliff Burton leaving late for the Day On The Green concert, driving on the hard shoulder to get past traffic, being crashed into by a group of fans, running from the car with his bass and his friend parking his ruined station wagon beside Sammy Hagar’s Ferrari.
Also the book is full of photos, at least 2-3 per page in a 300 page book, some of which are popular photos that have been widely seen, others are photos from private collections that have not been shown as frequently
The only negative points I can possibly think of is that it ends quite abruptly after Cliff Burton’s last gig and although it is already nearly 300 pages, more would be greatly appreciated. Other than that for a Metallica fan this is an incredible volume and a great insight into the band from the time they went from relative obscurity to dominating metal globally
February 24, 2020
A beast of a book that I enjoyed from cover to cover. By beast I mean both in literal terms of size and weight and also in the content. Having read other Metallica "biographies" etc. over time, I was stoked to discover this fully authorized account of the most important and tragic time in the bands history. I ordered it for work because no other library near us had it available. I really enjoyed the behind-the-scenes pictures and captions and the quotes from so many people, both fans and friends of the band, and the band themselves. I wish all music related books/bios could be this comprehensive and complete.
September 6, 2025
Well I began the Metallica journey I was in grade school and my mom sent me a tape. It was the mid eighties and my mom said this band is from my hometown and check it out. The tape was Creeping Death. It had a few songs…Creeping death and Am I Evil?….and I….was hooked. As soon as I could I went to the record store I told the owner and he got me a copy of the new Master of Puppets record. I was a Thrash fan for life even yes in my 50s. If you’re a fan or curious of the road to this epic album you’ll love it. The stories and the pics. The excitement of the hungry band dominating the lands way before radio played their stuff and …what’s an internet?
June 28, 2017
Fun to look through pictures similar to when I was young and would flip through Circus magazine and see pictures of the boys. Only small complaint is the order of things and how they start off early with Cliff's death and then go back and show/explain the tour with Cliff. Maybe they didn't want to leave on a sad note.
August 2, 2017
I liked looking at all the pictures. Books with pictures are fun to read. I had heard of Metallica before I saw this book but, I did not know much about them. I felt after reading this book I am more knowledgeable about the bad. I also liked reading a little about how they wrote and recorded the songs to master of puppets. I also like learning about the backgrounds of the members of Metallica.
April 21, 2018
I had a blast! Matt Taylor and the guys really made sure that the anecdotes and photos in this book are somewhat unseen before. So it's not a matter of repeating what the die-hard fan already knows, but you get to learn the details beyond that sort of common knowledge. Highly recommended for everyone even remotely interested in Metallica.
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January 11, 20204.5 stars.
This book features tons of fan photos and remembrances, quotes from the tour crew, management, friends and girlfriends, and — of course — the band. It’s a really well-done time capsule with a lot of previously unseen stuff. I was particularly interested since this tour was the first time I saw any band play anywhere, and they talk about that show.
This book features tons of fan photos and remembrances, quotes from the tour crew, management, friends and girlfriends, and — of course — the band. It’s a really well-done time capsule with a lot of previously unseen stuff. I was particularly interested since this tour was the first time I saw any band play anywhere, and they talk about that show.
January 28, 2022
A really well written book with so much information on it. I learnt a lot about one of my favourite bands, and one that I have probably listened to more than any other. It had so much great photography, with fantastic foreword and afterwards. The book shone a light on the tragic story of Cliff Burton's death, and the story surrounding that.
November 28, 2017
Richly detailed, beautifully written. Only issue is it being so big you can't really carry it around, but damn is it awesome.
Must read for all metal enthusiasts influenced by this piece of prime art.
Must read for all metal enthusiasts influenced by this piece of prime art.
June 22, 2018
Awesome book! Awesome band! Great read. Loved the pictures and personal commentary. Reading this book gave me a new level of respect for Metallica.
November 22, 2018
Heaven for metallica fans
November 30, 2018
Great insight and behind the scenes history during an era of the band where the writing and music was nearing it's peak. Great photos and stories from both fans/friends and the band.
November 17, 2019
I was obsessed with Metallica in the 80s/90s and thought I knew their whole history. This book has tons of new info about the writing, recording and tour behind master of puppets. Great stuff.
April 1, 2023
RIP Cliff man…. You were a goddamn legend and I’m glad that I read this book so that I could know more about you…. You’re awesome!
March 21, 2025
THIS BOOK IS THE FUCKING SHIT!!!!!!!!!
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews