METALLICA Fans Name 'Master Of Puppets' Band's Greatest Song Ever

"Master Of Puppets", the title track of METALLICA's 1986 album, has been named the band's greatest song ever.

Beginning in late May, fans were able to vote on 32 pairs of songs battling against each other and advancing in a total of five rounds in a knockout competition they dubbed "Some Kind Of Bracket".

The original 64 tunes included in the bracket were selected based on the highest Spotify plays, multiplying them by how many times those tracks have been played live.

On its way to the final round, "Master Of Puppets" defeated "Dyers Eve", "Atlas, Rise!", "Ride The Lightning", "Sad But True" and "Fade To Black". Eventually, "Master Of Puppets" beat "One" to take the crown of the greatest METALLICA song of all time.

Announcing the result, METALLICA wrote: "The people have spoken and single song stands alone above the rest. Your champion is ~ drum roll please ~ "MASTER OF PUPPETS!"… no wonder that thing is in the Library of Congress! Thanks for playing along with us!"

"Master Of Puppets" was originally released on March 3, 1986, on Elektra Records and went on to become the first METALLICA album to be certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association Of America. The album has been certified six times platinum in the United States and has sold over 10 million copies worldwide.

In 2016, the album became the first metal album to be added to the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress, an honor granted to works deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

While METALLICA was hesitant for a long time to allow single songs from its catalog to be downloaded, frontman James Hetfield told The Pulse Of Radio a while back that the band eventually had to accept it. "Yeah, I think the song-per-song vs. album is kind of a long-lost battle, I think. You know, people in the fast-food world we live in want what they want, and want it now, and when they're done with it, they're done with it."