As noted in a post from way back, the band Metallica *completely* changed my life when I first heard the Master of Puppets album in 1986. I still remember to this day running home off the bus from school and loading the C60 cassette into my little AKAI tape player for the first time; the crackle that had transferred from the vinyl to the tape, then the shivers that made the hairs on my arms stand on end as the first acoustic chords of ‘Battery’ rung out from the tinny speakers.

I was hooked. I was completely mesmerised.

In the twenty eight years since (FUCK! *HOW* LONG?) we’ve been through some ups and downs. I still love them though. They will always be my band.

Anyway, this isn’t my ultimate Metallica song; there are others that have much deeper lyrics, others that are HEAVIER, others that speak to me on a multitude of levels.

But this IS the song that started it all. This IS the one that irrevocably changed my life.

Metallica – Battery