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Music

Anthrax's Scott Ian Remembers Metallica's "Orion" in Reissue Essay

"Seriously, did they find a bottle of Beethoven pills?"
Photo by Ulf Magnusson

Metallica will be releasing their monster archival reissue of Master of Puppets on November 10, basically giving everyone everything they've ever wanted in association with that totemic album. In addition to all those demos and bootlegs, it'll also include pages upon pages of writing about the impact of Master on a generation of metal musicians. Among them is Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian, who wrote an essay about the instrumental "Orion" featured on the album. Today, on the 31st anniversary of late Metallica bassist Cliff Burton's final show with the band, you can read an exclusive excerpt from that essay below. You can also jam to "Orion" itself after the excerpt.

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"You have to remember that this was 1986 and they were breaking new ground. When I listen to a song like 'Master' or 'Sanitarium' now with 30 years of experience it's easy to see what they did. But in 1986 it was E=MC 2. It was unfathomable and I haven't even gotten to their masterpiece 'Orion' yet. Seriously, did they find a bottle of Beethoven pills? How did they have the maturity to write an eight-and-a-half-minute instrumental that works? 'Orion' is moving, it's cohesive and exciting, and it is dynamic. My ears never even had a chance to get bored because Metallica made me wonder what was coming next."

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