Stranger things have happened. And they continue to happen, both in the world and if you’re in the middle of watching the fourth season of the hit series. I myself am on episode 4 at the point of writing this article, so be assured, dear reader - there will not be any spoilers if I can help it.
However, I will advise you not to search for the scene which we will be discussing today, as it will lead to a plethora of things you don’t want, making Stranger Things less uncanny. You have been warned.
Metallica has recently gained a whole lot of young new fans following a scene in the series where Eddie shreds "Master of Puppets" on guitar; however, some older fans have taken issue with the matter, calling the newcomers ‘fake fans.’ Rest assured, the band wasn’t gonna let such insolence slide, and they came back at it in the most epic way.
Let’s crawl into it shall we?
More info: TikTok
Stranger Things have managed to introduce young viewers to Metallica, quickly transforming them into fans, which got some of the old fans gatekeeping
Image credits: Stranger Things - Netflix
The adventure that started in 2016 has captured the minds and hearts of many. The sci-fi mystery drama with a hint of horror is in its fourth season, and the discussions have been endless. And to be fair, for good reason - it’s hella epic!
Stranger Things featured songs like Kate Bush's version of Running Up That Hill and Metallica’s Master of Puppets, played by none other than Eddie Munson (portrayed by Joseph Quinn).
The latter recently topped the iTunes rock chart 36 years after the song was first released due to its inclusion in the Netflix show. However, long-standing fans have dismissed the wave of newcomers who’ve just now come across the band.
Master of Puppets, played by Eddie Munson in the season finale of Stranger Things, topped the iTunes rock charts 36 years after the song was first released
Image credits: Miguel
Tiny bit of trivia. Metallica was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, becoming one of the ‘big four’ founding bands of thrash metal, alongside Megadeth, Anthrax, and Slayer. The band has also been listed as one of the greatest artists of all time by magazines such as Rolling Stone, which ranked them at number 61 on its 100 Greatest Artists of All Time list.
Now that that’s nice and done with, you can see why some hardcore fans might say, ‘What, how do you not know this!?’ But there’s a difference between excited disbelief which then turns into a warm welcome, and depreciation and gatekeeping, the latter coming in rapidly. Gatekeeping, according to the Urban Dictionary, is a series of actions to make your interests exclusive in order to protect them from becoming ‘mainstream.’
One comment came in reply to a TikTok of the band performing Master of Puppets live, saying: “I’m sorry Metallica for all the fake Stranger Things fans, love ya”
Image credits: metallica
One comment came in reply to a video Metallica shared of them performing Master of Puppets live. It read: “I’m sorry Metallica for all the fake Stranger Things fans, love ya.” At the time, the band replied: “If they like Puppets, chances are they’ll find plenty of other songs to get into.”
Another dozen came in saying: “Proud to say I was a fan before Stranger Things.” But those mocking the new fans just because they’d come from Stranger Things were quickly shut down by the band themselves.
The band pinned their own comment as a reminder, saying: "FYI - EVERYONE is welcome in the Metallica Family. Whether you've been a fan for 40 hours or 40 years, we all share a bond through music." They added, "All of you started at ground zero at one point in time.”
The band shut the negativity down, saying: "FYI - EVERYONE is welcome in the Metallica Family. [...] All of you started at ground zero at one point in time”
Image credits: metallica
The band seem super excited to have had their song used in Stranger Things. They wrote in an Instagram post: “The way The Duffer Brothers have incorporated music into Stranger Things has always been next level, so we were beyond psyched for them to not only include Master of Puppets in the show, but to have such a pivotal scene built around it.”
“We were all stoked to see the final result and when we did we were totally blown away... it’s so extremely well done, so much so, that some folks were able to guess the song just by seeing a few seconds of Joseph Quinn’s hands in the trailer!! How crazy cool is that? It’s an incredible honor to be such a big part of Eddie’s journey and to once again be keeping company with all of the other amazing artists featured in the show.”
In response, Metallica duetted the scene where the song is played, with the caption: “Eddie, this is for you!”
Image credits: metallica
But rather than just letting words speak for themselves, they decided to duet Eddie himself and play as a duo, captioning the video with “Eddie, this is for you!” The group’s TikTok video was shared by Netflix, which wrote that the corporation was “currently losing [its] mind over Metalica duetting with Eddie Munson on Master of Puppets!” It seems millions of others have as well, as the video currently stands at 8.8M views and 2M likes.
The gift just keeps on giving. While the actor who plays Eddie, Joseph Quinn, really did learn to play Master of Puppets to convincingly perform the track on-screen, the show’s credits revealed that Tye Trujillo - son of Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo - was responsible for “additional guitar tracks” in the scene. The proud father shared his excitement regarding the fact: “That’s my boy! Proud of ya Tye! ‘Stranger Things’ finale shredding it on ‘Master of Puppets’ and big thanks to Kirk Hammett on helping!”
Music truly brings generations together, from 20-year-olds in the 80s and 20-year-olds in 2022. All we can say is welcome to the family!
Image credits: wonker
According to The Metallica Club, “The song was scripted in by The Duffer Brothers,” which means it was planned from the very beginning. “You’ve got this huge show with a young audience, some of whom wouldn’t know the song and are hearing it for the first time, so Tye’s playing on it wraps it all around in terms of bringing generations together.”
Music truly acts as a bridge between generations, and there is no one that should prevent the two from colliding, especially regarding something as iconic as Metallica, whose music has impacted the lives of both 20-year-olds back in the 80s and 20-year-olds in 2022. We can all agree - gatekeeping is stupid, so stop and teach newcomers the best things, so that they can teach the next wave of 20-year-olds.
Watch the full epic duet here
Let us know your thoughts in the comments and how long you've been a Metallica fan for. Otherwise, I shall love you and leave you with the hope that no Master of Puppets come pulling your strings, twisting your mind and smashing your dreams!
People have loved this response from Metallica, with Netflix even sharing the moment on their social media. Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
