Horns Up For Metallica’s Long Lost Recorded Album in El Paso

METALLICA...the biggest name in metal history. No matter who you are or how old you are, everyone knows the name "Metallica". Fans in El Paso certainly know who Metallica is & we love them. We've seen them a handful of times in the 80s, 90s & as recently as 2019. But what you probably DIDN'T know is that Metallica recorded an album during the 80s. And that album had a name: Puppets in El Paso.

When did Metallica record Puppets in El Paso?

The date was May 12th, 1986 at the El Paso County Coliseum. While opening up for Ozzy Osbourne on his The Ultimate Sin tour, Metallica was on their Damage, Inc. tour while promoting their Master of Puppets album.

You had the classic line-up: James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett, Lars Ulrich & the late Cliff Burton. All 4 performed for rowdy El Paso fans a total of 9 songs, ranging from all 3 albums they had recorded including:

• Seek & Destroy from Kill 'Em All,
• For Whom the Bell Tolls, Ride the Lightning and Creeping Death from Ride the Lightning.
• Battery, Master of Puppets & Welcome Home (Sanitarium) from Master of Puppets.
• They also performed 2 encores: Am I Evil & Damage Inc.

The album, Puppets in El Paso, contains 6 of the 9 songs from that very performance, along with 3 never before heard demo tracks of Welcome Home (Sanitarium), Disposable Heroes & of course...Master of Puppets.

For a long while this album was a rarity but thanks to YouTube, you can find the whole album online & most of the setlist from their 1986 El Paso concert online. Which means you can hear James & Cliff scream out to their El Paso fans.

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Metallica would record ANOTHER live album in El Paso

This wouldn't be their only live album recorded in El Paso; their 2019 Don Haskins show would ALSO be recorded & they would have an additional live album recorded in Dallas during the 90s.

Thank you Metallica for making El Paso a unique part of metal & YOUR history!

EDIT: This story was originally published on September 26, 2023