🚨🚨🚨 Before we get started, SPOILERS. THERE ARE SPOILERS FOR STRANGER THINGS SEASON 4 IN HERE. SPOILERS!!!🚨🚨🚨
The fourth season of Stranger Things has officially ended, and y'all, 'twas a ride. An awesome, intense, ridiculous ride.
But one thing that definitely stood out this season was just how many absolutely incredible needle-drop moments there were! These, of course, included the now-iconic use of Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill" in Episode 4:
View this video on YouTube
And the use of Journey's "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)" at the end of Episode 8:
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Plus, this is my personal favorite Journey song, mostly because of its absolutely bonkers music video.
Still, the most ~badass~ use of music this season came in the very last episode, when fan-favorite Eddie Munson ventured into the Upside Down to help his friends create an epic distraction.
What kind of distraction, you ask? Oh, nothing too dramatic...just positively SHREDDING the riff to Metallica's "Master of Puppets" while being swarmed by a hoard of demobats. Seriously, just watch the scene. No quippy description written by me will do it justice:
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During a recent interview with Variety, the show’s music supervisor, Nora Felder, revealed that the Duffer Brothers had planned to use the song in the season as early as script pre-production.
"It was another one of those 'it has to be this song,' moments. This part of the story was anticipated to be a pivotal and especially hair-raising scene in which Eddie heroically stood tall for the fight of his life," she said. "I believe the Duffer Brothers felt that playing 'Master of Puppets' throughout the extended scene was the clear choice."
"No other song was discussed further, and we jumped in to clear it straight away. The track was a perfect match for Eddie since it not only amplified the episode’s most thrilling scene, but, in some ways, aligns with Eddie’s seemingly arrogant and edgy in-your-face public persona," she said. "The Talisman-like qualities of Eddie’s guitar and punk metal music help him reconnect to his closely-guarded traits of love, care, and courage."
"I got in touch with Metallica’s management office and carefully went over the scene and what the intent would be. I knew the clearance would be taken seriously as we had used one of their songs ('The Four Horseman') in Season 2 and had learned at that time that they were fans of the show," she said. "'Master of Puppets' is a pretty significant song in their catalog, and I think it’s considered a favorite in their live shows. I wanted to be respectful in making sure that Metallica fully understood what context the song was being used in, plus how integral it was to the scene and for this exciting new character, Eddie Munson, who no one had met yet in previous seasons."
Needless to say, Metallica signed off on use of the song on pitch alone, and the rest is rock 'n' roll history!
Also, just in case you were skeptical, Felder confirmed that actor Joseph Quinn did, in fact, learn the entire riff and was actually playing along while they filmed!
"Yes, Joseph did take time to learn the guitar riff and was actually playing along to a guide track. Everyone thought he did a great job."
Anyway, you better believe fans of the show in general and Eddie in particular had a lot to say (read: tweet) about the scene:
🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇 🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇 🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇 🦇┏┓On this house we play 🦇 🦇┃┃ Master of Puppets 🎸 🦇 🦇╱▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔╲ 🦇 🦇╱╱┏┳┓╭╮┏┳┓ ╲╲🦇 🦇▔▏┗┻┛┃┃┗┻┛▕▔ 🦇
he played the “master of puppets” by metallica — the most metal concert in the history of the world. eddie munson, an icon and hero. #StrangerThings4 #StrangerThings4Vol2
me when eddie starts shredding the master of puppets solo
Me listening to Master of Puppets by Metallica after watching Stranger Things season 4 vol.2
I firmly believe that #StrangerThings had the three best needle drops of the year all in one season. Running Up That Hill, Separate Ways, and Master of Puppets. All three jaw-dropping moments. 🎸
master of puppets came out on march 3 1986. st4 occurred after march 22, 1986. meaning eddie learned all of master of puppets in TWO WEEKS and absolutely SHREDDED IT.
i will NEVER stop talking about eddie munson’s guitar GOD moment #StrangerThings4
“He could have run. He could’ve saved himself but he fought! He fought and died to protect this town that hated him. He isn’t just innocent…He’s a hero.” EDDIE MUNSON YOU WILL ALWAYS BE IN MY HEART. #StrangerThings
When eddie said " Chrissy, this is for you " and started playing Master of Puppets by Metallica jason could never that piece of shit #StrangerThings4
just found out that eddie's guitar scene wasn't done by a body double,, it was actually joe quinn himself playing... the duffer didn't even know he could play guitar...yet he nailed the master of puppets insane solo like that because he's VERY good at it.....wig
the fact that joseph quinn actually played master of puppets himself during this scene makes it so much more iconic. what can’t this man do??
me watching eddie do that master of puppets guitar solo
and if eddie played the full 8:34 mins of master of puppets and there was just complete chaos in the background? i would love to see it
@Stranger_Things Me listening to master of puppets all day:
So, uh, yeah. In short:
Eddie Munson playing Metallica's Master of Puppets in the Upside Down to lure the demobats is easily one of the Top 5 coolest things I've ever seen on Stranger Things.