Song · Metallica
“Battery” by Metallica
From the album Master of Puppets (1986)
“Battery” by Metallica appears on 15 radio countdowns from 7 stations between 1990 and 2025. It was first released in 1986 on the album Master of Puppets. Its best result is #6 on the WJJO Frequent Rocker Top 100 Songs of 2023. In the combined RockLists rankings it is #3,449 classic rock song of all time.
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"Battery" kicks the door in on Master of Puppets, Metallica's third album, in 1986, and it pulls the same bait-and-switch they'd tried with "Fight Fire with Fire" on Ride the Lightning. It opens on a pair of acoustic guitars tracing a gentle, almost courtly melody, then distortion, drums and bass slam down on the same chords, and then everything snaps into a thrash riff so fast it feels like a stampede. James Hetfield came up with that riff while unwinding in London.
Hetfield and Lars Ulrich wrote and arranged it, Kirk Hammett and Hetfield share the guitar carnage, Cliff Burton's bass hammers underneath, and the band produced it with Flemming Rasmussen. The lyrics wrestle with anger taking the wheel, with the San Francisco thrash scene as the backdrop.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Classic Rock
Hard Rock & Metal
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 609 | Z-Rock | Z-Rock Top 1001 Songs of All-Time (1990) | 1000 |
| 1994 | 780 | KISW | KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1994) | 1000 |
| 1995 | 600 | KISW | KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1995) | 1000 |
| 2002 | 719 | KISW | KISW Top 999 of All Time (2002) | 999 |
| 2009 | 32 | Studio Brussel | Studio Brussel De Zwaarste Lijst (2009) | 70 |
| 2010 | 54 | Studio Brussel | Studio Brussel De Zwaarste Lijst (2010) | 70 |
| 2013 | 15 | KBPI | KBPI Top 200 Songs of All Time | 200 |
| 2015 | 29 | Studio Brussel | Studio Brussel De Zwaarste Lijst (2015) | 66 |
| 2016 | 35 | Studio Brussel | Studio Brussel De Zwaarste Lijst (2016) | 66 |
| 2017 | 21 | Studio Brussel | Studio Brussel De Zwaarste Lijst (2017) | 66 |
| 2018 | 35 | Studio Brussel | Studio Brussel De Zwaarste Lijst (2018) | 66 |
| 2022 | 416 | 99.1 PLR | 99.1 PLR Big 500 (2022) | 500 |
| 2023 | 6 | 94.1 WJJO | WJJO Frequent Rocker Top 100 Songs of 2023 | 100 |
| 2024 | 77 | KEXP | The Best Opening Tracks of All Time | 738 |
| 2025 | 26 | 94.1 WJJO | WJJO Frequent Rocker Top 100 Songs of 2025 | 100 |
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