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Orion is the 7th track off of Metallica's 3rd studio album, Master of Puppets.
About[]
It is an instrumental and was named after the star constellation, Orion, due to the song's spacey sounding bridge. It was written by James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, and most notably, Cliff Burton. The song is more progressive than the band's previous work.
Structure[]
There are three main parts of the song: the heavy beginning, the spacey bass-led interlude, and the ending recapitulation that brings back the heaviness. The song features four solos: the first one by Kirk Hammett, the second solo by James Hetfield, followed by a bass solo by Cliff Burton and the last by Hammett again.
In an episode of "It's Electric," Lars and Kirk reveal that during the writing stage, Orion had actually been part of the song Welcome Home (Sanitarium), under the name "Only Thing".
Cliff Memorial[]
This song was played at the memorial for Cliff Burton, most notably because of the bass solo. It was also played live in 2006 when Metallica played the entire Master of Puppets album. In honor of Cliff, the band named its festival "Orion music and more".
Live[]
- "Orion" has been performed 102 times as of January, 2025.
- "Orion's" first half was first played live on November 13th, 2005, in San Francisco, California, at the SBC Park and wouldn't be played fully until June 3rd, 2006, in Nürburg, Germany, at the Nürburgring stadium.
- It was last performed live on December 13th, 2024, in Inglewood, California, at the Helping Hands Concert.
- Metallica played Orion during the Escape from the Studio '06 tour, as well as Rock in Rio 2011. During their '05 gigs, they played Orion as their first song. During their Damaged Justice Tour, Kirk would play his portions of the song. During the Wherever We May Roam Tour after Jason Newsted's bass solo they play a jam of the song. A live performance can be found on the Live Shit: Binge & Purge. During the Nowhere Else To Roam Tour they would combine "Orion", "To Live Is to Die", and "The Call of Ktulu" and form them into a medley.
Trivia[]
References[]
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Master of Puppets |
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| Songs | Battery • Master of Puppets • The Thing That Should Not Be • Welcome Home (Sanitarium) • Disposable Heroes • Leper Messiah •Orion • Damage, Inc. |
| Members | James Hetfield • Lars Ulrich • Kirk Hammett • Cliff Burton |
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Guitar Hero Metallica |
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| Songs | For Whom the Bell Tolls • The Unforgiven • Nothing Else Matters • Enter Sandman • King Nothing • Sad But True • No Leaf Clover • Orion • Fade to Black • The Memory Remains • Wherever I May Roam • Welcome Home (Sanitarium) • Fuel • Frantic • One • All Nightmare Long • Hit the Lights • Mercyful Fate • Seek & Destroy • Creeping Death • Master of Puppets • Battery • The Shortest Straw • Whiplash • Dyers Eve • Disposable Heroes • Fight Fire with Fire • The Thing That Should Not Be • Broken, Beat & Scarred • Cyanide • My Apocalypse |
| Featured Band Songs | Turn the Page • Tuesday's Gone • Am I Evil? • Stone Cold Crazy |
