Template:Mop "Battery" is the opening track of Metallica's 1986 album Master of Puppets. As with the opening tracks from both Ride The Lightning and ...And Justice For All, Battery begins with a slow, clean guitar part. In this case, as many as five acoustic guitars are layered harmonically before the drums and bass come in with distorted guitars playing a more melodic version of the acoustic part. This lasts until 1:06, when the guitars cut into a very fast minimalist thrash metal riff that is the basis for the rest of the song.

In keeping with the general "control" theme of Master of Puppets, the lyrics of "Battery" discuss the control that anger can have over one's behavior. The title refers to "battery" in the sense of "assault and battery", as shown by these lyrics: "Smashing through the boundaries / Lunacy has found me / Cannot stop the battery". The song is an indirect tribute to the Old Waldorf Club in San Francisco on Battery street.^[1]

"Battery" is still an almost constant part of the band's live set list, frequently as the opening or closing song. In some cases, it is also used as a song before the intermission. When played, the song may stop before the interlude, and James asks the crowd "Are you alive?... How does it feel to be alive?" and followed by the solo played by Kirk.

• This song was covered by the band Machine Head for Kerrang!'s Master Of Puppets: Remastered.
• This song was adapted for Metallica's 1999 S&M concert; it was used as the second encore after "Enter Sandman."

• ^ "Battery" song info at Encyclopedia Metallica