Top 10 Cliff Burton Metallica Songs

This closing track from 'Master of Puppets' was one of the last songs written by all four members of Metallica while Cliff Burton was still alive. "It's just the same four idiots, trying to stay in tune and stay in time," drummer Lars Ulrich says in the 'Cliff 'Em All' clip featured here. Sadly, one of those four guys is no longer with us.

'Creeping Death' is classic Metallica thrash, although the tempo is slowed down from the breakneck pace of 'Kill 'Em' All.' It's also one of the songs Metallica have performed most often live, with a mid-section chant-a-long that brings out loud cries "Die! Die! Die!" from the crowd. Burton named this tune after watching the flick 'The Ten Commandments,' which starred Charlton Heston as Moses.

The last Metallica single to feature Burton, ‘Sanitarium’ has been covered countless times, by everybody from fellow Big 4 act Anthrax to metal vets Machine Head to nu-metallers Limp Bizkit to string duo Apocalyptica. Primus, meanwhile, have been known to play the intro to 'Sanitarium' in concert. In fact, Primus bassist-singer Les Claypool tried out for Metallica after Cliff’s death; singer-guitarist James Hetfield has remarked that Claypool didn’t get the gig because he was “too good.”

A song that lives up to its name with breakneck rhythms and live-wire guitar jolts, ‘Ride the Lightning’ is often noted for its lyrical content, which follows the story of an innocent man given the death penalty after being falsely convicted. As Hetfield once said, "I believe in capital punishment, but it was more about the idea of being strapped in the electric chair even though you didn’t commit the crime."

A constant on almost every Metallica encore setlist to this day, 'Seek & Destroy' features call-and-response vocals that never fail to rile up the crowd: Hetfield shouts, "Searching," and the audience shouts back, "Seek & Destroy!" Burton didn’t have a hand in writing ‘S & D,’ but his thick rumble holds down the fort, leaving plenty of room for Hetfield and fellow guitarist Kirk Hammett to shred the night away.

'Fade to Black' is widely considered Metallica's first ballad. "Bands like Exodus and Slayer don't do ballads, but they've stuck themselves in that position we never wanted to do," James Hetfield once told Guitar Player magazine. "Limiting yourself to please your audience is bulls--t." Metallica were playing ‘Fade’ when Hetfield was engulfed in pyrotechnics during their ’92 stadium tour with Guns N’ Roses.

The only Metallica track solely attributed to Burton, ‘Pulling Teeth’ is basically a four-minute-long bass solo. Burton played it when Hetfield and Ulrich first saw him performing with his former band, Trauma. "We heard this wild solo going on and thought, 'I don't see any guitar player up there,'” recalled Hetfield. “We were both counting the strings and I finally turned to Lars and said, 'Dude, that's a bass!'”

Widely considered Metallica’s magnum opus and often cited as Cliff’s favorite song. Hetfield told Thrasher: "'Master of Puppets' deals pretty much with drugs. How things get switched around, instead of you controlling what you're taking and doing it's drugs controlling you." The tune remains a staple at Metallica shows and is always a crowd favorite.

Watching Burton play the scorching lead that kicks off 'For Whom the Bell Tolls' is like getting an instant lesson on his virtuosic playing style. What sounds like a descending guitar lick is actually Cliff tearing it up with a wah-wah pedal on the bass, his left hand halfway up the neck and right one flailing faster than a banshee. Later, he holds down the rhythmic low-end and bangs his head in perfect synchronicity. Simply amazing!

Played at Burton's funeral, 'Orion' is the only instrumental track on 'Master of Puppets' and a song Metallica have rarely performed in its entirety since his death. It opens with Cliff’s atmospheric wah-wah strains, moves into some mid-tempo thrashing and features two bass solos often confused as guitar. The bass-driven interlude in the middle is one of the most haunting musical passages Metallica have ever put to tape.