Metallica played two shows in China, their first shows ever in the country in their 30 year history a few weeks ago. Getting into the country was no easy task. The Chinese government is known for their strict censorship, and Metallica was not except from these practices. The band had to send all of their song lyrics to the Chinese government and the government came back and told them there were certain songs they couldn't perform, including "Master of Puppets."
It's no shock that a song like that wouldn't get past the censors. After all, a point can be drawn from the song to criticisms of the Chinese government.
Of course, the band could've protested and just cancelled their shows but ultimately they did not want to do that and let their 40,000 fans down. James Hetfield said on the Howard Stern show on Monday, when revealing the news:
"Whatever rules they set down, the fans were there to have fun. We got our foot in the door. We were able to go and play in China. That was the key."
That's a great point. Regardless of censorship, Metallica has a huge fanbase that wanted to see the band perform and could live without getting to hear "Master of Puppets" live, although Kirk thought of some alternate solutions:
"What I did is, I had an open guitar solo thing where I just sit there and riff. I played the riff for 'Master Of Puppets' and a couple of other songs that weren't allowed to be played. I played just the music, so I kind of snuck it in there."
Pretty thoughtful! Kudos to Metallica for heading over there and making some Chinese metalheads super stoked.
