Running Up That Puppet: Kate Gets Metallica-ed

23 July 2022 | 12:10 pm | Staff Writer

Just when you thought Things couldn't get Stranger, 'Running Up That Hill' gets the 'Master of Puppets' treatment.

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The complete takeover of the music zeitgeist of Stranger Things seemed complete when Kate Bush hit #1 again around the world with a four-decade old track, but then proved it had only just started when it catapulted Metallica's early banger 'Master Of Puppets' into the pop charts for the first time in its history. 

Well, what could be better than the tracks individually? A 'Puppets' style reworking of 'Running Up That Hill' of course. Enter stage left, YouTube cover sensation Anthony Vincent, joined by Trivium frontment Matt Heafy who goes all Hetfield on Kate's ass. It's also noting the absolutely ripping guitar solos from shred-master Steve Terreberry. Taking a completely different approach to the also viral Pub Choir version, we agree that any cover can be made better with 30 seconds of shredding to close things out. 


Kate Bush has been breaking chart records across the globe with her 1985 banger and while less than a year ahead of 'Puppets' we're pretty sure the two songs never crossed paths like this until now. The original version of 'Running' is currently still Australia's #1 single this week while Metallica's tune is hanging in at #24 after peaking last week at #19, not bad for an 80s thrash metal banger in 2022. 

In a rare interview last month with BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour, Bush reacted to the song’s new life: “It's just extraordinary. It's such a great series, so I thought that the track would get some attention. But I just never imagined that it would be anything like this. It's so exciting but it's quite shocking really — the whole world's gone mad."

Meanwhile, Metallica have also loved their leap back into the charts, taking to social media. 

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“The way The Duffer Brothers have incorporated music into Stranger Things has always been next level, so we were beyond psyched for them to not only include Master Of Puppets in the show, but to have such a pivotal scene built around it,” Metallica said. “We were all stoked to see the final result and when we did we were totally blown away... it’s so extremely well done, so much so, that some folks were able to guess the song just by seeing a few seconds of Joseph Quinn’s hands in the trailer!! How crazy cool is that?"

What do they both think of this new version? Time will tell.