Orion (instrumental)

"Orion" is a multipart instrumental highlighting Burton's bass playing. A majority of the song was written by Burton, including the guitar solos. It opens with a fade-in bass section, heavily processed to resemble an orchestra. It continues with mid-tempo riffing, followed by a bass riff at half-tempo. The tempo accelerates during the latter part, and ends with music fading out. Burton arranged each part of the middle section, which features a moody bass line and multipart guitar harmonies. one from Hetfield, and three from the group's lead guitarist, Kirk Hammett. Burton had originally intended to play all the solos on bass, but reluctantly gave up some to the band's two guitarists. While demoing songs for Master of Puppets, "Orion" and "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" had been one song, titled "Only Thing"; between the demo sessions and the album recording sessions, the two songs were split apart. == Live ==

"Orion" is the least-performed song from the album. Its first full live performance was during the Escape from the Studio '06 tour, when the band performed the album in its entirety, honoring the 20th anniversary of its release. The song had previously only been played as a part of medleys, jams, or in an abridged form. On February 10, 2018, what would have been Cliff's 56th birthday, the group played the song. Lars Ulrich called the performance “a very special moment.” On the first date of the band's tour in support of their 11th studio album, 72 Seasons, they opened the show with a performance of "Orion". == Reception and legacy ==

"Orion" has been widely praised by fans and critics alike. Cliff Burton's performance on the track has been widely lauded by critics and fans, and has been constantly regarded as the crowning achievement from his career as a bassist. The song has been covered by numerous different bands and artists, including Dream Theater and Mastodon. The song was featured in the film Metallica: Through the Never as well as the film's soundtrack. Unlike the other songs from the project, "Orion" wasn't recorded live, instead recorded at a soundcheck prior to the show where the other tracks were recorded. The bass intro was sampled on the song “The Number Song” from Endtroducing..... by DJ Shadow. After the death of Cliff Burton, the song became one of Lars Ulrich's favorite Metallica songs. "Obviously, the emotional component of 'Orion' with the Cliff element... and that whole middle piece obviously is… it's beautiful and so unique, unlike anything that obviously we had ever done before or pretty much done ever since". Accolades == Personnel ==

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes. Metallica • James Hetfield – rhythm guitar, 2nd guitar solo • Lars Ulrich – drums, percussion • Cliff Burton – bass • Kirk Hammett – lead guitar Production • Metallica – production • Flemming Rasmussen – production, engineering • Andy Wroblewski – assistant engineer • Michael Wagener – mixing • Mark Wilzcak – assistant mixing engineer • George Marino – mastering, remastering on 1995 re-release • Howie Weinberg – 2017 remastering • Gentry Studer – 2017 remastering == References ==