The mystery of which song features THAT guitar solo in the new Stranger Things has been solved

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By ( Metal Hammer ) last updated

If you were wondering what song Eddie Munson is shredding in Stranger Things, well, we have the answer: "It's an inspired choice" actor Joseph Quinn tells us

Stranger Things Eddie Munson
(Image credit: Stranger Things)

When the trailer for the second volume of Stranger Things dropped last month, the internet had many questions, but one question in particular occupied the thoughts of rock fans, namely what song metalhead Eddie Munson could be shredding on his guitar?

Various suggestions were put forward at the time: one popular guess was the guitar solo from Europe's 1986 hallmark anthem The Final Countown, while others plumped for the opening riff to Guns 'N Roses' Sweet Child 'O Mine, which was released a year later on Appetite For Destruction.

We called in expert assistance, namely our good pals over at Guitar World, to try to solve the mystery, and the majority opinion was that Munson was shredding Metallica's Master Of Puppets, with Editor In Chief Michael Astley-Brown remarking on Eddie's hand positioning: "the stuff up the neck is the right position for that solo."

Well, spoiler alert, the truth can now be revealed. And, what d'ya know, the Guitar World crew nailed it: 

When we asked actor Joseph Quinn, who plays Eddie Munson, if he personally picked Master Of Puppets for the segment, he told us it was completely [Stranger Things creators and executive producers] the Duffer brothers' idea.

"I just feel that it's the perfect song," Quinn added, "a crescendo to take us through this crazy sequence. It's an inspired choice for the show, definitely."

The show's costume designer recently revealed that the Dio patch featured on the back of Eddie Munson's jacket was bestowed directly from the metal icon's estate.

“I love Eddie, I think Eddie feels so real,” said Amy Parris. "And he’s wearing one thing because he’s in that outfit the whole time, so I really focused and zeroed in on making sure everything in that outfit was authentic."

Stranger Things is streaming on Netflix.

Paul Brannigan
Paul Brannigan
Contributing Editor, Louder

A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.