let's be honest, everybody had lost their shit when THIS came out in 86. That's actually one of the coolest feelings at all - when you discover something new, whether it's some new band or new song from band you are a fan of, or you just adding a new flavour to the song - that's amazing.
It was the same feeling in the 90's, when you didn't have internet. I was born in 83, and spent my teenage years in the 90's. When me and my friends got albums like Puppets, we had read and heard about them, but never actually listened to them, until we put them on our CD players for the first time.
I was 12 years old in 1986. Listening Metallica by then was not that normal as it is nowadays. It was really awesome for me and I immediately felt in love with Orion and with this interlude on Master of Puppets. Great memories.