Master of Puppets

3rd album

Released in March 1986

Genre considered - Thrash Metal

Cover art -

Cemetery of white crosses tethered to strings, manipulated by hands in a clouded, blood-red sky and fiery orange glow on the horizon

In lieu of a single or video in advance of release, Metallica went on a 5-month American tour in support of Ozzy Osbourne.  Their European leg was cancelled after Cliff Burton's death.

Peaked at No. 29 on Billboard 200

Widespread critical acclaim

One of the greatest and most influential metal albums of all time

First metal recording for preservation in the National Recording Registry (Library of Congress)

Song themes - Control, Abuse of power, Consequences of alienation, oppression, and powerlessness

"...Metallica weren't even doing songs, they were telling stories..." - Eamonn Stack, BBC Music

300,000 copies sold in the first three weeks of release

Over 500,000 copies sold in the first year of release

Intriguing note - No radio airplay or videos

Record Score -

AllMusic - 5/5 Stars

Chicago Tribune - 4/4 Stars

Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s - B-

Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal - 10/10

The Encyclopedia of Popular Music - 4/5 Stars

The Great Rock Discography - 9/10

Kerrang! - 5/5 Stars

MusicHound Rock - 4/5 Stars

The Rolling Stone Album Guide - 5/5 Stars

Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time

No. 167 - 2012 ... No. 97 - 2020

Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time

No. 2 in 2017 (behind Black Sabbath's Paranoid)

Included on Time magazine's 100 Best Albums of All Time

2nd greatest rock and metal album of all time, Rock Hard

(German music magazine) ... (behind AC/DC's Back in Black)

4th Greatest Guitar Album of All Time (Guitar World, 2006)

April 2006 edition of Kerrang! dedicated to the album

Track List -

Side One -

1.  Battery

2.  Master of Puppetts

3.  The Thing That Should Not Be

4.  Welcome Home (Sanitarium)

Side Two -

5.  Disposable Heroes

6.  Leper Messiah

7.  Orion (instrumental)

8.  Damage, Inc.

Year-end Charts -

No. 87 Billboard 200 (1986)

No. 89 Canadian Metal Albums (2002)

No. 182 Billboard 200 (2015)

No. 13 Billboard Top Catalog Albums (2015)

No. 11 Billboard Top Catalog Albums (2016)

No. 81 Billboard Top Rock Albums (2018)

No. 37 Poland (2020)

No. 42 Poland (2021)

Certifications -

Gold in Belgium & Italy

Platinum in Argentina, Finland, Germany, New Zealand, Poland, UK

3x Platinum in Australia

6x Platinum in Canada

8x Platinum in the U.S.

(Wikipedia)