Master Of Puppets
by Metallica

Master Of Puppets by Metallica
Year: 1986
Release date: 1986-03-03
Overall rank: 94th   
Average Rating: 
83/100 (from 1,841 votes)
     
Accolades:
Award Top 5 albums of 1986 (2nd)
Award Top 20 albums of the 1980s (12th)
Award Top 100 albums of all time (94th)

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Master of Puppets by Metallica (Records, Jan-2021, 1 Discs, Blackened Recordings
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Metallica - Master Of Puppets - Cassette Tested 1986 Elektra (60439-4 )
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Metallica bestography

Master Of Puppets is ranked as the best album by Metallica.

Metallica album bestography « Higher ranked
-
This album (94th)
Master Of Puppets
Lower ranked (155th) »
Ride The Lightning

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

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Master Of Puppets track list

   The tracks on this album have an average rating of 86 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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1.
Average Rating: 88 (416 votes)Comments: View 6
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Track pick (920 - 561 votes)
Average Rating: 92 (561 votes)Comments: View 9
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Track pick (890 - 431 votes)
Average Rating: 89 (431 votes)Comments: View 6
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Average Rating: 85 (340 votes)Comments: View 2
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Average Rating: 81 (323 votes)Comments: View 2
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Track pick (890 - 397 votes)
Average Rating: 89 (397 votes)Comments: View 6
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8.
Average Rating: 82 (319 votes)Comments: View 5
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Track pick (1000 - 100 votes) Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

Master Of Puppets rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 94th | 1980s rank: 12th | 1986 rank: 2nd

Master Of Puppets collection

Master Of Puppets ratings

Average Rating: 
83/100 (from 1,841 votes)
   Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 1,841 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
100/100
 !
3 days ago RainWhenIDie   2385/100
 
85/100
 !
4 days ago eclab   1,55284/100
 
100/100
 !
4 days ago Devilwoac   71996/100
 
95/100
 !
4 days ago bobnickmad   36582/100
 
55/100
 !
02/10/2026 02:59 edguyerrison   26573/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album is rated in the top 1% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 83.4/100, a mean average of 81.9/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 83.5/100. The standard deviation for this album is 17.7.

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Master Of Puppets comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 119 comments |
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Rating:  
40/100
From 07/08/2025 21:18 | #309992
Obviously the title track is legendary, I like the slow soft guitar in Welcome Home (Sanitarium) and Orion, but the rest of it is just noise to me, I don't think I'm a fan of thrash metal in general
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -2 votes (0 helpful | 2 unhelpful)
Rating:  
70/100
From 02/08/2025 10:33 | #307474
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Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -3 votes (0 helpful | 3 unhelpful)
Rating:  
65/100
From 09/29/2024 00:30 | #305460
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Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -3 votes (0 helpful | 3 unhelpful)
Rating:  
5/100
From 05/28/2023 07:45 | #297265
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Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -7 votes (0 helpful | 7 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 01/21/2023 11:57 | #293125
Thrash metal masterpiece. I love this album start to finish although I personally prefer Ride The Lightning in terms of quality they're almost equal. Album starts with very intense Battery, then we have masterful song about addiction - Master Of Puppets which takes you through a downward spiral of addict's life, guitar on this track really intensifies lyrical content. The Thing That Should Not Be has dark atmosphere and heavy riffs throughout. Welcome Home (Sanitarium) is one of the more lyrically great tracks on album and is followed by probably the most underrated Metallica track - Disposable Heroes, which depicts war like a never-ending torture and slaughter, which is intensified by instrumental that does not give listener any break from the fast machine gun barking. Then we have quite good Leper Messiah, phenomenal instrumental - Orion and Damage Inc. is ending the album in such intense way that it deserves.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +4 votes (4 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 08/31/2022 03:43 | #289132
Solid album
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (1 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 07/20/2022 14:41 | #287646
What an incredible album this is! The emotion and power that is driven across to the listener is mesmerising and the sheer talent on display is fantastic. The energy never slows throughout the whole record and it is extremely powerful and can so easily dominate you. This is mainly due to the instrumental performances we get which are just astounding. The highlight of this is the guitar work with the incredible riffs and phenomenal solos we get on tracks like Battery, Orion and of course Master Of Puppets with this being the best song on the album. It is 8 minutes of pure energy and emotion that stuns me every time I listen to it both in the context of the album and outside of it. Then there is the drum work which is brilliantly frantic yet controlled at the same time and make all songs pack that extra punch behind them. I am also a massive fan of the vocal work on this record and it is one of the best metal voices I have ever heard. However, for me I do have to be in a certain mood to listen to an hour worth of metal music as it is difficult to keep up with the intensity. Also, the second half isn't as memorable as the first and it does feel a little bit slower in comparison. Overall, this is one of, if not the best, metal album ever made and it is a must listen for any music fan regardless of whether you like the genre or not.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +5 votes (5 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 07/02/2022 00:35 | #286941
Not quite as good as Ride the Lightning, but man is it close. The title track is one of my favorite songs of all time.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 06/10/2022 10:20 | #286179
The greatest metal album ever made, period.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 02/07/2022 14:58 | #280910
Metallicaa rulez,
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Best Albums of 1986
1. The Queen Is Dead by The Smiths
2. Master Of Puppets by Metallica
3. Graceland by Paul Simon
4. So by Peter Gabriel
5. Skylarking by XTC
6. The Colour Of Spring by Talk Talk
7. Reign In Blood by Slayer
8. Lifes Rich Pageant by R.E.M.
9. Licensed To Ill by Beastie Boys
10. Black Celebration by Depeche Mode
11. Evol by Sonic Youth
12. Slippery When Wet by Bon Jovi
13. Peace Sells... But Who's Buying? by Megadeth
14. Parade by Prince And The Revolution
15. Somewhere In Time by Iron Maiden
16. Raising Hell by Run-D.M.C.
17. Invisible Touch by Genesis
18. Atomizer by Big Black
19. True Blue by Madonna
20. Your Funeral... My Trial by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
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