Master of Puppets is the third studio album by heavy metal band Metallica, released on March 3, 1986, by Elektra Records. It is the final album to feature bassist Cliff Burton and has a runtime of 54 minutes.
 
The album peaked at number 29 on the Billboard 200 and received widespread acclaim for its music and political lyrics. It is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential metal albums of all time and is credited with solidifying the American thrash metal scene. In 2003, it was certified six times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipping six million copies in the United States. It also achieved six times platinum status from Music Canada and platinum status from the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). In 2015, Master of Puppets became the first metal album to be selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry, recognized for its cultural, historical, or aesthetic significance.