167) Master of Puppets : Rolling Stone

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Metallica's third album has a lyrical theme: manipulation. "It deals pretty much with drugs," singer-guitarist James Hetfield said. "Instead of you controlling what you're taking and doing, it's drugs controlling you." It also has a sonic theme: really loud guitars, played fast, with no regard for the hair metal on the airwaves. When the band slows down on "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)," it just emphasizes the unrelenting nature of the rest of the songs. Recorded during three months in Copenhagen, this was bassist Cliff Burton's last album with Metallica; he died in September 1986, when the band's bus crashed.

Total album sales: 5.6 million

Peak chart position: 29

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