METALLICA’S “BLACK ALBUM” HITS 16 MILLION IN SALES
Metallica’s self-titled 1991 album has hit a new sales threshold. The album, which continues to be the best-selling release of the Nielsen SoundScan era, has become the first album to sell 16 million copies since SoundScan started tracking sales in 1991, reports Keith Caulfield of Billboard.
Metallica — often referred to as The Black Album because of its stark cover art — sold another 3,000 copies in the week ending May 25th. That brings its cumulative total to 16,002,000.
SoundScan began tracking U.S. music sales in 1991. Its point-of-sale data was first used to compile the Billboard 200 albums chart on May 25th, 1991. Metallica marked the group’s first number one that year, when it debuted atop the list.
Metallica became the biggest-selling album of the SoundScan era in the week ending December 20th, 2009, when it overtook Shania Twain’s Come On Over. Twain’s album is currently in second place on the list, with 15.57 million.
Metallica and Come On Over are the only two albums that have sold more than 15 million copies in the SoundScan era. There have been 22 releases that have shifted at least 10 million. The most recently-released title to reach the 10 million plateau was Adele’s 2011 album 21. (Its sales now stand at 10.94 million.)
On the most current Billboard 200 chart, Metallica climbs from No. 155 to No. 144, marking its 307th week on the chart. That continues to be the longest chart run of any title since the tally began using SoundScan data.
Since the Billboard 200 became a regularly-published weekly chart in 1956, Metallica‘s run is the sixth-longest. (Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon has the most weeks on the chart, with 861.)
source: billboard.com
Thank you, Bob Rock.
Dana from here 🙂
Wasn’t my favorite. Sometimes I wonder if I would like it more if it wasn’t so over-played at the time.
They redeemed themselves, in my opinion, with Death Magnetic…..audio compression issues aside.
I agree, Mike. I think it has some great tracks. But because it is so overplayed..commercialized, and repetitively shoved down our throats tarnishes the quality. I change the radio channel whenever a tune from this album is played.
What?
Holier than thou
Through the Never
Of Wolf and man
The God that Failed
My Friend of Misery
The Struggle Within
These are songs they rarely played on the radio, and still don’t.
Fantastic album.
TOTALLY AGREE, GREAT POINT TOOK THE WORDS RIGHT OUT OF MY MOUTH – WHAT OVERPLAYING IS EVERYONE TALKING ABOUT THAT RUINS THE ALBUM??
ALSO BLAME THE RADIO STATIONS!!! NOT THE ARTISTRY AND AESTHETICS OF THE SONGS AND ALBUM.
WOW! METALLICA DETRACTORS CONTINUE TO BE MORONS FOR 23 YEARS STRONG
What would be cool and funny is to release on of those songs as single today and see if it holds up. I’d bet it would. My choice would be “Misery.”
I decided to play this album recently in the car on my way to and from work. I hadn’t listened to it at the time for about 5 years I’m guessing, I had forgotten what a fantastic album it is from start to finish.
MORE PEOPLE SHOULD HAVE THE APPROACH YOU HAVE TO MUSIC. I HAD THE SAME SITUATION HAPPEN TO THIS ALBUM AS WELL AS MANY OTHERS THAT FANS TARE APART FOR BEING “OVERPLAYED” OR OTHER STUPID REASONS
Tom, is the “caps lock” button stuck on your keyboard? If not, you should know that typing your opinions in all capital letters does not make them any more impressive.
It never fails. If I love an album, it could be huge or it could bomb. If I hate an album, it could be huge or it could bomb. But if I think an album is just mediocre, it’s ALWAYS HUGE. Hysteria, Dr. Feelgood, The Black Album… I don’t think any of them suck, but none of them make me jump for joy, either. They’re all just kinda blah to me. As for Metallica specifically, I think Death Magnetic is the only truly great album they’ve done since And Justice For All.
BLACK ALBUM IS BLAH? UUHHHMM….OK
Yes, very blah. It doesn’t suck like the Load albums do, but it’s certainly nothing special to me. I’ll take Ride The Lightning and Master Of Puppets over the Black Album any day.
Death Magnetic= Thrash Bombast period.