Metallica’s self-titled album reaches a rare Billboard 200 milestone, becoming only the fourth release to spend 850 weeks on the chart. American heavy metal band Metallica – winners of the ‘Best Metal Performance with Vocal’ award – at the 34th Annual Grammy Awards, Radio City Music Hall, New York City, 25th February 1992. L – R: James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett, Lars Ulrich, Jason Newsted. (Photo by Vinnie Zuffante/Getty Images)
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Metallica’s discography is packed with top-selling albums, as the hard rockers have long reigned as one of the most successful groups in music history. Since launching its debut set Kill ’Em All in 1983, Metallica has rarely failed to produce a blockbuster, though some of the band’s projects do stand out as significantly more commercially successful than others.
The Grammy-winning act’s self-titled affair, which shook the world in 1991, remains a fan favorite to this day. As it is once again counted as one of the most popular albums in the United States, Metallica reaches a milestone that only three other full-lengths have seen in the more than half-century-long tenure of the Billboard charts.
Metallica Reaches 850 Weeks on the Billboard 200
Metallica rises from No. 165 to No. 153 on this week’s Billboard 200, which ranks the most-consumed albums and EPs in the U.S. The roster is built using both pure sales and streaming activity. As of this period, the blockbuster celebrates 850 weeks on the tally. That’s a rarely-reached milestone, but Metallica is not the first act to see it.
Metallica Becomes the Fourth 850-Week-Charting Album
Metallica’s self-titled release is now only the fourth album to make it to 850 weeks on the Billboard 200. The longest-running of all time, Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon, is only about a month away from becoming the first 1,000-week winner in history.
Legend by Bob Marley and the Wailers needs less than a year before making it to that same mark. Journey’s Greatest Hits is up to 927 stints somewhere on the Billboard 200.
No other collection will rise to 850 frames on the roster this year. The next most likely candidate for entry into one of the most exclusive clubs in chart history is Chronicle: The 20 Greatest Hits by Creedence Clearwater Revival, which earlier this year became the fifth 800-week performer on the tally.
UNSPECIFIED – CIRCA 1970: Photo of Creedence Clearwater Revival Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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Metallica Returns to the Top Album Sales Chart
As Metallica reaches its historic milestone on the Billboard 200, the smash success finds its way back to the Top Album Sales chart. The full-length reenters that roster as one of the 50 bestselling releases in the nation, decades after it first became available, in third-to-last place at No. 48.
Luminate reports that Metallica sold another 2,250 copies in America between digital downloads, CDs and vinyl in the most recent tracking period. The self-titled studio release passed 750 turns on the purchase-only roster only a few months back.
Metallica Climbs on Two Rock Rankings
Metallica also rises on both the Top Hard Rock Albums and Top Rock & Alternative Albums charts during this special frame. The set inches one rung to No. 9 on the former ranking, where it has now spent just over 550 weeks, and it simultaneously advances from No. 44 to No. 41 on the broader Top Rock & Alternative Albums tally – nearly breaking back into the top 40 after 478 frames on the genre-focused roster.
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