Metallica fans push both Ride the Lightning and Metallica to Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart — despite dropping 30% in sales — and they join Master of Puppets. MADRID, SPAIN – JULY 14: James Hetfield of Metallica performs on stage at Estadio Cívitas Metropolitano on July 14, 2024 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Javier Bragado/Redferns)
Redferns
Metallica has ranked as one of the bestselling musical acts of all time for decades, and the band’s total number of albums sold grows every day. The hard rockers constantly appear on charts globally and often live on multiple tallies in the United States alone. In some instances, it is singles that steal the show, while at other times, fans of Metallica seem to favor the albums that made the group so phenomenally popular.
Two of Metallica’s bestselling full-lengths returned to the same chart this week as the group benefits from a very quiet January in the American music industry.
Metallica’s Two Albums Return During a Slow January
Metallica and Ride the Lightning break back onto the Top Album Sales chart this frame. The two projects once again rank among the 50 top-selling albums and EPs in the U.S. Metallica comes in at No. 36, while Ride the Lightning sneaks back in at No. 46, exactly 10 spaces beneath the group’s other classic.
Ride the Lightning and Metallica Reenter – Despite Sales Declines
American heavy metal group Metallica, UK, 1985. Left to right: lead guitarist Kirk Hammett, singer and guitarist James Hetfield, drummer Lars Ulrich and bassist Cliff Burton. (Photo by Fin Costello/Redferns/Getty Images)
Redferns
Both Metallica and Ride the Lightning manage to surge onto the Top Album Sales chart despite notable drops in purchases. Luminate reports that Metallica sold just under 2,600 copies between downloads, CDs, cassettes, and vinyl in the U.S. alone. During the same tracking period, Ride the Lightning sold a little more than 2,300 copies. Those sums are both down more than 30% from the period prior, but a relative lack of competition creates an environment where the two sets can become top performers once more.
Metallica Lives on Multiple Billboard Rankings at Once
Ride the Lightning only appears on the Top Album Sales list at the moment, while Metallica finds space on a quartet of Billboard rankings. The self-titled effort holds at No. 7 on the Top Hard Rock Albums chart and drops on both the Top Rock and Alternative Albums roster and the Billboard 200, descending to Nos. 37 and 169, respectively.
Master of Puppets Joins Metallica’s Comebacks on the Sales Chart
Metallica impressively fills three spaces on the Top Album Sales chart this week. As both Metallica and Ride the Lightning reappear, Master of Puppets improves its standing by a few rungs, jumping from No. 39 to No. 35.
Metallica, portrait, Berlin, Germany, 9th October 1996. (Photo by Niels van Iperen/Getty Images)
Getty Images
Luminate reports that Master of Puppets, the bestselling Metallica collection this week, sold only about two dozen more copies than the group’s self-titled release, and purchases are down nearly 40% from the frame before.
How Many No. 1 Bestselling Albums Has Metallica Charted?
Eight different projects by Metallica have dominated the Top Album Sales chart – exactly half of the top 10 titles the group has racked up throughout the years. Of the three projects the band places on the Top Album Sales chart this week, only Metallica has ruled. That set reached the summit in August 1991 and wound up spending four frames running the show. Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets peaked at Nos. 4 and 7, respectively.
Metallica Nears a Major Chart Milestone
All three of Metallica’s Top Album Sales winners this week have spent years on the tally, but the self-titled release is far and away the longest-charting success story by the group. Metallica only needs two more frames until it reaches 750 stints as one of America’s bestselling albums. Ride the Lightning is up to 119 stays on the ranking, while Master of Puppets nearly doubles that sum, as this frame marks its two-hundred-and-thirty-eighth on the roster.
“Enter Sandman” and “Master of Puppets” Continue to Perform
Metallica claims more hit albums this week than songs, but not by much. Both “Enter Sandman” and “Master of Puppets” live in lofty positions on the Hard Rock Streaming Songs and Hard Rock Digital Song Sales charts, which is a typical performance for one of the genre’s greatest groups.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/hughmcintyre/2026/01/20/metallicas-bestsellers-return-as-the-band-dominates-one-chart/
