Metallica's Album Is About To Make History

Forbes

21-05-2025

Metallica's self-titled album has now spent 999 weeks on the U.K.'s Official Rock & Metal Albums ... More chart, nearing a historic 1,000-week milestone. (MANDATORY CREDIT Koh Hasebe/) Metallica in photo session at a hotel, Tokyo, November 1986. (Photo by Koh Hasebe/)
Metallica — the self-titled album from the legendary heavy metal band — certainly ranks among the most commercially successful hard rock projects ever released. At the time of its debut, the collection was recognized as a genre-defining masterpiece. Decades later, it has proved its staying power, and both the project as a whole and numerous singles from the effort are still celebrated today. The full-length continues to sell around the world and is now inching closer to making history on one specific list where it has already held on for years.
The album, named after the band, reappears on the Official Rock & Metal Albums chart this week. It stands as Metallica's only title currently featured on the U.K.-based ranking, which tracks the bestselling full-lengths and EPs within the rock and metal genres in that country.
This frame is a particularly special one for the band's blockbuster effort. Metallica has now spent 999 weeks on the list as it reappears. If it can remain for just one more frame — or even disappear and return, as is often the case for the title — it will become Metallica's first release to reach 1,000 weeks on the tally.
The self-titled album is already Metallica's longest-charting success on the Official Rock & Metal Albums chart by a wide margin. Only one other Metallica release, Master of Puppets, has spent triple-digit frames on the tally. That set is now up to 144 appearances.
While Metallica may soon become the group's first release to notch 1,000 weeks on the ranking, it won't be the first to hit that landmark on the Official Rock & Metal Albums chart when looking at all acts. Three other studio efforts have already achieved that feat, and are still present this frame. Nirvana's Nevermind leads with 1,450 weeks, followed by Appetite for Destruction by Guns N' Roses with 1,220. Linkin Park's debut full-length Hybrid Theory recently passed the 1,000-week threshold as well.
Metallica — the band's fifth full-length — was released in August 1991. The sound featured on the set marked a shift for the group, slowing things down and embracing a more commercially-viable approach. The album features smashes like 'Enter Sandman' and 'Nothing Else Matters,' which remain two of the Grammy winners' most beloved tunes.
In fact, 'Enter Sandman' is still taking up space on the rankings to this day. The single dips a few spots on the Official Rock & Metal Singles chart this frame, settling at No. 17.