Hear us out: there are no truly bad Metallica albums. From Kill 'Em All, their first crucial blow in the quest for world domination, to the eyeliner-fuelled era of the mid-90s and beyond, each of Metallica's 10 studio albums has its own place in their legacy. Even if the music contained within doesn't exactly float your boat, every single one of those albums has played its part in making Metallica the band they are today. They're all important, because they all mean something.
Metallica's ability to adapt their sound and experiment with where exactly they fit in with regards to rock's broader landscape is what has kept us talking about them nearly 40 years since it all began in a dingy garage in LA. Sometimes it's worked, sometimes it's produced a clanger of unconscionable proportions. But you can't fault them for putting themselves out there and fearlessly taking a few risks – dancing on the cusp of intra-band implosion along the way.
Of course, in a back catalogue as diverse as Metallica's, there will be vehement disagreement about which of those eras produced the best material. For every ardent Master Of Puppets fan, you'll find someone willing to argue that Lulu really wasn't as bad as everyone makes out, actually. You have fans who can't stand the noisy early stuff, and those who refuse to listen to anything post '88.
They're all legitimate opinions, even if some of them are more controversial than others. So when it came to ranking each Metallica album in order of greatness, we decided to do the democratic thing and turn the weighty decision over to a public vote.
From a list of their 10 studio albums, plus a live album, a covers compilation and that collaboration, thousands of people joined us to nail down the definitive order of every Metallica album from worst to best. Here's what they decided.
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13) Garage, Inc. (1998)
12) Reload (1997)
11) S&M (1999)
10) Lulu (2011)
9) Death Magnetic (2008)
8) Hardwired... To Self-Destruct (2016)
7) St. Anger (2003)
6) Load (1996)
5) Kill ‘Em All (1983)
4) Metallica (The 'Black' Album) (1991)
3) …And Justice For All (1988)
2) Ride The Lightning (1984)
1) Master Of Puppets (1986)
What is the order of Metallica albums?
Here's a list of Metallica's full-length releases in chronological order:
Kill 'Em All (1983)
Ride the Lightning (1984)
Master of Puppets (1986)
...And Justice for All (1988)
Metallica (1991)
Live Shit: Binge & Purge (1993)
Load (1996)
Reload (1997)
Garage Inc. (1998)
S&M (1999)
St. Anger (2003)
Death Magnetic (2008)
Lulu (2011)
Metallica: Through The Never (2013)
Hardwired... to Self-Destruct (2016)
S&M2 (2020)
72 Seasons (2023)
What is the best-selling Metallica album?
Released on August 12, 1991, Metallica's self-titled fifth album – also known as The Black Album – sold 598,000 copies during its first week in the USA alone. Since then, it has sold over 30 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time. It features the singles Enter Sandman, The Unforgiven, Nothing Else Matters, Wherever I May Roam and Sad But True, all of which charted on the Billboard Hot 100.
What is Metallica's biggest hit?
According to the Official Chart, 1991 single Enter Sandman is their biggest UK single. It reached number 5 and spent 11 weeks in the UK singles chart, and is their first song to reach one billion streams on Spotify. Until It Sleeps, taken from 1996 release Load, is a close second. It also reached number 5 in the singles chart. In the US, Until It Sleeps peaked at number 10 in the Billboard Hot 100, while Enter Sandman reached number 16.
Who has sold more albums: AC/DC or Metallica?
AC/DC have sold an estimated 200 million albums globally, in comparison to Metallica's 150 million sales. You wouldn't mind having either of those numbers to your band's name, though!
What is the lowest-selling Metallica album?
It is difficult to accurately determine the lowest-selling Metallica album as sales figures can vary depending on the source. However, according to some estimates, the band's 2016 album Hardwired... to Self-Destruct is the band's lowest-selling album, but the popularity of streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music could have impacted physical sales. For example, Metallica fans streamed over 137 million hours of the band's music on Spotify in 2022.