Metallica Black Album Reaches Historical Milestone

Metallica Makes Music History With Their 1991 Self-Titled (Black) Album.

Every week in the United States, The Billboard 200 Chart ^⇗ ranks the most-consumed albums, the lower end of the chart is often populated by titles that have refused to die on rankings for a very long time. On the current Billboard 200, the Metallica Black Album has made history by holding on once again, showing the 1991 Metallica self-titled album will seemingly never stop selling.

The (Black) album falls to No. 183 this time around, but the fact that it’s present at all on the list is truly impressive. It has now charted on the Billboard 200 for 550 nonconsecutive weeks, or just over 10 and a half years. That total is one of the most impressive in U.S. history, and Metallica’s biggest success is one of only a handful of titles that have spent that much time on the Billboard 200.

Metallica is now just the fourth band in American history to hit the 550-week milestone, and it is in some legendary company. Leading the way is Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon, which is approaching 1,000 frames on the list. In second place among the albums with the most time spent on the ranking is Bob Marley and the Wailers’ Legend, a compilation of their most beloved tunes. In third comes Journey’s Journey’s Greatest Hits.

The once pure thrash sensation’s eponymous self-titled album may be in fourth place when including all releases, but when focusing solely on traditional albums and not greatest hits compilations, Metallica stands as the second-longest-charting band in history, and it’s just the second to spend 550 frames on the Billboard 200.