When you consider all of the metal albums to exist throughout the genre’s 50+ year history, there’s probably a few dozen that come to mind that many would consider a gateway album. One could easily make a choice between a handful of Judas Priest albums, Iron Maiden records, and especially Black Sabbath’s ’70s discography. The point is that nobody really starts out listening to Cannibal Corpse records.
Metallica has always been a gateway band to at the very least, thrash metal – if not heavier rock and metal as a whole. Even some of Metallica’s youngest fans know them as the band that was on Stranger Things, or perhaps if they’re a little older, they played Guitar Hero: Metallica. The point is, for such a veteran band they’re not exactly lacking in their younger audience demographic.
Following up 1988’s …And Justice For All, Metallica was at a crossroads. Should they aim for the thrash metal classic to end all classics? Or head in a more mainstream, palatable direction? The direction they went, of course, resulted in the Black Album. Spawning five huge singles including all-time classics like “Enter Sandman”, “Nothing Else Matters”, and “Sad But True”, it debuted at #1 on the Billboard charts – and hasn’t stopped selling since. One of the highest selling albums in history, it turned Metallica into the stadium headliners they’ve been ever since.
It’s also been a successful album no matter the musical climate. The album recently hit a new milestone total of 750 weeks on the Billboard 200 chart. Only three other albums have done this in history, and you’ve likely heard all three of them. Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side Of The Moon (990 total weeks), Bob Marley’s Legend (843 total weeks), and Journey’s Greatest Hits (813 total weeks). That is quite the company to be keeping, and it’s a record that still sells at least a few thousand copies a week when you factor in streaming.
