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Chart Beat

Metallica Has Half of the Week’s Top 10 Best-Selling Albums

By Keith Caulfield
2/10/2021
By Keith Caulfield
2/10/2021
Metallica
Ross Halfin

Metallica

Plus: Grateful Dead, Weezer and "Now 77" debut in top 10.

Metallica holds five of the top 10 best-selling albums of the week in the U.S., as reflected on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart (dated Feb. 13). It’s the first time since 2016 that one act has five out of the top 10 on the tally.

Metallica jumps 67-3, while the group notches re-entries with Ride the Lightning (No. 4), …And Justice for All (No. 5), Master of Puppets (No. 7) and Kill ‘Em All (No. 8), respectively. The takeover is owed to the band's release of six of its earlier albums on limited edition color vinyl via Walmart on Jan. 29.

Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The chart’s history dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now MRC Data. Pure album sales were the measurement solely utilized by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album units and streaming equivalent album units. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.

Artists Mentioned

Grateful Dead

Metallica

Weezer

Here’s a look at Metallica’s five albums in the top 10 on Top Album Sales, along with a sixth that missed the region, but is at No. 15. Nearly all of the sales for each title are from their vinyl editions.

Title; Rank; Total Copies Sold on All Formats (Gain)
Metallica; No. 3; 10,000 (up 383%)
Ride the Lightning; No. 4; 9,700 (up 617%)
…And Justice for All; No. 5; 9,400 (up 776%)
Master of Puppets; No. 7; 8,100 (up 1,102%)Kill ‘Em All; No. 8; 8,000 (up 917%)
Hardwired… To Self-Destruct; re-entry at No. 15; 5,500 (up 2,433%)

The last act to have five of the top 10 on Top Album Sales was Prince, following his death in 2016, when he claimed half of the region on the list dated May 14, 2016.

Metallica also has six of the top 10 on the Feb. 13-dated Vinyl Albums chart – the third time an act has held six of the top 10. It previously happened on March 19, 2016 (David Bowie) and Dec. 1, 2012 (The Beatles). Back on the Top Album Sales chart, Morgan Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album is steady at No. 1 for a third nonconsecutive week, with 25,000 sold (up 102%).

Grateful Dead’s Dave’s Picks, Volume 37: College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA debuts at No. 2 (21,000). On the Billboard 200, the new Dead set starts at No. 19 – the group’s 105th entry and highest charting set since 2014’s Dave’s Picks Volume 10: Thelma, Los Angeles, CA: 12/12/69 debuted and peaked at No. 17 on the May 17, 2014-dated chart.

Weezer’s new album OK Human bows at No. 6 on Top Album Sales with 9,000 sold, marking the band’s 12th top 10 on the tally. Weezer’s first top 10 came with its second self-titled set (also known as the green album) nearly 20 years ago, on the June 2, 2001-dated list (where it debuted and peaked at No. 4).

The Now 77 hits compilation starts at No. 9 on Top Album Sales with 8,000 sold – the best opening sales week for a Now That’s What I Call Music album since Now 73 bowed with 11,000 (Feb. 8, 2020 chart).

Harry Styles’ Fine Line closes out the top 10, falling 3-10 with 8,000 (down 1%).

By Keith Caulfield
2/11/2021

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