METALLICA Has Top 5 Best-Selling Vinyl Albums In U.S. This Week

[MetalAges]

METALLICA has secured the top five positions on Billboard's vinyl sales chart, thanks to six new vinyl reissues of the band's albums at Walmart. This makes METALLICA the first artist to claim all top 5 slots of the vinyl sales chart since the chart's debut in 2011. The five METALLICA LPs on the chart are as follows: 01. "Ride The Lightning" (1984) 02. "Metallica" (1991) 03. "...And Justice For All" (1988) 04. "Kill 'Em All" (1983) 05. "Master Of Puppets" (1986) These five albums, plus "Hardwired...To Self-Destruct", hit Walmart store shelves on January 29. Vinyl LP and EP sales in the U.S. in just the first half of 2020 were $232.1 million, far exceeding the total revenue for CD sales during the same time. In a 2017 interview with Red Bull, METALLICA frontman James Hetfield said: "We grew up with and love vinyl. It's an experience, an event. It's tangible: you hold the record, take it from the sleeve; place the needle in the groove. "About six months ago, I was in L.A., visiting some old high-school buddies and we just sat around listening to vinyl… stuff like KANSAS. Just the act of flicking through the boxes, smelling the cardboard, reading the sleeve notes, and listening to that warm sound – it's very immersive." Last November, METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich told Kara Swisher at the CNBC Evolve Summit that he and his bandmates have been working on new music for "the last six [to] eight weeks virtually." But he admitted that they have encountered a myriad of technical issues which have slowed their progress. Back in May, the four members of METALLICA overcame social distancing to record a new version of their song "Blackened", with each member separated in his own home. The split-screen video was posted to the band's social media channels. That same month, Ulrich told Swedish talk show host Fredrik Skavlan that he and his bandmates were "sending ideas to each other via e-mail and via Zoom and [trying to] make music in these unusual situations." In August, METALLICA broadcast a show to hundreds of drive-in and outdoor theaters across the U.S. and Canada, as part of the "Encore Drive-In Nights" series. The concert was filmed nearly three weeks earlier, on August 10, at the Gundlach Bundschu winery, about a 30-minute car ride from the band's headquarters in San Rafael, California, and was subsequently edited and mixed by the band's award-winning production team to the highest standards possible. METALLICA's "Live & Acoustic From HQ: Helping Hands Concert & Auction" was streamed live from the band's headquarters in November. The special acoustic show benefited METALLICA's All Within My Hands foundation.

This week's top-selling vinyl albums:

1. @Metallica Ride The Lightning 2. @Metallica Metallica 3. @Metallica ...And Justice For All 4. @Metallica Kill 'Em All 5. @Metallica Master of Puppets — billboard charts (@billboardcharts) February 8, 2021​

Continue reading...