Robert Trujillo is makin’ a major mark on the Billboard charts…
The 56-year-old half-Mexican American bassist and songwriter and his Metallica band mates hold 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 February 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 due to the band’s release of six of its earlier albums on limited edition color vinyl via Walmart on January 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 December 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album units and streaming equivalent album units.
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 February 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%).