METALLICA's 'Black' LP Is Top-Selling Album Of SOUNDSCAN Era

December 23, 2009

METALLICA's self-titled album from 1991 (also known as the "black" album) has surpassed SHANIA TWAIN's 1997 CD "Come On Over" to become the best-selling album since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales for Billboard on May 25, 1991.

"Metallica" has sold 15,490,000 copies. "Come On Over" has sold 15,487,000.

Nielsen SoundScan is an information system created by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett that tracks sales of music and music video products throughout the United States and Canada. Data is collected weekly and made available every Wednesday to subscribers, which include executives from all facets of record companies, publishing firms, music retailers, independent promoters, film and TV, and artist management. SoundScan is the sales source for the Billboard music charts.

Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales data for Nielsen on May 25, 1991.

METALLICA's top-selling albums during the SoundScan era (as of December 20, 2009):

01. "Metallica" (1991): 15,490,000
02. "…And Justice for All" (1988): 5,330,000 *
03. "Load" (1996): 5,049,000
04. "Master of Puppets" (1986): 4,578,000 *
05. "Ride the Lightning" (1984): 4,334,000 *
06. "Reload" (1997): 4,036,000

* Does not include sales prior to the start of the SoundScan era (May 25, 1991).

METALLICA's latest album, "Death Magnetic", has sold 1,853,000 copies in the United States since it was released in September 2008, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

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