Metallica‘s new album 72 Seasons has debuted on the Billboard 200 with the biggest sales week for a rock record in nearly four years.
The 11th studio effort from the “Enter Sandman” metallers enters the chart at #2 with a total of 146,000 equivalent album units, 134,000 of which were traditional album sales. The last rock record to put up bigger numbers in its first frame is Tool‘s 13-years-in-the-making Fear Inoculum. Following its release in August 2019, the album moved 270,000 units, 248,000 of which were traditional album sales.
72 Seasons is the bestselling album of the week and, in the olden days, that would’ve been good enough for a #1 debut on the Billboard 200. However, since December 2014, Billboard has incorporated streaming numbers into the Billboard 200 ranking, which factor into the “equivalent album units” total.
With those streaming numbers, country star Morgan Wallen‘s chart juggernaut One Thing at a Time stays at #1, with a total of 166,000 equivalent album units, only 12,000 of which were traditional album sales.
Surely this won’t stick in the craw of Metallica fans, who may or may not still be bitter about Jethro Tull winning the first metal Grammy in 1989 over …And Justice for All.
Metallica will launch a worldwide tour in support of 72 Seasons April 27 in Amsterdam. The trek comes to the U.S. in August.
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