BURBANK, CA. (Top40 Charts/ Warner Bros. Records) - Death Magnetic, the ninth studio album from multi-platinum hard-rock band Metallica, is the best-selling album in the country for the third week in a row. Its continued reign atop the Billboard Top 200 album chart makes
Metallica the only artist, aside from Jack Johnson, to enjoy a third consecutive week at No. 1 this year. Death Magnetic is also No. 1 on Billboard's Hard Rock,
Modern Rock/Alternative and Rock album charts. Internationally, the album racked up No. 1 chart positions in 32 countries including the U.K., Canada, and Australia.
Released by Warner Bros. Records in the United States and Canada and by Universal Music for the rest of the world, on Friday, September 12th, Death Magnetic debuted atop the Billboard Top 200 Albums Chart on at No. 1 two weeks ago, Metallica's fifth consecutive studio album to do so following 1991's Metallica (known as The Black Album), 1996's Load, 1997's ReLoad, and 2003's St. Anger. That No. 1 debut - which occurred despite the album being in stores for only three days rather than the traditional seven - has made Metallica the only band in chart history to have five albums debut at No. 1. It breaks the band's tie with the Beatles, U2 and the Dave Matthews Band, all of who have four No. 1 album debuts.
The first single from the album, "The Day That Never Comes," is currently No. 1 on Mediabase's Active Rock chart, as well as Top 5 on BDS's Modern Rock chart. This is the first time Metallica have ever scored a Top 5 hit at Modern Rock radio in its career. Seven more tracks from Death Magnetic have charted across three radio formats, Alternative, Active Rock, and Rock - a feat rarely, if ever accomplished by a rock band/artist.
Reviews have praised Death Magnetic for its "compositions that are nasty and complex" (New York Times), while Time magazine says that the "songs fly by with the force of the world's angriest amusement-park ride, and when they set you down, often after seven or eight dizzying but tuneful minutes, giddiness is the only appropriate response." British metal bible Kerrang! wrote that "Metallica once again sound like one of the most exciting bands in the world" and have "managed to harness their talent and instinct into a modern metal album that makes a mockery of the modern competition."
Tickets for Metallica's first proper tour of the United States and Canada in four years are currently on sale. The first leg of the tour begins on October 21st and will cross North America through fall and early winter before concluding on January 21st. Support bands are Down, The Sword, Lamb of God, and Machine Head.
Formed in Los Angeles in 1981 by drummer Lars Ulrich and guitarist and vocalist James Hetfield, Metallica has become one of the most influential and commercially successful rock bands in history, having sold 100 million albums worldwide and playing to millions of fans the world over. They have garnered numerous awards and accolades, including seven Grammy Awards, two American Music Awards, and multiple MTV Video Music Awards.
