Love them or hate them, Metallica are the most commercially successful heavy metal band in the United States (there's arguments that Iron Maiden might be a smidge bigger globally and I'll wait for some actual statistics experts to figure that one out). They have sold the most records out of any metal band. You can trash talk them 7 ways til Sunday (as I am want to do) but you can't argue numbers. That's tapered off in recent years but I think that has more to do with people just not buying records anymore/fan fatigue/let's face it, they ran out of creativity a long time ago.
There was a particular review on Metal-archives.com that, to this day might still be their most famous review. It's the review of Master Of Puppets from writer Ultraboris where he grades the album a goose egg, and furthermore calling it "the album that killed heavy metal." We aren't going to be discussing that review, but there is a quote from that review that will be central to our discussion:
"and if Ride the Lightning sold a whole fuckload of copies, then Master of Puppets, on inertia alone, would sell a whole fuckload more, and thus the seed was set."
There's parts of Ultraboris's review I still agree with, and some I disagree with (mainly the idea that Master of Puppets killed heavy metal), and some that's hilariously dated (you'll notice he references Damageplan as an current thing), but there's a phrase here which quote opened my mind to something about record sales and band popularity that isn't touched a whole lot in metal, or really even music discussion: "on inertia alone."
The classical definition of inertia is "a property of matter by which it continues in its existing state of rest or uniform motion in a straight line, unless that state is changed by an external force." For the purposes of this article, I'm going to coin a new phrase: buzz inertia. When a band on the rise has a big buzz, you can feel it. You can feel that as long as a band doesn't royally screw up, they're just going to get bigger and bigger.
I've dunked on casual music fans before, let's dig a little deeper. Back when people actually bought albums, most people would by one hit album by an artist, maybe two, depending on if that album has any pop hits. Owning three or four is when you start determining a genuine fan of a band, vs. a fan of an album. Sometimes people will by the one acclaimed album and stop there. They think it gives them discriminating taste (they're wrong). Others, will love the album they have so much that they will want to dig deeper into the back catalog. Note how I said back. Usually a band doesn't hit big time with their first album. In Metallica's case, the s/t "black album" began their rise into A-list status, at least with heavy metal.
Another example of what I believe to be buzz inertia is when a band builds up such a momentum that the forthcoming album has no choice but to hit #1 on the Billboard charts. Providing the first single isn't anything too wacky. Enter Sandman fits the bill of course, but also Pantera with I'm Broken for Far Beyond Driven.
Metallica*, as of this writing stands at 16 times platinum. 1.6 Diamond, if you wish. This was last certified in 2012, over 12 years ago. I don't know the full semantics of certifications so we aren't going to go into why that process is overdue for some. By comparison, Ride The Lightning, stands at 6 times platinum (also last certified in 2012). That's literally a diamond certification worth of people who bought Metallica but never went back to buy Ride The Lightning.
Obviously, Ride didn't sell six million out of the gate, just like Metallica didn't sell 16 million out of the gate. Matter of fact, Ride didn't go gold (500,000 copies) out of the gate either. I think it's safe to say that, while there will be people who refuse to listen to the "hit" albums and only listen to what's acclaimed by a peer group, I believe that to be a small minority. If the timeline matches up, a hit album can usually be the thing that propels a back catalog to higher certifications. What this blog is going to do is to present a timeline of albums released, followed by certification dates as listed on riaa.com.
- July 15th, 1983: Kill Em All released
- July 27th, 1984: Ride The Lightning released
No certifications yet, Metallica is still very much an underground phenomenon here. Metal was certainly no stranger to mass sales at this point. By this date Iron Maiden had two gold records Motley Crue had a platinum record and Judas Priest had 2 gold records and a platinum record, to name a few.
- March 3rd 1986: Master Of Puppets released.
- November 4th 1986: Master Of Puppets is certified gold status.
- November 5th 1987: Ride The Lightning is certified gold status.
- July 27th 1988: Master Of Puppets is certified platinum.
Before we go any further I would like to dispel a myth which is contradicted with facts. Metallica's Behind the Music episode makes the claim that Master Of Puppets sold a million copies in a year without the benefit of a music video or a radio single. First of all, no it did not sell a million copies in a year. As you can see, it wouldn't go platinum until over two years after its release. In addition, there was a third reason why Metallica, and indeed why other up and coming bands, started to move units at a rate faster than expected: opening for a major arena headliner. i.e. Ozzy Osbourne.
In 1986, Ozzy Osbourne was heavy metal's biggest most singular star. Idol of miscreant teens of the 80s (and 70s), antichrist to parents and religious zealots, if you wanted your band to get the greatest exposure possible, you beg to be on Ozzy Osbourne's tour. Motorhead, Motley Crue, Anthrax, Alice In Chains, Sepultura, Fear Factory and of course Metallica, so many bands got a massive exposure boost, thus a sales boost, from opening up for the legendary singer. Metallica was the opening band on this tour for two months. So, Master of Puppets sold well, likely so on underground buzz, but mostly because of a bunch of Ozzy punters that probably had no clue what thrash metal even was, and went out and bought the record after Metallica played their city. I put forth the argument that if Slayer had a spot on that Ultimate Sin tour, Reign In Blood would have gone Gold much quicker than it did.
One last twist of the knife: Note Master of Puppets is certified gold in November. Bassist Cliff Burton was famously killed in a bus accident on the European tour on September 27th 1986. Cliff would not live to see a gold certification.
Let's continue:
- August 25th, 1988: And Justice For All is released.
- October 31st, 1988: And Justice For All is certified Platinum.
Yes, that is correct. And Justice For All skyrockets past gold into Platinum in the span of just over two months. THAT is the album that deserves credit for selling a million units without the benefit of a radio single or music video, but with the benefit of opening act exposure. In addition to the Ozzy Osbourne tour, Metallica had secured a spot on the American version of the legendary Monsters of Rock tour, alongside Van Hagar, Scorpions, Dokken and Kingdom Come** Of course that is about to change:
- January 20th, 1989: The music video for One debuts on MTV.
- February 22, 1989: Metallica performs One at the 31st Annual Grammy awards.
- May 16th, 1989: Kill Em All is certified gold, and Ride The Lightning is certified platinum.
- July 19th, 1989: And Justice For All is certified double platinum
Early 1989 sees Metallica finally release a music video and make a major network television debut.*** These turn out to be the final ingredients to make a rough, raw, singleless thrash album sell gold, a rough, raw, not quite singleless (For Whom The Bell Tolls and Fade To Black likely had some normie traction at this point) go platinum, and a rough, raw, no bass guitar album go double platinum. Also, let's keep it a 100 (as the kids say these days), losing the Grammy to Jethro Tull probably helped more than winning it would have.
I additionally wish to note that as of that latest certification date, And Justice For All is second in heavy metal sales only to Black Sabbath's legendary sophomore album Paranoid, which was certified triple platinum on October of 1986.
- February 26th, 1991: Kill em All is certified platinum.
- March 1st, 1991: Master Of Puppets is certified double platinum.
On the strength of And Justice For All and their prowess as a live act (1986-1990 were peak live Metallica years, 91 is when they started with the dumb medleys), Metallica's catalog had produced two double platinum albums, and two platinum albums. While, again, Black Sabbath's Paranoid reigned over them with a triple platinum record, it should also be noted that in early 1991, hated rival Motley Crue had two double platinum albums (Theater of Pain and Girls, Girls, Girls, one triple platinum album (Shout At The Devil) and one quadruple platinum album (Dr. Feelgood), surpassing the aforementioned Paranoid. Going by metal-archives accepted only rules, as of early 1991, Motley Crue was the king of American record sales in heavy metal. Again, that was about to change.
I do want to take this time to acknowledge that to a lot of purists (who I have sympathy for more often than not), Metallica should have stopped right here. If they did, it's impossible to tell how much sales could have further gone. I could sit here and tell you Master Of Puppets and Ride The Lightning would still go to 5 times platinum on virtue of being ranked #1 on so many "metal albums of all time" lists alone, but I'd be just as full of shit as the guy who says they wouldn't have sold anymore copies because they were too rough for that kind of popularity. So if you want to pretend you live in a world where nothing else happened, the hard statistics are above.
From this point forward single releases will also be accounted for, since the singles were now a factor in Metallica's strategy:
- July 16th, 1991: Enter Sandman is released as a single.
- July 30th, 1991: the Enter Sandman music video debuts on MTV.
One more thing, there have been some, including author Martin Popoff that have claimed that Metallica's hype and inertia was so massive that they were gonna hit #1 on Billboard no matter what. I do believe that to be true. They could have released a death metal album and it would have debuted at #1. It would not, however have stayed there for four weeks. Not to mentioned they would have been called trend-hoppers by the soon-to-arrive Norwegian black metal scene, who's mission seemed to be to kill death metal so they could take their place as the leaders of extreme, but that's a completely different blog post.
- August 2nd, 1991: Metallica is released.
- October 28th, 1991: The Unforgiven is released as a single
- October 31st, 1991: Metallica goes triple platinum
Let it be noted for the record that despite shit talking the hair metal scene 7 ways til Sunday, Metallica still plays good boys and follows the "first single: rocker, second single: power ballad" hair metal formula. Yes The Unforgiven flips the concept of soft-loud verse chorus, but a power ballad is still a power ballad.
In any case, three million copies in three months. And they say you can't get presents on Halloween. Now, perhaps it can be suggested that that three million was the pure metal fanbase they had amassed**** before the casuals that don't-like-metal-but-like-hits show up. 1992 I think is safe to say when that changes.
- January 17th, 1992: Metallica goes quadruple platinum
- April 1st, 1992: And Justice for All goes triple platinum and Ride The Lightning goes double platinum
You think someone in management decided to play an April Fool's Day prank and tell Metallica Ride The Lighting went triple platinum when it only went double platinum?
- April 20th, 1992: Nothing Else Matters is released as a single
- June 30th, 1992: Metallica goes five times platinum
- July 17th 1992: The Guns N Roses/Metallica co-headline tour begins
Since I brought up concert bills as an exposure factor before, it's worthing bringing up the beginning of the infamous tour Metallica went on with Guns N Roses. It should also be noted Guns N' Roses closed every show. So technically, Metallica are still opening here.
- October 19th, 1992: Wherever I May Roam is released as a single
- December 10th 1992: Metallica goes six times platinum
Usually as long as an album is selling, a band stays on tour. When sales grind to a halt is usually when a tour stops. Kiss was demanded to end the Hotter Than Hell tour by Casablanca president Neil Bogart because according to him "the album was dead in the water."
- February 3rd, 1993: Sad But True is released as a single, and the final song from Metallica to be released as such.
- September 24th, 1993: Metallica goes seven times platinum.
- November 23rd, 1993: The Live Shit: Binge & Purge box set is released.
Only Metallica continues to surpass sales records in 1993, which likely means only the casual fans are flooding in (and honestly, probably making up for the pure metalheads who are disillusioned and leaving the band's fandom at this point).
Technically speaking, Binge & Purge is the band's official live album. Usually on the fifth album is the right time for a band to release a live record. Hard to argue that here. Live records do more to boost catalog sales than people think. Both Smoke On The Water AND Rock & Roll All Nite became seminal hits and rock and roll staples as the result of their live versions, not the studio versions.*****
There's two schools of thought regarding Binge & Purge. On the one hand, rather than just release a live album, Metallica release concert videos from both the Metallica and Justice tours. Quite the package. However, one has to pay box set prices for this which, back then was usually somewhere near $100. Unless you're a rich kid, that's the price of something you have to ask for a birthday/holiday present for, not something you run out and buy with your chore allowance. As a result, fans likely felt ripped off at having to pay extra for things they might not have necessarily wanted.
- June 28th, 1994: Master Of Puppets is certified triple platinum
- August 21st, 1994: The Metallica tour officially concludes
- February 2, 1995: Metallica is certified eight times platinum.
- June 5th, 1995: And Justice For All is certified quadruple platinum, Kill em All is certified double platinum and Ride The Lightning is certified triple platinum.
Quite a doozy on that last date, ay? I know next to nothing about the certification process other than it costs a fee, so whatever they find you might as well announce it all at once.
I think this is where we will stop. Not only because this article has gone on long enough, but after 1995 was a schism that arguably, the band's reputation never recovered from. Not to mention, Metallica would never have an album that would sell as Metallica again. In fact, every album***** after this sold less than the last. Shit, the band's latest album, 72 Seasons hasn't even been certified gold yet. Metallica's corporate sycophants claim that their new album would always go platinum. Well, that experiment seems to be over. I don't think downloading or streaming is to blame either. Downloads have existed for the past 24 years and Metallica had plenty of million-sellers during that time (regardless of quality).
Plus, this wasn't really a history of Metallica sales anyway. It's to a thought experiment regarding hit-album-inertia. Usually the big seller is what people go for outside of a new album anyway. Perhaps the albums after that did drive more sales, but do you really think anyone who bought the proto-butt rock albums had any interest in Fight Fire With Fire? I mean Metallica's back catalog would continue to sell until today, but how do we know whether or not that's because of someone getting into Metallica because of Metallica or S&M or hell, even Kill em All?
Thank you for reading this thought experiment.
*Thanks to the glory of writing and typing, I don't have to refer to it as "the black album" more than once. Just slap on italics and people will know you are talking about an album. It's frankly refreshing.
**I always wondered, why the hell didn't fans cry sellout regarding touring with, for all intents and purposes, a bunch of hairbands?
***Metallica was supposed to perform on Saturday Night Live during the Master Of Puppets cycle but a skateboarding accident broke James Hetfield's arm and they were forced to cancel. Hetfield was subsequently banned from skateboarding for life by Metallica management.
****not counting the people that left after Cliff died and various culture-faux-pas Lars likes to make up to antagonize their fanbase because thats the real thing that makes Metallica so big complain about
*****Incidentally, the version of Lovebites' Holy War going viral/being traded amongst the reaction community is also from a live album, rather than the studio version, which wasn't even a single off of Electric Pentagram.
******Official studio releases. Garage Inc. as well as S&M are 5 times platinum a piece. However, they are both double disc releases. A double album, whether it's vinyl, CD or other wise counts as two albums sold. So technically they've sold 2.5 million a piece. And Justice For All was in fact, a double vinyl on first release, but it's only a single album CD. That initial push during the last days of vinyl serves as an asterisk as to why it's to this day, Metallica's second highest selling album.
Sources: (holy crap I'm citing sources! I'm getting more sophistimicated!)
Ultraboris' Master of Puppets review (if you're gonna read the whole thing, get a snack, it's long): https://www.metal-archives.com/reviews/Metallica/Master_of_Puppets/547/UltraBoris/147
RIAA Metallica certification statistics: https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?tab_active=default-award&se=metallica#search_section
Comments
Post a Comment