METALLICA Scores Ninth No. 1 On BILLBOARD's 'Mainstream Rock Songs' Chart With 'Atlas, Rise!'

February 9, 2017

According to Billboard.com, METALLICA earned its ninth No. 1 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Songs airplay chart with its latest single, "Atlas, Rise!"

The band previously scored chart toppers with "Hardwired" (also from METALLICA's latest album, 2016's "Hardwired… To Self-Destruct"); "The Day That Never Comes" and "Cyanide" (from 2008's "Death Magnetic"); and "Until It Sleeps" and "Hero Of The Day" (from 1996's "Load").

METALLICA's latest accomplishment puts the band in a tie for fifth place among all acts for the most No. 1s since the chart launched in 1981. The new No. 1 ties the quartet with AEROSMITH, while VAN HALEN leads with 13 toppers.

In the song "Atlas, Rise!", METALLICA frontman James Hetfield calls out Atlas, the Greek mythological figure which was responsible for bearing the weight of the heavens on his shoulders, a burden given to him as punishment by Zeus.

Hetfield told Rolling Stone Australia that he had his METALLICA bandmate Lars Ulrich in mind when he wrote the lyrics to the track. "Lars is, 'I have to do everything, or else it's wrong,'" he explained. "He's got the weight of so much on him. And 'Atlas, Rise!' started out as a, 'Here, let me help you with that. You don't need to carry all that, brother.' And then it morphed into more — and this is not specifically him, but I'm plugging him into this — I think he likes that. There's a drama that makes him work, and we all have a bit of that. He wants the control but he doesn't really have control. The illusion of control, and then the ability to complain about how you have to do everything yourself, and then you still do it."

"Hardwired… To Self-Destruct" debuted at No. 1 on The Billboard 200 album chart, selling 291,000 copies in its first week of release. The effort consists of two discs, containing a dozen songs and nearly 80 minutes of music.

Find more on Metallica
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).