METALLICA's 'Hardwired' Tops BILLBOARD's 2017 'Top Rock Albums' And 'Hard Rock Albums' Charts

December 12, 2017

METALLICA's "Hardwired… To Self-Destruct" has topped Billboard magazine's year-end Top Rock Albums and Hard Rock Albums charts.

The disc, which came out in November 2016, sold 1.1 million units in the 2017 chart year, the only rock album to top 800,000 units.

METALLICA also ranked as the No. 2 act on Mainstream Rock Artists for 2017. Five songs from the new album made the survey in the chart year, led by the two-week No. 1 "Atlas, Rise!" in February.

Billboard's year-end music recaps are based on chart performance between the December 3, 2016 and November 25, 2017-dated charts.

Top Hard Rock Albums Artists Of 2017

01. METALLICA
02. LINKIN PARK
03. FOO FIGHTERS
04. QUEEN
05. GUNS N' ROSES
06. NICKELBACK
07. DISTURBED
08. FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH
09. LED ZEPPELIN
10. JOURNEY

Top Rock Albums Of 2017:

01. METALLICA - "Hardwired...To Self-Destruct"
02. IMAGINE DRAGONS - "Evolve"
03. TWENTY ONE PILOTS - "Blurryface"
04. Soundtrack - "Guardians Of The Galaxy, Vol. 2: Awesome Mix Vol. 2"
05. Soundtrack - "Suicide Squad: The Album"
06. PANIC! AT THE DISCO - "Death Of A Bachelor"
07. LINKIN PARK - "One More Light"
08. THE LUMINEERS - "Cleopatra"
09. THE ROLLING STONES - "Blue & Lonesome"
10. TOM PETTY AND THE HEARTBREAKERS - "Greatest Hits"

"Hardwired… To Self-Destruct" was certified platinum on April 12 by the RIAA (Recording Association Of America). The members of METALLICA were presented with their plaques by "executives" from their record label, Blackened Recordings, on May 17 at The New Coliseum Presented By NYCB in Uniondale, New York.

The "Hardwired… To Self-Destruct" platinum certification reflected a million equivalent album units, which blends traditional album sales, tracks sold from an album and on-demand audio and video streams.

The gain in "Hardwired… To Self-Destruct" sales was owed mostly to a concert ticket/album bundle sale redemption promotion with the band's stadium tour that went on sale on February 17. Redemptions of albums included with the purchase of a concert ticket registered as a sale in the week the customer redeemed/received the album.

"Hardwired… To Self-Destruct" debuted as expected at No. 1 on The Billboard 200 album chart in November 2016, selling 291,000 copies in its first week of release. Both of the band's previous outings, 2008's "Death Magnetic" and 2003's "St. Anger", sold more copies in shortened sales weeks. "Death Magnetic" moved 490,000 copies in a three-day window, while "St. Anger" shifted 418,000 copies in a similar frame.

"Hardwired... To Self-Destruct" consists of two discs, containing a dozen songs and nearly 80 minutes of music.

Photo credit: Finlay MacKay

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).