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I have a question. How do songs such as Back in black, nothing else matters, seven nation army, californication, etc all chart not very high at all. Like not even too 30, but are some of the most recognizable songs ever? Also, where would you put Metallica on an all time biggest artists, and bands ever? Like top eight biggest band ever, and top 20 biggest artists ever?
Metallica in 3 of the 4 most important European markets UK + France + Italy as a sum barely reach 10 million total albums, not much I would say. A little too dependent on the North American market. I think Iron Maiden and Pearl Jam are doing a little better in those 3 markets.
I can't speak for France or Italy but they just never seemed to really connect with the UK music buying public. Most of their albums bar Metallica, pretty much entered high then fell away quickly.
While they are more successful overall, than US contemporaries such as Bon Jovi and Guns N Roses, those two are far more popular, successful and well known than Metallica, in the UK.
Guns n' Roses are less successful because they have a much smaller discography. Chinese democracy is not even considered by many to be a Guns album but only with the name Guns on the cover. I don't think Appetite is less popular than the black album and the two Illusion have sold more than Justice or Master of puppets, with better results also in streaming.
Pearl Jam ? Not at all, they sold less than 1 million in France, 2.5m in the UK... You're probably right about Maiden though.
It might be down to Metallica's heavier sound. Which seem much more popular in general in places like Germany, Scandinavia and such, where genres like thrash, death and black metal chart high much more frequent than in the UK or France for example.
The UK, although supposedly the place where Metal originated, has never been a particularly receptive audience with regards to Metal, Hard Rock, Thrash etc.
It's seems we've always leaned far more towards pop acts such as ABBA, Elton, Take That, Cliff Richard and sort of straight forward, kind of softer, mainstream rock ala Queen, The Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, Oasis etc and not so much your harder rockers/metalers such as AC/DC, Metallica and Led Zeppelin.
Even Maiden, who clearly have a large fan base in the UK, do not seem to appeal to many at all, beyond that fan base. A lot of people know their name but I doubt many could name the members or recognise them or even name any of their tracks.
But Garage inc. it is only 3 times platinum in the US, the RIAA that gives it to 5 what does it include?
If a set has multiple discs, the RIAA multiplies a products shipments by how many discs are in the set. So Garage Inc will have shipped 2.5m in the US by 2000, hence it's 5m certification (2 x 2.5m)
The cover of ...And Justice for all has disappeared from the table like the bass 🙂
čistá predajnosť a jej aktualizácia ako u streamov by ma potešila najviac
As a ranking in terms of popularity I would put: 1)Guns 2)Nirvana 3)Eagles 4)Metallica.
In rock Led Zeppelin above all four if they had the chance to release some music videos of their biggest hits.
But it is normal how the sum of two successful albums exceeds the single release. I would focus more on the fact that even before the release of the black album the Guns already sold more, just compare the pre 1991 numbers of AFD and G N 'R Lies against a MOP or ...AJFA. The great numbers of Metallica come after the release of the black album with consequent great catalog sales also of the previous discs.
If the 1991 tour had taken place in Germany and not in the UK you might have changed your mind about which of the two was the older 😉
Garth Brooks and Billy Joel are more popular than Bruce Springsteen and Metallica in the ASR chart, I don't think that's the case in reality.
Hi Jsak!
Why not? Both had relatively short careers, yet they Metallica and Springsteen in US sales. Garth Brooks is moderately to not popular over a large part of the global population, but then in the country area he is a god-like seller. Metallica and Springsteen have 1-2 albums at 7m+ there, while Joel and Brooks have more than 15 combined. Joel is also a superb seller in many markets abroad. They are two artists with next to no flop, they remained at the top for a dozen of years and just left the game.
Popularity is measured globally, not just the United States. If you come out of the US the average listener knows more Springsteen and Metallica than the other two.
I wouldn't say so in the UK. Id say your average listener would not know much by any of them but Joels and Springsteens more popular tracks are probably more mainstream than most Metallica tracks.
Brooks we can forget about in the UK, a vast majority have probably never even heard of him, let alone able to recognise any of his songs.
And most well-known artists in the World and most successful are two different things. If you take this route surely you would conclude that Ariana Grande is bigger than Led Zeppelin. Nearly all Billy Joel / Garth Brooks albums have been blockbusters, Metallica got one monster, a group of early albums which did wonders as catalog and then 'average' sellers once we compare them to the World's biggest. About the same for Springsteen, it's not like his albums used to sell 15 million copies, only one did.
I don't think today (unlike in the past) Bon Jovi and Dire Straits are more famous than Metallica, Bon Jovi then fell into oblivion because he is practically no longer able to sing, he is completely aphonic.
