Metallica discography

The following is the discography of Metallica, a Los Angeles-based heavy metal band formed in 1981 by James Hetfield (lead vocals, rhythm guitar) and Lars Ulrich (drums). After several bassist and lead guitarist changes, the band settled on Cliff Burton and Kirk Hammett, respectively. Metallica started playing locally, releasing their first widely circulated demo, No Life 'til Leather, in 1982. The demo caught the attention of Johny Zazula, who signed Metallica to Megaforce Records. The band released Kill 'Em All in 1983, and the following year they released Ride the Lightning. After Ride the Lightning was released, Metallica left Megaforce and signed to Elektra Records. In March 1986, the band released its third studio album, Master of Puppets, which was Metallica's first album to be certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). While promoting the album, Burton was killed in a bus accident. Jason Newsted was hired as a replacement and the band's first release to feature the new member was an EP of cover songs. ...And Justice for All was released in August 1988 and peaked at number six on the Billboard 200.

Metallica's fifth, self-titled album, often called The Black Album, was released in 1991 and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. The band embarked on a two-year tour in support of the album. Metallica has since been certified 16 times platinum by the RIAA. Metallica wrote enough material for a double album, but released it all as two separate albums, titled Load and Reload. After the release of a cover album and a live album, Newsted (who would later join Voivod) departed from the band. Metallica recorded St. Anger without an official bassist (bass parts for the writing & recording during the album sessions were played by the band's longtime producer Bob Rock). Robert Trujillo was hired as Metallica's newest bassist in 2003. In 2008, the band released its ninth studio album, Death Magnetic, which was produced by Rick Rubin. The album is distributed through Warner Bros. Records. In April 2009, the band's catalogue was released on the iTunes Store as the Metallica Collection.

In 2013, Metallica released the movie, Metallica: Through the Never, together with its soundtrack. After that had run its course, Metallica then planned to start writing for their tenth studio album, Hardwired... to Self-Destruct, which was released on November 18, 2016. Metallica has sold more than 100 million albums worldwide, with over 60 million records in the United States alone (54,365,000 albums since 1991 when SoundScan started tracking actual sales figure).