A fundamental record for the musical genre we are dealing with, the one able to let metal, even the heaviest one, reach the general public. Thanks to singles like Enter Sandman, The Unforgiven and Nothing Else Matters, the Black Album by Metallica has sold 25 million copies to date. Let’s not forget the great influence on the album by the producer Bob Rock, appreciated by Metallica for his work on the album Dr. Feelgood by Mötley Crüe.
4. Appetite For Destruction - Guns N' Roses
Four years before the Black Album, the Guns N' Roses, who sold over thirty million copies of their Appetite For Destruction, were shaking the world's public with their decibels. This is an album that contains some of the band's most famous and beloved songs such as Welcome to the Jungle, It's So Easy, Paradise City and Sweet Child o' Mine. Here is a curious fact about this record: the album t was released on July 21, 1987, but was soon withdrawn from the market because of the cover that depicted a censored painting by Robert Williams. The painter claimed that the group had not paid for the painting and had therefore violated its copyright. The record was then put back on the market with a new cover.
3. Slippery When Wet - Bon Jovi
Slippery When Wet was released in 1986 by Mercury Records and remained at the top of Billboard 200 for 8 consecutive weeks, selling about 33 million copies worldwide, of which more than a third in the USA alone. Among the singles that pushed the Bon Jovi album to the top of the charts, we’d like to mention You Give Love A Bad Name, Livin On A Prayer and Wanted Dead Or Alive.
2. Led Zeppelin IV
Let's take another step back in time to November 8, 1971 to rediscover the fourth studio album by Led Zeppelin, which for simplicity is identified with the number 4. Black Dog, Misty Mountain Hop, Rock'n'Roll and Stairway To Heaven are some of the tracks that have rightfully entered the history of music and that pushed sales up to the considerable figure of 37 million copies sold.
1. Back In Black - AC/DC
The 50 million copies sold by the AC/DC Back in Black album not only allowed the Australian band to release the most successful commercial hard rock album in history, but also to take second place among all the best-selling albums ever. In front of them stands only Michael Jackson and his Thriller, capable of doubling Back in Black’s performance with over 110 million copies sold.