Metallica Albums Ranked
Every Metallica album ranked worst to best by the fans who voted, one head-to-head matchup at a time. Their #1: Ride the Lightning.
Ranked by fans
- albums
- 12albums
- fans voting
- 4fans voting
- votes
- 239votes
- avg rating
- 1000avg rating
Rank Metallica's albums
Vote on head-to-head matchups and see where your ranking agrees with the fans.
START RANKINGA different ranking, from a different crowd: Metallica's albums and songs by lifetime Spotify streams. Figures move daily. Nothing here feeds the fan ranking.
Most streamed Metallica albums
Master of Puppets
1986
2.18bn
Metallica
1991
6.38bn
Ride the Lightning
1984
2.07bn
Every play of every song on the album, as of 13 October 2026. Where an album has several editions, the biggest figure counts.
Most streamed Metallica songs
- 1Enter Sandman2.26bn1m/day
- 2Nothing Else Matters1.75bn747k/day
- 3Master of Puppets (Remastered)1.32bn485k/day
- 4One903m444k/day
- 5For Whom The Bell Tolls - Remastered810m416k/day
- 6The Unforgiven763m328k/day
- 7Whiskey In The Jar641m208k/day
- 8Sad But True560m244k/day
- 9Fade To Black - Remastered468m205k/day
- 10Fuel447m230k/day
Source: Spotify lifetime totals via kworb.net. Albums as of 13 October 2026, songs as of 13 October 2026. Stream counts are not votes and are never mixed into the fan ranking.
Metallica albums: your questions
- What is Metallica's best album?
- Ride the Lightning (1984) is Metallica's #1 album on TakeRank, winning 80% of its 30 head-to-head matchups.
- What is Metallica's most underrated album?
- Metallica (1991) sits at #4 but wins 57% of its matchups, the best record of any Metallica album outside their top three.
- How many albums has Metallica released?
- Metallica has released 12 studio albums, from Kill ’Em All (1983) to 72 Seasons (2023).
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