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
- 16albums
- fans voting
- 3fans voting
- votes
- 209votes
- 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 songs by lifetime Spotify streams. Figures move daily and are correct as of 22 August 2026. Nothing here feeds the fan ranking.
Most streamed Metallica songs
- 1Enter Sandman2.25bn1m/day
- 2Nothing Else Matters1.78bn760k/day
- 3Master of Puppets1.35bn574k/day
- 4One925m442k/day
- 5For Whom The Bell Tolls846m482k/day
- 6The Unforgiven759m289k/day
- 7Whiskey In The Jar629m245k/day
- 8Sad But True568m267k/day
- 9Fade To Black474m190k/day
- 10Fuel462m265k/day
Metallica albums in a year's most-streamed five
Album totals come from the year-by-year most-streamed albums data, so only albums that made their release year's top five appear here. Not a full discography ranking.
- 6.17bn
Metallica
1991 - #2 most streamed album of 1991
- 2.12bn
Master Of Puppets
1986 - #3 most streamed album of 1986
- 1.6bn
…And Justice for All
1988 - #3 most streamed album of 1988
Source: Spotify lifetime totals via kworb.net, verified 22 August 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 76% of its 25 head-to-head matchups.
- What is Metallica's most underrated album?
- …And Justice for All (1988) sits at #4 but wins 54% of its matchups, the best record of any Metallica album outside their top three.
- How many albums has Metallica released?
- Metallica has released 16 studio albums, from Kill ’Em All (1983) to 72 Seasons (2023).