Metallica’s Greatest Hits?

Metallica released their tenth studio album to much acclaim in November 2016. It had been thirteen years since the release of St. Anger, which fittingly angered many of their fans. Their style changed—much like it changed with Load in 1996—but was ill-received.

The new album, Hardwired… To Self-Destruct, is a return to the old. A return to the Metallica that their fans loved. The band does a good job reminding fans that they are still the one and only Metallica. To drive home the point, they even included a third disc packed with live performances of their oldest hits. And they succeeded.

Hardwired… To Self-Destruct is nostalgic to the point that old fans are returning. They aren’t just buying the new album, but they’re also buying digital versions of all their old favorites. You can tell because the top four best-selling metal albums on the Apple iTunes Store include “The Black Album” and Master of Puppets.

It got me wondering, what would a “greatest hits” album look like for Metallica? I chose the most popular song from their most recent album for each year:

1. 1983, Kill ‘Em All: Seek & Destroy
2. 1984, Ride the Lightning: For Whom the Bell Tolls
3. 1985, Ride the Lightning: Fade to Black
4. 1986, Master of Puppets: Master of Puppets
5. 1987, Master of Puppets: Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
6. 1988, …And Justice for All: One
7. 1989, …And Justice for All: Blackened
8. 1990, …And Justice for All: Harvester of Sorrow
9. 1991, Metallica: Enter Sandman
10. 1992, Metallica: The Unforgiven
11. 1993, Metallica: Nothing Else Matters
12. 1994, Metallica: Sad But True
13. 1995, Metallica: Wherever I May Roam
14. 1996, Load: Until It Sleeps
15. 1997, Reload: Fuel
16. 1998, Reload: The Unforgiven II
17. 1999, Reload: The Memory Remains
18. 2000, Reload: Devil’s Dance
19. 2001, Reload: Low Man’s Lyric
20. 2002, Reload: Better Than You
21. 2003, St. Anger: St. Anger
22. 2004, St. Anger: Frantic
23. 2005, St. Anger: Some Kind of Monster
24. 2006, St. Anger: The Unnamed Feeling
25. 2007, St. Anger: Invisible Kid
26. 2008, Death Magnetic: The Day That Never Comes
27. 2009, Death Magnetic: Cyanide
28. 2010, Death Magnetic: My Apocalypse
29. 2011, Death Magnetic: The Unforgiven III
30. 2012, Death Magnetic: All Nightmare Long
31. 2013, Death Magnetic: The Judas Kiss
32. 2014, Death Magnetic: Broken, Beat & Scarred
33. 2015, Death Magnetic: That Was Just Your Life
34. 2016, Hardwired… to Self-Destruct: Hardwired
35. 2017, Hardwired… to Self-Destruct: Moth Into Flame
36. 2018, Hardwired… to Self-Destruct: Atlas, Rise!

But you might say that doing it this way puts too much weight on Metallica’s newer music. After all, they slowed down as they got older and only released three albums in the past 15 years. Fair enough. Then let’s just choose the most popular three songs from each album. It would be a two-disc set:

Disc One

1. 1983, Kill ‘Em All: Seek & Destroy
2. 1983, Kill ‘Em All: The Four Horsemen
3. 1983, Kill ‘Em All: Whiplash
4. 1984, Ride the Lightning: For Whom the Bell Tolls
5. 1984, Ride the Lightning: Fade to Black
6. 1984, Ride the Lightning: Ride the Lightning
7. 1986, Master of Puppets: Master of Puppets
8. 1986, Master of Puppets: Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
9. 1986, Master of Puppets: Battery
10. 1988, …And Justice for All: One
11. 1988, …And Justice for All: Blackened
12. 1988, …And Justice for All: Harvester of Sorrow
13. 1991, Metallica: Enter Sandman
14. 1991, Metallica: The Unforgiven
15. 1991, Metallica: Nothing Else Matters

Disc Two

1. 1996, Load: Until It Sleeps
2. 1996, Load: King Nothing
3. 1996, Load: Hero of the Day
4. 1997, Reload: Fuel
5. 1997, Reload: The Unforgiven II
6. 1997, Reload: The Memory Remains
7. 2003, St. Anger: St. Anger
8. 2003, St. Anger: Frantic
9. 2003, St. Anger: Some Kind of Monster
10. 2008, Death Magnetic: The Day That Never Comes
11. 2008, Death Magnetic: Cyanide
12. 2008, Death Magnetic: My Apocalypse
13. 2016, Hardwired… to Self-Destruct: Hardwired
14. 2016, Hardwired… to Self-Destruct: Moth Into Flame
15. 2016, Hardwired… to Self-Destruct: Atlas, Rise!

You can make this greatest hits album yourself. Each song is $1.29 on iTunes. It would cost you $38.70.

While we’re at it, why not throw in some songs from their other, non-studio album releases? It can make for an interesting bonus disc:

Disc Three

1. 1987, The $5.98 E.P.: Garage Days Re-Revisited: Last Caress/Green Hell
2. 1993, Live Sh*t: Bing & Purge (Live in Mexico City): Enter Sandman (live)
3. 1998, Garage, Inc.: Turn the Page
4. 1999, S&M (Live): No Leaf Clover (Live with the SFSO)
5. 2000, I Disappear – Single: I Disappear
6. 2004, Some Kind of Monster (Live): Some Kind of Monster (Live)
7. 2009, Orgullo, Pasión, y Gloria: Tres Noches en la Ciudad de México: Creeping Death (Live)
8. 2010, The Big Four: Live from Sofia, Bulgaria: For Whom the Bell Tolls (Live)
9. 2010, Six Feet Down Under: Eye of the Beholder (Live)
10. 2010, Six Feet Down Under Part II: Blackened (Live)
11. 2010, Live at Grimey’s: No Remorse (Live)
12. 2011, Lulu (Lou Reed & Metallica): The View
13. 2011, Beyond Magnetic – EP: Hate Train
14. 2013, Metallica Through the Never (Music from the Motion Picture): Orion (live)
15. 2014, Lords of Summer (First Pass Version) – Single: Lords of Summer (First Pass Version)

If you’re on a budget, you can buy the most popular song from each album on iTunes for a total of $12.90. It would look like this:

Greatest Hits in One Disc

1. 1983, Kill ‘Em All: Seek & Destroy
2. 1984, Ride the Lightning: For Whom the Bell Tolls
3. 1986, Master of Puppets: Master of Puppets
4. 1988, …And Justice for All: One
5. 1991, Metallica: Enter Sandman
6. 1996, Load: Until It Sleeps
7. 1997, Reload: Fuel
8. 2003, St. Anger: St. Anger
9. 2008, Death Magnetic: The Day That Never Comes
10. 2016, Hardwired… to Self-Destruct: Hardwired