Metallica sold 598,000 copies in its first US week after The Black Album was released.
That first-week figure helped the album debut at number one on the Billboard 200. It was the first time Metallica had topped the US album chart, marking a major transition from influential thrash-metal band to international mainstream success.
The commercial result was notable because the band had not abandoned heavy music. Instead, Bob Rock’s production and the album’s more direct songwriting made the material easier for radio, MTV, and a much broader audience to embrace.
The number refers to first-week US sales, not the album’s lifetime worldwide total. The Black Album later sold more than 30 million copies worldwide and became Metallica’s best-selling album. Modern certification figures can differ because certifications measure shipments or other reporting categories rather than the original first-week sales count.