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  • Writer's pictureShane & Ryan Flynn

Ranking the Top 10 Highest Selling Debut Metal Albums

Based on our research we have found what we believe to be the 10 highest selling debut metal albums, now we have taken these 10 records and we will rank them from worst to best. Let it be noted these are solely our opinions and some of them will be rather unpopular.


10) Disturbed - The Sickness (2000) - While in our opinion, this is an extremely cheesy and tacky record, it has sold over 5,000,000 copies in the United States, making it the second highest-selling debut record in metal history.


9) Tool - Undertow (1993) - There is no doubting songs like Sober have stood the test of time and are undoubtedly good songs, however when it pertains to personal taste, Tool can be a bit too repetitive and playing in odd time signatures doesn't feel as special in retrospect as it was at the time.


8) Metallica - Kill Em' All ( 1983) - One has to have respect for this record even though it is not something we go back and listen to often. Many of our favorite bands were inspired by this record and it easy quite easy to see why it is one of the most successful debuts of all-time.


7) Limp Bizkit - Three Dollar Bill, Y'all $ (1997) - A large portion of this records sales came after the fact when the groups follow up record made them mainstream, however this release has aged the best of their discography by far. With it's heavy distorted riffs and raw screams, despite the campy nature of Limp Bizkit, this album is actual fairly good.


6) Rob Zombie - Hellbilly Deluxe (1997) - While this might be a bit of cheating since Zombie built his reputation with White Zombie, this record did outstanding numbers and launched his career into full-fledged stardom.


5) Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory (2001) - What can really be said about this record? It turned the music industry on it's head selling over 10 million copies in the US alone making it the highest selling debut record of all-time.


4) Rage Against The Machine - Rage Against The Machine (1992) - Few bands have ever burst onto the scene as furiously as Rage Against The Machine. Nearly all of the bands classic songs can be found on this record. Looking through the track listing is like staring at a list of all-time rap metal hits.


3) System of a Down - System of a Down (1998) - Despite falling under the genre label of nu-metal, this record contained much more originality than many of their peers.Looking back it's crazy to think a band that was this bizarre was able to achieve such massive success.


2) Korn - Korn (1995) - This is the most influential metal record off all-time, it's reach can be heard in metalcore, hardcore, heavy metal, progressive metal, post-hardcore, and beyond. Korn helped to change the lyrical subject matter and themes that metal was able to cover. This is a truly game-changing album.


1) Slipknot - Slipknot (1999) - The birth of the modern era's Metallica. The metal world would never be the same after the release of this album.Slipknot opened the gates to the masses exposes hundreds of thousands of fans to heavier genres of metal than they would have ever explored.


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