As we bid farewell to 2024, we reflect onMetal By Numbers. It’s always interesting to see how albums perform beyond their chart-topping debuts. How long did records remain on the charts? When did they reappear? Why did some albums struggle and fail to even make the charts? The dominance of the streaming era is evident, but physical sales have still made a significant impact throughout the year.

The 2024 charts highlighted several artists holding strong over time, including Rolling Stones, Sleep Token, Aerosmith, Metallica, and Bad Omens. Bad Omens’The Death of Peace of Mind maintained steady sales of nearly 100–300 copies per week. Meanwhile, Sleep Token’sTake Me Back To Eden made a few jumps from going steadily at 600-700 sold, with later increasing to number 20 in charts with over 5000 sold in July, to 3000 sold, and so forth.

As the year progressed, Green Day, Judas Priest, Falling In Reverse, Knocked Loose, Blood Incantation, and Kerry King also maintained strength throughout the charts. Linkin Park made an especially strong impact, withPapercuts and later their new album,From Zero, making impressive gains.

If Top Albums were based on initial chart-topping sales, here’s what the best metal/rock albums of 2024 would look like:

13) Artist/Album: Ace Frehley,10,000 Volts (MNRK Heavy)

Debut #: 4
Sold: 13010
Release Date: February 23, 2024

12) Artist/Album: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,Wild God (Play It Again Sam)

Debut #: 5
Sold: 15550
Release Date: August 30, 2024

11) Artist/Album: Knocked Loose,You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To (Pure Noise)

Debut #: 2
Sold: 17750
Release Date: May 10, 2024

10) Artist/Album: Falling In Reverse,Popular Monster (Epitaph)

Debut #: 2
Sold: 17800
Release Date: August 16, 2024

09) Artist/Album: Marilyn Manson, One Assassination Under God – Chapter 1 (Nuclear Blast)

Debut #: 5
Sold: 20475
Release Date: November 22, 2024

08) Artist/Album: Linkin Park,Papercuts (Warner)

Debut #: 2
Sold: 20550
Release Date: April 12, 2024

07) Artist/Album: Judas PriestInvincible Shield (Epic)

Debut #: 2
Sold: 22750
Release Date: March 8, 2024

06) Artist/Album: Ghost,Rite Here Rite Now (Loma Vista)

Debut #: 2
Sold: 25750
Release Date: July 26, 2024

05) Artist/Album: David Gilmour,Luck And Strange (Legacy Recordings)

Debut #: 1
Sold: 30400
Release Date: September 6, 2024

04) Artist/Album: Green Day,Saviors (RepriseRecords)

Debut #: 1
Sold: 38950
Release Date: January 19, 2024

03) Artist/Album: Pearl Jam,Dark Matter (Republic Records)

Debut #: 2
Sold: 51950
Release Date: April 19, 2024

02) Artist/Album: The Cure,Songs Of A Lost World (Capitol)

Debut #: 1
Sold: 52625
Release Date: November 1, 2024

01) Artist/Album: Linkin Park,From Zero (Warner)

Debut #: 2
Sold: 71975
Release Date: November 15, 2024

Zenae Zukowski

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