I just wanted to say I am a major fan of Metallica's older music and I used to own ALL of their cds. But, someone stole them all a few years back and I didn't want to rebuy every CD. I went to a few stores to see if they had a Greatest Hits album; alas they didn't and I was perplexed. What confused me is that almost EVERY greatly known band of every genre out there has made a Greatest Hits record but yet the closest thing I can come by is their Garage Inc. album? I mean it's a good album that recorded their underground music, but it is nothing that made them dominate the market.

I found it amusing that Metallica has a handful of tribute albums by other bands, but they did not produce one single Greatest Hits Album. I mean, c'mon, Ozzy Osbourne hates "Best of" albums and he already mass-produced two of them "The Ozzy Cometh" and "Greatest Hits", Def Leppard came out with a few Greatest Hits Albums, Dio already made two slamming Greatest hits albums; heck, even Korn is out with a Greatest Hits album and Korn is nothing compared to Metallica. And, believe it or not, I think Metallica made a bigger impact on the heavy metal scene than Ozzy; heck they made a song Ozzy can't even surpass, "Master of Puppets". Anyhow, with the elongated career track of Metallica, why doesn't the band have an album out to celebrate their 25 year run? I mean, true, Metallica isn't doing all that great right now. But they still made some awesome songs, even on their Load album, that need to be compilated into a CD. I mean, I may be wrong, Metallica may have snuck out a Greatest Hits album; but I have yet to come across one. If they ever came out with one, they could probably put any song in it from "Kill them All" to "...And Justice for All" and it would slaughter no matter what. I know I sound like a major fan of Metallica. It's just been years since I've had their album and I want an album that treks through their 80's through 90's career, and I am, above all, surprised that Metallica has not come out with such an album. I mean, I may be the only person in the world who thought Metallica kicked major butt; I highly doubt I am the only person who yearns for a Greatest Hits album by Metallica. I think it was more than about time for Metallica to step up to the plate and deliver a compilation of their greatest songs.

Anyhow, if there is a Greatest Hits album, can someone enlighten me on it? I'd be grateful.

There isn't one. In most cases, the greatest hits happens either when the band breaks up, the artist gets released from their contract, or the hits dry up. In Metallica's case, none of that has happened.

I mean, there's some precedent for that, although the only one I can think of right now is Joni Mitchell, who was something like twenty-five years into her career when she finally consented to releasing a greatest-hits album. Same with Genesis.

I think what made Metallica's music so thrilling (at least up through And Justice For All, less so after that) was that their albums were true albums, with few (if any) throwaway tracks.

For all the hits they've had, I think they still think of themselves as a very album oriented band, rather than a singles oriented band. That's backed up by the fact that they never made a video until their 4th album.

That's very true. I mean most of their albums had a theme behind them, and it would seem odd if one merges the seperate themes into one package. I guess that's the reason why Metallica won't produce a Greatest Hits album. That, and their 80's style music was more artistic than a gimmick; until of course their Black (Self Titled) album came to shore. That album intensified the popularity of the band and, ironically, was the first of the terrible albums they made and was their first step to downfall; well, hiring Jason Newsted and the metamorphasis of awesome Lars into whiney Lars. Yeah, I mean "Enter Sandman" was okay, if not a slower song from Metallica's roots, but after that, I despised the rest of the album. It was just not insane. More depressing and hateful than the usual anarchy-inspired, electrifying rythm found in Metallica's previous albums. Anyhow, it would still be neat if Metallica came out with a Greatest Hits album (of course trekking their 80's career).

Don't these artists GET it?!

The way to fame and fortune these days is to release one album, then a single, a greatest hits collection, a live album, an anthology, a remix album, and then do ringtones.

Sheesh. From some of the comments I'm reading here, you'd think some artists were in it for the music...

M

I totalle AGREE! I don't want a Metallica greatest album to be a gimmick; just a compilation of their best songs. Same thing would be for Dream Theater. DT plays FOR THE MUSIC; but EACH album has a theme, and a timeframe of which genre they play and the way they blend variable genres into one... It would be extremely hard to not only make a fluctuating album, but choosing what song to put on it would be hard. Heck, the Greatest Hits album by DT would probably be 5 or 6 songs; excluding their ballads and epics. DT just has a knack for making HUGE songs. I love it!!!

My friend got a two disc metallica greatest hits album from some guy in Russia. It's got a lot of good songs but i dont think its actually an official album.

Hey, i just read the discussion you guys had... Metallica do have a greatest hits but its very rare and cost like £50... It was really only the radio stations and stuff that got easy access to them,and you cant find them in shops so you kinda need to search it on the net or find a lone dealer who will sell you it. Some one I know has a stock of a few and im thinking of buying one. I hope that piece of rather blank information was any help to the people in confusion.

Your Theory on greatist hits collections doesnt make sense... how can you release a greatest Hits if you only release one single? Greatest hits are done by what singles got most sales. :/

This is the closest I found.

http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews110543.html