(Almost) 72 reasons why Metallica are #1

Metal gods Metallica score their eighth ARIA #1 this week with the debut of 72 Seasons, while Australian country duo The Wolfe Brothers land a #8 debut.  

Formed in 1981 by vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, Metallica are one of the founding bands of thrash metal. From Metallica (aka The Black Album) in 1991, which has been certified platinum 13 times in Australia, to their live album S&M2 with the San Francisco Symphony, the band has enjoyed a string of #1 success on the ARIA Albums Chart.  

Livin’ The Dream, the seventh studio album from The Wolfe Brothers, becomes their fourth top 10 after This Crazy Life peaked at #10 in 2016, Country Heart reached #9 in 2018 and Kids on Cassette made it to #6 in 2021.  

The Wolfe Brothers have been nominated for two ARIA Awards: Best Independent Country Album in 2019 and Best Independent Country Album or EP in 2022. Livin’ The Dream was written during the pandemic over Zoom writing sessions with writers all over the world. Nick Wolfe produced the album with Rod McCormack and Matt Fell.  

On the Singles Chart, Last Night by Morgan Wallen is #1 for a second week. Joining him in the top 10 is fellow American country star Luke Combs, who jumps from #12 to #7 with his cover of Tracy Chapman’s Fast Car. The original peaked at #4 here in 1988. Until now, Luke’s biggest single was Forever After All, which topped out at #14 two years ago. 

David Kushner, the 22-year-old American singer-songwriter, storms the chart to land a #6 debut with Daylight, having come to prominence last year on TikTok, where his song Miserable Man went viral. It currently has over 96 million global streams on Spotify. Daylight is Kushner’s second top 40 hit here after Miserable Man hit #36 last year.   

South Korean girl group Fifty Fifty continue to rise up the chart with The Beginning: Cupid jumping from #17 to just inside the top 10, at #9 while Post Malone’s new track Chemical arrives at #14: it is his 41st solo or collaborative top 50 hit here.