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With 57 million albums sold in the United States alone and 35 million albums sold outside the U.S., the band has sold just over 90 million albums, making them one of the most commercially successful heavy metal acts in history. Metallica is currently 18th on the RIAA's list of top selling acts in the United States.
After building a loyal following by helping to develop modern heavy metal, especially thrash metal (Metallica is the most successful of the "big four" of thrash metal, which include Megadeth, Slayer, and Anthrax) in the mid-1980s, the band broadened its audience in the early 1990s.
In 2003 Metallica released their long-delayed 8th studio album, entitled St. Anger. Although the album polarized critical and popular opinion, their 2004 Madly in Anger with the World supporting tour was a success, and a documentary of the recording of the album during a time of internal turmoil, Some Kind of Monster, was a critical success.