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Cover of Reload by Metallica — Cover: Reload

Song · Metallica

“The Memory Remains” by Metallica

From the album Reload (1997)

“The Memory Remains” by Metallica appears on 25 radio countdowns from 11 stations between 1997 and 2026. It was first released in 1997 on the album Reload. Its best result is #22 on the KISW Top 25 Songs from 1997. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #172 alternative song of 1997 and #2,727 alternative song of all time.

25countdowns

11stations

#22best position

0#1 finishes

0top 10 finishes

1997–2026years charted

Watch

Metallica: The Memory Remains (Official Music Video)

Video from YouTube (Metallica). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"The Memory Remains" led the way for Reload, Metallica's 1997 album, and it's the band at its most theatrical. James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich wrote it, a tale of a faded star who loses her mind along with her fame, and it first showed up on stage as a loose jam in July 1996. To give it that haunted, Sunset Boulevard air, Hetfield wanted Marianne Faithfull's weathered voice on backing vocals, and he got it. The spoken outro even tips its hat to The Misfits, Marilyn Monroe's last completed film.

Hetfield and Kirk Hammett play guitars, Jason Newsted bass, Ulrich drums, with extra percussion from Jim McGillveray; Bob Rock produced with Hetfield and Ulrich. It later played in the Bada Bing! on The Sopranos and served as a theme for WrestleMania XXVIII.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Classic Rock

#1,268 of all time

Hard Rock & Metal

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year	#	Station	Countdown	of
1997	88	105.7 The Point St. Louis, MO	105.7 The Point Top 105.7 of 1997	106
1997	87	97.1 The Eagle Dallas-Fort Worth, TX	KEGL The Eagle's Top 97 Songs of 1997	97
1997	22	KISW Seattle-Tacoma, WA	KISW Top 25 Songs from 1997	25
1997	38	Triple J Australia (national)	Triple J Hottest 100 of 1997	100
1997	33	WRCX Rock 103.5 Chicago, IL	WRCX Top 103 Songs of 1997	103
1998	88	DC101 Washington, D.C.	DC101 Top 101 Songs of 1998	101

All-time and decade countdowns

Year	#	Station	Countdown	of
1998	966	KISW	KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1998)	1000
1999	294	Q101	Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)	1017
1999	884	KISW	KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1999)	998
2002	248	KISW	KISW Top 999 of All Time (2002)	999
2010	312	97.9 The Loop	The Loop USO Rock 'N' Roll 500 (2010)	500
2019	434	106.7 WLLZ	WLLZ 500 (2019)	500
2020	186	105.9 The X	105.9 The X July 420 (2020)	420
2020	425	106.7 WLLZ	WLLZ 500 (2020)	500
2021	207	105.9 The X	105.9 The X July 420 (2021)	420
2021	193	106.7 WLLZ	WLLZ 500 (2021)	500
2022	210	106.7 WLLZ	WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2022)	500
2022	207	105.9 The X	105.9 The X July 420 (2022)	420
2023	172	KSHE 95	KSHE 95 Rock N' Roll 500 (2023)	500
2023	413	106.7 WLLZ	WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2023)	500
2023	215	105.9 The X	105.9 The X July 420 (2023)	420
2024	466	106.7 WLLZ	WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2024)	500
2024	126	KSHE 95	KSHE 95 Rock N' Roll 500 (2024)	500
2025	466	106.7 WLLZ	WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2025)	500
2026	471	106.7 WLLZ	WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2026)	500

Also listed as: Memory Remains.

Charting alongside it in 1997

Best songs of 1997 →

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