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Cover of Load by Metallica
Cover: Load

Song · Metallica

“Until It Sleeps” by Metallica

From the album Load (1996)

“Until It Sleeps” by Metallica appears on 45 radio countdowns from 24 stations between 1996 and 2026. It was first released in 1996 on the album Load. Its best result is #17 on the 103.3 The Edge Top 103 New Rock Songs of the Millennium. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #111 alternative song of 1996 and #1,508 alternative song of all time.

45countdowns
24stations
#17best position
0#1 finishes
0top 10 finishes
1996–2026years charted

Watch

Metallica - Until It Sleeps (Official Music Video)

Video from YouTube (Warner Records Vault). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Until It Sleeps" led the way for Load, Metallica's sixth album, in May 1996, and it catches the band in a brooding crouch: a hushed, uneasy verse that coils up and then lunges into a chorus with the full weight of the band behind it, James Hetfield sounding raw and wounded. Hetfield and Lars Ulrich wrote it, Bob Rock produced it alongside them, and Kirk Hammett and Jason Newsted fill out the lineup. Hetfield dedicated it to his mother, Cynthia Bassett.

It went to number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100, their highest-charting single and their only American top 10, topped the Mainstream Rock chart and reached number one in Australia, Denmark, Finland, Hungary and Sweden. Samuel Bayer's video, a nightmare built from the paintings of Hieronymus Bosch, won Best Hard Rock Video at the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards.

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

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Classic Rock

Hard Rock & Metal

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1996 101 107.7 The End Seattle, WA The End Top 107 Songs of 1996 107
1996 35 WBCN Boston, MA WBCN Top 104 Songs of 1996 104
1996 52 Triple J Australia (national) Triple J Hottest 100 of 1996 100
1997 57 105.7 The Point St. Louis, MO 105.7 The Point Top 105.7 of 1997 106
1997 48 WRCX Rock 103.5 Chicago, IL WRCX Top 103 Songs of 1997 103

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1996 687 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1996) 1000
1997 378 102.3 WBAB WBAB Top 1,023 Rock and Roll Songs of All Time (1997) 1023
1998 593 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1998) 1000
1999 85 Q101 Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1017
1999 208 107.7 The End The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1077
1999 749 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1999) 998
2000 17 103.3 The Edge 103.3 The Edge Top 103 New Rock Songs of the Millennium 103
2001 359 WBRU WBRU Modern Rock Top 500 (2001) 500
2002 86 KISW KISW Top 999 of All Time (2002) 999
2005 323 99X 99X Freedom of Choice 1000 (2005) 1000
2007 351 KROQ KROQ Top 500 Most Requested Songs of the '90s (Labor Day 2007) 500
2010 108 CFNY 102.1 The Edge 102.1 The Edge Top 200 Songs of the 90's (September 2010) 200
2010 153 97.9 The Loop The Loop USO Rock 'N' Roll 500 (2010) 500
2013 751 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Grand Jam 1000 (2013) 1000
2014 223 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Firecracker 400 (2014) 400
2014 790 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX 1K Countdown (2014) 1000
2015 756 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1007 Classic Rock Countdown (2015) 1007
2016 286 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1007 Countdown for 2016 1007
2019 267 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ 500 (2019) 500
2019 409 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Big 500 (2019) 499
2020 159 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2020) 420
2020 202 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ 500 (2020) 500
2020 276 DC101 The DC101 Top 500 500
2020 434 Q105.7 Q105.7 Memorial Day 500 (2020) 499
2021 195 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2021) 420
2021 210 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ 500 (2021) 500
2022 197 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2022) 420
2022 975 102.5 KZOK KZOK Classic Rock Top 1025 (2022) 1025
2022 470 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2022) 500
2023 207 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2023) 420
2023 314 KSHE 95 KSHE 95 Rock N' Roll 500 (2023) 500
2023 483 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2023) 500
2024 384 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2024) 499
2024 354 KSHE 95 KSHE 95 Rock N' Roll 500 (2024) 500
2024 283 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Top 400 of the Last 40 Years (2024) 400
2024 397 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2024) 500
2025 426 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2025) 500
2025 748 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2025) 1043
2025 271 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Top 400 of the Last 40 Years (2025) 400
2026 425 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2026) 500

Also listed as: Until it Sleeps.

Charting alongside it in 1996

Best songs of 1996 →
  1. 1Down311
  2. 2PepperButthole Surfers
  3. 3Where It's AtBeck
  4. 4SpiderwebsNo Doubt
  5. 5What I GotSublime
  6. 6MachineheadBush

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