10 Metallica Songs That Have Been Played The Most Live
These giants of metal have played thousands of shows, but which tracks have been performed the most?
Since their formation in 1981, Metallica have played thousands of shows all across the world, delighting fans young and old with new songs and classic staples alike.
From the dingiest of dive bars to the biggest stadiums on the planet, these monsters of metal have thrashed out their biggest hits in front of a paying crowd year after year after year. But which of their titanic hits has been performed most often?
Thanks to the magic of setlist.fm, a fantastic resource for tracking artists' live shows across their entire histories, the answer is here!
The following ten songs have all been played over 1,000 times live at the time of writing, and are still making it onto setlists decades after they first came out. Obviously, older songs stand a better chance of having more plays, but you'd be surprised how few tracks from Metallica's first album show up on this list.
Metallica fans clearly have their favourites, and the band knows what they are, as they've cultivated a winning formula to ensure that metalheads keep coming back to their shows for more of their most popular and enduring tunes.
10. Welcome Home (Sanitarium) - 1,020 Times
Narrowly sneaking into the four figures realm is Welcome Home (Sanitarium), the final song on side one of Metallica's third album, 1986's Master of Puppets.
Based on the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, this track is about a character unjustly imprisoned in a mental asylum and his desire to break free and return to normal society. If you've read the book or seen the Jack Nicholson film adaptation, then you'll know how well that goes.
From the moment that iconic harmonic opening kicks in, Welcome Home goes hard, with some of the strongest lyrics out of any Metallica track from this time period. It got its first live outing mere weeks after Master of Puppets came out, and has been a consistent part of the Metallica live package ever since.
Whilst it's not the hardest rocker nor does it boast the wildest guitar solo, Welcome Home is such a strong example of why this band are so successful; they're not just about making the most noise or screeching until the microphone breaks, they're well-read, thoughtful, and capable of superb songwriting.
Although, all the noisy stuff is cool too.