Metal By Numbers is a weekly column in which we look at the top metal sellers and debuts of the week.
It’s the week after the week after Christmas, which means one thing for record sales: they’re going down! After the weeks of holiday shopping, followed by the redemption of iTunes and Amazon gift cards after Christmas, record sales are down across the board. There are no new debuts, since it was New Year’s Day last week, and almost no albums on the chart sold more than they did last week. This is it – the winter doldrums. But hey, congrats to Zeppelin, Kid Rock and Deftones, who have the only three metal/rock albums in the top 100.
Notable Sales
Led Zeppelin, Celebration Day (Atlantic) #38, 14,800 sold
Heart pretty much knocked it out of the park with their cover of “Stairway to Heaven” during Zeppelin’s Kennedy Center Honors.
Kid Rock, Rebel Soul (Atlantic), #40, 14,250 sold
Kid Rock has sold about 366,000 copies of this album in 7 weeks. It’s not bad, but probably not enough for him to buy a yacht called Chilin’ The Most and rock that bitch up and down the coast.
Deftones, Koi No Yokan (Reprise) #98, 5,300 sold
This has sold about 125,000 copies in 8 weeks so far. Not bad.
Soundgarden, King Animal (Universal) #106, 5,000 sold
Ready to feel old? It’s been 22 years since Badmotorfinger was released.
Stone Sour, House of Gold & Bones (Roadrunner) #124, 4,000 sold
This hasn’t crossed the 100,00 sold mark yet, but should in the next few weeks.
Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Dreams of Fireflies (On A Christmas Night) (Lava) #126, 3,850 sold
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas… is over, as this album has a 65% drop this week.
Halestorm, The Strange Case Of… (Atlantic) #129, 3,775 sold
The Grammy nominees have been on the charts for 38 weeks with their sophomore album.
In This Moment, Blood (Century Media) #138, 3,550 sold
In the past month, this album crossed the 100,000 sold mark, which is probably more than any of their albums have sold.
Rock of Ages, Soundtrack (WaterTower Music) #139, 3,550 sold
This album, of actors singing cover songs from a movie that nobody liked, has sold over 250,000 copies so far. Good job, America.
Aerosmith, Music From Another Dimension! (Columbia) #144, 3,300 sold
Oh! Good morning, Mr. Tyler, going down? Why yes, girl from “Love In An Elevator,” the sales for my latest album certainly are.
Shinedown, Amaryllis (Atlantic) #145, 3,275 sold
While the Shinedown album has been out much longer than Aerosmith’s, the 350,000 copies it’s sold are more than double what Music From Another Dimension has.
Five Finger Death Punch, American Capitalist (Prospect Park) #148, 3,150 sold
Over the holidays, American Capitalist became the band’s third gold album. It’s hard to think of any current acts that have had their first three albums go gold.
Flyleaf, New Horizons (A&M/Octone) 3,100 sold
This album title sounds like a rehab facility.
All That Remains, A War You Cannot Win (Razor & Tie) #162, 2,700 sold
The 58,000 copies this album’s sold in 7 weeks is pretty solid, considering there isn’t a huge radio single out there yet.
Volbeat, Beyond Hell/Above Heaven (Universal) #173, 2,700 sold
This will hit the 200,000 sold mark in a month, which is amazing.
Pierce the Veil, Collide With the Sky (Fearless) #173, 2500 sold
I don’t know enough about this band to say anything snarky.
AC/DC, Live At River Plate (Columbia) #196, 2,200 sold
River plate makes me think of gravy.
Papa Roach, The Connection (Eleven Seven) #200, 2,175 sold
Remember when the first album came out, and the singer’s name was Coby Dick? Then they got popular and he “changed” his name to Jacoby Shaddix?
Crown The Empire, The Fallout (Rise) 1,300 sold
This band is from Dallas. That’s about all we can tell you about them.
Woe, Is Me, Genesi[s] (Rise)875 sold
While this and Crown the Empire were selling about the same for a while, Crown has jumped ahead by several thousand copies.
Otherwise, True Love Never Dies (Century Media) 725 sold
This is inching its way toward 30,000 sold, which is pretty impressive. I’d also like to take this space to say hi to their lawyer, Eric German.
Capture the Crown, `Til Death (Sumerian) 625 sold
This has sold almost 7,000 copies in just three weeks.
The Amity Affliction, Chasing Ghosts (Roadrunner) 400 sold
The Australian band power their way back on to the charts.
Graveyard, Lights Out (Nuclear Blast) 350 sold
The Swedish band’s third album is hanging in there.
Witchcraft, Legend (Nuclear Blast) 335 sold
So is this Swedish band’s fourth album. In addition to sharing the same label, the two bands have toured together, and Magnus Pelander played in a band with two Graveyard members in a band called Norrsken.
Porcupine Tree, Octane Twisted (Kscope) 320 sold
This is moving somewhat slowly for a Porcupine Tree release. Granted, it’s a live album, and probably limited edition, but still.
Texas In July, Texas In July (Equal Vision) 300 sold
This metalcore band is actually from Pennsylvania, but Pennsylvania In July is an even worse band name.
Upon This Dawning, To Keep Us Safe (Fearless) 300 sold
This band has sold 7,000 records, and I don’t know anything about them.
The Devin Townsend Project, Epicloud (HevyDevy) 300 sold
Heavy Devy crossed the 10,000-sold mark on his latest masterpiece over the holidays.
Pig Destroyer, Book Burner (Relapse) 300 sold
Damn there are a lot of records that sold just about the same number this week!
In Fear & Faith, In Fear And Faith (Rise) 300 sold
The band’s third album sold some more copies this week. I’d say more if their Facebook bio didn’t excitedly tell us to watch for their debut full length coming in 2009.
Neurosis, Honor Found in Decay (Neurot) 295 sold
The band might have lost their visuals, but they’re still amazing live.
Pallbearer, Sorrow & Extinction (Profound Lore) 290 sold
Am I the only idiot that thought this album was just ok? The sheer number of people voting it the album of the year is making me reconsider.
