Chew on this: While Slash has kept himself extremely busy after leaving Guns N’ Roses in 1996, it took him until 2010 to release his first solo album. That’s almost as much time as it took for Axl and friends to record Chinese Democracy, which came out in 2008. The man legally known as Saul Hudson appears to be making up for lost time, however, with his second solo album, Apocalyptic Love, coming just two years later. And while it’s billed as “featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators,” it seems like more of a solo album than his last one, which featured tons more vocal contributors. At any rate, there are quite a bit of debuts this week, so let’s read on.
Notable Debuts:
Slash, Apocalyptic Love (Dik Hayd) Debut #4, 37,5000 sold
The album, which features more of a steady frontman in Myles Kennedy, sells about 23,000 less than his last album, which debuted at #3. Ironically, Chinese Democracy, also debuted at #3.
The Cult, Choice of Weapon (12th Street) Debut #32, 11,300 sold
While 2007’s Born Into This was supposed to be the band’s last album, this one had a much nicer chart debut than the #72 position their last one had. It’s hard to say if it sold more copies, but this is still a solid debut for a heritage band.
Six Feet Under, Undead (Metal Blade) Debut #146. 2,700 sold
This is a great debut for Six Feet Under’s first album in four years. Maybe all the exposure the band has picked up through Chris Barnes’ car commercial?
Sonata Arctica, Stones Grow Her Name (Nuclear Blast) #174, 2,100 sold
The band’s seventh studio album is off to a pretty solid beginning.
Kill Devil Hill, Kill Devil Hill (SPV/Steamhammer) 1,800 sold
Given that it’s the band’s rhythm section (Pantera/Down’s Rex Brown and Black Sabbath’s Vinny Appice) are more popular than it’s frontman and guitarist, this is a nice solid start for the band.
Saint Vitus, Lillie: F-65 (Season of Mist) 1,100 sold
It’s been 17 years since the doom band’s last album, a time which has seen many other bands are their style. However, they’ve been active in (mostly) this incnarnation since 2008, and this is a solid beginning.
Firewind, Few Against Many (DisManic, Inc.) 1,000 sold
Since the last Firewind album, guitarist Gus G. has joined a little bit of a higher-profile act in Ozzy Osbourne. This is the first release he’s done on his own label, and it’s paying off with a nice, albeit modest start.
Sabaton, Carolus Rex (Nuclear Blast) 950 sold
It’s a busy week for power metal bands on Nuclear Blast that are putting out their seventh album. Apparently, Sonata Arctica didn’t flood the market enough to significantly impact sales of Sabaton’s latest.
To Speak of Wolves, Find Your Worth, Come Home (Solid State) 575 sold
The Christian metalcore band’s second album is off to a modest start.
Saxon, Heavy Metal Thunder – Live – Eagles Over Wacken (Militia Guard/EMI) 550 sold
Want to see Saxon play the Wacken Fest in 2004, 2007, and 2009? 550 of you did this week.
TesseracT, Perspective EP (Century Media) 500 sold
The highlight of this (mostly) acoustic EP is a killer cover of Jeff Buckley’s “Dream Brother.” This is great and all, now go make a new record!
Royal Thunder, CVI (Relapse) 450 sold
This is a sleeper band. We told you first. If Jefferson Airplane’s Grace Slick fronted a stoner rock band, it would kinda start to sound like this. Get into it.
Burzum, Umskiptar (Candlelight) 420 sold
This is Varg Vikernes’ tenth solo album, and third overall since being released from prison in 2009. That’s quite a bit of output, but hey, as long as it’s keeping him off the streets…
Unisonic, Unisonic (Edel)
This new band featuring former Helloween frontman and guitarist Michael Kiske and Kai Hansen sells significantly less thant the 1,900 that Helloween’s most recent album sold its first week.
Notable Sales:
Tenacious D, Rize of the Fenix (Columbia) #28, 14,500 sold
While Jables and Rage Kage suffer a 70% drop in their second week, just about any non-comedy musical act would kill to sell about 63,000 copies in two weeks.
Shinedown, Amaryllis (Atlantic) #70, 6,400 sold
While the band drop another 15% this week, don’t cry for them. This album will have sold 225,000 in a few weeks.
Godsmack, Live & Inspired (Universal) #80, 5,700 sold
It’s kind of amazing to think that band’s ‘made it’ in the ’70s by releasing live albums (think KISS Alive or, um, Peter Frampton). This album takes a typical 65% drop in its second week.
Marilyn Manson, Born Villain (Cooking Vinyl/ Downtown/Hell, Etc.) #93, 4,900 sold
Speaking of acts that would kill to sell 63,000 in two weeks, it’s taken Manson twice that long to cross that barrier. It hasn’t gotten quite this bad for Manson yet, but it’d be hard to call this a comeback.
Five Finger Death Punch, American Capitalist (Prospect Park) #114, 4,000 sold
This will likely cross the 400,000 sold barrier next week, after being on sale for 34 weeks. Amazing artist development whether you’re a fan of the band or not.
Halestorm, The Strange Case Of… (Atlantic) #115, 4,000 sold
Lzzy Hale would like to buy a vowel.
Shadows Fall, Fire From the Sky (Razor & Tie) #161, 2,900 sold
While the band had a great debut last week, falling nearly 100 spots can’t have anyone too psyched. Hopefully, they’ll get back on the road, where they’ll be able to sell records off the strength of their awesome live show.
Van Halen, A Different Kind of Truth (Interscope) #162, 2,800 sold
They might have postponed their summer dates due to exhaustion, but they should probably reschedule those dates before too long, as the album is continuing to fall.
Pantera, Vulgar Display of Power [Deluxe Edition Re-Issue] (Rhino) #184, 2,620 sold
Kind of amazing this album is double platinum, as it’s hard to imagine anything this heavy (with the possible exception of Slipknot) going even single platinum today.
Volbeat, Beyond Hell/Above Heaven (Universal) #167, 2,800 sold
One of the few increases this week, Volbeat have a solid 13% increase this week.
Foo Fighters, Wasting Light (RCA), 2,300 sold
Doesn’t look like the Foos’ performance on Saturday Night Live‘s finale helped them sell any more albums this week.
Korn, The Path of Totality (Roadrunner), 1,900 sold
It’s pretty interesting to see that amid all the hype about the band’s venture into electronic music, this album’s only sold about 225,000 copies. In fact, one of the album,’s collaborators, Skrillex, has sold more of his album in less time.
Otherwise, True Love Never Dies (Century Media) 1,600 sold
Anyone see these guys open for Lacuna Coil last month? I don’t know anything about them.
Cattle Decapitation, Monolith of Inhumanity (Metal Blade) 514 sold
Selling about 4,000 copies in a month isn’t bad for a band as extreme as Cattle Decapitation.
Sleep, Dopesmoker (Southern Lord) 425 sold
This album has already been released on Tee Pee, but those that slept on that release (wordplay!) can pick this up.
Torche, Harmonicraft (Volcom) 500 sold
The metal world seems to be paying attention to this band finally. It went top five at college radio, and their second stint touring with C.O.C. is about to start.
Upon A Burning Body, Red. White. Green. (Sumerian) 400 sold
This album should pass the 10,000 sold barrier in a few weeks, just around the time they get on the road for the Mayhem Fest.
At The Skylines, The Secrets To Life (Roadrunner) 570 sold
3,700 copies sold in three weeks isn’t bad, but it doesn’t seem like the kind of numbers that the new Roadrunner would be too psyched about, either.
John 5, God Told Me To (Rocket Science) 350 sold
Do guitar players still get excited about instrumental guitar records? Shrapnel made a career out of it in the ’80s and ’90s.
Prong, Carved Into Stone (Long Branch) 331 sold
Prong are continuing to hold up pretty well. Doesn’t hurt that it’s their best album in years.
God Forbid, Equilibrium (Victory) 300 sold
About 8,500 sold in nine weeks. Hard to say if that’s a success or not, but it seems like they sold better on Century Media.
Skip the Foreplay, Nightlife (Epitaph) 300 sold
Like dubstep? And Canada? And LMFAO covers? Have we got an album for you!
