Metal By Numbers is a weekly column in which we look at the top metal sellers and debuts of the week.
I guess it’s fair to say that we’ve been pretty spoiled the past few weeks, seeing as how for a majority of the Summer, there was at least one metal/hard rock album that either cracked or came close to cracking the top ten. However, none of this week’s debuts even crack the top 20. The highest ranking metal related debut goes to Serj Tankian’s experimental new album, which only ranks in at #35. To make it even tougher for the SOAD frontman, his sophomore album doesn’t come even close to the success of its predecessor, 2007’s Elect The Dead (which not only debuted at #4, but also sold around 66,000). Time to get the band back together, maybe?
Notable Debuts:
Serj Tankian, Imperfect Harmonies (Reprise/Serjical Strike) #35, 10,200 sold
Whether fans didn’t pick up the album because the music sways more towards jazz and techno than metal, or because he’s done considerably less promotion and touring in the States behind the album, is unknown. Regardless, this is still a rather disappointing first week in sales for Tankian.
Methods of Mayhem, A Public Disservice Announcement (Loud & Proud/Roadrunner) #153, 2,900
The sophomore release from Tommy Lee’ nu-metal side project doesn’t make as huge of a splash their debut album in 1999. At least Lee can say it sold more than the Crue’s greatest hits package this week!
Torche, Songs for Singles (Hydra Head) 900 sold
The stoner/sludge metal group’s new EP has a solid first week.
Notable Sales:
Linkin Park, A Thousand Suns (Warner Bros.) #3, 69,700
The former rap-metal poster boys experience a 71% decrease in their second week on the charts. Then again “only” selling 70,000 copies is a problem most bands would love to have.
Disturbed, Asylum (Reprise) #15, 22,000 sold.
Disturbed teased us this week by saying they will co-headline their Music As A Weapon tour with another “huge” band. Who could it be?!
Avenged Sevenfold, Nightmare (Warner Bros.) #36, 10,000 sold
Now that the Uproar Tour is almost finished, we will have to wait and see what lies ahead for Avenged Sevenfold (after they tour Europe and Australia of course).
Stone Sour, Audio Secrecy (Roadrunner) #44, 8,930 sold
A 43% decrease sees Corey Taylor and co. drop 25 spots down the charts.
Sully Erna, Avalon (Republic) #72, 5,000 sold
A 63% for the Godsmack frontman’s first solo album isn’t too surprising. Though he can now say that he outranked Godsmack on the charts for two consecutive weeks. Doubt he’ll make it to a third though.
Five Finger Death Punch, War is the Answer (Prospect Park) #74, 5,000 sold
FFDP see themselves moving up the charts by 15 spots, despite a 5% decrease.
Godsmack, Oracle (Universal) #87, 5,300 sold
This week Godsmack got outsold by their frontman’s solo album and their tour openers. Before the comment board gets filled up arguing this, NO I’m not claiming Godsmack are any less popular! Just stating statistics! You can still debate your hearts out if you want though.
Iron Maiden, The Final Frontier (UMe) #89, 4,150 sold
A 22% decrease sees them eleven spots away from falling off the top 100.
AC/DC, AC/DC: Iron Man 2 (Columbia) #111, 3,500 sold
Even though the mighty AC/DC only experienced a 1% decrease, the hits package moved up the charts by 24 spots. Perhaps the movie’s release on DVD could contribute some additional sales. Or not.
Ozzy Osbourne, Scream (Epic) #139, 2,900 sold
The Prince Of Darkness gets a little push up the charts (but not in sales) in its fourteenth week.
Motley Crue, Greatest Hits (Motley Records) #177, 2,800 sold
I now have a theory about who keeps buying this album: it’s people who went to see Vince Neil’s solo concerts and afterwards bought Crue’s greatest hits in order to remember a time when Neil was good. Thoughts?
10 Years, Feeding the Wolves (Universal) #149, 2,800 sold
Another steep drop for 10 years. At this point, it’s unlikely that this album will remain on the charts for 10 weeks. (This awful pun was brought to you by Zach Shaw),
Hellyeah, Stampede (Epic) #171, 2,470 sold
Great job to reader Mikeyyy for coming up with a more trashy sounding comment last week: “Yall fixin to get dat God Dayyamm bawwls stampeedin CDayy awwwready? Yall can afford faaaive buwks can ya?” Oh by the way, this week’s your last chance to get the album for just $5 at Amazon!
The Devil Wears Prada, Zombie EP (Ferret) #179, 2,380 sold
Anybody ever tried listening to The Devil Wears Prada while watching the movie The Devil Wears Prada? It couldn’t make the movie that much worse (I say as I try to cover up the fact that I indeed have seen the film…what can I say, I’m too willing to please girlfriends).
Black Label Society, Order of the Black (E1) #185, 2,300 sold
10 spots down the charts for the Berserker crew.
Papa Roach, Time for Annihilation…On the Road and On the Record (Eleven Seven) #186, 2,280 sold
Another 31 spots down the charts for Papa Roach. To make it sound even sadder, that’s actually an improvement from last week’s huge decrease!
Korn, Korn III: Remember Who You Are (Roadrunner) #187, 2,240 sold
Only ten spots away from falling (away from me) off the top 200.
Buckcherry, All Night Long (Eleven Seven) #194, 2,200
Just like the crazy bitch that goes missing only to return after a week and continue to stalk you, Buckcherry returns to the charts.
Apocalyptica, 7th Symphony (Jive) #197, 2,200 sold
The cello metallers just barely make it into the top 200 in their fifth week on the charts.
Death Angel, Relentless Retribution (Nuclear Blast) 990 sold
The San Fran thrash legends may no longer be in the top 200, but still are representing the old school!
We Came As Romans, To Plant A Seed (Equal Vision) 800 sold
LITERALLY the exact same amount they sold last week…LITERALLY.
Blind Guardian, At the Edge of Time (Nuclear Blast) 700 sold
The German power metallers experience a 44% decrease in their fifth week.
Terror, Keepers of the Faith (Century Media) 530 sold
A big 78% decrease is something to be in terror about. For those keeping track, this makes the second awful pun referring to a band’s name I made this week (unless you count my comment on The Devil Wears Prada).
Carnifex,Hell Chose Me (Victory) 357 sold
I can only guess that their current tour with As I Lay Dying, All That Remains (on selected dates) and Unearth is helping, because after a little over a month of absence, Carnifex returns to the charts.
Pierce The Veil, Selfish Machines (Equal Vision) 340 sold
Once a regular feature on Metal By Numbers, Pierce The Veil a very small reappearance after a few weeks absence. Did you miss them? Anyone?
