Metal By Numbers is a weekly column in which we look at the top metal sellers and debuts of the week.
When the #1 album in the country barely cracks 70,000 and the #10 album only sells 26,500, that’s pretty depressing. Think about it. If you’re watching baseball playoffs like we are (go Phillies!), the stadium wouldn’t even be full of all the people that bought the #10 album. Though there were only four metal/hard rock related debuts that charted this week, all of them cracked the top 100. The biggest selling metal debut, though, comes from the album that also has the longest title. Bring Me the Horizon’s third album There is a Hell, Believe Me I’ve Seen It. There is a Heaven, Let’s Keep It a Secret (told you it was long) is this week’s best selling metal debut, cracking the top 20.
Notable Debuts:
Bring Me the Horizon, There is a Hell, Believe Me I’ve Seen It. There is a Heaven, Let’s Keep It a Secret (Epitaph) #17, 20,200 sold
The British metalcore band score’s the biggest-selling and highest-ranking album, with its predecessor Suicide Season only reaching #107 in its first week.
Chiodos, Illuminaudio (Equal Vision) #36, 11,200 sold
Considering that their last album Bone Palace Ballet entered the charts at #5 when it debuted in 2007, Chiodos’ latest release is a bit disappointing.
Joe Satriani, Black Swans & Wormhole Wizards (Epic) #44, 9,960
The guitar virtuoso’s new solo record comes nowhere near selling as much as his crappy supergroup Chickenfoot did in its first week, but still sells nonetheless.
Down, Diary of a Mad Band (ILG) #86, 5,500 sold
Even after legal battles postponed this release, Down’s new live CD/DVD has a solid first week.
Notable Sales:
Linkin Park, A Thousand Suns (Warner Bros.) #8, 36,700
We doubt their new video for “Waiting For The End” has anything to do with their steady sales. But in case you care, the video has been released. Please, refrain your excitement.
Disturbed, Asylum (Reprise) #30, 13,800 sold
Frontman David Draiman’s throat illness may have forced the band to cancel their Fall tour, but I’m sure sales will continue to do just fine.
Avenged Sevenfold, Nightmare (Warner Bros.) #59, 7,900 sold
This is a tad old, but we just discovered a touching story about Mike Portnoy meeting The Rev’s parents for the first time during the Uproar Tour’s stop in Irvine, CA.
Soundgarden, Telephantasm (A&M/UMe) #61, 7,500 sold
A 62% decrease for the reunited grunge kings’ new compilation during its second week isn’t too awful.
Stone Sour, Audio Secrecy (Roadrunner) #85, 5,700 sold
Seventeen spots down the charts for Stone Sour in their fifth week.
Five Finger Death Punch, War is the Answer (Prospect Park) #87, 5,500 sold
FFDP has sold over 340,000 copies in fifty five weeks.
AC/DC, AC/DC: Iron Man 2 (Columbia) #97, 4,800 sold
This “soundtrack”/greatest hits package has been nominated in the “Favorite Soundtrack” category for the American Music Awards, but will most likely lose to one of the 256,450 Glee soundtracks.
Mushroomhead, Beautiful Stories for Ugly Children (Megaforce) #100, 4,600 sold
A big 60% decrease from last week for the Cleveland masked rockers. But they didn’t experience the biggest drop from last week, so while they may have SLIPped, it’s KNOT anything to worry about.
Godsmack, Oracle (Universal) #102, 4,500 sold
No longer in the top 100, but after 23 weeks this album is still having an strong run.
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, The Social Network Movie Soundtrack (The Null Corporation) #103, 4,500 sold
Unlike the movie, the soundtrack composed by Trent Reznor is getting ignored (ahh Facebook humor). The soundtrack saw an 82% decrease in sales and fell eighty three spots down the charts in its second week.
Ozzy Osbourne, Scream (Epic) #131, 3,400 sold
The slight jump in sales might be due to the release of this album’s tour edition.
Iron Maiden, The Final Frontier (UMe) #153, 2,700 sold
Twenty seven spot down the charts for the mighty Maiden.
Sully Erna, Avalon (Republic) #157, 2,600 sold
This may be the biggest shocker of the week: Zach watched the video for “Sinner’s Prayer” and actually kind of likes it! Ah!
Motley Crue, Greatest Hits (Motley Records) #159, 2,600 sold
At this point, it shouldn’t be a shock that this hits package is still on the charts. But for old time’s sake, we’ll ask: why?!
Bullet For My Valentine, Fever (Jive) #182, 2,300 sold
After being absent from the charts for three weeks, Bullet For My Valentine and the Crab girl claw their way back onto the charts.
Halford, Halford IV: Made of Metal (Metal God) 1,900 sold
A 40% decrease sees the Metal God fall off the top 200, so he might be made of metal, but that metal might be more of aluminum hybrid than platinum or gold.
James LaBrie, Static Impulse (InsideOut) 830 sold
The 52% decrease is probably making LaBrie thankful that Dream Theater is already starting to audition new drummers.
Death Angel, Relentless Retribution (Nuclear Blast) 620 sold
The old school thrashers are still hanging tough.
Enslaved, Axioma Ethica Odini (Nuclear Blast) 600 sold
A 57% decrease for the progressive black metal Norwegians.
New Medicine, Race You to the Bottom (Atlantic) 560 sold
Mushroomhead and The Social Network soundtrack experience deep drops in sales during their second week, but New Medicine experienced the biggest with an 87% decrease that dropped them off the charts.
Iwrestledabearonce, It’s All Happening (Century Media) 530 sold
They’re on the Ghostbustour now, but if they use one of the crappy names we came up with for their next tour we will be honored. Just saying.
Blind Guardian, At the Edge of Time (Nuclear Blast) 490 sold
Only a 14% decrease for the German metallers.
Terror, Keepers of the Faith (Century Media) 400 sold
Only a slight decrease from last week. We’ll let you the readers come up with a bad pun for Terror this week though.
Pierce The Veil, Selfish Machines (Equal Vision) 400 sold
Guess their tour with Attack Attack! and Emmure is helping boost sales. We were going to ask if anyone has gone to one of this tour’s stops, but we doubt anyone reading this would admit to it. Any takers?
Chelsea Grin, Desolation Of Eden (Razor & Tie/Artery) 390 sold
Pretty much the same place as last week. That’s something to grin about.
Powerglove, Saturday Morning Apocalypse (E1) 380 sold
A 58% decrease for the only band that kicks ass while playing the Inspector Gadget theme song. Plus, their opening stint on Firewind’s four date tour will surely help boost sales a bit.
