Metal By Numbers is a weekly coluimn in which we look at the top sellers of the week as well as what’s getting played at Metal Radio courtesy of radio trade magazine FMQB, whose metal panel consists of about 80 college and commercial stations, as well as SiriusXM, Music Choice, and more.
In case you didn’t get the memo or pay attention to the news, we’re in a recession. Apparently, the record buying public hasn’t gotten the memo or paid attention to the news either, as the holiday shopping season leads to an increase in sales for a decent amount of albums. With FMQB off for the year, and no new metal releases to speak of, our last regularly scheduled Metal by Numbers of the year will take a look at significant sales for the week in metal.
Notable Sales:
AC/DC, Black Ice (Columbia) #8, 110,000 copies sold
An impressive 31% increase leads the album back into the top ten, with nearly 1.7 million copies sold in 8 weeks. It’s a juggernaut.
Guns N’ Roses, Chinese Democracy (Geffen) #29, 47,000 copies sold
Only nine albums in the top 50 sold less than they did last week. GN’R falls another 17% in its third week.
Metallica, Death Magnetic (Warner Bros.) #40, 36,000 copies sold
This album will have sold 1.5 million copies by Christmas.
Slipknot, All Hope is Gone (Roadrunner), #80, 15,500 copies sold.
A 26% increase is another solid showing from Roadrunner’s workhorses.
Mudvayne, The New Game (Epic) #99, 12,300 copies sold
Mudvayne’s levels off, selling roughly the same as they did last week.
Five Finger Death Punch, The Way of the Fist (The Firm) 4,500 copies sold
This album just won’t stop.
Bring Me The Horizon, Suicide Season (Epitaph) 2,300 copies sold
20,000 copies in four weeks is great for this baby band.
The Answer, Never Too Late (The End) 1000 copies sold
This might be the biggest sales week yet for this band, who you’ll be hearing more about in 2009.
The Faceless, Plantary Duality (Victory) 970 copies sold
Dir en Grey, Uroboros (The End) 700 copies sold
A little bit of a drop for these guys.
Becoming the Archetype, Dichotomy (Solid State) 700 copies sold
Gojira, The Way of All Flesh (Prosthetic) 625 copies sold
The Sword, Gods of the Earth (Kemado)
Opening for the entire Metallica tour must be helping the Sword – their album is up to almost 43,000 sold.
