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Neilstein Soundscam

SOUNDSCAN WEDNESDAY: IN WHICH THE METAL WORLD CELEBRATED 4/20

 Wednesday, April 28th, 2010 at 1:30pm by

soundscanApril 20th was circled in my calendar well in advance, and not just because it’s holiday we at the MS Mansion take very seriously — April 20th marked the biggest release date of the year thus far for metal releases with new offerings from Periphery, Ratt, Sevendust, another greatest hits repacking from AC/DC, Circa Survive, Airbourne and more. Let’s see how those releases fared in their first week out, as well as how other metal and hard rock records are performing after the jump.

4 AC/DC – IRON MAN 2
This week: 75,974 (debut)

Another repackaging of AC/DC classics snatched up by old fogies. Fabulous.

11 CIRCA SURVIVE – BLUE SKY NOISE
This week: 27,829 (debut)

I haven’t heard this record yet, although I’d like to. That’s a really solid number for them; we’ll see if the switch from the indie world of Equal Vision Records to the big boys at Atlantic Records works out for them.

12 SEVENDUST – COLD DAY MEMORY
This week: 26,736 (debut)

That’s about 2,000 more first-week units shifted than their last album. Proof that good songwriting in the form of Clint Lowery is invaluable to this band.

30 RATT – INFESTATION
This week: 13,981 (debut)

Take me, eat me up aliiiiive!! I haven’t listened to this record in about a week and I already miss it.

33 SLASH – SLASH
This week: 12,992
Cume: 94,983

If you’re Slash and your standard for comparison is Guns N’ Roses, it’s gotta be pretty damn disappointing to see your record struggling to break 100,000 several weeks after release. Even with the help of pop superstars like Fergie.

42 COHEED AND CAMBRIA – YEAR OF THE BLACK RAINBOW
This week: 11,032
Cume: 62,409

That’s a 78% drop in only its second week out. Read: all the super-fans bought it right away (or pre-ordered it) and what’s left is the sound of the rest of the world not really caring all that much.

79 MUSE – RESISTANCE
This week: 6,380
Cume: 473,317 [Thanks for the catch. -Ed.]

They’ll never be as popular in the U.S. as they are in the U.K., but a gold record is certainly nothing to shake a stick at.

82 BREAKING BENJAMIN – DEAR AGONY
This week: 6,235
Cume: 524,611

This band is still around? They still write mediocre radio rock? They still sell tons of records in Red states? Sounds about right.

87 AIRBOURNE – NO GUTS. NO GLORY
This week: 6,039 (debut)

Things have not quite panned out as expected for Roadrunner U.S. and this gutsy, glorious foursome of AC/DC-loving Aussies.

101 SHINEDOWN – SOUND OF MADNESS
This week: 5,345
Cume: 1,005,207

Ladies and gentlemen, that’s a bonafide platinum record. Congrats to everyone involved — they deserve it.

122 PERIPHERY – PERIPHERY
This week: 4,513 (debut)

No one’s gonna make bank with this number but I have to imagine that everyone involved is happy with it – I don’t think they could’ve asked for better. It’s all about touring and merch with the Sumerian bands anyway, and since this is actually a licensing deal no one is losing money here.

133 ALICE IN CHAINS – BLACK GIVES WAY TO BLUE
This week: 4,207
Cume: 420,621

Keeps on rollin’… will be gold soon enough.

177 SCORPIONS – STING IN THE TAIL
This week: 2,945
Cume: 34,755

The supposed “final” album is going out with a whimper, at least by Scorpions standards. Oh, the winds of change…

186 CHICKENFOOT – CHICKENFOOT
This week: 2,833
Cume: 453,616

A 114% gain over the prior week. I think they released a DVD, so this is probably a result of some extra end-cap promotion on account of that.

196 ZOMBIE*ROB – HELLBILLY DELUXE
This week: 2,602
Cume: 123,617

This is pretty respectable, I think, no? Zombie definitely made the right move switching to Roadrunner from Geffen.

FROM THE “TOP NEW ARTIST” CHARTS:

30 SICK OF IT ALL – BASED ON A TRUE STORY
This week: 1,464 (debut)

Hardcore vets weigh in with a solid debut.

85 CARNIFEX – HELL CHOSE ME
This week: 669
Cume: 11,377

Proving that kids still love shitty death-bore.

113 BURN HALO – BURN HALO
This week: 517
Cume: 23,272

I haven’t heard this record yet. A good friend and metal industry vet on what it sounds like: “It sounds like James Hart from 18 Visions giving it one last shot.”

127 DOMMIN – LOVE IS GONE
This week: 470
Cume: 5,957

Where’s my guyliner?

137 UPON A BURNING BODY – WORLD IS OURS
This week: 448
Cume: 2,433

Generic band puts up generic numbers.

-VN

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  • WV

    i expected alice in chains to sell more albums than that. your desicion is played in constant rotation on the radio.

    • Isaac

      They must be selling a lot of singles through download, then. I doubt a lot of people who listen to radio buy the full album.

      • http://www.facebook.com/people/Erik-Salter/1260445939 Erik Salter

        There was a blog post on their website that they were presented with a gold record by EMI executives.

        • robert

          That was for going gold in Canada I believe, they were touring up there when presented with that.

      • WV

        good point. maybe they burned it to their kool mix cd

    • hudesca

      Periphery, Ratt, Sevendust, AC/DC, Circa Survive, and Airbourne. truly metal’s greats.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Byron-Ward/797615124 Byron Ward

    I’m still finding new things that I like about the new Circa Survive album.. it really is very, very good. I’ve never really been a huge fan of the older material, but the new album is definitely a step in the right direction.

    • Andrew

      Circa’s first two records are astounding.

      • http://www.facebook.com/people/Byron-Ward/797615124 Byron Ward

        I guess I just prefer the different style they used for the new one.. I felt it all worked a lot better.

    • Connor

      Indeed. It rules.

      • PatrickSTL

        It’s my album of the year so far; it’s awesome. The bass lines and tone are amazing, and anthony’s voice got better.

  • Andrew

    Love for Sevendust and Shinedown? What the fuck is wrong with you?

  • vagina

    Is that really the numbers for Muse? Wow, I thought they would have sold much more…

    • Jesus

      Damn, beat me to it

    • GoingDeaf?

      That has to be wrong….plus, he mentioned it being “gold”, so it’s probably 600,000, not 6,000….

      • http://myspace.com/theswampzombiecult Blake

        Look at the cume sales, not this week’s; it’s almost 500,000, which is gold certification.

        • http://myspace.com/theswampzombiecult Blake

          Ah, wait a minute. There was a correction and I must have commented after it was made. My apologies.

  • Jesus

    Is that Muse number right? it seems a little low

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Kasper-Maigaard/1027001938 Kasper Maigaard

    Normally you finish these lists with a really big-selling mainstream metal record, like Slipknot, to prove that bad music still sell better.
    How much has All Hope Is Gone sold so far? Like 900,000,000,000 units or so, right?

    • Alex_P

      AC/DC. ‘Nuff said.

  • Kuranes

    Shinedown sold 1 million copies? I never even heard of this band before. They must be big on ClearChannel.

    • Slaughterhouse

      You must not EVER listen to the radio lol

      • Kuranes

        Never FM radio, no! (Except NPR, but I guess I’m not surprised I haven’t heard them there.)

  • stu1

    “Another repackaging of AC/DC classics ”

    This is only the 2nd ever, and the first was the Maximum Overdrive soundtrack, 20+ years ago. Unless you’re counting live records.

  • BEHEMOHAWK

    He likes Sevendust and Shinedown but not Breaking Benjamin?

    Ok,

    • Trux

      10000000

    • binkles

      Hey I like sevendust and shinedown and dont like breaking benjamin so that makes two of us at least

      • ACoffinShip

        I like Shinedown more than Breaking Benjamin in the same way I like a broken arm better than a broken face.

        Well, that and Heroes is pretty catchy I guess.

  • CARLTRON300

    for the record, upon a burning body is pretty damn good as far as death core is concerned. those dudes have serious chops.

    • Jackson

      that band is terrible, even worse than Periphery

    • RayRay

      Ive been cranking this cd in the gym for 2 weeks now. Its fun unserious Deathcore with some sick breakdowns. Every song is titled after an Al Pacino movie. Perfect for lifting heavy things

  • Metalguy

    4-9000 is pretty damn good for thus day and age, for rock/metal band

  • King Cheezit

    How did Levi / Werstler do?

  • http://www.thepathlesstraveledrecords.com Sean

    How is Sick of it All in the “Top New Artists”? They’ve been around 25 years. Still glad to see this sold realtively well.

    • stu1

      That chart is for bands who’ve never broken Billboard’s Top 100.

  • AreWeHereNow?

    You guys should be posting soundscan more regularly. Good call.

  • RebelPyro

    Blabbermouth has been posting soundscan for AGES… and Upon A Burning Body is loads better than the Meshuggah worship of Mishuggah Mansoor and Periphery. (Before any of you n00bs decide to focus on the obvious difference…) Sure they incorporate clean vocals, which Meshuggah doesn’t, but the music is nothing more than rehashed riffing from 1992′s ‘None’ EP. Seriously. Sceneagers need to do some homework on metal history and older people who are currently kissing sumerian ass need to suck it up and admit that their favorite bands aren’t as unique as they’d like to think.