How strong was Metallica fans’ Death wish? Forceful enough that the metal quartet is the rare act able to improve on its previous sales in this otherwise sorry music retail climate. Death Magnetic, their first album in five years, debuted with 490,000 copies, the fourth best sales debut of the year so far — trailing the first weeks of Lil Wayne, Coldplay, and the Jonas Brothers, but ahead of Mariah Carey and Usher. Moreover, Metallica achieved that total in a mere three days, since the album came out on a Friday and the sales period ends on Sunday. (Most new releases appear on Tuesdays and have an initial six-day sales window.) Metallica also unleashed their last album, 2003’s St. Anger, on an unusual release day; that one appeared in stores on a Thursday and amassed 418,000 copies in a four-day week, well short of what they were able to do this time. Obviously, the hype about this being a true return to their 1980s roots paid off with what we’ve previously referred to as “rock’s most notoriously irritable fan base.”
The next highest debut on the Nielsen Soundscan albums chart belonged to Jessica Simpson, making her entrance as a country singer with Do You Know, as featured in this week’s issue. It scanned 65,000 units to top the country chart and placed No. 4 in the overall rankings. LL Cool J’s Exit 13 came in at No. 9 with sales of 44,000. This is his last album for the Def Jam label after a 23-year career on the imprint, and given that this number is well under half of what the veteran rapper was able to debut with a couple of years ago, maybe everyone could benefit from a fresh start. Eric Benet’s Love & Life debuted at No. 11 with 40,000, and Gym Class Heroes bowed on the chart at No. 14 with 32,000. Perhaps the most surprising entry was a posthumous splash by comedian Mitch Hedberg, whose Do You Believe in Gosh? entered at No. 18 with 27,000 units. Natalie Cole’s Still Unforgettable, a very belated sequel to her Grammy-winning 1991 standards behemoth Unforgettable With Love, sold 24,000 for a No. 19 start.
Holdovers in the top 10 included last week’s topper, Young Jeezy’s The Recession, at No. 2, followed by Kid Rock at No. 3, Slipknot, the Jonas Brothers, the Game, and Lil Wayne at Nos. 5-8, and the Mamma Mia!
soundtrack at No. 10. Taking a serious dive: New Kids on the Block,
whose reunion album debuted at No. 2 last week but sank to No. 16 this
time.
The top single on the digital songs chart was again Pink’s “So
What,” which sold 253,000 downloads, a 28 percent increase, upping the
song’s total to 702,000 in just three weeks on the market. That 253K
tally is the highest one-week figure for a song since Coldplay’s “Viva
la Vida” sold roughly the same number in June. The highest debut this
week was “Swagga Like Us,” a collaboration between Jay-Z and T.I.,
which entered at No. 4 with 139,000 downloads. Taylor Swift’s “Love
Story” was in at No. 8 with 97,000, and Fall Out Boy’s “I Don’t Care”
squeaked into the top 10 with 89,000. Between them at No. 9 was a
surprising re-entry: Estelle’s “American Boy.” Her label
briefly removed the hit song from sites like iTunes in hopes of goosing
her album sales, a la Kid Rock, but fans didn’t go for the whole
package, so the single suddenly became available for individual
download after all, following a one-week absence from the chart.
The top single on the digital songs chart was again Pink’s “SoWhat,” which sold 253,000 downloads, a 28 percent increase, upping thesong’s total to 702,000 in just three weeks on the market. That 253Ktally is the highest one-week figure for a song since Coldplay’s “Vivala Vida” sold roughly the same number in June. The highest debut thisweek was “Swagga Like Us,” a collaboration between Jay-Z and T.I.,which entered at No. 4 with 139,000 downloads. Taylor Swift’s “LoveStory” was in at No. 8 with 97,000, and Fall Out Boy’s “I Don’t Care”squeaked into the top 10 with 89,000. Between them at No. 9 was asurprising re-entry: Estelle’s “American Boy.” Her labelbriefly removed the hit song from sites like iTunes in hopes of goosingher album sales, a la Kid Rock, but fans didn’t go for the wholepackage, so the single suddenly became available for individualdownload after all, following a one-week absence from the chart.
Death Magnetic is Metallica’s best album since the Black Album. Not quite as buttery and smooth guitar wise as Justice for All or Master of Puppets but much, much better than St Anger, or Load/Reload.
What’s sad is how Tallicat’s assessment is 100% true without Death Magnetic even being that good a record.
I loved St. Anger as comparable to Kill ‘em All but Death is more like Justice and Master which is also awesome. I have been much more hooked on Death than I was on Anger. Great guitar and drum riffs.
Makes an ol’ metalhead tear up…
Metallica deserves it they’re awsome. Can’t wait to see them again in december.
The Album Sales Are So High Cause They Include The Price Of An Album In A Ticket Purchase And Mail Them Supposedly Free To Everyone psshhh This Album Is Terrible Its Nothing But Samples Of Their Earlier Stuff. The Words Have Pretty Much No Heart Felt Meaning And James Lost His Ability To Sing A Long Time Ago. Also Metallica Its Been F#$%ing 5 Years And Alls We Get Is 10 Songs Seriously Just Give It Up You Guys Are Not Coming Back Much To My Disappointment This Is The Confirmation OF Metallicas Death.
I’ve listened to Death Magnetic many times and I don’t care what “Cross” has to say (oh yeah, learn how to use capital letters properly). Death Magnetic is welcome return to a music chart full of pop fluff (Jonas Brothers), lightweight music and posers trying to pass themselves off as important rock bands (Coldplay anyone). Give it up yourself, Cross
FIVE out of FIVE! I’ve been playing this over and over and over and sooooooo happy that this was NOT a repeat of the St. Anger disaster. This is up there with Master and The Black Album.
Hey, non Metallica fans – this space is not for you, so don’t poke your nose in what you don’t understand. Also, enough hating on the guys – they come up with something sounding similar to their 80s heyday and suddenly some fans are reacting as it it was the last thing they wanted.
One clarification about COldplay though – they are also unfortunate victims. They NEVER claimed to be another U2 or REM or Metallica. They are what they are.
Sorry Tim. It’s just Coldplay hasn’t really accomplished anything. True, they are what they are and when you think about it, that’s really sad.