Chinese Democracy (Album) - Charting

[younggunner]

GNR are a new band and they needed to prove themselves like any other new band. Although a traditional release might have increased sales, ultimately the album needs to be pushed real hard by Axl and the band.

[ppbebe]

I think as time passes by Chinese Democracy will hit 1 or 2 in the charts. 

yea see it in ten years time it should be an all time bestseller.

I wouldn't bet the farm on either of those things....just yet.

in my book beatles and zep made tthe most significant albums in history before cd....and see the all time album  chart.

It's sorta sad to have a taste so avarage tho.

[LunsJail]

I think as time passes by Chinese Democracy will hit 1 or 2 in the charts. 

yea see it in ten years time it should be an all time bestseller.

I wouldn't bet the farm on either of those things....just yet.

in my book beatles and zep made tthe most significant albums in history before cd....and see the all time album  chart.

It's sorta sad to have a taste so avarage tho.

Look, I love Chinese Democracy.  But albums don't sell like they used to.  It's silly to say any album released from this point forward is going to crack that chart.

[ppbebe]

poo, jusr you wait.

[ShotgunBlues1978]

So I just read on hitsdailydouble.com that UMG pocketed a guaranteed $14 million for selling 1.6 million unreturnable units to Best Buy

In other words, they probably don't give much of a fuck about promoting this album in the US anymore.  In other words they've basically recouped recording costs from the entire CD trilogy, they will count the money from international record sales and have two more GnR albums in the can that have been paid for

So the only one hurting from this deal is Best Buy

[demo23nz]

The top 125 (hit post size limit on the 200)...

Artist - Album -  Sales this week - percentage change 9for those on a full second week) -  Sales last week - Total Sales

1 WEST*KANYE 808S & HEARTBREAK 450,145 999 1,221 451,395
2 SWIFT*TAYLOR FEARLESS 267,371 23 217,209 1,077,041
3 GUNS 'N ROSES CHINESE DEMOCRACY 261,191 - 261,191
4 BEYONCE I AM...SASHA FIERCE 257,377 -47 482,428 740,554
5 LUDACRIS THEATER OF THE MIND 213,493 999 633 214,126
6 KILLERS DAY & AGE 193,421 999 1,375 194,807
7 NICKELBACK DARK HORSE 177,767 -46 326,361 504,479
8 TWILIGHT SOUNDTRACK 161,687 29 124,922 558,456
9 VARIOUS NOW 29 145,347 26 115,312 433,031
10 COOK*DAVID DAVID COOK 111,623 -60 279,578 391,435
11 HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 3: SENIOR SOUNDTRACK 97,274 13 85,799 846,144
12 AC/DC BLACK ICE 88,487 22 72,749 1,481,150
13 IL DIVO PROMISE 84,525 -48 161,585 246,363
14 MANILOW*BARRY GREATEST SONGS OF THE EIGHTIES 77,968 999 72 78,040
15 COLDPLAY PROSPEKT'S MARCH EP 76,723 999 1,398 78,121
16 T.I. PAPER TRAIL 74,792 48 50,587 1,303,834
17 HILL*FAITH JOY TO THE WORLD 73,410 59 46,284 205,823
18 ENYA WINTER CAME 66,349 -20 83,311 242,063
19 ARCHULETA*DAVID DAVID ARCHULETA 66,175 0 66,417 315,716
20 P!NK FUNHOUSE 60,756 46 41,510 408,781
21 T-PAIN THR33 RINGZ 48,679 -21 61,896 278,318
22 KID ROCK ROCK N ROLL JESUS 46,810 32 35,372 2,455,476
23 CYRUS*MILEY BREAKOUT 46,305 66 27,858 1,089,654
24 JONAS BROTHERS LITTLE BIT LONGER 43,179 58 27,345 1,167,221
25 COLDPLAY VIVA LA VIDA 42,532 127 18,720 1,966,931

26 SUGARLAND LOVE ON THE INSIDE 42,399 57 26,952 1,101,073
27 CASTING CROWNS PEACE ON EARTH 42,386 89 22,379 42,942
28 PRESLEY*ELVIS ELVIS PRESLEY CHRISTMAS DUETS 41,814 44 29,006 113,158
29 SWIFT*TAYLOR TAYLOR SWIFT 39,577 68 23,575 3,623,029
30 RASCAL FLATTS VOL. 1-GREATEST HITS 38,446 19 32,294 237,310
31 BENNETT*TONY SWINGIN' CHRISTMAS 37,342 88 19,829 77,513
32 ADKINS*TRACE X 36,718 999 38 36,756
33 CONNICK*HARRY JR. WHAT A NIGHT! A CHRISTMAS ALBU 35,192 67 21,108 83,092
34 RIHANNA GOOD GIRL GONE BAD 35,090 45 24,204 2,057,371
35 METALLICA DEATH MAGNETIC 34,346 30 26,411 1,375,886
36 MA*YO-YO SONGS OF JOY & PEACE 33,517 20 27,930 135,769
37 LEGEND*JOHN EVOLVER 33,318 -21 41,957 330,339
38 CAMP*JEREMY SPEAKING LOUDER THAN BEFORE 32,415 999 290 11,582
39 LIL WAYNE THA CARTER III 31,920 40 22,853 2,726,589
40 NOW ESSENTIAL CHRIST ESSENTIAL NOW THAT'S WHAT I CA 31,711 48 21,357 82,931
41 LINKIN PARK ROAD TO REVOLUTION LIVE AT MIL 30,916 999 369 31,285
42 E-40 BALL STREET JOURNAL 30,369 999 308 30,677
43 CHESNEY*KENNY LUCKY OLD SUN 29,902 23 24,351 421,663
44 PERRY*KATY ONE OF THE BOYS 29,117 51 19,316 585,593
45 NE-YO YEAR OF THE GENTLEMAN 28,399 30 21,836 650,486
46 BOCELLI*ANDREA INCANTO 27,112 0 27,100 160,947
47 MRAZ*JASON WE SING WE DANCE WE STEAL THIN 26,316 11 23,608 638,568
48 MAMMA MIA SOUNDTRACK 26,072 80 14,518 1,167,960
49 BROWN*ZAC BAND FOUNDATION 25,492 -41 43,531 69,055
50 HINDER TAKE IT TO THE LIMIT 24,569 -10 27,311 169,632

51 SMITH*MICHAEL W NEW HALLELUJAH 23,389 106 11,358 26,004
52 MUDVAYNE NEW GAME 23,021 -52 48,284 71,774
53 CAMP ROCK SOUNDTRACK 22,919 96 11,713 1,117,983
54 VARIOUS ALL WRAPPED UP 21,951 -29 31,131 72,654
55 WOW HITS 2009 WOW HITS 2009 21,792 58 13,821 59,001
56 UNDERWOOD*CARRIE CARNIVAL RIDE 21,199 29 16,459 2,470,017
57 SEAL SOUL 20,907 -16 25,000 90,785
58 AGUILERA*CHRISTINA KEEPS GETTIN' BETTER 20,898 -33 31,256 125,023
59 LEWIS*LEONA SPIRIT 20,694 4 19,823 1,290,213
60 BRIGHTMAN*SARAH WINTER SYMPHONY 20,041 27 15,775 63,645
61 KEITH*TOBY THAT DON'T MAKE ME A BAD GUY 19,063 -1 19,314 185,025
62 HUDSON*JENNIFER JENNIFER HUDSON 18,786 -11 20,996 474,418
63 RUCKER*DARIUS LEARN TO LIVE 18,774 11 16,901 239,849
64 DIDO SAFE TRIP HOME 18,062 -64 50,608 68,787
65 JONAS BROTHERS JONAS BROTHERS 17,512 94 9,049 1,697,752
66 GRANT*AMY CHRISTMAS COLLECTIONS 17,384 60 10,856 43,207
67 MCCARTNEY*PAUL (THE FIREMAN) ELECTRIC ARGUMENTS 17,348 999 161 17,620
68 HOUGH*JULIANNE SOUNDS OF THE SEASON 17,320 -23 22,460 58,523
69 STRAIT*GEORGE TROUBADOUR 15,756 5 15,018 655,441
70 YOUNG JEEZY RECESSION 15,730 9 14,486 644,997
71 MANNHEIM STEAMROLLER CHRISTMASVILLE 15,581 -25 20,778 66,731
72 DION*CELINE MY LOVE-ESSENTIAL COLLECTION 15,500 -20 19,336 140,685
73 LOVATO*DEMI DON'T FORGET 15,384 52 10,146 216,482
74 KINGS OF LEON ONLY BY THE NIGHT 14,678 -3 15,191 225,013
75 SULLIVAN*JAZMINE FEARLESS 14,446 3 14,011 248,851

76 TAYLOR*JAMES COVERS 14,414 2 14,176 268,745
77 LINKIN PARK MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT 14,163 108 6,805 2,631,077
78 THIRD DAY REVELATION 14,018 164 5,319 92,636
79 VARIOUS ARTISTS WINTER WONDERLAND 13,608 26 10,780 47,882
80 PAISLEY*BRAD PLAY 13,545 -9 14,812 109,086
81 SHELTON*BLAKE STARTIN' FIRES 13,529 -48 26,264 39,806
82 VARIOUS NOW 10TH ANNIVERSARY 13,297 -5 14,005 48,919
83 LADY GAGA FAME 13,050 20 10,854 69,633
84 SLIPKNOT ALL HOPE IS GONE 13,005 27 10,280 564,329
85 THICKE*ROBIN SOMETHING ELSE 12,804 6 12,053 283,785
86 MANNHEIM STEAMROLLER CANDLELIGHT CHRISTMAS 12,554 18 10,644 41,805
87 NOW COUNTRY NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL COUNTRY 12,197 24 9,858 223,524
88 PARAMORE THE FINAL RIOT! 12,103 999 63 12,166
89 JOHNSON*JAMEY THAT LONESOME SONG 12,037 18 10,166 153,738
90 DUFFY ROCKFERRY 11,486 15 9,951 600,628
91 ADELE 19 11,208 -8 12,127 245,575
92 SAVING ABEL SAVING ABEL 11,193 -1 11,268 254,558
93 RUDOLF*KEVIN IN THE CITY 10,789 999 44 10,833
94 ACE HOOD DJ KHALED PRES ACE HOOD GUTTA 10,754 -56 24,652 35,455
95 LINKIN PARK SONGS FROM THE UNDERGROUND (BE 10,626 999 2 10,628
96 WEILAND*SCOTT HAPPY IN GALOSHES 10,509 999 277 10,786
97 GAME LAX 10,459 8 9,640 591,364
98 MARY MARY SOUND, THE 10,172 5 9,686 91,649
99 LADY ANTEBELLUM LADY ANTEBELLUM 10,069 3 9,811 312,412
100 POINT OF GRACE HOW YOU LIVE 9,907 162 3,777 77,272

101 DISTURBED INDESTRUCTIBLE 9,753 35 7,219 813,195
102 SLIM LOVE'S CRAZY 9,546 -64 26,810 36,400
103 HOLLYWOOD UNDEAD SWAN SONGS 9,361 19 7,840 108,864
104 ADKINS*TRACE AMERICAN MAN GREATEST HITS... 9,310 100 4,661 541,842
105 JONES*TOM 24 HOURS 9,267 999 171 9,438
106 Q-TIP RENAISSANCE 9,101 1 8,976 67,177
107 NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL MUSIC VOL. 28-NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL 9,034 47 6,163 942,167
108 VARIOUS SALVATION ARMY SONGS FOR A CAU 8,940 102 4,422 23,127
109 DAUGHTRY DAUGHTRY 8,815 36 6,477 4,295,459
110 CARTER BURWELL TWILIGHT (THE SCORE) 8,807 999 454 9,261
111 3 DOORS DOWN 3 DOORS DOWN 8,657 24 6,987 626,361
112 HOUGH*JULIANNE JULIANNE HOUGH 8,619 8 7,949 242,518
113 VARIOUS ARTISTS HIT MAN: DAVID FOSTER & FRIEND 8,596 -29 12,132 36,012
114 TOMLIN*CHRIS HELLO LOVE 8,537 82 4,688 59,829
115 PARAMORE RIOT! 8,352 55 5,391 1,059,360
116 SHINEDOWN SOUND OF MADNESS 8,336 14 7,330 236,304
117 CHEETAH GIRLS: ONE WORLD SOUNDTRACK 8,255 41 5,844 161,469
118 STEWART*ROD DEFINITIVE ROD STEWART 8,208 -36 12,863 21,144
119 COLBERT*STEPHEN COLBERT CHRISTMAS 8,168 - 8,168
120 NIGHTMARE REVISITED SOUNDTRACK 8,064 42 5,671 102,536
121 JACKSON*ALAN GOOD TIME 8,054 25 6,467 606,587
122 THEORY OF A DEADMAN SCARS & SOUVENIRS 7,873 11 7,063 242,517
123 MAROON 5 IT WON'T BE SOON BEFORE LONG 7,761 144 3,187 2,039,757
124 NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK BLOCK 7,743 57 4,947 242,322
125 STRAIT*GEORGE CLASSIC CHRISTMAS 7,708 13 6,823 28,782

[rube]

http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Artists/G/Guns_N_Roses/2008/12/03/7618416-ca.html
   

          

Axl Rose and his Gunners debuted at No. 1.

Guns N' Roses finally hit No. 1 again after 17 long years, but it wasn't the knockout retail punch that many expected.

The band's long-awaited return, "Chinese Democracy," hit the top spot on the Canadian album charts with sales of 70,000, according to figures compiled by Nielsen SoundScan.

Good numbers, yes, but consider this -- the album was released two days before (Nov. 23) the usual Tuesday schedule in order to maximize their sales.

The new effort fell well short of being one of the top debuts of '08 -- that honour still goes to AC/DC's "Black Ice," which sold 119,000 copies in October, while Coldplay's "Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends" hit 90,000 copies back in June.

The last time Guns N' Roses were at No. 1 was for 1991's "Use Your Illusion II."

In the U.K., "Chinese Democracy" failed in its bid for the top position, losing out to the Killers' new offering "Day & Age," while in the U.S., it premiered at No. 3 with 261,000 in sales ("Democracy" was a Best Buy exclusive south of the border), behind Kanye West's "808s & Heartbreak" (450,000) at No. 1, and Taylor Swift's "Fearless" (267,000) at No. 2.

Some newspaper reports have indicated that many label insiders are blaming the unremarkable sales on frontman Axl Rose, who has given no interviews or any kind of promotion in support of the album.

Meanwhile, back in Canada, Nickelback's "Dark Horse" (35,000) slipped from No. 1 to No. 2, Il Divo's "Promise" (30,000) came in at No. 3, and Kanye West entered the top 10 at No. 4.

AC/DC's "Black Ice" dropped two notches to No. 5, the Killers checked in at No. 6, and the compilation "MuchDance 2009" sank from No. 4 to No. 7.

Rounding out the top 10 was Taylor Swift at No. 8, Enya's "Winter Came" at No. 9, and Elvis Presley's "Christmas Duets" at No. 10.

[marknroses]

The First Week sales for GNR are very impressive given the lack of promotion by the band and Axl.
The biggest indicator though will be next week. A signficant drop out of the Top 10 would hurt the band's chances of getting sustainable support from their label.
If it is out of the Top 50 in two months, it will be very hard for it to come back. Only in extraordinary cases and only if a tour is schedule and Axl and the band make appearances and interviews.

MNW

[demo23nz]

To whoever keeps arguing about singles taking time, that doesn't automatically mean album sales. The Offspring were number one for ten weeks on Billboard Rock Tracks with YGGFK this year and the latest Offspring album has continued to fall off the charts and may be off completely now even with one of the biggest Rock singles of the year.

This is of course true... There's no such thing as a silver bullet.

But at the same time, 'Pretty Fly...' saved their career as a big time act.

[The Catcher]

The First Week sales for GNR are very impressive given the lack of promotion by the band and Axl.
The biggest indicator though will be next week. A signficant drop out of the Top 10 would hurt the band's chances of getting sustainable support from their label.
If it is out of the Top 50 in two months, it will be very hard for it to come back. Only in extraordinary cases and only if a tour is schedule and Axl and the band make appearances and interviews.

MNW

What do you mean next week will be the biggest indicator?
I agree they are good sales considering the amount of promotion.

[Bruno Poeys]

261K is not bad all things considered.  I just did a little more research, there are fewer Best Buys in the US than I thought.  According to this article, as of 2007 there were only 852 stores in the US.  

http://www.twice.com/article/CA6455982.html

That's compared to 4000+ Wal-Mart/Sam's Club locations for AC/DC and tens of thousands of locations where Metallica's album was/is available.  Kind of puts things in perspective because I was thinking there was 1200-1400 Best Buys in the US

haha, didn't know that Wal-Mart was so much bigger than Best Buy. Best Buy is not as big as Chinese Democracy. GnR fans deserve more, much more than the half-assed Best Buy promotion.

[ppbebe]

does anyone reallhy think rgey'll see keyne west FEARLESS  or DAY & AGE in ten years time?

[JuicySwoos]

There is a huge correlation of album sales to crossover.  Radio is much more "formatted" than it was back in GNR's heyday, and it is much more difficult to crossover.  Gnr was played on rock stations and crap pop stations 88-92, and had huge crossover appeal.  This is why Nickelback sells well, because it is played on three "formats", Rock, top 40, and adult contemporary.  This is also why Kid Rock's newest has sold well too, that Warren Zevon mash up is played across multiple formats.  Even AC/DC's new tune gets played on both "Rock" and "Classic Rock" formats which helps.


There could be a few songs on the album that could cross over, but who really knows what will resonate with teenie boppers these days, it seems like only poop will.   I will be still listening to Chin Dem 5 years from now while their download of 808 is thrown away for the newest ipod.

[downzy56]

Hey All,

Quite honestly, after spending thousands of dollars on this band and waiting countless (well, 15 to be exact) years for this album, I'm just glad to have it and close a chapter of my life. 

If sales numbers are important to you (and empirically, I can't imagine why unless you had something to do with the creation of this album or a stockholder of Universal Inc), just remember that the Best Buy exclusivity deal ensured lower sales.  Here in Canada, where no exclusivity was present, the album sold 70k in one week.  This is a country with one-tenth the population of the United States.  We received the same amount of publicity and promotion that you did in America, but still bought more per capita than Americans.  The fact that I could go into any record store or anywhere that sells cds and buy the album greatly increases potential sales numbers.

That said, I do think a better single and some band exposure (*cough* Axl *cough) would have helped.  May not have given it UYI first week sales numbers, but you don't have to be a marketing major to figure that one out.

Cheers,

Andrew

[SirTed]

Hey Mods,  throw this in another thread if it needs.

What kind of sales numbers are we looking at so far in the US or worldwide? My buddy has told me that it has "pretty much offically tanked." (as far as sales go)

Any confirmation or rebute?

[Eclipsed107]

261,000 records sold in the US, and number 3 on the billboard.

I wonder why it's not under headlines on the main page?

[makane]

261,000 records sold in the US, and number 3 on the billboard.

I wonder why it's not under headlines on the main page?

Jarmo is sleeping? (dunno if other mods have rights to update)

[Lord Kayoss]

Who's the sneaky mod who keeps deleting my post and why?



I mean seriously, I'm not "allowed" to say Chinese Democracy outsold Contraband?

After you delete this, please address me privately.

[killingvector]

So I just read on hitsdailydouble.com that UMG pocketed a guaranteed $14 million for selling 1.6 million unreturnable units to Best Buy

In other words, they probably don't give much of a fuck about promoting this album in the US anymore.  In other words they've basically recouped recording costs from the entire CD trilogy, they will count the money from international record sales and have two more GnR albums in the can that have been paid for

So the only one hurting from this deal is Best Buy

I think the GnR brand has taken a bit hit here too. Again, work no doubt must be done on the second/third albums and there is a question of who will fund that. Promotion for the follow ups may not be funded well either if expectations are so low. Also, if the GnR brand is damaged, there may be an affect on radio airplay and the size of the subsequent tour.

[Ali]

So I just read on hitsdailydouble.com that UMG pocketed a guaranteed $14 million for selling 1.6 million unreturnable units to Best Buy

In other words, they probably don't give much of a fuck about promoting this album in the US anymore.  In other words they've basically recouped recording costs from the entire CD trilogy, they will count the money from international record sales and have two more GnR albums in the can that have been paid for

So the only one hurting from this deal is Best Buy

I think the GnR brand has taken a bit hit here too. Again, work no doubt must be done on the second/third albums and there is a question of who will fund that. Promotion for the follow ups may not be funded well either if expectations are so low. Also, if the GnR brand is damaged, there may be an affect on radio airplay and the size of the subsequent tour.

From a commercial viability standpoint, yeah, the band/brand name may be hurt.  But from an artistic standpoint, I say no way if you actually listened to the record.  I don't mind smaller, theater tours.  Maybe the band does, but only they can answer that.

Ali