2008.11.26 - Blabbermouth - 'Chinese Democracy' To Debut At No. 2 On Billboard Chart (& other related articles)

Guns N' Roses' 'Democracy' To Debut At No. 2 On Billboard Chart

According to Hits Daily Double, the companion web site of music industry tip sheet Hits, Guns N' Roses' long-awaited new album, "Chinese Democracy", will move around 300,000 copies (including a reported 25,000 downloads at iTunes on November 23 not counted towards the opening week for the Sunday release) in its first week of release to debut at position No. 2 on The Billboard 200 chart. Kanye West's new album, "808s and Heartbreak", will be No. 1 on next week's chart with a total that looks to be between 450,000 and 500,000.

"Chinese Democracy" has topped the iTunes Rock Albums charts across the globe, according to antiMUSIC. The long-awaited effort took the lead on the charts in U.S., U.K., France, Germany, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. The only odd ball holdout was Norway, where GN'R was No. 2 to Tim Christensen's "Superior".

GN'R is currently on top of the overall iTunes album charts in Germany, France, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Sweden, and Switzerland. In the U.S., they are No. 4 behind releases from Kanye West, The Killers and Coldplay.

They have been denied the No. 1 by The Killers in the UK, Australia, Norway, Portugal and Spain. In France they are No 2. behind Seal's new album "Soul". And it's a battle of egos in Canada where Kanye West is keeping GN'R from topping the overall iTunes album chart.

https://archive.blabbermouth.net/news/guns-n-roses-democracy-to-debut-at-no-2-on-billboard-chart/

Earlier Blabbermouth article (Nov. 25) about the UK and Finnish charts:
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Guns N' Roses' 'Democracy' Is A Hit In UK, Finland

Music Week reports that Guns N' Roses' long-awaited new album "Chinese Democracy" sold 50,791 copies in the U.K. in its first day of release, according to midweek sales figures. The CD is trailing the latest LP from The Killers, "Day And Age", which moved 70,764 units the day that it was issued.

In other news, "Chinese Democracy" has already been certified platinum in Finland. The Finnish platinum award for domestic albums recognizes sales in excess of 30,000 copies, while the same award is given out to foreign artists for shifting 20,000 units of a single album.

https://archive.blabbermouth.net/news/guns-n-roses-democracy-is-a-hit-in-uk-finland/

Blabbermouth, November 30, 2008:
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Guns N' Roses: More 'Chinese Democracy' First-Week Chart Positions Revealed

Guns N' Roses' new album, "Chinese Democracy", has registered the following first-week chart positions so far (Note: The album wasn't available a full week in many of these territories when the charts were compiled):

Brazil: #1
Finland: #1
New Zealand: #2
UK: #2
Australia: #3
Ireland: #3
Japan: #3
Norway: #3
Hungary: #4
Netherlands: #4
Sweden: #4
Denmark: #7
Spain: #12

Early U.S. sales reports suggest that "Chinese Democracy", which was released through an exclusive deal with the Best Buy chain, might not be the blockbuster the industry had hoped for, according to The New York Times. Sales figures will not be available until Wednesday (December 3), but early estimates put the first-week total at 300,000 copies (including a reported 25,000 downloads at iTunes on November 23 not counted towards the opening week for the Sunday release) — roughly 50,000 more than the opening number registered by "Contraband", the 2004 debut from Velvet Revolver, which features in its ranks Rose's former Guns N' Roses bandmates Slash, Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum. Kanye West's new album, "808s and Heartbreak", will be No. 1 on next week's Billboard chart with a total that looks to be between 450,000 and 500,000.

https://archive.blabbermouth.net/news/guns-n-roses-more-chinese-democracy-first-week-chart-positions-revealed/

Blackstar wrote:Blabbermouth, November 30, 2008:
[...]

Early U.S. sales reports suggest that "Chinese Democracy", which was released through an exclusive deal with the Best Buy chain, might not be the blockbuster the industry had hoped for, according to The New York Times. [...]

The New York Times article:
https://www.a-4-d.com/t5836-2008-11-26-the-new-york-times-dr-pepper-and-rocker-in-a-war-of-hype

Article at Undercover (Australia), November 24:
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Guns n’ Roses Sells 3,454 Units On Friday

by Paul Cashmere

Guns n’ Roses 'Chinese Democracy' had a relatively lukewarm first day of sales in Australia with stores registering 3,454 sales on Friday, the day before the album's official release.

The release date for music in Australia is Saturday (the start of the new ARIA chart week) but it has become standard for stores to break embargos and sell major releases as soon as they receive them.

Albums by AC/DC, Metallica, Pink and Kings of Leon were all sold early by stores but sales prior to an official release date are not recognized for the ARIA chart.

By breaking embargo, stores sold 4,751 units of Kings of Leon ‘Only By The Night’ early. Metallica ‘Death Magnetic’ did 4,849 units, Pink did 7,120 and AC/DC sold 7,265 pre-official release. All of these albums debuted in the Top 5 on the early figures.

The 3,454 figure for 'Chinese Democracy' was only enough to make it the 20th biggest album of the week.

There is a lot of anticipation for 'Chinese Democracy' considering the 15-year wait fans have had for the release.

Reviews for the album have been overall positive. My personal opinion is that it is a good album, not a great album by Guns n’ Roses standards, but in the defense of Axl Rose, this is not really a Guns n’ Roses album. Take away the Gunners name and it is pretty, damn impressive, especially the tracks ‘Chinese Democracy’, ‘Madagascar’ and ‘I.R.S’.

American first days sales will be interesting. The album went on sale on Sunday in the United States. The US chart starts from Tuesday, so two days of sales will be counted towards the American chart, due on Thursday.

The top 5 biggest selling albums in the USA so far this year are:

1. Lil Wayne : The Carter III (2,671,816 units)
2. Coldplay : Viva La Vida (1,905,679 units)
3. Kid Rock : Rock N Roll Jesus (1,712,661 units
4. Jack Johnson : Sleep Through The Static (1,437,691 units)
5. AC/DC : Black Ice (1,319,914 units)

https://web.archive.org/web/20091020072809/http://www.undercover.com.au/News-Story.aspx?id=6971