FIRST WEEK ESTIMATED SALES FOR SOUNDGARDEN’S KING ANIMAL ARE IN
Hits Daily Double is reporting that based on one day sales, Soundgarden’s new album King Animal will sell 70-75,000 copies in its first week in the United States, and will likely debut at #5. Soundgarden’s last album Down on the Upside debuted at #2 and sold 176,000 copies in its first week on sale in May 1996. For comparison’s sake, here is how Soundgarden’s 90′s contemporaries most recent albums did opening week.
Pearl Jam- Backspacer (2009)
#1 with 189,000 copies sold opening week
Alice In Chains- Black Gives Way to Blue (2009)
#5 with 126,000 copies sold opening week
Stone Temple Pilots- Stone Temple Pilots (2010)
#2 with 62,000 copies sold opening week
Smashing Pumpkins- Oceania (2012)
#4 with 54,000 copies sold opening week
Jane’s Addiction- The Great Escape Artist (2011)
#12 with 24,000 copies sold
I am rather surprised it didn’t sell more
I didn’t read the article and I don’t know what the sales are.
All I know is that this is a great album IMO and the sales will be as whatever as whatever. Unless you are among the top handful of new hyped up auto-tuners you will not sell very much. factor in that so many people download music for free.
suck on the many devices that i have prepared for you chart hipsters.
i know several unsigned artists who are making a living in no place land. maybe the news was that soundgarden is doing great on their sales… maybe not. what matters is the music is speaking to the fans. this album is making me cum many times per day. it is filling my headphones, car speakers and the like. if this album was no good than soungarden could suck a cock and i would say so.
Decent, but not great, sale numbers. You have to remember that sales now are much lower than back in 2009.
For comparison the new Aerosmith album sold 63K albums in the first week and the new Deftones album is projected to sell 60K-65K copies.
Its better than Backspacer and equal to BGWTB.
It’s better than both backspacer and BGWTB in my opinion
Very disappointing. If you compare to the numbers of “Zeitgeist” for instance. It proves that album sales aren’t what they used to be even like 5 years ago.
“Oceania” dit quite well then, without a proper single, and with just a portion of “King Animal’s” marketing.
Fuck the album sales. The quality of the album makes it platinum.
In my mind*
@Nicb115
True, the quality of the music is what matters. I think it’s fair to say that the financial success of it might play a role in the future of the band though.
I am surprised at janes that was a awesome album.
king animal is mediocre
Not a bad number. SG have never been as popular as Pearl Jam, so throw that comparison out the window.
Anyone else see that Aaron Lewis’s country cd is projected to sell 20k. Horseshit. The last Staind cd was awesome, and now he puts this crap out. What a money grabbing poser; you grew up in New Hampshire dude. Sorry..had to rant.
king animal(better or not was never gonna sell as well as backspacer and BGWTB for to reasons
1 album sales are lower than 2009
2 and soundgarden are not as known as pearl jam and alice in chains
could rearranging the songs create a better album experience? What order would you put them in and what songs would you drop?
Sales don’t mean anything. The tough thing for a band is they don’t really know how many people out there are hearing their album. How many download illegally or just buy it & share it? I did expect a higher number, however, since they had multiple tracks released early & are practically giving away the album on Amazon.
@Outshined
I’m pretty sure “Soundgarden” is at least as known as “Alice in Chains”.
This is a surprisingly good figure. In 2012, this is a drastically retracted record industry, especially for rock music. The record industry sells like half the amount that it did back in 1996. So, a 70K opening now is similar to a 140K opening back in the day. It will fall pretty drastically, but I was thinking more like 35K opening week and 100K total as a stretch.
Piggybacking Outshined’s list, I have to think the decision to float out “Been Away Too Long” as lead single affected record sales.
@GA I agree. Not a bad number, especially when the 2 tracks most heard before buying aren’t that great. I’m guessing it would be closer to 35-50K if they didn’t offer a download of the album for only $3.99 online. This is reminiscent of when Lady Gaga offered her album for 99 cents during the first week, which resulted in her selling over a million copies that week.
I think Streaming the album was a bad move tbh… as soon as the stream was out.. it was ripped and uploaded to torrents… i had the album the 1st day it was streamed, downloaded to learn the new tracks before the Shepherds bush gig… I still brought the album of course to support soundgarden and i personally think its an album well worth buying.. but i think others would of just downloaded it and thought “oh i don’t need to buy it now” cause they could download it WAY before the release..
I’ve been listening to the album straight through since picking it up, and it’s definitely growing on me. I do think that BATL is poppiest of the harder rocking songs on the album, but it’s not a terrible song. The bridge is the best part of it, but it’s really not bad if you try not to think about solo Cornell and Cameron’s PJ influence, which really shows on Attrition.
The only song I think doesn’t belong on the album is Halfway There. It’s not a bad song, but it’s just not a Soundgarden song to me. It’s too solo-Chris / Euphoria Morning/Carry On.
While I do like Rowing, I can’t help but feel like the first half of the song could have been on Scream. But I just pretend Scream doesn’t exist and I can dig it.
I think it’s a solid album with just a couple minor flaws. I felt the same way about DOTU when it first came out, but that album in its entirety eventually grew on me to where never skipped any songs on a full play through.
Have to push aside all the preconceived ideas of what their comeback album would have or should have sounded like and absorb what it actually is now that we have it, and it’s pretty damn good in my opinion. Happy to have finally be able to enjoy it and here’s hoping for another.
@Is he one? i think both bands are great but to previous album sales alice in chains are more known/popular than soundgarden
soundgarden have sold over 22 million albums worldwide and had 1 album debuted at number 1 on the billboard 200
alice in chains have sold over 35 million worldwide and had 2 albums debuted at number 1 on the billboard 200
@Outshined
AIC sold that many?! Ok I’m surprised. Back in the 90′s I heard about Soundgarden way more often that AIC. Interesting, thanks…
Pearl Jam and Smashing Pumpkins numbers sure are even more impressive right?
@ Diviate, I have to agree with you on this album. Except I never listened to Scream by C. Cornell so I like probably 2nd half of the Rowing, and it sounds really grungy to me. As for the rest of the album, it has the same structure as DOTU, great beginning, middle part is way off (and i do believe they shouldve used Demo version of Black Saturday instead of the final cut) and the end ends exactly like on DOTU.
I think I havent been fully pleased at first with any Soundgarden albums, they have grown on me slowly unlike any other grunge bands’ albums. Its probably due to unorthodox time signatures and complex guitar by Kim Thayil and constant upbeat drumming by Matt Cameron.
Also, what this album offers unlike the previous ones is the dynamic walking bass by Ben Shepherd and bass bridges/intros/outros. For myself as a bass player, I really appreciate it and it makes the album enjoyable even more.
So yeah good album, not great but good with a room to grow. 8/10
Pearl Jam sucks. Ain’t what it used to be. Seen them live a bunch of times, the only quality way to appreciate their music anymore.
@Is he one?you may of heard more about soundgarden in the 90s but my point was more to do with previous album sales,if soundgarden and alice in chains were to both bring albums in the same week i think AIC
would sell more,it don’t really matter there both great bands who gives a shit as long as there both still making music thats all that matters
Soundgarden isn’t as well known as AIC and PJ? I have to disagree. Pearl Jam, I can see but Alice, absolutely not. And quite frankly, I don’t think King Animal is anywhere as good as their previous albums. BGWTB was outstanding.
Anyone able to get this audio?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/showcase/clips/justadded#/clips/p01162yz/in/justadded/justadded
i like King Animal a lot too, but i dont think it was on par with BGWTB. Alice sounds as though they never went away and Layne could have fit in on all those songs just right.
Yeah to be honest I still have a hard time believing the name “Alice in Chains” is better known than “Soundgarden”… Actually here in Québec I’m sure it’s not… Worldwide I couldn’t tell but I thought “Black Hole Sun” was the biggest hit from any of those 2 bands…
@Is he one? i dont know maybe black hole sun is the biggest single out of both bands,i hear alice in chains played more but i listen to more metal music/radio shows so i would hear alice in chains more
i think that Soundgarden is more known than Alice as well. the name “soundgarden” is more “radio friendly” sounding than “alice in chains”…i hear Soundgarden on my local station that plays NPR news and the World Cafe. its a local public funded station..not your normal new alt rock station. i’ve tried and tried to get them to play alice but i think the name alone is what keeps them off that station! i checked their play list and saw “no excuses” on there ONCE, but play lots of radio friendly soundgarden.
BGWTB and King Animal are by far my 2 favorite albums out of that group, and they’ll be 2nd and 3rd. King Animal being less than 100K is especially criminal. But whatever. Soundgarden has always been a band that didn’t really appeal to the mainstream but was beloved by the good fans. They can probably be considered the “least popular” among PJ, Alice, and Nirvana.
Yeah people know SG more than AIC generally.
Actually guys its worst than half the sales compared to 1996…much worst…fuck all you pricks that illegally download someone else’s art! Imagine if I robbed you of your prized possessions worth millions of $$$$. Damn thieving hippies…buy the god damn thing already!!!!!!
I support the bands I like by buying their albums, but obviously not everyone does this. Regardless, bands make up for it by charging several times more for concert tickets than they did in the 90s, Pearl Jam and Eddie probably being the kings of this. In the mid-90s, most shows I attended were $15-25 per ticket. Nowadays, $50 is almost a bargain to see most bands. Bands gotta do what they gotta do to make their money, so I understand as long as they’re touring to promote new material.
Still beats the crap out of Oceania, but then Soundgarden are still much truer to their sound than current SP. I’d like to see the actual numbers next week. There’s still people out there that have no idea Soundgarden reunited, let alone put out a record. It hasn’t been the lack of advertising though, I don’t think. I see commercials on Adult Swim all the time for KA.
I agree with some others about BATL… it wasn’t a strong SG track, especially one to propel them back into their one time fans’ playlists. To be honest I don’t know if that track even exists on the new album. Not saying I don’t like it, but I’m also a ravenous Soundgarden fan, so it would’ve had to be terrible for me not to like it. Its just very different from the pre-breakup albums.
I did buy 2 copies though and I hope they sell a ton more to get them excited about making another record soon… I have a feeling that King Animal part II will sound more like where they left off after DOTU.
I…dont have an opinion about this particular topic…
I blame it all on Been away too long. The first time i heard it i was like wtf is that. lol. should of chosen a diferent song as the first single. Anyway you would think with all the advertising it would of sold mor at least 90k. overhyped maybe?
KING ANIMAL is the best rock record to come out in the last 3 years of music….
Couple of things….
1. In today’s day in age that is actually a decent number of albums sold for a rock band. This is nothing to complain
2. Soundgarden has never been the most mainstream act in 90′s music (except for Black Hole Sun of course). None of their albums are commercial sounding including King Animal. They are not going to be Jack White big or even PJ nowadays and that is fine by me
The album is doing well and the SG fans who have been waiting for new material get exactly that. It is a win-win situation here
*complain about
This album didn’t sell well because it was crap.
I find it greatly amusing that Oceania outsold this album, with no single and no promotion.
Of course, it’s about x1000000000000000000000 times the album King Animal is.
The estimated first week numbers for king animal went up to 80-85k sells expected. Who knows maybe it keeps climbing.
I was hoping for a larger number, but everything everyone has said here is sadly true. Sales numbers aren’t what they used to be. However, I might have missed this if anyone said anything. I think Billboard has a special chart that publishes numbers on Internet stream a combination of factors and outlets, like from Spotify, etc. I wonder what that’ll look like and what effect that plays into the actual purchase of the album.
Chris Cornell has gatherer quite a name by now I’d imagine from Audioslave, and his solo stint experiential with big name producer, positive or negative, mostly positive is hope, and the fact they are pushing the fact that that it is their first release in over 10 years, and they had a single in the Avengers S/T. But in the end sounds like album sales aren’t what they user to be.
Lets focus on how sold out their tour will be.
That said “The Keeper” pretty much has a hold on it/said it right.
@thefreewheelinmarkarm If a band is “truer to their sound” as you say, aren’t they just repeating themselves? Even if you say King Animal is a good album, which it is, there’s no way in hell you can say it’s better than Batmotorfinger, Superunknown, or DOTU. They’re treading the same ground, but not at the same speed. Wouldn’t you rather they take their sound in a slightly different direction and do something different? I sure as hell would.
Odds that Ryan actually listened to this album? Low I’d say.
And why are people saying that Oceania outsold this album? It says 54000 first week versus 70-75000. Jesus, we aren’t talking long division here.
The numbers arent that bad. I want to know if that includes Digital Sales as well.
After listening to it, I have to say Black Gives Way to Blue is the better album from all listed in this article.
I think Soundgarden garnered more overall critical respect than most bands on this site (save for maybe Nirvana and NIN) maybe that’s why they’re viewed as being more popular than the likes of AIC, SP, STP, etc.
@Inmytree I don’t know about Ryan but myself, I listened to it at least 4 times and I still find it mediocre at best.
I think they should be happy they sold the amount they sold. What were you expecting? The promotion they did for this was just like the album itself: mediocre and uninspired.
And I’m fucking pissed, cause I love Soundgarden.
And to people who believe KA is better than BGWTB: Lay off the pipe or stop sucking Cornell’s dick.
Andrei, your take on things isn’t the only valid view of the albums … KA is better than BGWTB to my ears and there’s no pipe over here, nor is Chris Cornell Jr. flopping around my face. I like the Alice album but its lacking in the technical, creative subtleties alongside the raw power that make every Soundgarden album so brilliant. Alice can do the subtle stuff really well too, but its always on separate albums/releases (e.g., Jar of Flies). SG blends the two seamlessly, sometimes within the same song, and for this reason SG is THE grunge band for me. King Animal is classic Soundgarden, not sure what the critics cannot (or will not) hear. They aren’t going to redo Badmotorfinger or Superunknown.
What the hell does classic SG mean if it’s not Badmotorfinger or Superunknown? Chris Cornell’s basement in the early 80′s?
Listen, I get it, you’ve been waiting for this for a long time now, you’re excited, so was I.
But I’m sorry, King Animal has almost zero replay value for me. The songs are just plain boring. Technical, shmechnical, if the songs are bland and uninspired what the fuck does it matter?
About SOUNDGARDEN being THE grunge band: You’re ABSOLUTELY right. I’ll also say that Superunknown is THE grunge album.
And I’m not comparing the two, they’re older now, I get it. Different times.
But all I wanted from KA is to have some songs that will stay with me for the rest of my life. And I didn’t get that.
Anyways, we’ll talk a year later once the excitement wears off to see how many of you people still listen to it.
“A Thousand Days Before” and “Blood on the Valley Floor” are both awesome songs. Actually songs 2-7 on this album are all very good. I get a bit bored by a few tracks in the middle section of the album, but it picks up again with “Worse Dreams” and “Eyelids Mouth” before the album closes. By my count, that is 9 songs out of 13 that I really enjoy and I think at least two classics in the bunch. Not bad after a 16 year hiatus.
*8 songs
just for the record, King Animal is my favorite album of ALL TIME. so many people are being too critical because i think it didnt meet their exact expectations and thats their own loss. Eyelid’s Mouth and Taree are my personal favorites.
EVERYBODY STOP BITCHING! Sorry if you guys were dissapointed but its better than anything else besides its fellow grunge bands work
Sound Garden may not be as know as other popular grunge bands, but isn’t that the thing that makes it so much more awesome? Yeah big deal if the album didn’t sell as much, just be happy you were one of the people to enjoy it! That is the one only thing about Nirvana. I love the music TO DEATH…but its so well know it almost spoils the fun of being a true Grunge lover.
Agree w/Josh, songs 2-7 are as good as it gets. I can hardly believe how much I’m enjoying this record considering Cornell’s most recent solo work & their age. Usually the combination of age, money & unlimited women take the angst & sadness out of allot of the great bands but this record is classic SG.
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