NEILSTEIN SOUNDSCAM: THE LAST BIG WEEK OF ’10

With the holidays right around the corner — and all the best of, greatest hits and holiday comps that come therewith — this past Tuesday was the last big date for new album releases in 2010, though there are still a few stragglers coming down the pipe. The world of hard rock and metal made a big showing last week, with new releases from Underoath, Dio, Cradle of Filth, Oceano, Gwar, Helloween, Volbeat and a smattering of others making the Soundscan charts. Rankings, sales figures and commentary after the jump.

2 ALTER BRIDGE – AB III
This week: 27,621 (debut)

That #2 on the Hard Music charts is good enough for #17 on the overall charts. Solid showing! I wonder if Myles Kennedy being in Slash’s band helped contribute to these sales? Or if there’s a big radio hit driving this campaign?

3 UNDEROATH – O (DISAMBIGUATION)
This week: 23,199 (debut)

Good enough for #22 on the overall charts. So, who exactly buys Underoath records? ‘Cause I sure as hell don’t know anyone who does. Young kids? Christians? Both?

6 DIO – DIO AT DONINGTON UK: LIVE 1983
This week: 5,836 (debut)

Score one for Ronnie!

7 CRADLE OF FILTH – DARKLY, DARKLY, VENUS AVERSA
This week: 5,823 (debut)

The appeal of this band to the goth masses seems to be quickly diminishing.

8 ESCAPE THE FATE – ESCAPE THE FATE
This week: 5,738 (debut)

Gotta be a huge disappointment for Universal. Sorry, putting tons of makeup on pretty dudes apparently doesn’t make records fly off the shelves.

15 BLACK LABEL SOCIETY – BERZERKUS TOUR SAMPLER
This week: 4,032 (debut)

At $0.69 a pop, that comes to $2,782.08, minus whatever fees Amazon takes out for distro (usually 30%). So did that one-day deal pay off? I’m honestly not sure.

20 OCEANO – CONTAGION
This week: 2,955 (debut)

I’m pretty sure I remember seeing that their last album sold around 5,000 first week, maybe more… but don’t quote me on that. If that’s the case, could it be that the deathcore trend is fading? [Correction: The band’s camp has informed me their last record sold just under 2,500 copies -Ed.]

22 GWAR – BLOODY PIT OF HORROR
This week: 2,842 (debut)

I’d love to see this number stacked against past Gwar release, both as raw numbers and taking into account industry-wide declines. I don’t think Dave Brockie really looks at new records as much more than an excuse to bring the Gwar touring machine out on the road, so I’d doubt he’s that concerned with sales numbers.

28 TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCH. NIGHT CASTLE (2CD)
This week: 2,128
Cume: 423,285

The Trans-Siberian cash cow rolls on as this perennial money-maker climbs back onto the charts. Expect to see this number grow in the coming weeks.

34 HELLOWEEN –  7 SINNERS
This week: 1,913 (debut)

1,913 U.S. copies is like 100,913 German copies.

62 VOLBEAT – BEYOND HELL/ABOVE HEAVEN
This week: 1,201 (debut)

Axl doesn’t get the appeal of this band. I don’t get the appeal of this band. Maybe we should ask the 1,201 people who do what the big deal is.

63 QUEENSRYCHE – EMPIRE
This week: 1,192
Cume: 114,436

What a surprise to see this record on the charts with a “1” in the “Weeks On” column; obviously it’s the reissue, but it still made me pause. I’m honestly shocked this record just topped 100,000 copies sold back in the day… guess it was released pre-Soundscan?

-VN