SoCal rules on the charts: Avenged Sevenfold’s ‘Nightmare’ a dream debut; Best Coast hits top 40
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Huntington Beach’s Avenged Sevenfold confronted the unexpected passing last year of drummer James “The Rev” Sullivan on its recently released “Nightmare.” The darkly personal hard rock song cycle has been embraced by fans, as “Nightmare” has given the locals its best-ever sales week on the U.S. pop charts. “Nightmare” lands at No. 1 this week, having sold 162,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan, to hold off another strong sales showing from Eminem‘s “Recovery.”
Avenged Sevenfold has been on the upward trajectory since jumping to Warner Bros. in the mid-2000s, and it is one of the rare bands that continues to see sales increases with each album. “Nightmare” marks Avenged Sevenfold’s first album since 2007’s self-titled Warner Bros. effort, the act’s second for the major, which debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 with 94,000 copies sold in its first week.That represented a major boost for the act. It’s 2005 collection, “City of Evil,” entered the chart at No. 30, with fewer than 35,000 first week sales.
Avenged Sevenfold isn’t the only SoCal group to post an impressive showing on this week’s sales chart. Retro-pop act Best Coast, the indie faves of the moment, enter at No. 36 with “Crazy for You,” an album that sold 10,000 copies in its debut week. The buzz on Best Coast’s ‘50’s-meets-Ramones-inspired sound began at the South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas, in March, and has only increased in the weeks since.
The 10,000 copies sold is more than respectable, and in line with other hotly tipped indie acts. Joanna Newsom, for instance, who recently performed a critically adored show at the Orpheum, opened with about 7,000 copies sold of her “Have One on Me” earlier this year.
Otherwise, Eminem continues to dominate. His “Recovery” sold an additional 159,000 albums, bringing the total sales to more than 1.8 million, moving units almost like it’s 1998. The Detroit rapper is approaching the 2 million mark after just six weeks of release. How impressive are those numbers? Breakout 2010 star Ke$ha has taken 33 weeks to sell 861,000 copies of her “Animal.”
Trouble, however, could be in for M.I.A.’s “MAYA.” Though the aggressiveness of the effort rewards after repeated listens, it’s falling swiftly, resting at No. 66 after just three weeks, and totaling 46,000 copies sold. Next week, however, will be a major one for the indie sector, as Arcade Fire’s “The Suburbs” will vie with Eminem for the No. 1 spot.
-- Todd Martens
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