Lamb Of God, who have have just released their sixth studio album Resolution and are gearing to head over to Australia for Soundwave Festival 2012, are stoked with the record sales of their latest release.
Sales figures have just come out for Resolution in the US where the band officially sold 52,000 copies in the first week of release, debuting at No 3. on the Billboard 200 chart. The result is especially significant given that according to frontman Randy Blythe record sales across the board are down almost 40% in the United States.
Blythe jumped on Twitter last to thank fans and everyone who went out and bought the record but also pointed out the result reflects what he perceives as a strong loyalty alternative fans have to their favourite bands, something he feels pop music lacks calling new pop sensations ‘flash in the pan bullshit.
Blythe also argues that despite the recent trend for pop acts to become uber-hyped, Lamb Of God and other metal bands will have a fan base that will exist long after the pop music world has “eaten the latest sensation and spat them back out”.
You can read Blythe’s thank you and thoughts on the state of music below:
Thanks to all the people congratulating us for #3 chart spot in the US for “Resolution”! It’s pretty cool- we are proud of the record! This confirms something that [guitarist Mark Morton] & I have been saying for a couple of years in the press, trying to explain to people about the difference of metal/hc fans- that the music is much more of a LIFESTYLE thing than regular pop “music”. Being involved in this scene runs deeper than just tunes- it provides a social group, I believe composed of primarily folks who think DIFFERENTLY than the status quo.
To me, coming up in the HC/Punk scene was so much more than just records- it was friends where I had none before, an escape from the bullshit of normal life that I was totally fed up with. I believe that the metal scene is approaching that paradigm today- its smart, starting to become politically & socially aware. The metal fans also flat out SUPPORT their scene more as well, by going to shows even in tough economic times, and buying records to try and support the artists who make our music.
The record industry is BROKEN, and a new model HAS to occur-there is no denying that. But I feel that the metal/hc/punk fans will embrace that new model & support the artists in a way that pop fans will not, or perhaps will do so only grudgingly. Here are some figures for y’all that illustrate what I’m talking about, that shows that metal fans still support the artists. Our record Wrath debuted at #2. Resolution debuted at #3. Wrath soundscanned 68,000 copies during release week. Resolution scanned over 52,000 copies first week. Now, you may look at these #’s and say “Wow, their chart position & sales have declined. Their fan base must be getting smaller.”
NOT AT ALL. Consider this- album to album sales ACROSS the board are down approximately 40%. This is due to a bad economy and (ahem) downloading. Lamb of god’s album sales are down only about 20%. Take the guy with the #2 slot, Tim McGraw. His last record came in at 139,000 copies. His record that debuted last week came in at 69,000. That is about a FIFTY PERCENT DROP. So while he sold more records than us, his drop in sale was FAR LARGER than ours. It’s the norm EVERYONE on the charts.
Everyone except…yup, you guessed it, some of the more underground types of bands. During our second week, we can expect to see an 80% drop in sales. This is because we have a hardcore fan base who actually went out & got the record, most probably did ON THE DAY OF RELEASE. We aren’t a big radio band. We don’t have “hits” or AirPlay to drive us along the charts. But we have a fan base that will exist long after machine has EATEN the latest pop sensation and spit them out. How many pop singers have 17 year careers that keep growing? Not many.
Flash in the pan bullshit. So we thank you for your support. We thank you for supporting our music. When I say “our” music, I mean OUR music- it’s YOUR music as well as lamb of god’s. Otherwise we would’t be where we are. Thanks again, and I’ll see ya in the pit.
