The Astonishing Billboard Chart Prediction (merged)

[ariich]

Excellent, great job Kix!

[noxon]

https://www.billboard.com/charts/billboard-200   11.

[Kotowboy]

Oh well.

[noxon]

But:

https://www.billboard.com/charts/rock-albums

[Kotowboy]

#11 In both the UK and the US.

[CDrice]

https://www.billboard.com/charts/canadian-albums

Apparently it's number 8 here in Canada.

[DreamerTV]

Ouch.

[theanalogkid7]

Is 11 bad?  I mean, DT has never been a "do it for the chart standings" kind of band, so I imagine they don't really care all too much.  I don't really know much about how this kind of thing would affect a band and their label, though.

EDIT: 1 on Hard Rock is pretty cool!

[bosk1]

#11 is not bad.  But I think that, even though it is ultimately fairly meaningless, everyone would have hoped that it would have been another "top 10" opener.  But by the same token, given that the album was such a risky departure from the norm, it is understandable that it did not open with as high a chart position. 

[erwinrafael]

And it is a double album. It would take more commited buyers to buy it because of the higher price tag.

[SebastianPratesi]

And it is a double album. It would take more commited buyers to buy it because of the higher price tag.

Well, Iron Maiden's The Book of Souls is also a double album, yet I was surprised to see it released here in Argentina at the equivalent to $13 (which here is usually the price of single-disc albums).

The Astonishing, as I was expecting, is much more expensive: around $24. So I would understand if casual fans would want to skip buying this one.

Someone from a record store told me Maiden's album was a lot cheaper because they belong to a bigger label, and also that the band ordered the label to keep the prices low. Can anyone confirm any of this?

[cramx3]

Is 11 bad?  I mean, DT has never been a "do it for the chart standings" kind of band, so I imagine they don't really care all too much.  I don't really know much about how this kind of thing would affect a band and their label, though.

EDIT: 1 on Hard Rock is pretty cool!

11 is not bad at all.  DT's highest I think was 6, but around 10 is what I expected.

[SwedishGoose]

#11 In both the UK and the US.

Countries with poor taste 

It was nr 3 in Sweden 

[Dream Team]

And it is a double album. It would take more commited buyers to buy it because of the higher price tag.

Well, Iron Maiden's The Book of Souls is also a double album, yet I was surprised to see it released here in Argentina at the equivalent to $13 (which here is usually the price of single-disc albums).

The Astonishing, as I was expecting, is much more expensive: around $24. So I would understand if casual fans would want to skip buying this one.

Someone from a record store told me Maiden's album was a lot cheaper because they belong to a bigger label, and also that the band demanded the label they had to keep the prices low. Can anyone confirm any of this?

It was $18 at FYE here in the States. Is $18 really that much dough? With the lower gas prices you save that much every week on gas.

[bosk1]

Someone from a record store told me Maiden's album was a lot cheaper because they belong to a bigger label, and also that the band ordered the label to keep the prices low. Can anyone confirm any of this?

Not sure, but that could be right.  And I think it is easier to keep the price of a double album to only a couple of bucks more than standard if it is packaged the way Maiden's was--in a slim jewel case that is ultimately the same size as a standard jewel case.  The Astonishing was packaged in such a way that it is simply more expensive packaging. 

[dreamtheater360]

Does anyone know how many albums we sold?

[fischermasamune]

It was $18 at FYE here in the States. Is $18 really that much dough? With the lower gas prices you save that much every week on gas.

15$ on Best Buy (US), plus 7% taxes.

[As I Am]

Does anyone know how many albums we sold?

I saw someone mention somewhere else that the first week sales were around 25K in the US. That seems kind of low to me, so I'm waiting for more definitive proof. I mean, BC&SL sold around 40K in week 1, then again, that was in the MP era, so who knows.

[DreamerTV]

Does anyone know how many albums we sold?

I saw someone mention somewhere else that the first week sales were around 25K in the US. That seems kind of low to me, so I'm waiting for more definitive proof. I mean, BC&SL sold around 40K in week 1, then again, that was in the MP era, so who knows.

And was 7 years ago, as ever year record sales decrease. 

[noxon]

We can extrapolate. Number 8 sold 33,000. Number 0 sold 32,000. Number 10 sold 31,000. So number 11 sold less than that.

[Nihil-Morari]

https://dutchcharts.nl/weekchart.asp?cat=a

Dutch Charts:

1. David Bowie
2. Adele
3. Justin Bieber
4. Dream Theater

[Mladen]

11 isn't bad, but it's still a drop. Then again, it's hard to compete against Adele, Justin Bieber and Rihanna.

[eosforum]

7th in Greece.

https://www.ifpi.gr/charts_el.html

[emtee]

Top ten would be nice but the actual units sold is what I always focus on. Looks like this was a step backwards in the US. Not sure
of the last 2 albums units sold but generally they between 32K - 40K first week in the US.

Maybe just another sign of the decline of physical music.

[As I Am]

^That and also DT's decline in the U.S.

[erwinrafael]

Or less people buyng just because it is more commitment money-wise because of the much higher price tag. In terms of gross revenues, this album may have earned more than the previous albums.

[Enigmachine]

Or less people buyng just because it is more commitment money-wise because of the much higher price tag. In terms of gross revenues, this album may have earned more than the previous albums.

Very good point, people who don't know Dream Theater or haven't listened to them in a while are less likely to take a chance with a more expensive album.

[rab7]

There's also the increase of streaming availability. While I bought my copy because I like holding the physical CD in my hands, there's so many other ways to listen nowadays.

[Kotowboy]

Yeah in like 15 years you can find your gatefold copy of The Astonishing and go I remember this

But in 15 years you can't look back at the that nice MP3 you bought of The Astonishing with it's postage stamp sized artwork.

[jsbru]

There's also the increase of streaming availability. While I bought my copy because I like holding the physical CD in my hands, there's so many other ways to listen nowadays.

They also officially released the whole album on YouTube, and more and more people have stuff like Spotify each year, which I think still counts in the totals, but not to the extent of buying the album.

I got the physical CD ($14.99 at Best Buy) because I wanted the higher quality, I knew I was going to listen to it a lot in my car (it's still quicker to just have the CD in your player than to wait for Spotify to load on your phone, plus the better quality), and also to reward the band for all the hard work they put into this.  I do think Spotify kind of shafts artists, so if they go the extra mile and put out good work, I'll buy the CD.

[Kotowboy]

I think the only time I buy an album from iTunes is when I can't afford the physical product or I think the packaging is shit.

Last album I bought digitally was Sonic Highways because the packaging for the CD was like wtf is this ? You can afford a jewel case AT LEAST.

Not a piece of the flimsiest card known to man folded in half with the CD inside. Fucks sake.

[Enigmachine]

Yeah in like 15 years you can find your gatefold copy of The Astonishing and go I remember this

But in 15 years you can't look back at the that nice MP3 you bought of The Astonishing with it's postage stamp sized artwork.

When I rip the CDs to my computer, I always delete the crappy 200x200 pic of the art and replace it with the largest and most detailed pic on google images I can find and, like:

This: vs This (click for full 3.5k x 3.5k size)

I find that sorts out the problem of small album art. Also, I took my desktop background from the second image:

[Kotowboy]

Nice ! I will too xxx

[Enigmachine]

It's quite an epic experience loading up your computer and having a massive NOMAC staring in your face. 

[Kotowboy]

It's quite an epic experience loading up your computer and having a massive NOMAC staring in your face. 

Ah now - ye wouldn't be thinking of listening to any of that music nonsense now would ye ?

[for some reason this Nomac is from Dublin]