Justin Bieber tops U.S. album chart; Pumpkins’ ‘Oceania’ at #4 10:50 am // Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Posted by jjb in news, oceania, sales.trackback
On U.S. sales totaling one-seventh those of Justin Bieber’s just-released Believe—Bieber’s fourth number-one album in under three years—the Smashing Pumpkins’ new record Oceania occupies the fourth position on this week’s Billboard chart.
Oceania reportedly moved 54,000 copies in becoming the sixth Smashing Pumpkins album to reach Billboard‘s top four. It is the seventh album of songs principally written by Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan to chart that high.
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Thus furthering the theory that the only people who still buy albums are thirteen year old girls. (Depressed sigh.)
That said, nice to see Oceania start off in the top 4. I hope it can stick around for a while but I’m not overly optimistic.
Considering it was supposedly tracking to come in at #6 earlier in the week, debuting at #4 is a pleasant surprise. A top 5 album for SP in the year 2012 is a victory in my book. Hopefully good word of mouth helps it shift some more units.
I read this anecdote recently about a girl who is 15 and has never purchased music. A lot of people in that demographic have never, or hardly ever, purchased music. They’ve grown up in a world where music is free, and just a click away. So I think that’s actually pretty great that 13 year old girls are buying music of any kind. Seriously.
And I’m stunned the Pumpkins charted within the top 5. I would have been ecstatic with a top 10 place.
Considering Zeitgeist sold 145,000 and debuted at #2, and even Mary Star of the Sea debuted at #3 with 90,000, I was actually hoping for a little higher placing on the charts. Still, in this day and age, most bands would kill to sell 54,000 in a week.
Hopefully some radio play for The Celestials will keep it up in the charts. #4 with no single doesn’t seem too shabby. The early response from radio listeners seems to be good for the song, which hopefully includes the 13-year-old girls.
i was once a 13 yr old girl…until the night of the terrible storm.
score
@Kiernana
Great point. I suppose there’s reason for optimism.
What’s impressive is that unlike many heritage/veteran artists who chart high with new material in the current industry, SP didn’t juice the numbers by giving away records with concert tix, selling the whole shebang for $0.99, etc.
The album has gotten pretty significant press beyond the usual navel-gazing music sources (Piers Morgan, Howard Stern), which I’m sure had something to do with the positive debut. I just hope that it can be sustained for a little bit once the press dies down. It’s too bad there’s not a US tour starting soon.
Maybe the thinking is: bring the album out now and do press just to let it begin to seep into the cultural subconscious, then use the tour in the Fall to sustain the album’s immediate shelf life (which I would define as 1 to 2 years after an album is released as that’s the typical length of the promotion-release-tour cycle). A single or two in the meantime might help it in the couple month absence of the band. I dunno.
This fanbase is going to freak out about how Bieber is #1 and its all his fault SP isn’t #1 while completely glossing over the fact Fiona Apple debuted at #3. Its basically the same demographic as us, dawgs.
@ryan
I got the Fiona Apple album “The Idle Wheel is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw & Whipping Cords Will Serve You More than Ropes Will Ever Do” (yea….it’s that pretentious) and I have to say, not that impressed. I thought Extraordinary Machine and When the Pawn were much better albums. Maybe it will grow on me. At any rate, I’m glad to see it’s high up there. I’d say it appeals to a slightly wider demographic than the Pumpkins.
@JCelsius
I got the new Fiona too, and was VERY disappointed. Pumpkins should have for sure beaten her out, but since it’s been so long since her last album people will just buy it regardless. I got it free through work and I’m glad I did. I would’ve been pissed if I paid money for it. I’ll probably never listen to it again.
@merp
I didn’t pay for it either. If I had thought it was good I would have, but like you said, I’m not going to listen to it again. I might listen to “Anything We Want” and “Werewolf”, but when there are only two songs I like on an album, I consider that a flop. It’s unfortunate too because I was really looking forward to a stellar album.
@Chris
I think they really dropped the ball with the album debut, in terms of media appearances such as on late night TV aside from Piers Morgan.
I think logistically, the release of Oceania was up in the air, otherwise the touring schedule would be much more comprehensive and clearly laid out. They should have been ready with shows lined up for the album premiere, but that would have needed to be done months in advance. Negotiations with EMI must have taken forever…
@JCelcious & merp
I’d definitely give Fiona’s new one a couple more spins before deciding you don’t care for it. I wasn’t really feeling it either the first couple times I listened, but towards the middle of my 3rd listen straight thru it all suddenly clicked and I was able to connect with the odd song structures better. I now love it, and I was never really a big Fiona fan before this. It works best as a whole, however, as no single song will really jump out. It’s all dependent on the ebbs and flows of what came before.
Also, now that I think about it, 54,000 sales with no advance single or media hype (unlike Zeitgeist’s “comeback” press) is pretty good. It’s still at #11 on Amazon, so maybe it won’t drop immediately out of the top 20 like Zeitgeist, MSOTS, Machina, etc. Still, I would have thought there were more than 54,000 hardcore SP fans out there.
Sorry for the horrible butchering of your name, JCelsius!
@Jack Tripper
I have listened to it multiple times. I usually listen to an album at least 3 times before I judge it, as I used to dismiss album quickly and then rediscover them later and love them. I am a huge Fiona Apple fan. Ever since “Shadowboxer”. This album was just a huge let down. No growth for her at all. It just fell flat. Like she just threw these songs together and expected you to like them just because she’s singing and playing them. Believe me, I’ve heard worse albums for sure, but for her this was just a huge let down. It was for sure a huge step back and not a step forward.
@Jax Trapper
I’ll give it another listen. I just don’t find it as melodic as her previous efforts and I think melody is one of her strong points. As far as butchering my name, I kind of like it. JCelicious reminds me of Fergilicious although I’m not up in the gym workin’ on my fitness. (can’t believe I semi-quoted a Fergie song on a Smashing Pumpkin’s blog.)
@merp
Fair enough. To me it is a step towards more avant garde jazz or even post-jazz, in a way. It almost reminds me of Coltrane or Thelonius Monk at times, what with the odd time-signatures and song structures, which made it harder for me to connect with at first, but once I got the hang of it, I was really able to lose myself in it. To each their own.
@JFahrenheit
Your definitely right about it not being as melodic as past albums, but it is there once you get a better feel for the album as a whole. It can seem quite impenetrable at first. I was ready to give up on it, when it all seemed to come together for me all of a sudden.
I hate when people write “your” instead of “you’re.” That’s so annoying, me.
All SP needed was a special on NBC last week to hit the numbers. I’m sure Billy is watching the numbers but it isn’t any sort of high priority.
Imagine a teenager in the year 2030 rummaging through their parents’ old dusty “CDs” (by that point they’ll wonder what the hell they are). A certain number may actually find ‘Oceania’, be intrigued, and pop it in. They may even enjoy it.
Another teenager in another garage will find Justin Bieber’s CD, laugh their ass off at the kid’s ridiculous hair and toss the album in the pile marked ‘garbage’.
Longevity cannot be bought or forced on the public, only quality can ensure that.
i had been wondering why billy couldnt have made at least an appearance on conan, he was in town during the week of the boat party…im thinking andy has it out for him.
but no single doesnt help a tv show taping either.
i prefer “yer”
I certainly would think they’d go one Letterman or Leno or something.
im sure they will – but seems strange when they were doing tons of press, and conan was in chicago at the same time…..?
I think it’s pretty good. Billy don’t pull a Vince McMahon and change direction :)
The album got a huge amount of mainstream press (well alot more than anything Corgan has done the past 3 years) but still not as much as Zeitgeist. Though Zeitgeist was heavily promoted, I think the surprise hit, “Tarantula,” and to some extent, “Thats the way,” gave the album some nice lift.
Having this solid debut will hopefully push Billy into releasing an official single and have heavy promotion through touring later in the fall. If people want the album to sell well, then it needs a hit song. Just look at Foo Fighters latest album, “Wasting Light,” which imo was a very poor album. It had not one but 2 number 1 singles and the album has already gone platinum which is fairly impressive.
Billy just needs to play his cards right but I doubt he is really in it for that aspect, either way lets hope the single comes soon.
Congrats to Billy and the gang. That’s a great debut. I think they’re taking a longer-term strategy with the promotion of this album and hoping that the tour ensures that this is more than just a flavor of the week but that has an enduring legacy
I am surprised that Billy & co. haven’t played Leno or Letterman. Maybe Leno is still disappointed from the Widow performance.
Anyone know how the Gish and Siamese Dream re-issues debuted or how many copies they’ve sold as a comparison?
Heeeeey…
http://www.crestfallen.com/2012/06/27/pisces-iscariot-reissue-tracklist-revealed/#more-6957
Bitchin!!!! Cannot wait!!! As eclectic as a PI reissue should be! :)
yeahh idk that dvd tracklist seems fishy
we should be getting an official announcement / preorder pretty soon (if that july17 release date is still true)
I am excited for the next reissue, I’ll preorder for sure, I have my qualms with Top Spin though… but to their credit they got Oceania to me on time.
comment #24 made me laugh. as person who dislikes both oceania and justin beiber only i can give an unbiased opinion. and in 30 years i bet this new beiber album will be more valued over this sp album. (see beatles & beatlemania, beiberfever….pumpkinflumpkin??)
while likely a troll, doctor does make a valid point. the older bands that are still relevant and still listened to today have had a cultural impact whether it be mainstream or cult. while its too earlier to judge if oceania will have any cultural impact, justin bieber has already established his impact
#24/Sean is right. bieber is so defined by being what the accepted version of the “13-year-old girl of 2012 USA” is interested in. the music is unsubstantial and extremely of-the-moment. And it will soon be forgotten. Remember how inescapable the Jonas Brothers were just four years ago? What happened to them?
You could take it back to the Pumpkins’ heyday, “Adore” and “Machina” are going to be treasured by future generations for their emotional honesty and artistic weight, while the sixteen quadrillion copies of the first few N Sync and Backstreet Boys albums are unceremoniously recycled into soylent green.
Anybody want to join me in proposing new legislation which would require every American to purchase Oceania? They may choose to opt out, but if they do they will be given a copy of the new Bieber album.
@Kiernana
People could have started a Oceania facebook page in which it would promote people to in buying the album as an act of “fighting back” against predictable corporate artists. Sounds very mundane but it has happened before, when people downloaded Rage Against the Machine’s, “killing in the name.” for recent example.
But no body did, and no fan besides the hard working bloggers such as HU (and yes even Monte deserves credit) bother to omit this information out. Billy has talked about this issue before and he is very right. People have been wanting a new album, and even old music (re-issues) from the band for years. Yet when it came to it, everyone got what they wanted and went their way.
And I hope that Pisces re-issue is legit, dear lord some of those songs are incredible rare treats. I mean Glynis 2012 mix? I would kill to hear that.
i’d bet that the bonus disc tracklist is legit
just the dvd list seems suspect
@ Kiernana Not sure the law would pass, but it’s technically constitutional thanks to one illiterate judge.
Yep. :-/
@Just_Erick
The 2012 Glynis mix is confirmed by BC from other interviews. Psyched to be getting a lossless “Blissed” and “Purr Snickety”. New mix of Translucent!!!! :) A lot of folks will probably be happy that all the 2012 mixes are KB-free (though I liked the new Starla mix).
What is everybody’s guess for next week?
I will guess and say about 75.
20
In terms of touring and potentially any percieved weirdness with the American tour schedule, I think that Billy is confident enough in the album that he is trying to let it gain a little momentum prior to booking shows, so as to maximize venue size.
I for one am impressed with those sales numbers. I hope that Billy does choose to hire a company to push “The Celestials” or some other single-type song (I still agree that “Inkless” or “The Chimera” would be solid candidates).
The album is now at #62. Do you think this thing sells over 200 thousand copies?