AB 20th anniversary charts & sales

How strong will AB do in the charts? JT 07 sold 21.000 copies in US in it's first weeks, UF 09 10.000 copies. So how many copies could from AB can be sold? Between 15-20.000 I think? Which meant it could re-enter the Top 20 in the BB200. And maybe top 10 in the UK.

And could Zooropa re-enter the charts again?

its at 20 on Irish Itunes at the minute...physical sales should have it in the top 10.

UK mids :

Mon : #16
Tues : #19
Wed : #24
Thur : #26

Top 30 would be great. JT started at #27 & ended at #51. Paul Simon's classic 'Graceland' ended #40 last week having started inside the Top 15.

rollingbob said:

UK mids :

Mon : #16
Tues : #19
Wed : #24
Thur : #26

Top 30 would be great. JT started at #27 & ended at #51. Paul Simon's classic 'Graceland' ended #40 last week having started inside the Top 15.

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That's a bit dissapointing. But they gonna release 'Blow Your House Down' as a digital only single.

From @u2.com

U2's New Single: 'Blow Your House Down'
Posted: November 04, 2011
By: Matt McGee / @mattmcgee

U2 has released a single to help support this week's 20th anniversary release of Achtung Baby. "Blow Your House Down," a track that appears on the 2CD, Super Deluxe and Uber Deluxe versions of Achtung Baby, was sent to North American radio stations as a digital download last week. We don't know the exact date, but a source in radio tells us it was before Halloween. The song is already getting some airplay on Classic Rock and Triple-A (Adult Album Alternative) stations, too.

Releasing a single isn't a huge surprise, but the choice of "Blow Your House Down" is. Bono had previously mentioned that he was pushing to get "Even Better Than The Real Thing (Fish Out Of Water Remix)" released as the single supporting Achtung Baby.

in at number 9 in Ireland. Would have been straight in at number 1 , 10 years ago or even 5.

In the Netherlands 1 spot better than that at #8 thus beating the peaks of the recent 'Nevermind' (#13) & 'Dark Side Of The Moon' (#19) re-issues.

rob_cork82 said:

in at number 9 in Ireland. Would have been straight in at number 1 , 10 years ago or even 5.

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Very true, however, we need to be aware of what has been released over the past 10 years:

1-2002:Best of 90-00 is released, so we all have ANOTHER copy/version of Even Better than the Real Thing, One, Mysterious Ways & Until the End of the World (4 of the biggest reasons to listen to Achtung)

2-2004:U2's entire catalog was put on iTunes, so now we all have digital versions of Achtung Baby. Keep in mind, we are given EVERY version, so I now have the EBTTRT single, album and Best of 90-00 version (in addition to point #1).

3-2006:U218 is released, so we all have ANOTHER copy/version of Mysterious Ways & One

4-From what I understand, the re-release is NOT a remaster although I have heard that the sound has been increased/improved on the album.

5-The age of iTunes! Casual/new/hardcore U2 fans can now cherry pick the songs they want to buy without having to purchase the album. I am guilty of this as I purchased the EBTTRT Fish out of Water mix & Blow your House Down instead of the entire deluxe album (I dont need another copy of Achtung Baby).

So, by buying the re-release you are essentially getting your 3rd/4th/5th copy of One, EBTTRT, UTTEOTW,MW,FLY, etc... and this version is for the most part identical.

So all of the above, essentially eliminate the need for the "casual" of even "less than casual" fan to want/need to go out and buy the album (single album). They want to hear One, MW & EBTTRT, all of which have been released multiple times. You could argue that WGRYWH & the Fly are "desired" by casual fans but if that is the case, they will buy the singles and not the album.

The double album, super set & Uber set are really for the hardcore U2 fans, like most of us but we do not have the numbers to drive the charts (casual U2 fans aren't pumped to hear the re-worked "blow your house down"). It's up to the casual/new fans to get this album to #1 and there really isn't a need for them to go out and get this re-release.

With that said, I don't think the goal of this re-release was to be #1 all over the world but more so as a "birthday celebration" of sorts.

Now if someone can honestly tell me the versions on the re-release sound crisper or "better than the real thing"( sorry I had to) then I would consider buying more songs or even the entire album off of iTunes.

Not a big factor, but I was surprised to see that stores are not carrying the Uber and Super Delux versions. Thats definitely a first.

In slightly related news, there is a rumor that the industry is going to stop providing physical albums to stores after 2012. They will still sell physical albums but you will have to order from Amazon or another online service. Definitely not good news for the record stores that still exist.

Re-entered at 35 in the UK.

Anton Corbijn told in a Dutch talk show that the Uber Delux version has been sold out.

Maoilbheannacht said:

Not a big factor, but I was surprised to see that stores are not carrying the Uber and Super Delux versions. Thats definitely a first.

In slightly related news, there is a rumor that the industry is going to stop providing physical albums to stores after 2012. They will still sell physical albums but you will have to order from Amazon or another online service. Definitely not good news for the record stores that still exist.

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I don't know where you are, but the Super Deluxe version was available in Best Buy in Santa Rosa, CA. I know because I bought it.

I heard that the Uber Deluxe is coming this week.

This may be more of a "holiday gift" item - especially given the expense. So it may linger for a little while at the lower end of the charts.

I bought the super deluxe edition at the Best Buy in Irving, TX on the release date also.

The official Billboard 200 chart does not come out until tomorrow for the USA. But the "Building Album Sales Chart" which is a rough estimate of that is out and list the top 50 positions, but Achtung Baby was not on there. The #50 position, held by "Angels And Airwaves(album Love Part 1)" sold 8,440 copies.
So it appears that the re-packaged Achtung Baby sold less than that in its first week in the USA.

US positions are in

35 U2 ACHTUNG BABY 13,232 999 671 5,552,014
128 U2 ACHTUNG BABY 3,897 999 68 3,965 ?? (maybe this is the Zooropa album?)

Mirrorball06 said:

US positions are in

35 U2 ACHTUNG BABY 13,232 999 671 5,552,014

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Wow, the Building Album Sales chart did not pick this up. Very impressive first week sales for the re-packaged Achtung Baby.

Interesting to note though that the week before the release, Achtung Baby sold 671 copies, which probably has represented its general average the past couple of years.

Yes, Yes, Yes!
At the billboard chart of the week ending Nov. 6....

35 U2 ACHTUNG BABY 13,232 999 671 5,552,014

A great album.... again getting its due credit after all these years.

Mirrorball06 said:

US positions are in

35 U2 ACHTUNG BABY 13,232 999 671 5,552,014
128 U2 ACHTUNG BABY 3,897 999 68 3,965 ?? (maybe this is the Zooropa album?)

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I also wonder what is the meaning of the sales at #128. Is this the Uber deluxe set that was classified differently?

#35 was pushed in with the total SoundScan sales for AB. AB has gone 8x Platinum in the U.S. - the difference between SoundScan total and the RIAA certification is most likely due to music club sales. Those were very popular back then, but the sales were not counted with SoundScan.

If that extra 3897 copies were added to the 13,232 copies, the total would be over 17,000 copies sold. Would that be high enough for a Top 30 or more entry??

Also, as I'm not paying as much attention to the charts these days, does anyone have info on where JT and other U2 re-releases charted (if at all)?

doctorwho said:

Also, as I'm not paying as much attention to the charts these days, does anyone have info on where JT and other U2 re-releases charted (if at all)?

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Just Achtung Baby, nothing else made it into the Billboard 200 or the Catalog 200.

Maoilbheannacht said:

Just Achtung Baby, nothing else made it into the Billboard 200 or the Catalog 200.

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I think he meant when they were released. I know Joshua Tree charted pretty well when it was re-released but that was a few years back now, all the figures would be buried in this forum somewhere.

ChargedVT said:

I think he meant when they were released. I know Joshua Tree charted pretty well when it was re-released but that was a few years back now, all the figures would be buried in this forum somewhere.

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Ah, I see.

Well, here is the re-packaged Unforgettable Fire's first week of release back in November 2009. Billboard chart date November 14, 2009.

61 U2 UNFORGETTABLE FIRE 9539 999 141 9680


It came in at #61 selling 9,539 copies. The week before that it sold only 141 copies. The 9,680 total is not the official total, just the combined sales of the week of release and the week earlier before it was re-packaged. Often Soundscan will only post that data, and not the grand total when an old album either comes on the list for the first time, or pops up again after having been out of the list for a long time.


The repackaged Joshua Tree came in at #85 with 20,544 in sales back in November 2007.

So, Joshua Tree wins in first week sales, while Achtung Baby wins in opening chart position.

on mediatraffic.de

#22 - Achtung Baby 48.000

Q Magazine cover CD

is at 5 on I-Tunes in the US !

mikeuk said:

is at 5 on I-Tunes in the US !

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The Q-Magazine cover songs are #5 on iTunes or the AB re-issue is #5?

(Ǎhk-to͝ong Bāy-Bi). Though it's number six now, with number five being Mylo Xyloto.

Second week in US

BB200
2 - 35 153 U2 ACHTUNG BABY 3910 -70 13232 5555924

Catalog
2 - 2 33 U2 ACHTUNG BABY 3910 -70 13232 5555924

3rd week in the USA

Billboard 200 - drops out of chart

Catalog Chart - #94 with 2,572 in sales for the week.

3 2 33 94 U2 ACHTUNG BABY 2572 -34 3910 5558496



UPDATE: WOW, almost miss this! The Unforgettable Fire just barely made the Catalog Chart this week at #200. Here are the results from soundscan:

1 - - 200 U2 UNFORGETTABLE FIRE 1630 628 224 47882

The first number is weeks on chart which always starts over when an album re-appears after having fallen out. The second number is the position which is #200. The next number is sales for the week which is 1,630. The following number is the percentage increase on the previous weeks sales which was a MASSIVE 628% sales increase. The next number is sales the week before which were only 224. The last number should be total sales as recorded by soundscan which has been active since 1991, but this number, 47,882 is only the number sold since the special addition came out.

So what exactly caused this sudden massive increase in sales for the Unforgettable Fire?


Also the last full soundscan in the USA total I know of for the Unforgettable Fire is the following:

UNFORGETTABLE FIRE - 864,168 (July 2006)

Remember, that when soundscan started in 1991, it only covered 40% of the market in the USA, and it was not until about the late 90s that it got to over 90%. The Unforgettable Fire is certified by the RIAA at triple platinum(3,000,000 in sales) in the USA and recieved that award back in late 1995.

The Super Deluxe for Unforgettable Fire likely sold well this week thanks to people picking up the Achtung Baby set. They were reminded that a set for TUF exists.

I'm assuming the 47K for The Unforgettable Fire is only for the reissue. That's quite good, actually.

Maoilbheannacht said:

So what exactly caused this sudden massive increase in sales for the Unforgettable Fire?

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Amazon.com offered the deluxe edition of The Unforgettable Fire with a 50% discount due to the Black Friday deals.

Mirrorball06 said:

US positions are in

35 U2 ACHTUNG BABY 13,232 999 671 5,552,014
128 U2 ACHTUNG BABY 3,897 999 68 3,965 ?? (maybe this is the Zooropa album?)

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Concerning this, I think the second one is probably the two-disc edition. I could see enough people purchasing that to end up on the chart. The number would seem a little high for the Uber-edition.

The first total was either the Super Deluxe edition or a combination in sales for the Super Deluxe and Uber Editions.

It would be interesting to see where the Achtung Baby reissues stand in comparison to The Unforgettable Fire. TUF probably retains a big lead on it since it was released two years prior. I get the feeling that the market for these sort of deluxe editions (along with physical media in general) keeps dwindling so fast that a couple years can mean an album like TUF sells nearly twice as many copies when reissued as an album that sold more than twice as many in its initial release...

ajax said:

Amazon.com offered the deluxe edition of The Unforgettable Fire with a 50% discount due to the Black Friday deals.

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Damn. Wish I had known about that. Would have been well worth picking up at half price. Thanks for the information.