Guns N’ Roses Debuts At #3 On U.S. Charts, #1 In Canada

GUNS N’ ROSES DEBUTS AT #3 ON U.S. CHARTS, #1 IN CANADA:

December 3, 2008

Billboard reports that at No. 3 on their Top 200 chart with 261,000 unites sold is Guns N’ Roses’ Best Buy exclusive “Chinese Democracy” (Black Frog/Geffen), the first studio album of original material from the group since 1991. GNR’s last studio efforts, “Use Your Illusion I” and “Use Your Illusion II,” debuted at Nos. 2 and 1 respectively, with 685,000 and 770,000 after being released on the same day in 1991.

Since then, the act has charted with a covers set (1993’s “The Spaghetti Incident?” with a 190,000 debut), a live effort (1999’s “Live Era ’87 – ’93;” 60,000) and the 2004 “Greatest Hits” package (169,000).

In Canada Jam! Showbiz reports that Guns N’ Roses finally hit No. 1 again after 17 long years, but it wasn’t the knockout retail punch that many expected.

The band’s long-awaited return, “Chinese Democracy,” hit the top spot on the Canadian album charts with sales of 70,000, according to figures compiled by Nielsen SoundScan.

Good numbers, yes, but consider this — the album was released two days before (Nov. 23) the usual Tuesday schedule in order to maximize their sales.

The new effort fell well short of being one of the top debuts of ’08 — that honour still goes to AC/DC’s “Black Ice,” which sold 119,000 copies in October, while Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends” hit 90,000 copies back in June.

The last time Guns N’ Roses were at No. 1 was for 1991’s “Use Your Illusion II.”

In the U.K., “Chinese Democracy” failed in its bid for the top position, losing out to the Killers’ new offering “Day & Age,” while in the U.S., it premiered at No. 3 with 261,000 in sales (“Democracy” was a Best Buy exclusive south of the border), behind Kanye West’s “808s & Heartbreak” (450,000) at No. 1, and Taylor Swift’s “Fearless” (267,000) at No. 2.

Some newspaper reports have indicated that many label insiders are blaming the unremarkable sales on frontman Axl Rose, who has given no interviews or any kind of promotion in support of the album.

Courtesy of www.billboard.com and jam.canoe.ca