Some interesting album sales numbers...

[AngraRULES]

First week sales figures (USA only):

Symphony X - Paradise Lost: 6,500
Symphony X - Iconoclast: 7,000

Dragonforce - Inhuman Rampage: (Not first week, but still a crazy ridiculous amount) Over 300,000 to date worldwide.
Dragonforce - The Ultra Beatdown: 24,000
Dragonforce - The Power Within: 5,600

Nightwish - Dark Passion Play: 11,000
Nightwish - Imaginaerum: 12,000

Kamelot - Poetry for the Poisoned: 6,100

Seems that the Dragon's wings can't fly that high anymore huh...

 

[jem777az]

I saw that earlier today too. That's a huge dropoff. I guess a new singer had a larger effect than anticipated. Or it could be because their music is average at best and people are tired of it

 

[AngraRULES]

I saw that earlier today too. I guess a new singer had a larger effect than anticipated. Or it could be because their music is average at best and people are tired of it

Hehe, I actually like the new one way better than the Ultra Beatdown.

I find it interesting that the "huge", "mainstream", Dragonforce did worse than Symphony X and Kamelot...

As lots of people guessed, their explosion was only temporary.

 

[Sir Exar Kun]

Without any current Guitar Hero promotion, they are no longer the flavor of the day.

 

[General Zod]

Without any current Guitar Hero promotion, they are no longer the flavor of the day.

This.

 

[TheLongshot]

Without any current Guitar Hero promotion, they are no longer the flavor of the day.

That probably is a big part of it. GH/RB games are pretty much dead now, and that's pretty much how everyone found out about them.

 

[Justin G]

I saw that earlier today too. That's a huge dropoff. I guess a new singer had a larger effect than anticipated. Or it could be because their music is average at best and people are tired of it

Or those kids have grown up and found something else to like ironically.

 

[Justin G]

That probably is a big part of it. GH/RB games are pretty much dead now, and that's pretty much how everyone found out about them.

Dead or not, they're ridiculously effective at getting kids interested in music and bands, at least if my 6-year old is any indication. Rock Band made him love Iron Maiden a lot sooner than I had intended.

 

[modernwizardry]

Are those numbers physical sales or do they include digital as well?

 

[adaher]

Yeah, there just isn't as much promotion and Dragonforce never managed to grab a big loyal fanbase. It was just a fleeting thing based on Guitar Hero. Still, I bet Power Within outsells every other power metal album other than Imaginarium.

 

[AeonicSlumber]

Are those numbers physical sales or do they include digital as well?

Soundscan numbers include digital sales too yes. Figure digital sales are about 15-30% of the total number.

As for the drop, I blame it on the fact that Dragonforce has been inactive for a few years and hasn't done a major tour since 2008 I believe, with the Mayhem Fest.

 

[Diamond45]

I blame it on the new singer. He just doesn't have a good sound IMHO.

 

[AngraRULES]

Yeah, there just isn't as much promotion and Dragonforce never managed to grab a big loyal fanbase. It was just a fleeting thing based on Guitar Hero. Still, I bet Power Within outsells every other power metal album other than Imaginarium.

Last SX beat it. Last Kamelot beat it. I wouldn't be so sure about Power Within beating some bands, at least not in the first week...

 

[nomisofsiman]

As for the drop, I blame it on the fact that Dragonforce has been inactive for a few years and hasn't done a major tour since 2008 I believe, with the Mayhem Fest.

This. Plus like others have said, a new singer might be part of it, but I do like the new singer. Mainly though, it just didn't seem like it had been getting promoted that well, and I don't mean just because the Guitar Hero thing is over.

As for the actual album, I actually find it to be my favorite Dragonforce album. It's much more diverse than their other albums.

 

[AeonicSlumber]

Last SX beat it. Last Kamelot beat it. I wouldn't be so sure about Power Within beating some bands, at least not in the first week...

Although the margin of difference is not very much. When we're talking about acts that are selling over 5-7,000 records first week, a few hundred or even an extra thousand isn't really that significant of a difference. Dragonforce hit that 5-7000 first week sold range for this one without doing any touring for about 4 years.

Now for Kamelot and Symphony X, selling 5-7,000 is a major accomplishment because both bands don't have super high standards to set and aren't accountable to huge major label marketing budgets, etc. Dragonforce is - and that's the real problem here. 5-7,000 sold when Roadrunner needs at least 10,000 sold first week is probably a major disappointment unless Roadrunner knowingly scaled back on this release taking into account the band's inactivity over the past few years. That's possible too - but then again Roadrunner doesn't really operate on bands selling under 10,000 units first week unless it's a relatively new act.

So yeah there are lots of things to consider. It will be interesting to see how these other bands that were more "loyal" to the true metal scene will pan out versus Dragonforce which has infiltrated mainstream audiences.

 

[AngraRULES]

I blame it on the new singer. He just doesn't have a good sound IMHO.

If you listen to ZP's new project, you'll noticed that DF's new singer is the best thing that has ever happened to the band. ZP sounds like ass on I Am I imo..

 

[1000 Faces]

This. Plus like others have said, a new singer might be part of it, but I do like the new singer. Mainly though, it just didn't seem like it had been getting promoted that well, and I don't mean just because the Guitar Hero thing is over.

Agreed. When I saw the first post in this thread, the first thing that went through my mind was, "That came out already? I had no idea." And I generally keep up with this shit. The amount of promotion Roadrunner put into the new Nightwish dwarfs what it did for The Power Within, and the sales numbers reflect that.

 

[Diamond45]

If you listen to ZP's new project, you'll noticed that DF's new singer is the best thing that has ever happened to the band. ZP sounds like ass on I Am I imo..

Wow... because ZP was pretty darn good with Dragonforce... this new guy sings too high and is drowned out in the mix....

 

[AngraRULES]

Wow... because ZP was pretty darn good with Dragonforce... this new guy sings too high and is drowned out in the mix....

Indeed! Though to me, his voice (live) started deteriorating a bit over their last tours... I wonder if that was a factor when they picked a new singer?

 

[AlexanderWhitebeard]

I saw that earlier today too. That's a huge dropoff. I guess a new singer had a larger effect than anticipated. Or it could be because their music is average at best and people are tired of it

It takes waaaay above average chops to play the leads they do, regardless of whether or not you think they're tasteless. And their songwriting may not have much variety, but the structuring in their songs is a lot more complex than any "average" songwriter would normally come up with. Like them or not, they're still damn good at what they do.

I've always found it weird that they became the most well-known power metal band. Yeah, yeah. I know they were on Guitar Pro... But I was listening to some song off Inhuman Rampage the other day, and realized that it didn't exactly sound accessible. It's pretty jarring with all the blast beats, weird-ass guitar noises, quick jerky transitions and whatnot.

Whatever, I still like em.