Who?

"Chinese Democracy"? That's funny. There's no democracy in China.

/The word for today kiddies is irrelevant

Isn't it only sold at Best Buy?--it seems like that would put a dent in sales.

i want to get mine off the internet... that would be fun

Even the worst song on chinese democracy is better than anything on kayne west's album, how anyone thinks he sounds good is amazing.

ne2d: Isn't it only sold at Best Buy?--it seems like that would put a dent in sales.

Yeah I thought that was a bad idea, but yet Im still wondering how AC/DC's album sold so much just at wal mart.

"Everyone knows Axl is a bit of a maverick genius and won't do anything he doesn't want to do.

A maverick genius? Yeah he was the voice of GnR, but without the support of Duff, Slash, Izzy and Adler, he is nothing.

Now had this guy called him a diva, I'd agree. Maverick though? That's a stretch even Stretch Armstrong couldn't achieve.

steamingpile: Yeah I thought that was a bad idea, but yet Im still wondering how AC/DC's album sold so much just at wal mart.

well, it's because ac......oh, i see what you did there.

a few weeks of promotion? there was 15 years of promotion for that album. i believe the word the author is looking for is "announce", as in "axl announced that chinese democracy will be released on november 23", because it seemed as though the album just appeared. that seems to be what was forgotten. that's not promotion, that's information.

or maybe the word the author is looking for "internet", but spelled it "promotion".

and spelled "guns n" as "axl".

"/"
//quote slashies!

Yea - more people knowing what a D-bag Axel is would've helped album sales.... I've really got no interest in buying it, even though I have every other GNR album, most of Slash's albums in his various bands, and even an Izzy album - I just can't bring myself to give even a few dimes to an AA-hole like him.

Archie Godwin: because walmart bought something like 300k of ac/dc's new record that count toward sales. They cant be returned.

Supposedly best buy purchased 2 million copies that cant be returned, still doesnt explain why AC/DC sold 5 million worldwide in a couple weeks. That album is below average even by AC/DC standards.

steamingpile: Archie Godwin: because walmart bought something like 300k of ac/dc's new record that count toward sales. They cant be returned.

Supposedly best buy purchased 2 million copies that cant be returned, still doesnt explain why AC/DC sold 5 million worldwide in a couple weeks. That album is below average even by AC/DC standards.

wal-mart is like the 2nd largest retailer for music in the US behind i-tunes

I guess he relied on word-of-mouth hype. That doesn't exactly work when people are so tired of waiting that they don't even give a damn anymore. Naturally, it doesn't help when you're an anachronism.

beatmonkey: wal-mart is like the 2nd largest retailer for music in the US behind i-tunes

I can understand the US sales of almost 800K in a week, I dont understand the 5 million+ since it was released, its a crappy album when held up against their other albums.

Archie Godwin: steamingpile: Archie Godwin: because walmart bought something like 300k of ac/dc's new record that count toward sales. They cant be returned.

Supposedly best buy purchased 2 million copies that cant be returned, still doesnt explain why AC/DC sold 5 million worldwide in a couple weeks. That album is below average even by AC/DC standards.

wow had no ideas the numbers were that big. I heard the 300k on the radio but it could be a completely made up number.

Grant you that was world wide and is probably higher now, hell the album went to #1 in like 33 countries and that album is not even as good as this one.

Sorry 29 countries: Link (new window)

Amazing to me, I heard most of that album, its not half as good as axls new release, I guess rednecks still love AC/DC.

Someone say Maverick?

/hot_linked like palin

But it is frustrating because the album would have had a much better chance of going to No1 if he had only been prepared to show his face.

And this, right here, ladies and gentlemen is why the record industry is dying. The idea that, in this day and age, Axl going out to a handful of cheesy events to sign a few autographs or pose for a few pictures would be enough to make up a 200,000 album difference....and these record guys really believe this. They really believe they can keep pounding this "old way, this is the way Elvis and the Beatles did it" round peg into a square hole and make it fit.

My theory is that after God knows how many false starts, nobody really believes it's actually been released, and isn't bothering to look for it.

I think Axl should have gone on Letterman. It would have been good promotion for the album, and good fun for me to watch Dave lambaste him in the interview.

You mean, the reason ISN'T that 80% of the album is pure suck?

So many bad moves
Best buy didn't even feature it in Sundays ad...The one after Thanksgiving.

Ac/DC sold well cuz Wal-mart promoted the hell out of it. They had the old catalogue on display, T-shirts & posters, you'd think the band was a part owner. Best buy....A standee with CDs & LPs, that was it.

No tour & no promotion...Kanye was all over the place & his CD sold. Look at Kid Rock, the record is still in the top 20 why? Because he is out doing a tour & showing up on TV every once in a while.

gregGr: So many bad moves
Best buy didn't even feature it in Sundays ad...The one after Thanksgiving.

Ac/DC sold well cuz Wal-mart promoted the hell out of it. They had the old catalogue on display, T-shirts & posters, you'd think the band was a part owner. Best buy....A standee with CDs & LPs, that was it.

No tour & no promotion...Kanye was all over the place & his CD sold. Look at Kid Rock, the record is still in the top 20 why? Because he is out doing a tour & showing up on TV every once in a while.

And a good price too at $9.99.

I walked in Wmart and saw that huge display for Black Ice in a variety of colors, how could I resist?

They even had ACDC posters on their racks of clothing.

I got it and I like it a lot.

I didn't buy it because I heard 4 or 5 of the songs and they all sucked.

SwingingJohnson: gregGr: So many bad moves
Best buy didn't even feature it in Sundays ad...The one after Thanksgiving.

Ac/DC sold well cuz Wal-mart promoted the hell out of it. They had the old catalogue on display, T-shirts & posters, you'd think the band was a part owner. Best buy....A standee with CDs & LPs, that was it.

No tour & no promotion...Kanye was all over the place & his CD sold. Look at Kid Rock, the record is still in the top 20 why? Because he is out doing a tour & showing up on TV every once in a while.

And a good price too at $9.99.

I walked in Wmart and saw that huge display for Black Ice in a variety of colors, how could I resist?

They even had ACDC posters on their racks of clothing.

And you don't go into Wal-Mart specifically for ACDC - you go in there for a pair of socks, or vacuum cleaner bags, or a box of Rice Krispies and you pick up an ACDC on impulse. I imagine more people walk into a Wal-Mart on any given day than walk into Best Buy all week.

Maybe because everyone else has downloaded about 50 different versions of this album already?

/heard it on MySpace
//great big "Meh"

skylabdown: I got it and I like it a lot.

I'm with you. I went out and got it and like it. Is it the second coming? No, but it is still damn good.

A week ago I told a friend of mine that Chinese Democracy came out. He texted me tonight "Chinese Democracy is out!"
"I told you that last week"
"Dude, thought it was a joke"

Rev. Skarekroe: SwingingJohnson: gregGr: So many bad moves
Best buy didn't even feature it in Sundays ad...The one after Thanksgiving.

Ac/DC sold well cuz Wal-mart promoted the hell out of it. They had the old catalogue on display, T-shirts & posters, you'd think the band was a part owner. Best buy....A standee with CDs & LPs, that was it.

No tour & no promotion...Kanye was all over the place & his CD sold. Look at Kid Rock, the record is still in the top 20 why? Because he is out doing a tour & showing up on TV every once in a while.

And a good price too at $9.99.

I walked in Wmart and saw that huge display for Black Ice in a variety of colors, how could I resist?

They even had ACDC posters on their racks of clothing.

And you don't go into Wal-Mart specifically for ACDC - you go in there for a pair of socks, or vacuum cleaner bags, or a box of Rice Krispies and you pick up an ACDC on impulse. I imagine more people walk into a Wal-Mart on any given day than walk into Best Buy all week.

Pretty much all of this^

Chinese Democracy is a solid album all the way through, but it really doesn't have a song like Rock N' Roll Train that you can center a promotional campaign around. Plus, Black Ice fits in well with AC/DC's past catalogue (IMO, it's as good as anything they've done since Back In Black), where as Chinese Democracy, although still a good album, doesn't come close to anything the real GnR ever did.

/Axl should've retired the GnR name and gone with something else
//it probably cost him sales in the end

I also got it and like it a lot. And I never noticed the "hilarious multiple accents" on "Sorry" until someone pointed it out to me.

jayhawk88: But it is frustrating because the album would have had a much better chance of going to No1 if he had only been prepared to show his face.

And this, right here, ladies and gentlemen is why the record industry is dying. The idea that, in this day and age, Axl going out to a handful of cheesy events to sign a few autographs or pose for a few pictures would be enough to make up a 200,000 album difference....and these record guys really believe this. They really believe they can keep pounding this "old way, this is the way Elvis and the Beatles did it" round peg into a square hole and make it fit.

While I don't disagree in general, there are merits to getting out there. There's a reason movies still hold premiers and fly writers in town for 'exclusive' interviews with actors. Did Axl make himself available for a webchat on Rolling Stone.com? Did he record liners for all the rock stations in the Top 50 markets? Did he do Leno, Conan, Letterman, Talk Show, Talk Soup or The Best Week Ever? Did he become part of a Survivor challenge or have a guest spot on My Name is Earl? (How awesome would that be - Axl having to make up for the sh*tty things he's done to people) Did he announce tour dates?

The problem's not that they expected him to do the old record store autograph session, it's that he didn't do ANYTHING but say 'it's done'. As was evidenced by Snakes on a Plane, 'buzz' != 'sales'.