The Eternal Debuts At #18 On Billboard 200, Highest Ever For Sy
 

http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdail...st-number-one/

Debuts: Two more debuts managed to crack the Top 10 as Mos Def’s The Ecstatic scored Nine with 39,000 copies and Pleasure P’s Introduction of Marcus Cooper took 10. Nearly 30 years and 16 albums into their storied career, Sonic Youth claim the best charts debut in their history as their latest masterpiece The Eternal entered the charts at 18. Last week’s Breaking artist the Dirty Projectors came in at 65 with Bitte Orca.

congrats

Wow. awesome.

You were right, Trick!

Pantos told me The Eternal would make top 20. I said top 40. He wins.
Although since neither of us actually sweetened it by making an actual
BET, he has mere bragging rights. Yeah, congrats with that. ;)

It's all relative, since record sales are obviously down down down across
the board since the last time SY cracked the top 40, but still...very cool
to see.

Good job SY.

that is true, i had found elsewhere that it moved around 19,000 for the first week, which is maybe 2 thousand better then the first week Rather Ripped had and that debuted at #71

I like that it moved more the first week than RR, though...that's a win for sure.

sellouts!
HA!

yay, congrats!

thats amazing. it really shows how little it means to be on a major label these days.

coo'.

It's all hype. None of it is real. Not to downplay the excitement but distributors are given perks and goodies by labels if they report certain titles at top spots in terms of sales. It's all skewed. I've seen this all happen first hand!

it doesn't seem likely, since RR sold 17k last go, Eternal selling 19k is very sound with a national tv appearance to boost awareness

looking at other chart debuts, again it is a reflection of the state of sales in the industry

"In addition to BEP domination, there were three other debuts in the Top 10 this week. Latin quartet Aventura entered the chart at #5 with Last, selling 47,500 and Rapper Mos Def started at #9 with Ecstatic, moving 39,000 units for his second Top 10 set. Former Pretty Ricky member Pleasure P unleashed his solo debut, The Introduction of Marcus Cooper, and bowed at #10 with just under 38,800 sold. Elsewhere, Sonic Youth bowed at #18 with The Eternal by selling just over 19,000, and Teena Marie started at #20 with Congo Square, moving 18,200."

i also was noticing the amazon sales page very consistant during the pre-order and release week and peak all the way up to #18 of all music, so there isn't really a reason to believe otherwise

Def Jam Records has a reputation for "buying" records for their flagship artists, mainly when Jay-Z was there. When Jadakiss' last solo album did
surprisingly well, there were rumors that the record company again meddled.
Unless you can provide concrete proof, though, it's all speculation. For
this particular album, I mean.

So are we gonna hear Sacred Trickster on Top 40 radio stations now?

hahah nice.

I heard Leaky Lifeboat on a radio station a couple weeks ago.

Any Sonic Youth fan who considers themselves to be the least bit cool doesn't pay attention to the Billboard chart.

This is the first and only time all year I will care about the Billboard chart.

I guess the BEGN factor played a role in this too.

unless the eternal miraculously (...) hits number one, right?

Correct. I never shun a miracle.

Ditto'd.

What is this "Billboard Chart" that you speak of?

I hope it climbs.

How do I say this?

I think it's cool for them. But doesn't impress me, nor does it make me think the album less cool.

(I'm cooler than the whole lot of ya!)

I think this is more telling than anything the difference in promotion between Matador and DGC for the band. To me, it was fairly obvious that Matador did alot more for promoting this album than DGC did for SY's last few albums, and I think it is a factor in reflecting this chart position though more so than ever in this day and age it doesn't have that much meaning.

Congratulations, delighted to see that -opening minds to superb music.Rockin

It's only taken nearly30 years to catch on.

tits!

Ha! I personally try to block out how trendy Sonic Youth is in the hipster circles that constantly surround me (I'm from New York City with friends in Williamsburg...) But you know what? At least having ties to some good SMART music is in style. Could be worse....

Get the F*** out!!! That's impressive BUT, well deserved, Eternal is a great album from start to finish. I'm starting to have a little faith in all humanity again!

This is great!! And great album too, best stuff they have put out in a long time IMO, Yippie!