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Von Jugel
Metal newbie

Joined: Fri Oct 19, 2012 9:49 am
Posts: 275
Location: United States
PostPosted: Wed Oct 02, 2013 1:34 pm 
 

Just stumbled upon the worldwide album sales of Overkill on the wiki page. I forget why I was looking at the page to begin with, but my eyes bugged out a bit when I saw their total album sales. So I wiki'd some other bands (not all "thrash", let's not go there), and it's pretty surprising to me where they stand. Yes, I know wiki isn't the most reliable source, so feel free to correct.

Metallica - 100 Million
Megadeth - 50 Million
Pantera - (I'm guessing around here)
Slayer "High 20 Millions"
Overkill - 25 Million
Sepultura - 20 Million
Accept - 17 Million
Anthrax - 15 Million
Testament - 12 Million
Exodus - 5 Million
Helloween - 5 Million

What do you think the reasons are that they've (allegedly) sold so many records?

Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of the band. They're one of the best live acts I've seen, but I've only seen them in smaller venues. Personally, I'm really just a fan of the first two records (well, I might tend to say that about any of the bands listed here), but I thought the three after that were decent. The stuff after I Hear Black never did much for me, though the last couple records weren't bad. But 25 Million records? Is the short answer that they've toured constantly? Even so, that's pretty impressive,


Last edited by Von Jugel on Tue Oct 08, 2013 9:30 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Jiggy
Mallcore Kid

Joined: Thu Mar 25, 2010 5:21 pm
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Location: United Kingdom
PostPosted: Wed Oct 02, 2013 1:57 pm 
 

That is impressive. I find it really difficult to believe they've sold more than Anthrax and are challenging Slayer

That said I prefer Overkill to either of them and if I had to guess i'd say it's a) the sheer number of albums they've produced (16 with another coming 2014 apparently) and probably their constant touring, yeah...

guessing most of the sales are from their late 80s and recent '10s' stuff

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Nephilim96
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Joined: Wed Jun 05, 2013 1:59 am
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 02, 2013 2:11 pm 
 

I have a hard time believing that's true.

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TadGhostal
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Joined: Mon Jun 12, 2006 10:31 pm
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 02, 2013 4:11 pm 
 

Nephilim96 wrote:
I have a hard time believing that's true.


Yeah, me too. I know that Overkill has a lot of albums but I don't think that any of them, individually, were huge sellers. Even when thrash peaked, commercially, in the late '80s/beginning of the '90s, Overkill wasn't that big. Anthrax, Slayer, and even Testament were commercially bigger bands. I know that none of them have as many releases as Overkill but it still seems unlikely to me that Overkill has sold close to Slayer and double what Testament sold.

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Diamhea
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 02, 2013 4:30 pm 
 

I noticed that a while ago myself. Going through each album's Wiki page it always says something along the lines of "X album has sold 30k-several hundred thousand in the US [exceptions being their most popular albums like Years of Decay being higher] and upwards of a million worldwide". Multiply that by their huge release history, and it is plausible that they can rival those bands who only have half as many releases at best.
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Twisted_Psychology
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 02, 2013 4:47 pm 
 

I'm also rather skeptical of those numbers. I could see some sales based on The Years of Decay and Horrorscope and maybe the last couple, but it doesn't seem like it'd add up to 25 million. Good on them if it's true though as they more than deserve it.
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DecayingYears95
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Joined: Wed Oct 02, 2013 4:15 pm
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 02, 2013 4:49 pm 
 

Well here break it down by the Numbers:

*= Pre-Soundscan sales don't count (1991-Present)

All sales are as of 2006 unless said otherwise

*Feel the Fire-20,000 in U.S over 1 million worldwide
Taking Over-100,000 in U.S (as of 2011)
*Fuck You (EP)-6,000 in U.S
*Under the Influence-45,000 in U.S over 500,000 worldwide
The Years of Decay- 178,000 in U.S over 4 million worldwide (as of 2012)
Horrorscope-120,000 in U.S (as of 2010)
I Hear Black-73,000 in U.S over 1.3 million worldwide
W.F.O.-48,000 in U.S
Wrecking Your Neck (Live)-23,000 in U.S
The Killing Kind-30,000 in U.S
Fuck You and Then Some-13,000 in U.S
From the Underground and Below-32,000 in U.S
Necroshine-26,000 in U.S
Coverkill-13,000 in U.S
Bloodletting-18,000 in U.S
Wrecking Everything (Live)-26,000 in U.S
Killbox13-16,000 in U.S
ReliXIV-16,000 in U.S (as of 2007)

Immortalis-15,000 in U.S (as of 2009)
Ironbound-15,000 in first 2 months in U.S
The Electric Age-6,700 first week in U.S

Add that all up and you would get around 840,000 copies sold in America, but chances are that UTI topped 120,000, Fuck You shipped about 30,000 and FTF topped 75,000 so really that number would be roughly 1 million. As for known worldwide sales, The known sales numbers add up to about 6.8 million (although I have trouble believing I Hear Black outsold Under the Influence by more than Double, although that number of 500,000 might be Pre-Soundscan as well). for KNOWN sales that's about 7.8 million. I've also read in an article a while back that all of their albums have sold at least 100,000 worldwide so mash that it that would be about 1.7 million (17 albums with unknown worldwide sales numbers) That's 9.5 million, and Taking Over and Horrorscope have most likely sold 1 and 2 million copies (they are both regarded along with FTF,TYOD, and UTI as their best-sellers, Much more so Horrorscope than Taking Over), That's about 12.5 million. But I'm sure they have a few other albums that have sold more than just 100,000 worldwide but I don't want to speculate anymore than I already have lol. That number is roughly HALF of the claimed 25 million. I have heard 16 million multiple times around the internet and heard 25 million only from wiki and Metalrules.com. I'm a BIG Overkill fan and want the best to happen to them, but 25 million is too much, if they had those kind of numbers, they would have been in the Big 4. I can see them outselling Anthrax (especially over in Europe) by a little bit, but DEFINATLEY NOT Slayer. I'm saying 16 million worldwide.

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Faster Than You
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 02, 2013 7:13 pm 
 

And this is important how? I mean Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, and whoever else is popular sells millions of singles and albums, but that still doesn't mean their music doesn't suck.

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sourlows
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 02, 2013 7:19 pm 
 

Faster Than You wrote:
And this is important how? I mean Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, and whoever else is popular sells millions of singles and albums, but that still doesn't mean their music doesn't suck.

Chill out, it's just interesting to entertain the possibility that Overkill has sold roughly as many albums as Slayer. Does that not sound a little counterintuitive to you? Worth investigating? No one is advocating a relationship between albums sold and HOW OBJECTIVELY AWESOME THIS BAND IS. Cause you know, Metallica>>>>everything


Last edited by sourlows on Wed Oct 02, 2013 7:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Faster Than You
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 02, 2013 7:21 pm 
 

sourlows wrote:
Faster Than You wrote:
And this is important how? I mean Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, and whoever else is popular sells millions of singles and albums, but that still doesn't mean their music doesn't suck.

Chill out, it's just interesting to entertain the possibility that Overkill has sold roughly as many albums as Slayer. Does that not sound a little counterintuitive to you? Worth investigating? No one is making advocating a relationship between albums sold and HOW OBJECTIVELY AWESOME THIS BAND IS. Cause you know, Metallica>>>>everything

I highly doubt Overkill sold as many records as Slayer and yes while no one was stating album sales equals a good band, I was just making a statement.

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Diamhea
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 02, 2013 7:22 pm 
 

While the numbers wouldn't lie to a degree, I am a huge Overkill fan and intentionally ask a lot of my older clients -don't ask what I do- (in their late 30s, 40s etc.) if they have ever heard of them. Out of about twenty I only got a single resounding YES from of all people the VP of sales for Lear automotive, which is a huge auto supplier). Now Slayer? Everyone would say yes, of course. Sales don't necessarily buy exposure, it would seem.
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maidenpriestmanic
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 02, 2013 7:40 pm 
 

Hmmmm I know this is off topic, but because of this thread, I finally decided to check out Overkill and really enjoying them right now.

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ENKC
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 02, 2013 7:48 pm 
 

I'm very skeptical of any thrash band's album sales beating out any of the Big 4. Anthrax and Slayer have still been very active touring and recording wise so I can't see Overkill having much of an edge over them even in recent years. Slayer might not have put out a record since 2009, but despite all the torrenting, there are kiddies buying Reign in Blood every day I'm sure.

That said, Ironbound is better than sex. It deserves whatever sales it gets and then some.
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Von Jugel
Metal newbie

Joined: Fri Oct 19, 2012 9:49 am
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 02, 2013 8:15 pm 
 

Faster Than You wrote:
And this is important how? I mean Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, and whoever else is popular sells millions of singles and albums, but that still doesn't mean their music doesn't suck.


I follow the Worthington Law.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aF8wLg5Asgo

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Exigence
Age: 29 (Wait, what?!)

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PostPosted: Wed Oct 02, 2013 8:20 pm 
 

You have a guy like Blitz on vocals and you're sacrificing 50% of your market share. I love Blitz but any metal fan who doesn't like Overkill will say so probably because of the shrieky vocals.

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DecayingYears95
Metal newbie

Joined: Wed Oct 02, 2013 4:15 pm
Posts: 63
PostPosted: Wed Oct 02, 2013 8:21 pm 
 

ENKC wrote:
I'm very skeptical of any thrash band's album sales beating out any of the Big 4. Anthrax and Slayer have still been very active touring and recording wise so I can't see Overkill having much of an edge over them even in recent years. Slayer might not have put out a record since 2009, but despite all the torrenting, there are kiddies buying Reign in Blood every day I'm sure.

That said, Ironbound is better than sex. It deserves whatever sales it gets and then some.


Anthrax sold over 15 million worldwide as of around 2007. A lot of things have happened that gave them promotion/likely sales increases. Dan Nelson Joining and quitting, Belladonna returning, the Big 4 DVD (Which is Double Platinum) and the new Worship Music album, so in the past 6 years I'd be shocked if it didn't increase from 15 million. They're probably at about 17-18 million now that I think about it. So Mabye, mabye Overkill didn't outsell them (In Europe Overkill might have an edge but in America it's no contest Anthrax's U.S Numbers blow Overkill's away).

Reign in Blood will ALWAYS be bought and listened to by Metalheads till the end of time, It's one of the Greatest Metal albums of all time!!!

Also Better than Sex??? Rofl that's a new one. I've never heard anybody describe an album like that before, but I agree, Ironbound is a modern thrash classic.

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DecayingYears95
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 02, 2013 8:25 pm 
 

Exigence wrote:
You have a guy like Blitz on vocals and you're sacrificing 50% of your market share. I love Blitz but any metal fan who doesn't like Overkill will say so probably because of the shrieky vocals.


I agree, like Dave Mustaine of Megadeth, Blitz's voice is an acquired taste. You either love it or hate it (Especially on TYOD and Horrorscope). His voice is more "likeable" on their first 3.

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Diamhea
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 02, 2013 8:36 pm 
 

DecayingYears95 wrote:
His voice is more "likeable" on their first 3.


I disagree, I think that out of the first five albums, Under The Influence has the most grating, atonal vocal performance of them all. The first two albums he was utilizing more of an operatic singing style which instantly puts those out of contention for irritation. The Years of Decay takes second place for annoyance but he had developed a decent rasp by that point and it took some of the edge off of his shriek. Horrorscope was just a deeper version of what was on Years and that album kicks so much ass consistently I don't even care.
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DecayingYears95
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Joined: Wed Oct 02, 2013 4:15 pm
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 02, 2013 8:51 pm 
 

Diamhea wrote:
DecayingYears95 wrote:
His voice is more "likeable" on their first 3.


I disagree, I think that out of the first five albums, Under The Influence has the most grating, atonal vocal performance of them all. The first two albums he was utilizing more of an operatic singing style which instantly puts those out of contention for irritation. The Years of Decay takes second place for annoyance but he had developed a decent rasp by that point and it took some of the edge off of his shriek. Horrorscope was just a deeper version of what was on Years and that album kicks so much ass consistently I don't even care.


I actually think UTI was one of his best vocal albums, I'm used to Blitz's voice so I think TYOD was also one of his best lol. One that I don't think people talk about enough is Immortalis. It's not a classic like Ironbound or Feel the Fire but it's VERY Good. I ESPECIALLY Love Ellsworth's voice on it, It was deeper and mixed with his usual style, I don't get why he did it for only 1 album.

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IanThrash
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 03, 2013 12:26 am 
 

Really interesting, I'd love a similar chart about death metal bands.
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AcidWorm
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 03, 2013 1:01 am 
 

I really can't see Overkill selling as many albums of Slayer. Slayer is famous outside of the metal community. Lots of people know who they are who don't know anything really past Metallica and Maiden. Yet Overkill is not known at all outside the metal community.
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ENKC
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 03, 2013 1:49 am 
 

IanThrash wrote:
Really interesting, I'd love a similar chart about death metal bands.

There's a Blabbermouth article from 2003 that inevitably gets trotted out when comparing death metal sales. A decade is a long time ago.
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DecayingYears95
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Joined: Wed Oct 02, 2013 4:15 pm
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 03, 2013 8:07 am 
 

ENKC wrote:
IanThrash wrote:
Really interesting, I'd love a similar chart about death metal bands.

There's a Blabbermouth article from 2003 that inevitably gets trotted out when comparing death metal sales. A decade is a long time ago.


Unfortunately even the most popular death metal acts (Death, Cannibal Corpse) have only sold roughly 2 or 3 million worldwide... So much credit deserved but they almost never receive a fraction of it

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Diamhea
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 03, 2013 2:39 pm 
 

DecayingYears95 wrote:
One that I don't think people talk about enough is Immortalis. It's not a classic like Ironbound or Feel the Fire but it's VERY Good. I ESPECIALLY Love Ellsworth's voice on it, It was deeper and mixed with his usual style, I don't get why he did it for only 1 album.


I hated Immortalis. Read my review for it on here (should be the newest one). Not even one good song. At least RelixIV had Within Your Eyes and Wheelz. I wasn't too big on the vocals on iImmortalis either but they were probably the least offensive part of it next to Lipnicki's performance.
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Marmer
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 03, 2013 4:04 pm 
 

AcidWorm wrote:
I really can't see Overkill selling as many albums of Slayer. Slayer is famous outside of the metal community. Lots of people know who they are who don't know anything really past Metallica and Maiden. Yet Overkill is not known at all outside the metal community.



Well i think you see this wrong. Indeed everybody knows Slayer. But does every metalhead you know, Own a Slayer LP, Cd?

Overkill was huge back in the 80's/90's in Europe. Every main festival had them in their Line up. Thats the reason Overkill is closing in on Slayer i think.
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DecayingYears95
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 03, 2013 6:08 pm 
 

Marmer wrote:
AcidWorm wrote:
I really can't see Overkill selling as many albums of Slayer. Slayer is famous outside of the metal community. Lots of people know who they are who don't know anything really past Metallica and Maiden. Yet Overkill is not known at all outside the metal community.



Well i think you see this wrong. Indeed everybody knows Slayer. But does every metalhead you know, Own a Slayer LP, Cd?

Overkill was huge back in the 80's/90's in Europe. Every main festival had them in their Line up. Thats the reason Overkill is closing in on Slayer i think.


I do agree with them being huge in Europe (ESPECIALLY Germany) but I don't believe for a second that they've caught up to Slayer in terms of sales. Slayer has had multiple records certified Gold and Platinum in countries all over the planet, Overkill doesn't have a single certification (That we know of), also if they were near Slayer sales wise, chances are they would have booted Anthrax from the Big 4 as that group is based soley on sales and commercial success.

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PostPosted: Thu Oct 03, 2013 6:16 pm 
 

"Sepultura - 20 Million
Accept - 17 Million
Anthrax - 15 Million
Testament - 12 Million
Exodus - 5 Million
Helloween - 5 Million"

Whatever the actual figures are, I doubt that Overkill have sold more than these bands. Especially 25 million, goddamn, I mean a couple of million, sure. But not 25 million. It's fucking wikipedia, guys, c'mon.
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DecayingYears95
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 03, 2013 8:19 pm 
 

ANationalAcrobat wrote:
"Sepultura - 20 Million
Accept - 17 Million
Anthrax - 15 Million
Testament - 12 Million
Exodus - 5 Million
Helloween - 5 Million"

Whatever the actual figures are, I doubt that Overkill have sold more than these bands. Especially 25 million, goddamn, I mean a couple of million, sure. But not 25 million. It's fucking wikipedia, guys, c'mon.


I'm still going with 16 million. Exodus I can see them outselling in some areas as the only albums they've had that have been hot sellers for thrash metal were Bonded by Blood and Fabulous Disaster, everything else has kind of always been under the radar. Testament I believe has sold More than 12 million. They're on the same level of popularity as Overkill (Probably bigger) in Europe. Their U.S sales DOMINATE Overkill's. Chances are they've had AT LEAST 2 or 3 Gold Records but Atlantic never cared about them enough to give it to them (Practice What You Preach sold 450,000 copies as of 1992 and The Ritual topped 485,000 in 2007). They've sold over 1.6 million albums in America based on the Known sales figures. I think they've probably sold closer to 20 million worldwide. Accept and Helloween I know almost nothing about so I can't go into that territory lol.

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~Guest 98976
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 04, 2013 11:08 pm 
 

I think you're crazy to think the last two or three (non-rerecorded) albums by Exodus were under the radar. Maybe to level of Slayer, no, but they're pretty goddamn popular.

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DecayingYears95
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 04, 2013 11:36 pm 
 

FasterDisaster wrote:
I think you're crazy to think the last two or three (non-rerecorded) albums by Exodus were under the radar. Maybe to level of Slayer, no, but they're pretty goddamn popular.


Actually I did forget about Exhibits A and B and Tempo of the Damned so you're right about that one, I don't know HOW I forgot. I still can't believe they only sold 5 million worldwide though.

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iAmDisturbed
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 05, 2013 9:52 am 
 

I hope they've outsold Anthrax. They always thought they were somehow superior to the Kill. But we all know who the better band is. And it is not you Scott Ian and your bunch of wankers!
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HamburgerBoy
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 05, 2013 5:17 pm 
 

Just so you guys know, the op has some kind of OCD or similar condition that compels him to post threads about the number of albums Overkill has sold. A couple examples...

http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/gene ... sales.html
http://www.thrashunlimited.com/forum/vi ... =2&t=13599

A lot of the numbers are either ridiculous guesses ("They sold more in Europe than in America, so they must have sold 5 times as many albums there!") or based on Wikipedia vandals/trolls making up information (e.g. one guy puts a 4 million copy figure for The Years of Decay on Wikipedia, some other amateur internet journalist repeats it, suddenly it is "fact"). There is no way they've outsold Anthrax.

EDIT: And did 80's Overkill even chart in any European country anyways? I wouldn't be surprised if the majority of their sales have been in North America anyways.

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DecayingYears95
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 05, 2013 7:56 pm 
 

HamburgerBoy wrote:
Just so you guys know, the op has some kind of OCD or similar condition that compels him to post threads about the number of albums Overkill has sold. A couple examples...

http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/gene ... sales.html
http://www.thrashunlimited.com/forum/vi ... =2&t=13599

A lot of the numbers are either ridiculous guesses ("They sold more in Europe than in America, so they must have sold 5 times as many albums there!") or based on Wikipedia vandals/trolls making up information (e.g. one guy puts a 4 million copy figure for The Years of Decay on Wikipedia, some other amateur internet journalist repeats it, suddenly it is "fact"). There is no way they've outsold Anthrax.

EDIT: And did 80's Overkill even chart in any European country anyways? I wouldn't be surprised if the majority of their sales have been in North America anyways.


Actually I'll own up to that that was me who asked on those sites. Me and a couple of my friends wanted to see how much they've sold so I posted on those sites to see what people could find. Did it get a little crazy? For a time it did, I'm not as nuts about it as I was but I'll still comment about it sometimes. As for the wikipedia things, I do think that TYOD selling 4 million is a possibility. I have heard that number tossed around multiple times and I read an article from around late 1990 (sorry I don't have the link to it) saying it sold over 300,000 copies worldwide at the time. So 23 years later I think it could have sold maybe around another 3.7 million.

As for the charting in Europe, I have no idea. I'm sure they've charted in places like Germany a few time with their older albums, high sales or not, they have a pretty healthy fanbase over there

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HamburgerBoy
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 05, 2013 8:10 pm 
 

DecayingYears95 wrote:
I have heard that number tossed around multiple times and I read an article from around late 1990 (sorry I don't have the link to it) saying it sold over 300,000 copies worldwide at the time. So 23 years later I think it could have sold maybe around another 3.7 million.

As for the charting in Europe, I have no idea. I'm sure they've charted in places like Germany a few time with their older albums, high sales or not, they have a pretty healthy fanbase over there


Sorry, album sales don't work that way. Keep in mind that Ride the Lightning, per the RIAA gold & platinum database, has sold a "mere" 1 million copies over the last 10 years, and you can watch as older albums have a bump in sales around new album releases (like in 2003 with St. Anger being released, causing more sales of their older material). Considering the The Years of Decay seems likely to be their biggest seller, there's no way in hell that they've sold nearly 4 million since then. I'd be surprised if more than ~25% of the album's total sales came beyond the first few years it was released.

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DecayingYears95
Metal newbie

Joined: Wed Oct 02, 2013 4:15 pm
Posts: 63
PostPosted: Sat Oct 05, 2013 8:19 pm 
 

HamburgerBoy wrote:
DecayingYears95 wrote:
I have heard that number tossed around multiple times and I read an article from around late 1990 (sorry I don't have the link to it) saying it sold over 300,000 copies worldwide at the time. So 23 years later I think it could have sold maybe around another 3.7 million.

As for the charting in Europe, I have no idea. I'm sure they've charted in places like Germany a few time with their older albums, high sales or not, they have a pretty healthy fanbase over there


Sorry, album sales don't work that way. Keep in mind that Ride the Lightning, per the RIAA gold & platinum database, has sold a "mere" 1 million copies over the last 10 years, and you can watch as older albums have a bump in sales around new album releases (like in 2003 with St. Anger being released, causing more sales of their older material). Considering the The Years of Decay seems likely to be their biggest seller, there's no way in hell that they've sold nearly 4 million since then. I'd be surprised if more than ~25% of the album's total sales came beyond the first few years it was released.


True, but at times there can be random jumps in sales numbers for albums, like one year it won't sell well but for some reason the next year it'll do very well.

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Expedience
Metal freak

Joined: Wed Aug 27, 2008 4:22 am
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PostPosted: Sun Oct 06, 2013 2:40 am 
 

I'd be inclined to believe they could have reached 20 mil, if only because Overkill have so many goddamn albums. Slayer are more popular sure, but popularity depends on the pop culture, live performances. Album sales don't have to be a part of it. So they could be above Slayer but I doubt it. Still, if you've got 15 albums and half of them around for 20+ years to rack up the purchases, plus a dedicated fan base, then you could accumulate a lot of sales.

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tomcat_ha
Minister of Boiling Water

Joined: Fri Oct 27, 2006 8:05 am
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Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Sun Oct 06, 2013 10:00 am 
 

no way overkill sold 25 million.
I can see them selling 5 million however.
We also need to remember that a lot of metal albums sales have not been tracked by official sources, you can be sure that a lot of metal bands sold more than their official numbers especially when it comes to old albums.

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DecayingYears95
Metal newbie

Joined: Wed Oct 02, 2013 4:15 pm
Posts: 63
PostPosted: Sun Oct 06, 2013 7:35 pm 
 

Expedience wrote:
I'd be inclined to believe they could have reached 20 mil, if only because Overkill have so many goddamn albums. Slayer are more popular sure, but popularity depends on the pop culture, live performances. Album sales don't have to be a part of it. So they could be above Slayer but I doubt it. Still, if you've got 15 albums and half of them around for 20+ years to rack up the purchases, plus a dedicated fan base, then you could accumulate a lot of sales.


Even though they've released many more albums than Slayer, I don't think they've sold over 20 million nor topped Slayer. Slayers sold closer to 30 million I've heard (I've seen numbers as high as 35 million). Also just because they released over 25 albums doesn't mean they all sold equally well I.E in 6 years Bloodletting sold over 18,000 copies in America but Ironbound sold almost as many in a little more than 3 months (I think it might be around 50,000 copies right now).

tomcat_ha wrote:
no way overkill sold 25 million.
I can see them selling 5 million however.
We also need to remember that a lot of metal albums sales have not been tracked by official sources, you can be sure that a lot of metal bands sold more than their official numbers especially when it comes to old albums.


I don't see Overkill at 25 million either (As you can see by my little statistical evaluation lol) but I believe they've easily sold over 5 million. Exodus is sitting at 5 million with about 300,000 copies in America (Soundscan) and mabye around 500,000 counting pre-Soundscan. I'll admit I've heard of Exodus before Overkill but Overkill seems to have a bigger following as well as larger sales (more than double Exodus' for the U.S. at least), they've also had higher as well as many more charting albums in the U.S. as well as many other countries. I think 16 million sold is about 50-50 but I'm positive they've sold over 10 million.

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HamburgerBoy
Metalhead

Joined: Sat Jul 07, 2007 6:40 am
Posts: 1710
PostPosted: Sun Oct 06, 2013 8:07 pm 
 

I doubt that Exodus has sold 5 million as well. Most of the numbers in your list in the op are likely way off.

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DecayingYears95
Metal newbie

Joined: Wed Oct 02, 2013 4:15 pm
Posts: 63
PostPosted: Sun Oct 06, 2013 8:33 pm 
 

HamburgerBoy wrote:
I doubt that Exodus has sold 5 million as well. Most of the numbers in your list in the op are likely way off.


Well first off what's op? Original post?

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