The Smiley Smile Message Board

Not bad at all.

I am new to the board and just wanted to make the announcement that it charted at #25 in the UK. (and #98 in Australia). Not bad at all. To introduce myself, I have been a Beach Boys/Brian Wilson fan since my sister bought me "L.A (Light Album)" as a Christmas gift. I had never heard of Brian Wilson or The Beach Boys till then, and slowly began to "hunt down" all of their albums/songs. I will post my review of "NPP" soon.

You beat me to it…!

Aye, pretty good start. Hopefully that will rise when Amazon gets round to fulfilling its order backlog!

Well done Brian!

In context, his highest charting solo album in the UK since 2004.

Two up from TLOS, yes?

Yep, that`s a very solid effort. When are the US charts announced?

Nice one Brian and richly deserved!  ;D

That can only mean he'll chart lower in the US...

I believe it has also charted at 22 in Holland and 94 in Ireland.

According to Bellagio, TLOS was 37.

Not of late.

At least in online sales, NPP has really fallen off the map.  I thought it would be an easy top 20 in the US, but now I'm not so sure.  Hopefully in store sales were very strong.

Really? It's consistently been a top ten seller on Amazon for around a week.

Where do people come up with this stuff?

  ::)   Physical, sure, but not mp3 sales.

By and large he's charted higher stateside.

Early U.S. chart returns have him at #12.

Talk about NPP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :pirate :pirate :pirate :pirate

And ... now down to #21.

Follow along as the results come in here: http://hitsdailydouble.com/building_album_chart

Still great, considering the market these days.  Good for Brian.

Great news!

I'm an ignorant about all this. I saw the link Wirestone provided. Are those physical copies? Does that include downloads?

I regret to say I have no clue as to who the top 3 are.

I believe physical and download copies are counted together these days, as they are all paid individual copies of an album.

The bigger question is streaming (Spotify, et. al), which is now included on a separate chart (sales plus streaming).

So it sold less than 10,000 copies first week? Da-amn, that's pretty rough if true. Didn't TWGMTR do like 60,000?

That's with slightly more than half of the sales numbers in. The final number will be closer to 20,000, most likely.

By comparison, TLOS sold 21,000 its first week.

Given the secular decline in the record biz, Brian nearly matching sales numbers from seven years ago is pretty impressive.

No. 3, Kendrick Lamar, that's a dang good album.

I'll probably not see the movie for which No. 2 is a soundtrack, so unlikely I'll hear the album either.

I've heard of No. 1 All Time Low, but have heard none of  the music.

But would that include downloads, or is it purely the physical release ?

Ah poo, just saw this has been addressed.

Brian's doing pretty well considering that his competition includes the album at #46. Apparently, there have been 4,440 copies of "Nothing" sold. I would have thought that number would be higher.  :lol

In all seriousness, considering Brian's chart history, the state of the industry, and so on, if Brian gets anywhere in the Top 20 or 30, that's pretty solid.

Considering the number of reviews and whatnot, and the fact that they're bundling copies of the album with seemingly everything imaginable (t-shirts, posters, concert tickets, the PBS Blu-ray, autographs, etc.), I figured he might slip into the Top 20.

Up to #16 with 83 percent in ...

Where did this end up in the 2nd week?

#82 (UK)

Second week in Billboard Top 200... #128.  ???

Top Album Sales... #54.

Irrespective of which chart you care to cherry-pick the figures from, the performance of NPP to date is desperately poor, and I can't see why. The product itself was very good, bordering on superb here and there... there was an excellent promo show in Vegas aired just before the release... Brian did his bit in sterling fashion... all to no real avail. As a BB fan & Brianista of 40 years standing, I'm more than a little upset: I honestly expected this album to have legs. Maybe the movie release will pull it back into the charts, but right now, I'm Confused of Farnham. Anyone got any bright ideas ?

in 2015 the name Brian Wilson doesn't sell huge numbers, the name The Beach Boys does.

My feelings would be...

Has the album really done that badly? I mean, it has done much better than many of Brian`s albums and done about as well as many probably expected. How many albums now stick around the charts for a long time?

Also, if they were hoping to use duets to sell the album then making it all duets should have been the way to go. Having 5 younger singers is either too many or too few. Their inclusion certainly makes the album much less cohesive than it would have been otherwise which has been one of the contributing factors to the average reviews. So too few guests to drag in the youngsters but enough to have damaged the album`s reputation…

And the production style certainly can`t have helped either.

Surely NPP's showing in the charts tells us more about the record buying public than the quality of the record. I just checked out the UK No 1. Nothing IMO particularly brilliant about it. No 1 in the album charts is a Paul Simon compilation. Compilations are a safe bet - the best songs of a famous artist as opposed to a new album by a song writer in his 70s.

Obviously the name The Beach Boys is better known than Brian Wilson, although I would guess that this is less of a problem in the UK than in the US but in both countries, The Beach Boys have a clear musical identity . For Brian it is less so, except amongst those who have followed his solo career.

As someone once said 'Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public.' Equally true of some other countries IMO.

Ah, so I was wrong. It's a sh*t album, hence poor showing. I understand now.

Who said that?

Does saying that an album isn`t cohesive suddenly make it sh*t? Not in the English speaking world...

Sarcasm 1, Nicko 0  :)

Very fair point. Personally speaking, the more I got to hear the released incarnation, the higher hopes I had for it. Hence my disappointment.

The album hasn't tanked. The chart performance is on a par with what we might have expected. Spoke to two chaps yesterday whore … sorry, who're - thanks a bunch predictive text - off to see BW in Leeds but haven't bothered their asses to buy the album. They're going in case it's his last tour. Which is the reason why I flew to LA in 2000.

Chances are it'll gain a few more sales when the film's out, and a few more when he tours here in Sept, but I'd be surprised if it resurfaces on the charts. Probably shift more when - and I hope the day is a longtime off yet - Brian passes and a tide of beautiful people buy it to ensure they've the entire works of this darling music genius on their shelves as a conversation starter when their beautiful friends come round for a lush dinner which Giles - he's just dying to have a shot at Masterchef - rustled up just before your cab arrived, dahling.

What am I trying to say? I guess, long as we like it, sod the record buying public at large.

As many have said, I think they need to push "Saturday Night" and "Guess You Had To Be There" to the radio.

Out by a mere fifteen years, then.  ;D

I think it might have to do with the production style and the guest vocalists (who may seem a bit random to some listeners).

The production is one of the reasons why I love the album.  Ear candy to me.

It was dismaying seeing #82 for the second week, but I guess first week sales is what counts these days. 

Regarding the Beach Boys having a name that sells and Brian having one less so, can Brian sell enough tickets for this upcoming UK tour?  I check Ticketmaster and See tickets and you can still get great seats at the O2.  I'm not sure what kind of push from the album can help this.  I don't think Musgraves and Ruess are big names here, so releasing their singles here won't help.  I don't think a UK release has been noted for the movie either, so I can't see promotion for that bringing folk in by September.  I'd hate for this tour to be cancelled.

I don't know about Musgraves, but .fun's "We Are Young" and "Some Nights" both were Top Ten hit singles. Plus Nate's 2013 duet with Pink also went Top Ten in the UK, so he's not exactly unknown. Especially in the UK.

Ah, guess I should've checked.  "We are Young" was number 1 here, I see.

A fair question would be what in the Hell is Capitol Records doing to promote NPP? Anyone know?  ???  ???

To me charting at all makes it a win. And charting as high as it has, regardless the span of time, makes it a win/win.

Seems like nothing.

They're not.  They are bringing out Best of Brian Wilson Vol. 1  ;)

What about all the social media appearances that Brian did on FB and Twitter?

Facebook chats... twitter chats... BW interviews left, right & center both during the recording and after it's been released... pieces in Rolling Stone and the like... chances are they ponied up some for the Soundstage show... Vevo videos... three "single" video releases (I'll grant you, not the best possible choices...)... short of actually sending employees out into the streets to pull people into the stores and forcing them to buy it - nope, doing nothing at all.

Where is Dr. Love when America needs him?

BW has a movie, album, and TV special. I call that success! 8)

Brian's PR staff need to get him to do a collab with PewDiePie. Guaranteed diamond seller after that. People will buy anything if PewDiePie's name is on it.

In-store signings too!

Well, hellfire, that makes it even more obvious that Capitol have done AB-SO-LUTE-LY NOTHING to promote Brian's new album. What a bunch of sh*tweasels and f*ckwits they are !!  >:(

I don't think you can say the album has done desperately poorly, at least in the U.S. On an apples to apples basis, it performed better than any BW solo album, with the exception of BWPS.

On the other hand, I'd expect that Capitol hoped to get some Beach Boys level buzz on the album, and that didn't seem to happen.

I find the Billboard charts presented so confusingly as to be unreadable. I cannot tell if the BB albums listed in the 200 indicate historical charting or current charting. For example, I see the 50th live cd there as just having this week arrived into the top 200, but I can make no sense of any of the information. Please, those smarter than I , unravel it for me. Are any BB albums coming into the charts as a result of NPP. thank you.

Well Capitol didn't promote Pet Sounds well. ;)

... and TLOS & BWRG.

Brian Wilson 11 weeks on chart/debut 98/peak 54
Imagination 2/88/88
GIOMH 1/100/100
BWPS 17/13/13
WIRWFC 1/200/200
TLOS 4/21/21
BWRG 4/26/26
ITKOD 1/83/83
NPP 2/28/128 (to date)

Just looked at the current Top 200 Albums, and the 50th Live album isn't there - where are you seeing it ?

Speaking of album charts, dropped off the UK Top 100. Damn.

I was looking at chart history, which does not specify dates, so that must have misled me. I dare say the site is not by any means clear in any respect--too youthful and chaotic for an old timer like me.  Thank you young St. Andrew.

I said apples to apples.

Billboard's overhaul of the hot 200 late last year to incorporate streaming makes comparisons like this worse than meaningless. It makes them misleading.

In terms of actual albums sold, NPP either charted at 14 or 16 in the U.S., depending on the trade magazine one follows.

Oh my!  :o A rather psychotic :angry reaction, huh? Poor guy...must be the job.  :old

For accuracy; CD Sales ; NPP entered at # 14 week one. Capitol underreported and then corrected. Week # 2 charted at # 87.

For those who are interested, The Soundstage DVD BW and Friends entered the charts at # 2 . 

So damn well said, BW's album was a success! 8)

I think the second week sales might even be higher, Ray --

http://www.billboard.com/charts/top-album-sales

Shows NPP at #58!

Clay ; Thanks for the correction; my bad  .  You are correct.
 

It is indeed a nightmare for someone trying to keep track: same in the UK - there's the official chart, the physical chart, the vinyl chart, the download chart and the streaming chart. What to do... what to do. Too many asterisks and footnotes at 10452 as it is.

I think NPP is selling as much as could be hoped for. Even Paul McCartney's new albums have huge sales the first week, drop like a rock the next week and then vanish off the charts soon after.

I DO think, however, that if the film could've been pushed up a few months earlier and released in tandem with the CD, it would've helped sales. Can you imagine moviegoers who just saw L&M browsing iTunes for Brian Wilson, the guy they just watched a movie about, and NPP is the first thing they see? I mean, I'm sure that'll happen anyway, but it would've helped right out of the gate.

In today's musical climate, I'd say the album's doing pretty well. 

I wouldn't be surprised to see a slight bump in sales when the tour begins.  Especially, if they're selling copies of NPP at the merch tables.  Your casual fan who went to hear Beach Boys classics might be intrigued by the new songs in the setlist, and purchase a copy at the merch stand. 

As others have said, the album is performing quite well by the standards of Brian’s solo catalog (and the majority of the BB catalog for the last few decades for that matter). Considering the amount of mainstream media attention he gets and name recognition he has, I’d say things in terms of store availability and chart performance are about as good as we could hope for.

I’m actually far more surprised that the live DVD/Blu “Soundstage” release has reached #2 on the “Music Videos” charts considering it’s literally not even available to purchase at retail. Getting to #2 based solely on sales from one PBS affiliate website is pretty good. Yes, I’m aware that music videos don’t sell in the millions; physical media sale are dwindling and “music video” sales have always been far below the actual music charts. Maybe it got to #2 with only 500 or a few thousand in sales. But still pretty impressive. I’m surprised that release (and its chart performance) haven’t been publicized more by Brian and his online presence.

I checked itunes this morning and as I suspected the songs featuring the guest vocalists are MORE popular than most of the cuts without them. By popular that means more people are buying those tracks as single downloads. They show both the regular and deluxe versions so its a little confusing but the results are clear. What does this mean....

Well IMO....1) It was a smart move bringing the young and fresh (as in something outside the box) singers into the album and 2) they are making a mistake by not pushing Runaway Dancer, Guess You Had To Be There, Saturday Night and On The Island as singles.

I get what you are saying but I find it kind of lame that a living legend, such as Brian Wilson would have to rely on someone such as the ex singer from Fun to help sell his music.

How does it become having to "rely" on anyone to sell the music except in the opinion of those who want to think that way? Is it any more or any less valid to suggest exactly what really happened in these cases, which is Brian's own family suggesting he work with some of the current artists they had been listening to, like Nate and Capital Cities, and Brian got the ball rolling to get them in the studio to work on songs?

Are all artists at this point who say "we should work on some music together" to another noted artist then relying on some name recognition to promote something, or is it only in some cases?

Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett had a collaboration this past year which put a straightforward jazz album of standards into sales figures that most jazz hasn't touched for years...would you accuse Tony Bennett of "relying" on Lady Gaga to sell his music, or was it a case of wanting to collaborate and make music together?

Or is it only a case of Brian Wilson where the term "rely" gets applied?

Again I come back to my favorite quote of the year so far. "This is the guy who wrote Pet Sounds, he can do whatever the f*ck he wants."  :)

With all due respect Craig, you seemed to have completely missed the point my post was making.

I see the point, and it wasn't specific to what you were suggesting - It would be great if artists like Brian, Tony Bennett, Neil Diamond, Paul McCartney and a number of other "legendary" artists could get the sales numbers from different generations of fans simply on name alone, or on the quality of the music alone. But it also gets them and their motivations sometimes challenged by suggestions they were going for "star power" in order to boost sales. No doubt selling massive quantities of product is a concern since it is a business, but in the case of Brian's collaborations there were suggestions that leaned negative going back to when the list of collaborators was first released last year which made it seem like it was something more contrived (in a negative connotation) than having musicians working together on music.

The audience will respond however they choose to respond. If some Lady Gaga fans bought her jazz album with Bennett simply because Lady Gaga is involved, so be it. They're hearing the music either way, who knows they may get more into some of the jazz standards or even pick up some Tony Bennett songs on iTunes. Not a bad thing. But it's not necessarily a case of Tony relying on Gaga to sell to her audience, or Gaga relying on Tony to show a jazz vocal audience that she has the chops to sing these types of songs far removed from her brand of pop music. It can be as simple as two artists coming together to make music, and however the fans want to react is up to them. It doesn't always have to be a case of contrivance or forcing together two artists for reasons other than the two wanting to work together. Although those forced instances have indeed happened often in the past. But it's not a template.

I think that`s a given isn`t it.

When older musicians work with younger people it is generally to try to shift units. That doesn`t have to be a negative thing and if it`s done right (Tom Jones`s Reload album for example) then it can work spectacularly.