New Order & Depeche Mode official U.S. Soundscan sales

from

http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/search/google/article\_display.jsp?vnu\_content\_id=1002312676

Hullo Keith,

I'd like to ask you for some information on some real survivors of the past few decades: Depeche Mode and New Order.

Both bands are acknowledged as incredibly influential -- in electronic, goth and even mainstream pop. And both have lasted to not only continue releasing music for over 25 years, but also some of their best material ever with their most recent albums -- Depeche Mode's "Playing the Angel" and New Order's "Waiting for the Sirens Call."

But as often happens, releasing great music doesn't always translate to great sales, with "Waiting" and especially "Playing" diving down The Billboard 200 within weeks, and in Depeche Mode's case, despite a major touring push to support it.

So, finally, my question! As their '80s stuff is well documented on the RIAA site, could you provide SoundScan sales figures for these bands, just for their 90's-to-present day album releases?

Thanks Keith!

Ed Tyler Sydney

Hi Ed,

Depeche Mode's "Playing the Angel" slipped off The Billboard 200 after 16 weeks. However, New Order's "Waiting for the Sirens' Call" dropped like a rock and only spent four weeks on the tally, after debuting and peaking at No. 46.

"Playing the Angel" bowed at No. 7 and has sold 371,000 in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. On the other hand, "Waiting for the Sirens' Call" has shifted only 84,000.

Here is a rundown of the sales for Depeche Mode's U.S. album releases since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales data in 1991:

"Songs of Faith and Devotion" (1993; 919,000) "Songs of Faith and Devotion - Live" (1993; 114,000) "Ultra" (1997; 584,000) "The Singles 86>98" (1998; 562,000) "The Singles 81>85" (1999; 283,000) "Exciter" (2001; 426,000) "Singles Box 1" (2004; 2,000) "Singles Box 2" (2004; 2,000) "Singles Box 3" (2004; 2,000) "Singles Box 4" (2004; 5,000) "Singles Box 5" (2004; 4,000) "Singles Box 6" (2004; 4,000) "Remixes 81-04" (2004; 89,000 - all versions combined) "Playing the Angel" (2005; 371,000)

Additionally, since 1991, when SoundScan set up shop, 1990's "Violator" has moved 1.5 million U.S. copies.

In other Depeche Mode news, three of the bands albums -- "Speak and Spell," "Music for the Masses" and "Violator" -- will see an April 25 U.S. reissue in deluxe editions. They will include all sorts of bonus tracks and video footage, along with remastered sound and expanded packaging. For further information, visit Depeche Mode's official Web site at depechemode.com or the band's remasters mini-site at remasters.depechemode.com.

Depeche Mode's "Touring the Angel" concert trek is on a short break until it April 27 in Mountain View, Calif. After that, the band heads to the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif. on April 29.

Now, on to New Order!

Like the list for Depeche Mode's titles, this tally only reflects U.S. sales for the band's American releases since 1991:

"Republic" (1993; 382,000) "(The Best) of New Order" (1999; 428,000) "Get Ready" (2001; 153,000) "Retro" (2003; 9,000) "International: The Best of New Order" (2003; 62,000) "Waiting for the Sirens' Call" (2005; 84,000) "Best Remixes" (2005; 2,000 - digital-only album) "Singles" (2005; 13,000)

You can catch New Order this summer playing a few concert dates. They'll perform at Greece's Ejekt Festival in Athens on June 3 and Ireland's Electric Picnic in Stradbally Estate, County Laois (Sept. 1-3).

yes and all the us owners of retro post here. :D

Gosh, man, I'm already depressed today and this thread didn't help. Still, it's nice to know these things.

Mode is STILL killin' them, though.

Mode is also kind of ridiculous...

NO are an enigma. They are a cult band that have a half dozen songs (Blue Monday, BLT, True Faith, Regret, Perfect Kiss, and-including Joy Division-LWTUA) famous worldwide, but because they don't tour America anymore, people don't know them well enough. I've even run into people who are a lot more familiar with Joy Division than New Order, and I keep telling them New Order at its best is brilliant at an elevated level over Joy Division. I think WFTSC did pretty well considering the group did NOT tour the US. It was a mini-tour done in late spring...had they come back in July or August, I bet the album would've done doubly as well hands down.

In terms of sales it's not really fair to compare New Order and Depeche Mode. New Order took a long break after Republic and their presence in the U.S. music scene/media was pretty minimal between 1994-2001. And New Order very rarely tour the U.S. Depeche Mode have a very different attitude towards promotion/marketing. It's also interesting that in the UK Depeche Mode don't do as well as in the U.S.

A more fair comparison of sales figures would be between Depeche Mode and The Cure.

Wow, that sales tally for Waiting.. and Singles is pretty sad. Or is it, considering virtually no promotion and airplay and they've been around since the mid-seventies?

If Depeche Mode doesn't do as well in the UK than they do in the States, you must be talking about HARD sales numbers because Depeche Mode charts a helluva lot better in the UK pop charts than they do in the US.

I think the last Depeche Mode single to chart in the US was 1997's 'It's No Good' and that's just a guess!

I think part of disparity between the two is that in the late 80s/early 90s, Depeche Mode went in a more Americanized direction, and NO went a bit more European.

Fancy putting both bands together, probably cause Hooky used to wear Leather Trousers

Both bands are acknowledged as incredibly influential

Who reckons Depeche are incredibly infuential ?

Post proof please

Well, FWIW they did have a big influence on Trent Reznor...

NOOLigan wrote: yes and all the us owners of retro post here. :D

I do!!!

NO isnt really for US, or anything, more underground rather DM is mainstream.

Waiting For the Sirens Call has barely sold half what Get Ready sold, which can't be a good sign as far as the record company goes... and Singles has barely been noticed, which may be apathy for having too many compilations

Flying Teapot wrote:

Both bands are acknowledged as incredibly influential

Who reckons Depeche are incredibly infuential ?

Post proof please

Of course they are... countless bands have noted them as an inluence.

Generic wrote: should we sticky this one???

that way the next time one of my fellow septics ask, "When is new order going to play _______?", we can simply show them the figures???

Wow...it's amazing that we get ANY gigs here at all....having said that...it would be nice to see them here in Austin...

Austin would be a perfect city for them to play, too. Within great highway access of all us other Texan Orderers. I can only imagine all the people I've known who'd resurface just to get a ticket to that show.

(Just don't do a stadium, is all. Or a too small club! Maybe a street party.)

While I wish NO was more popular in the Sates, I kinda like getting strange looks when I tell people New Order is my favorite band. :-)

Shellshocker wrote: While I wish NO was more popular in the Sates, I kinda like getting strange looks when I tell people New Order is my favorite band. :-)

Like the avatar david says - dont mess with me!

This is the sort of thread that AJ Wells will turn up in and blather on about how far NO have fallen from grace.

:\pimp3: