Deftones have reason to celebrate today, as hard rock has landed high on the Billboard charts. Deftones currently have the #2 album in the country with their recent release, Gore.
Deftones shifted 71,00 "album equivalent units" which means a combination of sales and streams. Even more impressive, pure album sales account for 69,000 of those units. Billboard counts 2,000 streams of an album or songs off that album as the equivalent of one sale to come up with the additional 2,000 units.
This is their best chart debut since their 2003 self-titled release, and also their best first-week sales number since Saturday Night Wrist, which sold 76,000 first week. Their last album, Koi No Yokan shifted 65,000 copies first week, so they should be excited about the sales growth in an era where big bands are seeing declines in first week sales. Put bluntly, Deftones fans buy albums! Watch the new video for Prayers/Triangles here.
In case you're wondering, folk band The Lumineers have the #1 album in the country.