The battle for the most popular rock album of 2022 rages on! Originally the crown was held by Ghost's new album Impera, which debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart. Impera was the highest-charting rock album in eight months, and highest-charting hard rock album in over a year. Then Machine Gun Kelly released his new record Mainstream Sellout outdid Impera in terms of sheer number. Now Red Hot Chili Peppers has taken the title with their new record Unlimited Love.
Unlimited Love sold 97,500 equivalent album units in its first week. Impera sold 70,000 equivalent album units in its first week. For those unfamiliar, an "equivalent album sale" means the album sold one copy, had 10 individual tracks sold from the album, or had 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid or subscription streams. That 97,500 breaks down to 82,500 album sales (which is nuts), 14,500 streaming equivalent album sales, and 500 track equivalent album sales.
Then there's Mainstream Sellout that had 93,000 equivalent album units sold. That breaks down to 42,000 album sales, 50,000 streaming equivalent album sales, and 1,000 track equivalent album sales. And Impera, which sold 70,000 equivalent album units in its first week, which breaks down to 62,500 album sales, 7,000 streaming equivalent album sales, and 500 track equivalent album sales.
Unlimited Love certainly had a boost in notoriety as it's the band's first album back with guitarist John Frusciante since Stadium Arcadium in 2006. It's also interesting that (based on the information above), it seems Ghost and Red Hot Chili Peppers fans are more interested in buying the album while Machine Gun Kelly's success was driven a lot more by streaming.
