Maladjusted is such an underrated album. If "Lost" would have been included on the album, and relased as a single, the sales would be much greater.

Thanks for those figues.

Really appalling sales for ROTT in the US, only just above Maladjusted.

By contrast, YATQ actually did really well in the US.

That's at least part of the reason sales have lagged. His YAQT tour was wide and massively promoted. No talk yet of a US tour for ROTT. (I remember he ruled out touring Canada).

Want a better album?

Well, for the love of all that is holy, Moz:

BRING BACK ALAIN!!!

bring on some US dates in early '07! That'll sell a few more copies.... though its tough to get a buzz on an album thats 10 months old. He should have paced his concerts better. A few more US dates in major markets last Spring closer to the album's release would have helped.

I thought he had sold a lot more cds than this. He doesn't even have a gold record in the U.S., right?

that an album doesn't sell hundreds of thousands of copies when there is almost no promotion or a supporting tour. i can't really think of any records that have sold truckloads thanks to a couple of shows in Oklahoma, so I don't personally think it's a testimony to quality.

still, it does say something positive if it's sold more than Southpaw and Maladjusted.

Being a Brit, I find it hard to believe that not doing a tour for this album is to blame. If he HAD done a 30 night tour of the USA he would be playing (what?) 2- 3,000 seat capacity venues on average and so would play to 60 to 90 thousand people.

Let's presume at least half of those would have owned the album before seeing the show. Let's presume they were Morrissey fans and got it on the week of release. Such is the case elsewhere.

Now, let's also assume that a fan will buy a new album. I know you can illegally download and stuff... but let's say every Morrissey fan in the US bought one. That's 90,000 on the above stat. Why should he tour if he has no fanbase?

It's shocking that less than 100,000 people in the US bought ROTT, no matter what you might think of it.

Whilst I know he has a passionate fanbase stateside, surely it's the most diluted in terms of population. He probably sold more per-head in Bulgaria.

What's going on America?

Hmmm. And one wonders why he doesn't tour the States anymore?

Regardless... his comments about the US? The fact that it was a progressive LP? RA RA RA I AM A GULL

is it 2008 in america yet?

he actually has two pre-soundscan era gold records both bona drag and viva hate went gold and the smith's quid, louder... and strangeways all went gold (500 thousand copies) also hulmerist is a gold video (50,000)

Sales tend to decline when the quality of the music goes down the tubes. Particularly when the lead-off single was the entirely unremarkable "You Have Killed Me." Compare that with the strength of the "Quarry" singles and there's really nothing more to discuss. No, he didn't tour enough in America, but lets be honest: His "Ringleader" gigs had lame set lists so who really cares.

So...he lost over half of his American fans, but Julia's still wasting the best years of her life following him around the globe to hear the same sub-par songs every night. "Ohhh, Steven, you changed a word in 'See The Boy Happy' for us tonight, how cooool!!!"

A lot of those sales were people who bought more than one copy, as it came out in multiple editions.

No, it's not enough to hook up with that gold digging whore of an ex-wife to Paul McCartney and call Canada a Nazi state. Anything else up your sleeve? How about a new band, for starters.....

I have always wondered how The Rolling Stones can break attendance records every tour since 1969, but their current albums only sell 1 mill. or thereabouts! If just a fraction of their concert audience actually purchased their albums in addition to all the people who don't attend their concerts, they could really improve sales. Here's the obvious solution. In addition to selling t-shirts, jackets, posters, etc at the venues, why not sell cd's also, at a discounted price?! Example, Moz should have ROTT at every concert venue for like $10. People who attend concerts are fans, they could package it in different formats, or at least sell the singles. Based on the numbers, not every fan attending the shows has taken the trouble to purchase ROTT! Make it easy for people! Sell the music to the fans!

broken

zingy, upbeat, radio-friendly (not a dirty word!) songs released as singles.
Quarry had one, ROTT had none.

Tours virtually make no difference. He's toured loads in the UK this year and ROTT sold 35% the amount of Quarry. He hasn't toured at all in the US this year and ROTT sold 35% the amount of Quarry.
Go figure!
Maurice
PS Suggestion about selling current album at concerts at a wholesale price is very good. Like many other artists who've been around a while, many of the audience at a Morrissey concert will not have bothered to buy his latest album.

Thanks for the figures.
I was wondering how well ROTT had sold in the US.
But where are Viva Hate, Bona Drag or Kill Uncle? They must have sold something beyond 1992 too.

For those interested I also got the Smiths-sales in the US in the Soundscan era i.e. post 1992:

Smiths - 118,331
Meat Is Murder - 227,831
Queen Is Dead - 264,616
Strangeways Here We Come - 210,996
Louder Than Bombs - 378,018
Singles - 340,196
Best Vol 1 - 411,041
Best Vol 2 - 201,974

2-5 on this list must certainly have gone gold, as well as Viva Hate and Bona Drag.

How much does he get per unit sold? $1, $2, $5?

I brought 3 copys of quarry
only the 1 of rott,and i'm not sorry

The sales figures you see for Southpaw, ROTT, and Maladjusted are Morrissey's hardcore fanbase. They'll buy anything that the man puts out. When he releases an album that has hit singles, positive press, etc., then his sales go WAY up. So, let's look at them:

Your Arsenal -- featured his new rockabilly sound, it revived his career, and he did numerous talk-show appearances to promote it. "Tomorrow" and "Certain People I Know" both received significant US airplay.

Vauxhall & I -- probably his best album, and had his biggest US hit in "The More You Ignore Me."

YATQ -- Had huge advance buzz, Morrissey practically lived on US talk shows, and had two big hits in "Irish Blood" and "First of the Gang."

So, when Morrissey gives anyone but his hardcore fans a reason to care about him, the sales go up. It has to do with quality and marketing on Morrissey's part, and a little luck.

The problem with much of Morrissey's modern work, and in particular, ROTT, is that it comes across as very self-centered.

In the past, Morrissey managed to generalize his songs in such a manner that even if they were autobiographical, they were easily manipulated by the listener.

I can't count the number of times that Morrissey has written songs in the first person post Smiths. You feel as if he has completely forgotten about his audience, which of course, is always the downfall of any artist.

That, coupled with his inability to progress musically on any kind of large scale is why we see such up and down numbers. He apparently requests what he is being given musically.

The hype of a long layoff is what re-energized his status during the YATQ tour, nothing else.

All in all, it's quite bizarre reading over these comments, and realizing that there really is nothing that Morrissey could do to let some people down.

My how blind devotion lowers one's standards.

ROTT sell less.. Well, I don't care. Morrissey has nothing to prove anymore.

I don't know if such emblematic singers as David Bowie or else sell more than Mozz.

These people are icons and that's it...