The Beatles’ ‘Revolver’ Reissue Tops Multiple Charts, Hits No. 2 on Album Sales
Written by djfrosty on November 9, 2022
The Beatles’ Revolver album, first released in 1966, rushes to No. 1 on multiple Billboard charts following its deluxe expanded reissue on Oct. 28. The set re-enters at No. 1 on Top Rock & Alternative Albums, Top Rock Albums and Catalog Albums (all dated Nov. 12) – its first week at No. 1 on all three lists. Revolver also re-enters Top Album Sales, Vinyl Albums and Tastemaker Albums at No. 2.
On the Billboard 200, the former No. 1 – which spent six weeks atop the list in 1966 – re-enters the list at No. 4.
For Revolver’s special edition, the album was reintroduced and remixed in a variety of expanded formats and editions, including many with previously unreleased tracks. The range included a standard digital album priced at $9.99 in the iTunes Store up through a boxed set boasting four vinyl LPs and two seven-inch singles that sold for $200 or more, depending on the retailer.
All versions of Revolver, old and new, are combined for tracking and charting purposes. In the tracking week ending Nov. 3, Revolver earned 54,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. (up 1,963%). Of that sum, traditional album sales comprise 46,000 (up 6,346%).
Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The chart’s history dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now Luminate. Pure album sales were the sole measurement utilized by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album units and streaming equivalent album units. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
Top Rock & Alternative Albums, Top Rock Albums and Catalog Albums rank the week’s most popular rock and alternative albums, rock albums and catalog albums, respectively, by equivalent album units. (Catalog albums are older albums, generally those at least 18-months old.) Tastemaker Albums ranks the week’s best-selling albums at independent and small chain record stores. Vinyl Albums tallies the top-selling vinyl albums of the week.
Of Revolver’s 46,000 in album sales for the week, physical sales comprise 42,000 (18,000 on vinyl and 24,000 on CD) and digital album download sales comprise 4,000.
The rerelease of Revolver is part of the ongoing series of expanded reissues of select studio albums by The Beatles. It follows reissues of Let It Be in 2021 (first released in 1970), Abbey Road in 2019 (first released in 1969), The Beatles in 2018 (often referred to as the White Album, first released in 1968) and Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in 2017 (first released in 1967).
Taylor Swift’s Midnights holds at No. 1 on Top Album Sales for a second week, selling 114,000 copies (down 90%). In its debut frame a week ago, the set exploded atop the list with 1.140 million copies sold.
Grateful Dead’s Dave’s Picks, Volume 44: Autzen Stadium, U. of Oregon, Eugene, OR – 6/23/90 debuts at No. 3 on Top Album Sales with 22,000 sold. Dave’s Picks is the act’s continuing live archival release series, named for the group’s archivist, David Lemieux, that has been going strong since its first release in 2012. Releases in the series are issued exclusively on CD and in limited quantities.
On the Billboard 200 chart, Dave’s Picks, Vol. 44 debuts at No. 3 – marking the band’s 54th top 40-charting album on the list. The act continues to have the most top 40 albums among groups since the chart began regularly publishing on a weekly basis in March of 1956. The acts with the most top 40 albums on the Billboard 200 are: Frank Sinatra (58), Elvis Presley (58), Barbra Streisand (54), Grateful Dead (54) and Bob Dylan (51). (Thirty-six of Grateful Dead’s 53 top 40-charting albums are from the Dave’s Picks series.)
A trio of debuts is next up on Top Album Sales as Berner’s From Seed to Sale (14,000), Baby Keem’s The Melodic Blue (11,000) and Polyphia’s Remember That You Will Die (10,000) bow at Nos. 4-6, respectively. It’s the first top 10-charting set for the latter two acts, while Berner notches his second top 10 effort. The Melodic Blue was initially released a little over a year ago as a digital download album, but makes its belated debut on Top Album Sales following its vinyl LP release on Oct. 28; nearly all of its sales for the week were on vinyl. The album has yet to be issued on CD or any other physical format.
LE SSERAFIM’s ANTIFRAGILE falls 3-7 on Top Album Sales in its second week (7,000; down 65%).
Foo Fighters’ new greatest hits compilation The Essential Foo Fighters debuts at No. 8 on Top Album Sales with 7,000 sold. Of that sum, physical sales comprise 6,500 (3,500 on vinyl and 3,000 on CD) and digital album downloads comprise 500. The album also bows in the top 10 across a variety of other charts, including Top Rock & Alternative Albums, Top Rock Albums, Top Hard Rock Albums and Top Alternative Albums. The set also launches at No. 42 on the Billboard 200.
The 21-track The Essential Foo Fighters includes such hit songs as “All My Life,” “Best of You,” “Learn to Fly,” “Long Road to Ruin,” “Rope,” “The Pretender” and “Walk” – all of which hit No. 1 on the Alternative Airplay chart.
The Essential brand is the long-running compilation series from Sony Music’s catalog division, Legacy, and has charted dozens of charting titles on the Billboard 200 and Top Album Sales since the early 2000s from artists such as Bob Dylan, Michael Jackson, Britney Spears and Barbra Streisand.
The Essential Foo Fighters is the first in the Essential series to reach the top 10 on Top Album Sales. Previously, the highest-charting effort in the Essential series on Top Album Sales was The Essential Bruce Springsteen, when it debuted and peaked at No. 14 on the Nov. 29, 2003-dated chart.
The Essential Foo Fighters is the highest charting Essential album on the Billboard 200 since The Essential Michael Jackson rose to No. 31 on the Sept. 8, 2018-dated chart. The Essential Foo Fighters is also the highest debut from the Essential line since The Essential Leonard Cohen debuted and peaked at No. 13 on the Dec. 3, 2016 chart, following his death.
Harry Styles’ former No. 1 Harry’s House climbs 12-9 with a little over 6,000 sold (down 2%), while Demon Hunter clocks its fourth top 10 with the No. 10 arrival of Exile (6,000).
In the week ending Nov. 3, there were 1.618 million albums sold in the U.S. (down 42.1% compared to the previous week). Of that sum, physical albums (CDs, vinyl LPs, cassettes, etc.) comprised 1.237 million (up 46%) and digital albums comprised 381,000 (up 24.4%).
There were 621,000 CD albums sold in the week ending Nov. 3 (down 37.8% week-over-week) and 606,000 vinyl albums sold (down 52.3%). Year-to-date CD album sales stand at 29.021 million (down 7.1% compared to the same time frame a year ago) and year-to-date vinyl album sales total 32.574 million (up 3.7%).
Overall year-to-date album sales total 79.244 million (down 6.5% compared to the same year-to-date time frame a year ago). Year-to-date physical album sales stand at 62.049 million (down 1.6%) and digital album sales total 17.194 million (down 21%).