Wait... there are people who actually think this album is better than Hybrid Theory, Meteora or Minutes To Midnight...?
I still think LP has the capacity to be #1 worldwide with an album release. They have the name, they are the biggest band in facebook, great numbers on youtube, etc. If LP did a call back sound, the world would fell at their feet again.
It definitely wouldn't. You have to figure, Linkin Park's first album came out in October of 2000. Very long time ago. Linkin Park is still pretty relevant, but they aren't some huge name like Metallica or Eminem, etc. Linkin Park is largely remembered for their first albums, whether people admit that or not. I'm not talking about hardcore Linkin Park fans, I'm talking to general population. If they made another nu-metal album, it MAY do better than One More Light, but only out of pure nostalgia and the whole ''omg Linkin Park returns'' shit that would ensue. But in the long run it wouldn't be as successful. Nothing will ever come close to beating the giants that were Hybrid Theory or Meteora. Even Minutes To Midnight to a degree, it still had a considerable amount of sales. Nothing Linkin Park could put out at this point, no matter the genre, will top those, it would be borderline impossible in this day and age.
That last Blink, even with a member replacement, was considered their proper "comeback' after their reunion album tanked. Despite OML often being referred to as such in press, they've been releasing content consistently since 2007. Obviously helped by the lead single being a runaway hit for them. I don't find that a fair comparison.
A return to nu metal would not bring LP back to the spotlight imo. That's like trying to bring back crunk music.
I don't understand why people think Linkin Park and Linkin Park alone would revive the genre. Korn has done 'evolution' and several different kinds of 'return to roots' albums and none of them have amounted to much, Limp Bizkit tried, the Deftones haven't sold any more than they used to... but Linkin Park puts their minds to it and boom; 800k debut again?
A lot of nostalgia, I think. But you can't really repeat the success of a flavor-of-the-year sound from about 17 years ago. It's not what a lot of people want to hear but it's just the harsh truth.
Yes this is the Billboard top 200 but a rough estimation (They always end up being correct on the order, however but sometimes the numbers for each album end up being overstated). Now we wait for the exact numbers from Billboard on Monday but this shows us the album went #1 we just don't know the exact official numbers.
My prediction (now that HDD shows them taking #1): This album will beat THP for first week sales. The numbers there aren't 100% but the chart placement is correct. Absolute correct tallies will be available by Monday.
I was disappointed to see One More Light debut at #4 in the UK after The Hunting Party got to #2 back in 2014. However, having looked at the charts over here, it sort of makes sense with Ed Sheeran and Harry Styles sharing the #1 and #2 spot respectively as they are both huge over here. Where I work, I still hear our learners/students (I work at a training provider that runs various qualification courses) constantly play Ed Sheeran music. It would have been nice for One More Light to cement the #3 spot here in the UK though. However, seeing them placed at regaining the #1 spot since Living Things from HDD's chart calculation, more than makes up for that! I'm also pleased to see it has sold more than 100k in its first week. As Derek said, this could potentially beat The Hunting Party's first week album sales, which would be really satisfying after all the backlash the album got from so-called 'fans' and people/review sites that were goading and sniping away with their rude comments about how the album will be their lowest selling and a flop. One More Light deserves the #1 spot, the band put so much work into this album I feel (I know some hate it and describe it as generic pop but to others like me I don't see it that way) and I am a fan of how personal they made it, it's so relatable to me to this day... even Heavy and the tracks remind me of things I went through over the last year or two or three (especially loss of a loved one). What's even more fantastic about this album is the fact Nobody Can Save Me has really grown on me since my first initial listen and I'm still loving blasting songs like Good Goodbye, Talking To Myself, Sorry For Now and Sharp Edges. Seriously, Sharp Edges could easily get in my top 10 and I still love the vibe the album ends on. Even Invisible has grown on me a little, really loving the way Mike sings on that one and the chorus is so catchy. I still consider One More Light some of the best songwriting from the band and is such a beautiful piece of music. That song alone deserves #1! So glad Linkin Park have managed to do it... well done!