The Grateful Dead’s Dave’s Picks, Vol. 53 debuts on four Billboard charts this week, starting inside … [+]
The Grateful Dead never wait long in between album releases, as the group’s fans also never fail to support the legends. Whenever the rockers deliver another live recording from one of the most extensive archives in the music industry, Deadheads everywhere turn it into an instant bestseller, and that’s exactly what’s happened yet again this week.
Dave’s Picks, Vol. 53: Riverfront Coliseum, Cincinnati, OH (10/2/76) debuts on a quartet of Billboard charts this week. The long-titled live set, which follows a format the band set down years ago, enters the top 10 on all but one of those lists.
The most recent in the Dave’s Picks series almost dominates the Top Album Sales chart, the list of the bestselling projects in the U.S. The Grateful Dead comes in at No. 2 this week, behind only The Weeknd’s Hurry Up Tomorrow.
The same live set almost matches that position on the Top Rock Albums chart, where it’s new at No. 3. The Grateful Dead starts Dave’s Picks, Vol. 53 in fifth place on the Top Rock & Alternative Albums ranking, which is a little bit busier than the rock-only roster, as it’s not specific to just the one style.
The Grateful Dead has now scored 45 top 10-charters on the Top Album Sales ranking. That number is even higher on the genre-centric tallies, where the band has now earned 54 appearances inside the highest tier.
Dave’s Picks, Vol. 53 also becomes a top 40 smash on the Billboard 200, which is built around total consumption, and not just pure purchases. The Grateful Dead’s live recordings are never made available to stream, however, so their success relies entirely on sales.
Dave’s Picks, Vol. 53 kicks off its time on the Billboard 200 at No. 35. It is album No. 126 for the group to land somewhere on the 200-spot roster. The Grateful Dead has only performed slightly better on the Top Album Sales chart as the rockers have collected a total of 128 placements somewhere on that list.
The group will soon crack triple digit wins on both the Top Rock Albums and Top Rock & Alternative Albums charts. Dave’s Picks, Vol. 53 is the legendary outfit’s milestone ninetieth hit on the rock only list, and the landmark ninety-fifth for the musicians on the ranking that also includes alternative projects.
In its debut tracking frame, Dave’s Picks, Vol. 53 sold just over 19,000 copies (per Luminate). Since it wasn’t available on platforms like Spotify, that is the release’s total first-week sum, which is unusual for successful albums in America. Oftentimes there is a number connected to pure sales, as well as one for equivalent units, which are compiled using a methodology that includes both streaming activity as well as sales of individual tunes from a project. That doesn’t apply to the Grateful Dead’s release strategy, one which clearly continues to work to this day.
