Van Halen’s Decades-Old Album Spikes Nearly 23,000% In Sales

Van Halen’s Balance reappears on the Top Album Sales chart and debuts at No. 7 on the Vinyl Albums list following a 23,000% sales spike. (MANDATORY CREDIT David Tan/Shinko Music/Getty Images) Van Halen posing in Arizona in the United States, 1978 October. (Photo by David Tan/Shinko Music/Getty Images)

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30 years ago, Van Halen released its tenth album Balance. The set was another huge win for the hard rock outfit, as it produced multiple smashes and soared to the top of the charts. Decades later, Van Halen dropped an expanded edition of the beloved set to celebrate its anniversary, and fans in America have turned it into a bestseller again.

Van Halen’s Massive Sales Spike

Balance sees its total sales skyrocket from one week to the next, as all versions of the title are combined together for charting purposes. The period before the expanded version dropped, Balance sold only double-digit copies, which isn’t unusual for such an old title. The following frame, that number increased to more than 4,800 purchases. Luminate reports that from one week to the next, Balance experienced a sales spike of almost 23,000%.

That type of performance is typically limited to years- or decades-old projects reinvigorated through some exciting move.

Balance Returns to Billboard’s Sales Chart

All of those purchases help Balance appear on two Billboard charts this week. The set returns to the Top Album Sales list, coming in one space beneath the top 10.

Balance is one of Van Halen’s three No. 1s on Billboard’s list of the top-selling albums in the country, joining For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge and Best Of, Volume 1.

Van Halen Scores a New Top 10 Album

As Balance finds its way back to the Top Album Sales chart, the full-length also debuts on another ranking. Van Halen’s decades-on project arrives at No. 7 on the Vinyl Albums tally this week.

The group has racked up a trio of top 10s on that ranking as well, and coincidentally, The Collection II and A Different Kind of Truth peaked at Nos. 5 and 6 — meaning all three of the hard rock outfit’s favorites on that roster have peaked one spot beneath another.

Van Halen Joins Selena, Maroon 5 and Billie Eilish

As Balance starts in seventh place on the Vinyl Albums chart, the title stands out as the sixth-highest-rising debut of the week. The title comes in behind new releases from Conan Gray (Wishbone, No. 1), Jon Bellion (Father Figure, No. 5), and Maroon 5 (Love Is Like, No. 6). Two other years-old titles — Niall Horan’s Heartbreak Weather and Selena’s Dreaming of You — appear on the list for the first time at Nos. 3 and 4, respectively. Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft reenters the ranking in second place after previously hitting No. 1 and spending 61 weeks somewhere on the tally.